152 PRIMEVAL MAN. 



ficiently appreciated. It is impossible, for 

 example, to read the description given by Sir 

 J. Richardson of the bows and arrows of the 

 Eskimo without being struck by the admi- 

 rable skill with which their scanty resources, 

 and their limited command of natural mate- 

 rial, are turned to the very best account. 

 The throwing-stick of the Australian Savage 

 is a most ingenious application of the prin- 

 ciple of the lever. The boomerang must have 

 been discovered, as so many other discoveries 

 are made among ourselves, by pure accident — 

 by some savage throwing a crooked branch, 

 and by his observing its curious and unex- 

 pected flight. But every one of these inven- 

 tions and discoveries involves and exhibits in 

 full operation the peculiar and characteristic 



