WEAPONS. 
307 
ing stick is from twenty totwenty-six inches in length, 
and is of a very similar character throughout the 
continent, varying a little in width or shape accord- 
ing to the fashion of particular districts. It consists 
of a piece of hard wood, broad about the middle, 
flattened and sometimes hollowed on the inside, 
and tapering to either extremity ; at the point the 
tooth of a kangaroo is tied and gummed on, turning 
downwards like a hook ; the opposite end has a lump 
of pitch with a flint set in it, moulded round so as 
to form a knob, which prevents the hand from slip- 
ping whilst it is being used, or it is wound round 
with string made of the fur of the opossum for the 
same purpose. In either case it is held by the lower 
part in the palm of the hand, clasped firmly by the 
three lower fingers, with its upper part resting be- 
tween the fore-finger and the next ; the head of the 
spear, in which is a small hole, is fitted to the kan- 
garoo tooth, and then coming down between the 
fore-finger and thumb, is firmly grasped for throw- 
ing ; the arm is then drawn back, the weapon le- 
velled to the eye, a quivering motion given to it to 
steady it, and it is hurled with a rapidity, force, and 
precision quite incredible. 
The w^ngn or wangno (the boomerang of Eastern 
and kiley of Western Australia) is another simple 
but destructive weapon, in the hands of the native. 
It consists of a thin, flat, curved piece of hard wood, 
about two feet long, made out of the acacia pendula 
or gum-scrub, the raspberry-jam wood, or any other 
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