SOME CURIOUS STONES USED BY THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 3G1 



number of marks cut into the surface, apparently with a 

 sharp stone, shell, or piece of bone, as Nos. 8 and 9 ; 

 others have but a few incisions, whilst some are quite plain. 

 A characteristic of this type of native implement consists 

 of a depression worked into the base ; in nearly all the 

 specimens, instead of the large end being flat, the central 

 part has been picked out and afterwards ground fairly 

 smooth, forming a concavity resembling a shallow saucer 

 or trough — the shape of the concavity depending upon 

 whether the base is round, or is longer in one direction 

 than in the other. In some specimens, instead of a single 

 hollow, there are two trough-shaped depressions, as in 

 No. 6, and specimens with three troughs in the base are 

 occasionally found. In a few examples, the base is flat 

 or nearly so, with a number of grooved lines reaching right 

 across the diameter ; or else starting at the centre and 

 radiating in every direction to the margin. There may be 

 only a few of these lines or there may be a score or more 

 on the:base. 



It has been supposed that some of the softer specimens 

 of these articles, kaolin for example, are not natural stones 

 but have been artificially manufactured from burnt gypsum 

 by the natives. Mr. R. Hall, curator of the Tasmanian 

 Museum, speaking of a specimen in the museum, says in a 

 letter to me : — " According to Dr. Noething here, it (the 

 specimen) is sulphate of lime, roasted and then wetted to 

 form the required shape. That is also my opinion." I am 

 quite certain that none of the numerous specimens which 

 I have met with have been made in that way, but that all 

 of them, whether kaolin or not, are natural products cut 

 into their present shape by human labour. 



No. 1. A decomposed sandstone, 24£ inches long, with a 

 circumference of 11 inches round the thickest part of the 

 shaft. There are no marks on the surface, nor has it the 



