ANTHROPOLOGY. 701 
sent ‘stars.’ Below this are two ‘arrows’ crossed and a convolute 
or coil which may be a ‘serpent.’ 
_ Fig. 142 shows an ‘ear of corn,’,nicely cut, and in a depressed 
circle are three figures, the central one representing a ‘deer’s leg,’ 
and the others of doubtful interpretation. a 
As an illustration of the surmises of those. who are interested 
in deciphering such inscriptions we give the following, which is 
certainly ingenious and even plausible. 
Itis suggested that the stone commemorates a treaty between two 
tribes. The reversed arrows in Fig. 141 symbolize peace ; the moon 
and stars the date; the crossed arrows a union of the two forces 
for aggressive or defensive purposes, etc. The wigwam might 
indicate the place where the treaty was consummated, and the 
corn and other emblems the feast by which it was commemorated. 
It is to be hoped that the stone, or, at least, casts and photo- 
graphs of it, may find their way into our collection at Salem. — D. 
J. TAPLEY. 
a E ES. ea 
a a a a S, es oe 
Tue Boomeranc.— The earliest inhabitants of the globe as they 
spread themselves over the earth, would carry with them the rudi- 
ments of culture which they possessed, and we should naturally 
expect to find that the most primitive arts were, in the first 
instance, the. most widely disseminated. Amongst the primeval 
Weapons of the Australians I have traced the boomerang, and the 
rudimentary parrying shield — which latter is especially a primitive 
implement—to the Dravidian races of the Indian peninsula an 
to the ancient Egyptians, and although this is not a circumstance 
to be relied upon by itself, it is worthy of careful attention in con- 
nection with the circumstance that these races have all been traced 
by Prof. Huxley to the Australoid stock, and that a connection 
. between the Australian and Dravidian languages has been stated 
to exist by Mr. Morris, the Rev. R. Caldwell, Dr. Bleek, and 
_ others.* And here I must ask for one moment to repeat the reply 
_ Which I have elsewhere given to the objection which has been made 
“ » my including these weapons under the same class, “that the 
Dravidian boomerang does not return like the 
The return flight is not a matter of such primary : 
= Constitute a generic difference, if I may use the expression, the 
utility of the return flight has been greatly exaggerated; it 1S 
_* Journal of the Anthropological Institute, No, 1, vol. i, July w 
