HORN EXTKIHTION — NAKKATIVE. 39 



giaclu.illy towards tlic rml whicli is held, and abrui>l.ly towards tJic oii])Osit(> end 

 wliefc a little wooden point is a,ttaelicd l>y tendon. The otiier extrendty lias a 

 round knoh of n^sinous material olitained from the porcupine grass, and into it a 

 roughly sharpened Hint is oftiui attached and used for cutting pui'poses — as for 

 example to trim down the rough surfaces ot a spear, or to cut open the body of a 

 kaiigarcjo. 



Boomerangs of various sizes are made ; the laigcr ones are very heavy and 

 simply used for fighting at close quarters, the smaller, flatter ones are thrown, Ijut 

 tliey do not ajtjiear to have any so made that they can return to the thrower. 

 Hhiekls ar(^ made out of light wood such as that of the ]jean trt'e (]*]rythrina,) ; 

 they are jiei'haps two feet six inches in length, very thick, with a. strongly con\ex 

 outer side and a slightly concave iniici' one, in the middle of which a cavity is 

 made leaving a bar, running across in the diL-ection of the length oi the shield, 

 which can be grasped by the hand. As the Dean tree does not grow so fai' S(nith 

 as this, these shields have to be traded from one part to anothei'. 



The women are usually provided with pitchis, which are receptacles hollowed 

 out of wood and used for carrying food such as grass seeds or Irri-akura bulbs. 

 They vary consid(U'ably in size and form, and some are made out of light wood like 

 that of the JJean tree, and others out of heavier wood such as Mulga. 



Amongst the women and lubras were one or two in deep mourning, which was 

 indicattid by the fact that the hair i-inglets were stitt" with white gypsum, whilst a 

 band of the same was plastered over the bridge of the nose and on the cheeks and 

 fctrehead. 



These natives belong to the Arunta tribe, which occupies a large tract of land 

 stretching from the Macuniba Creek in tlu^ south to about seventy miles iioi'th 

 of Alice Springs. Westwards it extends to Hermannsburg, and its eastward 

 extension is not comjjletely known. At Alice Springs it spreads (jut foi' about a 

 hundred miles to the east of the telegraph line. Very often the men used to 

 describe themselves as Larapinta blacks, from the native name of the Finke lliver-, 

 which drains a considerable part of tlie country which they occupy. 



Many t)f the men were well built, though, as usual, the legs were the weak point. 

 Till! tallest one measured by Dr. Stirling was 5 feet 'J:^ inches in lieight, and the 

 tiverage of ten of them was just under 5 feet G inclies. The women are dccideilly 

 shorter, the average of ten of them being only 5 feet 0;| inclies. The men, with 

 their long, flowing beards and hair cut off th(,'ir foreheads and the rest tied ]>:u-k 

 with a white band, often looked very patriarchal, an ajipearaiice fre([uently 



