HQ ETHNOGRAPHY. 



The foregoing description will suffice to give a general idea of the 

 character and customs of this singular race. For other details rela- 

 tive to their habits and usages, the reader is referred to the general 

 history of the voyage. We must, however, add some remarks con- 

 cerning a few of their weapons, which deserve notice for their pecu- 

 liarity. The first is the spear or lance, which, in its shape and use, 

 resembles that of the Polynesians. But it is thrown by means of an 

 implement called a ivammera, which is a straight stick, three feet in 

 length, terminating at one end in an 'upturned socket, into which the 

 blunt end of the spear is fitted, the spear itself being laid flat upon 

 the wammera. Both are then grasped in one hand by the native, 

 near the other end of the stick, or about three feet from the end of the 

 spear, and when the latter is discharged, the stick is retained in the 

 hand, and acts as a lever to increase its velocity. 



The boomerang, or, as it is called at Wellington, the bargan, is per- 

 haps the most curious implement ever employed in warfare. It is 

 shaped somewhat like a sabre, being a flat stick, three feet long and 

 from one to two inches in breadth, which is curved or crooked at 

 the middle, so as to form a very obtuse angle. Any one who saw it 

 for the first time would naturally set it down for a clumsy kind of 

 wooden sword. It is, however, a missile, and, in the hands of a 

 native, forms a tolerably efficient weapon, which is used not only in 

 war, but in taking birds and other small animals. It is grasped at 

 one end by the right hand, and thrown either upwards into the air, or 

 obliquely downwards, so as to strike the earth at some distance from 

 the thrower. In the former case, it flies with a rotary motion, as its 

 shape would lead us to expect. After ascending to a great distance 

 through the air, in the direction first given to it, it suddenly re- 

 turns in an elliptical orbit, to a spot not far from the starting point. 

 Though the curve thus described is one which might unquestionably 

 be determined by mathematical calculation, we must suppose that it 

 was accident which first taught the use of this extraordinary weapon. 

 When thrown towards the ground, the elasticity given by its curved 

 shape causes it to rebound and fly forwards; it continues in this 

 direction, touching the earth in a succession of rapid leaps, like a ball 

 fired en ricochet, until it strikes the object at which it is thrown. 



