SEMON'S RESEARCHES IN AUSTRALIA. 



27 



jet been touched by this Promethean spark and quickened to a 

 nobler life. All the faculties that contribute to their success as 

 hunters have attained a wonderful degree of perfection, such as 



Papuan Designs burned on Gourds. 



uncommonly keen powers of observation, unerring sense of locality, 

 tenacious memory, and a most marvelous ability of drawing correct 

 conclusions from the faintest signs and vestiges of wild animals as 

 to their present abode and condition. The precision with which 

 they hurl spears, clubs, and other rude weapons is as remarkable 

 as their cunning in circumventing the alertest and wiliest game. 

 Although ignorant of the use of bows and arrows, they have devised 

 an excellent and exceedingly original substitute for them in the 

 boomerang, a missile whose peculiar form and functions would 

 seem to imply considerable knowledge of the science of projectiles 



