380 



AUSTEALASIA. 



The most characteristic weapon is the boomerang, a short curved stick which 

 whirls with a corkscrew motion in the direction of the object aimed at, and after 

 striking returns to the thrower. The inventive genius which devised this remark- 

 able implement has also enabled the natives to invent other ingenious contrivances 

 for the hunt, fishing, and navigation. Yet it is noteworthy that the neighbouring 

 Tasmanians were ignorant both of the throwing- stick and of the boomerang, and 

 even of boats or canoes, although living in an island fringed with clusters of islets. 

 The populations of Torres Strait and of the Arafura Sea, amongst whom the 



Fig. 161. — Inhabitants and Languages of Australia about 1850. 



Scale 1 : 40,000,000. 



600 Miles. 



The dots indicate the regions where the boomerang was unknown ; the lines mark the range of certain linguistic groups. 



Papuan elements seem in some places to prevail, were also ignorant of the boome- 

 rang, the form of which curious weapon varies greatly in the different tribes. 



Not only is the tribal territory perfectly defined, but within this collective 

 domain each individual often owns a plot, his right to which is never questioned. 

 No one can cross the boundary without his express permission, the stranger pre- 

 senting himself without arms, and holding green branches in his hand. The 

 aborigines, however, are the most backward of agricultural peoples, the yam being 

 the only plant cultivated by them, j ast as the dingo is the only animal they have 



