THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 131 
sending their Marys, as they call their better halves, to beg or steal 
whatever they come across, they were out hunting and fishing, 
occupations which certainly tend to the preservation of health, 
better than lying on their backs all day, as they seem to do now. 
Towards evening they get a little lively. One afternoon we got a 
party around our camp, and after promising them “ patter,” as they 
call food, and putting the billy on the fire, set them to work throwing 
boomerangs, etc., and we were surprised at the skill they displayed. 
That seems to be the only occupation at which they shine, but they 
certainly do deserve credit for the way in which they handle their 
weapons. Their boomerangs will circle around a tree, from right to 
left, and from left to right, with a speed almost incredible, and will 
return almost to their feet. The way in which they use their nulla 
nulla too, is surprising. They have two styles of throwing it, one 
under-arm, when it leaves them with amazing force, and travels 
large end first towards the object it is destined to hit, the other 
over-arm, the weapon in this case being first balanced on the top of 
the head, the native usually standing on one leg meanwhile. The 
spear is projected with what is called a ‘‘woomera,” an instrument 
which is retained in the hand when the spear is thrown. It is 
usually made about three or four feet long, and is simply a round 
_ stick with a barb two or three inches in length at one end. This 
barb fits into a hole at the end of the spear, which is then easily 
thrown with great force. The natives can hit an object with 
tolerable precision at a distance of a hundred yards, so it is a 
dangerous weapon, Another weapon they use is a great unwieldy 
sword. Like most of their instruments, this is made of wood, and 
as it ranges from four to six feet in length, you can form some idea 
of its weight. This sword is sometimes used with both hands, and 
is certainly a very ugly weapon, a single blow being sufficient to 
bring the strongest man to the ground. They make several sorts of 
shields or ‘‘ heilamans as they call them, some for spears, and others 
for ‘nulla nullas” and swords, and they are exceedingly expert in 
their use, and so they had need to be, for rows are of frequent 
occurrence amongst them. After this party had finished tea, the 
oldest man took a small stick out of the fire, and blowing it very 
carefully to keep it alight, said good-bye and set off, followed very 
closely by the rest. This little lighted stick was carried to keep 
away the ‘“‘Debble Debble:” no native will travel without it at 
night, and the knowledge of this fact was a source of comfort to us 
many times afterwards when we got farther north. 
We did not do much shooting at this camp, but still got a 
splendid pair of Little Green Fruit Pigeons, Chalcophaps chry- 
sochlora, and one or two Black-fronted Fly Catchers, Monarcha 
trivirgala. We were also successful in purchasing a sample of 
weapons from the natives. 
