1 82 TROPIC DAYS 



spots where, for the time being, peace and quietude 

 prevail. At other times a somewhat similar design of 

 basket is used for trapping eels. 



Men armed with spears surround and exterminate a 

 shoal detected in shallow water; and the boomerang and 

 the nulla-nulla as well as the spear form the weapons 

 of the solitary fisherman. On one of the islands of the 

 Gulf of Carpentaria the boomerang (I am told) alone is 

 used, the blacks being so expert that Httle is left to chance. 



Though the wommera, or, as it is known locally, the 

 yellamun, is common in the neighbourhood of Dunk 

 Island, it is not employed as an accessory in the spearing 

 of fish. Further north it is so almost universally, a 

 combination of boomerang and wommera being the 

 most popular form. This dual-purpose weapon is 

 merely a boomerang to one of the ends of which is 

 fitted a spur, which engages the socket in the butt of 

 the spear. While on this subject, it is interesting to 

 note that, though the common form of the implement 

 for increasing the velocity and range of the spear is 

 generally considered to be peculiar to Australia, its 

 principle is embodied in a contrivance which was used 

 for a similar purpose in the New Hebrides in Captain 

 Cook's day. 



Describing some of the arts of the inhabitants of 

 Tanna, Cook ("Voyages of Captain Cook round the 

 World," vol. i., chapter vi.) says that in the throwing of 

 darts "they make use of the becket, that is, a piece of 

 stiff plaited cord, about six inches long, with an eye in 

 one end and a knot in the other. The eye is fixed on 

 the forefinger of the right hand, and the other end is 

 hitched round the dart where it is nearly on an equipoise. 

 They hold the dart between the thumb and the remaining 

 finger, which serve only to give direction, the velocity 

 being communicated by the becket and forefinger. The 



