ARTISTIC SENSE IN ABORIGINES. 431 



are made of light reeds tipped with hardwood ; they may have 

 one prong or many, and the spear-head may be of wood or of 

 chipped or flaked stone, such as quartz, quartzite, desert sandstone 

 or opal. The leaf-shaped heads are often of beautiful workman- 

 ship, especially in North and North-West Australia. Some of the 

 finest examples of spears come from Northern Australia, where 

 several types appear to be used. In Western Australia the lighter 

 spears are pointed with shell or flint, whilst heavy war spears, ten 

 or twelve feet long, have carved barbs with pointed notches. 



In regard to domestic utensils there is not much variety. 

 Receptacles for holding water and food were made usually from 

 wood, an excrescence on the trunk, or a suitable piece from the 

 outside of the red gum or some other tree being cut out into a 

 wooden vessel. Some of these vessels were left rough on the out- 

 side, but others were symmetrically trimmed. The manufacture 

 of the " pitchis," or wooden troughs, in use among the Central 

 Australian blacks is highly praised in Professor Spencer & Gillen's 

 " Tribes of Central Australia." These are made out of soft wood 

 like the useful bean tree, or of very hardwood, and ornamented 

 with conventional designs in pigments, or grooved with fine parallel 

 lines on the outside, and with coarser ones inside. " Their sym- 

 metry of form is perfect," and reference is made to the manipulative 

 skill and the artistic feeling displayed both in shields and pitchis 

 in regard to beauty of form and symmetry of line. Characteristic 

 specimens may be seen at our chief museums. 



It has been repeatedly noticed in Australia as elsewhere that 

 there is a natural tendency in native industrial arts to specialisation 

 in certain weapons or utensils — a tribe, probably from the possession 

 of greater facilities, becoming extremely expert in one particular 

 direction, another achieving a reputation in a different depart- 

 ment. This also leads to specialisation in families and individuals, 

 and thus to the production of superior work. Apropos of this, a 

 friend in Northern Queensland writes : — " The spears, woomeras, 

 boomerangs, firesticks, etc., are all made of gidgee and lancewood, 

 and by different natives, much the same as with our carpenters, 

 blacksmiths, etc., — that is, one is a spear-maker, another a woomera- 

 maker, etc., each like a different tradesman." The corollary of 

 this distribution of labour is, of course, a wide system of barter, 

 which has always prevailed among the Australian blacks, products 

 of different districts, as well as special weapons and utensils, being 

 freely interchanged. 



Plain bone utensils for cutting or grooving, for awls and 

 needles, are in use among some of the Australian tribes. The 

 skins of some animals, as in West Riverina, were sometimes made 

 into water-bags ; and in the south and east opossum rugs for 

 covering and warmth were in use. The skins were softened by 

 scraping and rubbing, tanning being unknown. After being 

 stretched and dried the skins (according to Mr. J). Bunce in 

 "Wanderings in Australia") were often curiously marked with 

 figures of animals — kangaroos, emus, and the human figure being 

 scratched on them. Mr. E. M. Curr in the " Australian Race " 



