.'iO AXTHROPOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF QUEENSLAND. 



the rising sun and then aftei' death the body being buriec/ 

 with its face in the same direction, and though there is no 

 special reverence for the sun in the " heholithic " sense 

 of the word, the natives nevertheless personify the sun 

 and imagine that they are capable of appeasing its anger. 

 Should a storm arise, it is the spirit of the sun that is angered^ 

 and so the men get their boomerangs and tap the two 

 together in the belief that this display will counteract its 

 e\nl influence and jjrevent the storm from carrying away 

 one of their number. Further, a new sun was born daily 

 at the TuUy River (Roth), a belief of Ancient Egypt. 



Pitt Rivers (108) tells us that the common return w4f 

 h)or>merano is found in the throe continents of Africa. 

 India and Australia, and it if not \mreasonable to suppose 

 that it must ha\e originally spread from the common 

 centre. Though I am. forced to agr^ A\ith the various 

 authors who give expression to this oyjinion, it is jievertheles*: , 

 necessary to make some reference here to the peculiar 

 shaped eel bone charms* from the Atherton District of 

 North Queens-land, known locally as " Wakkee " Avhose 

 shape seems to suggest the idea of the origin of- the 

 boomerang. The extreme similarity of the bones of the 

 pectoral girdle of the eel with the shape (if certain boomerangs 

 is so remarkable, that T cannot do better than reproduce^ 

 the specimens in the Museum collections, and leave 

 Ethnologists to lorm their own opinion as to the probability 

 or not of an independent origin (Plate 1, Fig 2). 



Travelling from the north-west corner of the Northern 

 Territory to the south and south-easterly portions of 

 Australia, the only serviceable route possible would be that 

 through the Macdonnell Ranges, taking a south easterly 

 course along a path best calculated to pass through good 

 country, with plenty of food and Avater available The 

 rendezvous of all tribes takinii such a course would tnen be 

 the head waters of the Cooper, Georgina and MuHigan 

 Rivers, whence they could spread in all possible direction.^'. 

 Now if we take the geographical distribution of the 

 practice of circumci.<*ion and sub-incision (not necessariJy 



*Roth refers to this as a fillet in use among the Mallaupara .tsib'e 

 of the Tully River (Wakcti). N'.Q.E. Bull. [->. p. 27. 



