Egy R24 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 
ployed merely as a toy. The toy boomerang is thrown only 
by men and boys, and its throwing is the only indigenous 
North Queensland game wherein any real attempt is made 
to see who is the “ best’ man, so to speak; but even then 
no so-called “ prize” is awarded; indeed, it is apparently 
very difficult for these blacks to understand the more 
civilised custom of producing emulation by a system of 
awards. There are two methods of throwing the implement, 
direct into the air (common everywhere) or straight on to 
the ground (Cairns and Cardwell coastal districts). The 
boomerang is said to be right or left handed, not because it 
is necessarily thrown with the one or other hand, but be 
cause it circles to the right or left side of the thrower. Until 
its manufacture is completed, and it has been tried by 
experience, the blacks have told me that they cannot deter- 
mine with any degree of assurance which of the two varieties 
it will prove to be. When thus made as a toy, and com- 
pared with a fighting boomerang, it is lighter and smaller. 
Tt varies in shape from a comparatively strong angle (Pl. 
XXXIIL., 15) to something approaching a half-moon; the 
knee or bend is approximately in the centre, and so divides 
the implement into two halves, the planes of which show in- 
dications of both flexion and torsion. Sometimes the toy 
article is cut down from a fighting boomerang that has Leen 
chipped or otherwise damaged. In the N.W.-Central dis- 
tricts, if coloured at all, it is smeared with charcoal; here, 
also, it may often be ornamented, but there is no rule or 
uniformity in the gravings, of which some of the designs 
may be very quaint. It is never used as a recognised 
article of exchange or barter; that is to say, it does not 
travel, but is manufactured just as occasion requires. 
When thrown into the air, with the concave edge of course 
forwards, its usual flight is represented in Pl. XXXELSU6; 
17, with a right and left handed boomerang respectively, 
where the line A represents the direction faced by the 
player. The object of the game varies in different districts. 
On the Tully River, the best player is the one who can make 
the boomerang finally reach the ground nearest to him. A 
good thrower here can hold a spear vertically, and thus 
catch the implement as it passes on its final flight, making 
it pass spirally down the spear, so as to fall into his hand. 
The Cloncurry blacks will fix a peg into the ground, and the 
one who can strike or come nearest to it with the boomerang 
when it falls is declared the best man. In the Boulia dis- 
trict, where they can throw a figure-of-eight (Plate XXXII., 
22), five, six, or perhaps more men will stand in Indian file, 
