434 



RECREATION 



powder was to you unknown, a club would 

 not reach them and your people had not in- 

 vented the bow because there was no wood 

 suitable -for such weapons in the part of the 

 world where you lived. 



Now is the time to show your mettle; let 

 us see if you are a smart fellow, or merely 

 the poor, ignorant, half-apish creature the 

 civilized world believes you to be. 



Let me tell you, now, how you solved this 

 problem. You had noticed that when you 

 threw a branch having a particular curve, 

 like the bend of an elbow, it sailed through 

 the air for a surprising distance. Not only 

 so, but you found that, with a little practice, 

 you could make it go about where you 

 wished. 



One day, in practicing with one of these 

 crooked branches you had picked up in the 

 wood, you came across one that had been 

 riven asunder. This you threw into the air 

 almost horizontally, and, to your surprise, 

 when it had reached the extremity of its 

 flight, it circled gracefuly about and returned 

 almost to your feet. This had set you 

 a-thinking, and now that you sorely needed 

 a weapon to kill a few of these fat beasts 

 and birds, you bethought yourself of that 

 crooked, riven branch. So you broke off an- 

 other of the same kind from a small tree 

 growing in the bush, and trimmed this with 

 a sharp flint, until it was flat on one side, 

 slightly rounded on the other, and pointed at 

 either end. Your first efforts were not very 

 successful; but just as you feared that you 

 would have to lay yourself down in the shade 

 and die, you came on a noble, black-headed 

 swan in a small pond, and, by a lucky shot, 

 threw your weapon so that it hit his long 

 neck fairly in the middle, and the great bird 

 floated, dead, within a few feet of the rushy 

 shore. Now, the food question seemed in a 

 fair way to be solved, and so it was. 



You and your fellow-tribesmen worked on 

 the invention, perfected it somewhat and the 

 result was the boomerang. 



The other day as I was strolling on 

 Twenty-third street, which, as you know, is 

 one of the busiest streets of this great cos- 

 mopolitan city, my eye lit upon a boomerang. 

 It immediately occurred to me that this was 

 just one of those things my boys were look- 

 ing for, and so I went in and bought it, and 

 shall now attempt to describe it to you, so 

 that any intelligent lad can make one for 

 himself without much fear of failure. 



The particular boomerang I am describing 

 was made in London, and is, consequently, 

 not an Australian boomerang at all ; but it 

 is a very fair imitation of the real thing, 

 a. id quite good enough to begin with. 



Its total length, measured along the curve, 

 is 27 inches. On one side it is perfectly flat. 

 On the other side it curves gently from side 

 to side, the thickness in the centre being half 

 an inch. For seventeen inches its width is 

 exactly/ 1% inches, namely, for 9 inches on 

 either side of the centre of the bend. From 

 these points to the extremities it diminishes 

 slowly and gracefully, the ends being slightly 

 rounded. 



The weight of the boomerang is 6 ounces. 



The weapon I am describing is made of 

 European ash that has evidently been 

 steamed and bent while hot. Our American 

 ash or elm would be likely to be good mate- 

 rials — the elm especially, as it is heavier and 

 more durable. 



The instructions that accompany this im- 

 ported boomerang state, "This is the native 

 weapon of the aborigines of Australia, just 

 as the tomahawk was the weapon of the 

 American Indians and the assegai of the 

 Zulu. In the hands of the expert it can be 

 made to strike any given object or return 

 to the hand of the thrower at will." 



You will not be able, at first, however, to 

 do just as you like with the boomerang. It 

 will take practice, and lots of practice, to 

 give you complete control of it. 



As a starter, go to some level field, free 

 from stones, if possible, otherwise your 

 boomerang may be broken when it hits the 

 earth. Hold the boomerang firmly by the 

 end, keeping the bent side outwards, and 

 then throw, at first gently, and, as you ac- 

 quire experience, with more vigor. If you 

 throw it slightly upwards, so that the flat 

 surface slides, as it were, upon a cushion of 

 air, the boomerang will describe a circle and 

 return to the place from which it was 

 thrown. 



The Australian black boy can do the most 

 wonderful tricks with his boomerang. But 

 you will find it rather a tricky weapon ; 

 though one that is capable of affording an 

 immense amount of amusement. 



Do not forget, however, that you must be 

 careful not to throw it at a companion, or at 

 any animal or bird that you do not wish to 

 hurt, because, owing to its shape and the 

 velocity with which it flies it is quite capable 

 of inflicting a severe and even dangerous 

 wound. 



The sons of Daniel Boone should make a 

 point of reading the article on moccasins, by 

 Mr. Tappan Adney. It will be found in the 

 Referendum, and as it is well illustrated, 

 there should be no difficulty in' anyone not 

 being "shod with silence." 



