THROWING-STICKS AND CLUBS. 19 



handle^ and when used^ the end rests ag-ainst the 

 pahn of the rig-ht hand; the three hist fingfers g-rasp 

 the stick, and the forefing'er and thumb loosely 

 retain the spear. With the aid of the powerful 

 leverag'e of the throwing-stick a spear can be thrown 

 to a distance varying- according* to its weig^ht from 

 80 to 80 yards, and with considerable precision ', 

 still, if observed coming-, it may easily be avoided. 



The only other weapon which I have seen in 

 Torres Strait is a peculiar kind of club procured 

 from New Guinea, consisting- of a quoit-like disk of 

 hard stone (quartz, basalt, or serpentine), with a 

 sharp edg-e, and a hole in the centre to receive one 

 end of a long* wooden handle. 



The huts which the Kowrareg-as and Cape York 

 people put up when the rains commence are 

 usually dome-shaped, four to six feet hig-h, con- 

 structed of an arched framework of flexible sticks, 

 one end of each of which is stuck firmly in the 

 ground, and over this sheets of tea-tree (Melaleuca) 

 bark — and sometimes an additional thatch of grass 

 — are placed until it is rendered perfectly water-tight. 



Not only at Cape York but throughout Torres 

 Strait the males use no clothing' or covering of any 

 kind. At Cape York and the Prince of Wales 

 Islands grown up females usually wear a covering* 

 in front, consisting of a tuft of long grass, or flag* 

 [Philydrum lanuginosum), or split pandanus leaves, 

 either hanging loosely or passed between the legs 

 and tied to another behind ; over this a short petti- 



