60
which would demolish their camps, and perhaps destroy much life; therefore, upon the first premonitions of an approaching thunderstorm, they hide these weapons carefully away amongst the grass or shrubs until the storm has abated or passed over. This proceeding on the part of the natives displays a considerable amount of observation, as we have found the box tree (from the wood of which these spears are made) more frequently destroyed by lightning than any other species of tree in the bush. In the debris remaining after a quantity of this box timber has been consumed by fire, there are large masses found resembling the clinkers from a forge, the principal component of which is decidedly iron; this perhaps may account for the attractive properties of the tree. These spears, about ten inches from the point, are an inch and a-half in diameter, from whence they taper gradually to the end, which is only half an inch thick.
The natives make a commoner sort of spear, of the same size as the last, for everyday use. This spear is made from mallee[1] saplings; the barbs thereof are not nearly so well formed as those in the show spear previously described, although the shape is exactly similar.
It would be a sad waste of time fashioning these useful weapons elaborately, as they nearly always get broken when successfully cast; they are only used for killing the larger kinds of game, such as kangaroo and emu, and when once fixed securely in the hunted creature, the barbs prevent their falling out; therefore, in the final struggle breakages
- ↑ Mallee—A kind of Eucalyptus which covers the barren wastes of the north-western portion of the colony; other kinds of saplings are used in the manufacture of these spears should mallee be unobtainable.
