The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-11-01
WONDERFUL DENTEEITI.
The Boomerang and Its Mysterious
PecuJiaritieS.


\ traveller tell. Us something Of the
singular weapon used by ;h" natives
OF Australia, the boomerang. He SAW
them used bv the natives. They ranged
from two feet TO thir;y-cight inches in
length, and were @! various shape, aIi
curved little. and looking. It, b" de-
>crIbr- them, like II wooden new moon.
They were made OF dark, heavy wood,
and weighed from one to three
pounds. In thickness they vary
from half an inch, and taper 70 Il point
ut each end.
one of the natives picked up the piece
OF wood, and, posing 1t III instant, threw
il. giving il rotary motion. For the
first hundred feet or more it went straight
ahead; then il tackled to the lett and rose
slightly, still rotating rapidly. 1t kept
the latter course for hundred feet more,
perhaps, but soon vccrcd 10 the left
again. describing broader curve, and II
moment later Tell tothe earth siN oreight
.eet in front Of the thruw"r, having de-
,cribei nearly circle IL the ar
Another native then took the same
boomerang and cast il, holding Il with
tar same gr.p. 1t took the -am" course
but made broader curves. aud as 1t came
round tue black caught Ii handsomely in
hi, right hand.
Another native next threw it, and
lodged it on the ground about twenty
feet behind him, after 1t had described
crc.e of two hundred yards and upward
After him they ail tried it, and but one
O! them failed to bring the weapon baci,
to the spot where they stood.
Carnboo, native, then selected from
the heapoi boomerangs another one, and
cast it with sort of jerk. 1t flew very
quickly for forty or fifty yards, whlrling
ike top Then it darted into the mir,
mounting fully one hundred feet, aud
came over our heads, where it seemed to
hang stationary for moment, then set
tie slowly, still whirlng till he caughtit.
Two others OF the blacks then dld the
same thing.
Meanwhile | had, with my knife,
shaved Il little of the wood from the con
vex eide of enc OF the boomerungS. This
was now offered to one of them t. throw.
He took 1t without noticing what had
done, poised it, but stopped short, and
with II cUntemptuous glance at my I'M
provemcnt, threw it down and ey-
claimed:
"Bale budgery!' lno good.
The other then looked ut 1t caTtiously
but it wa, bale budgcry also to them.
No one could be induces TO throw it.
Myers asked them why they did not
usc il. but they could not give II definite
answer. 1t was plain that they did not
like the way it poised, when held i'll the
hand, vet ! could not distinguish any
difference whatever between this and
the other weapons.
Burleigh then walked to distance Of
two hundred ,crt or more from the
blacks, and bid Carnboo throw to him.
The native looked ut him rather curl
ouslv, then. comprehending what was
wanted. he selected one Of the heaviest
OF the missiles, and, turning huf round,
threw It with great fore" in Il direction
almost opposite from that where Bur
l,igh stood.
The weapon sped smartly for sixty or
seventy feet. then tackled in an instant
and flew directly at Buricigh, and, had
ne not most eNpeditiously ducked, he
would have received hard thUmp, il
nothing worse. |, struck the ground
twenty or thirty PAGES beyond. This
feat brought out broad grin and some
thing like chucklc from the whole of
them. Carnboo even intimated that he
would ike to try another east but Bur-
leigh expressed himself fully satisfied.
Mr.. Smith, however, offered to take n
shot, but not at too short r range We
were staining in front OF one OF the
store-houscs. Cmnhoo placed Smith in
front of the door and stood with his back
to him, with Smiths hand on his shoulder.
None of us knew what sort of maneu.
yer he had in mind, not even Myers.
Standing in his position the black threw
the boomerang straigh, ahead. !'nme-
dis,cly il curved in the air Then 1t dis
appesred around the corner Of the build
mo and before he had time to guess what
was meant 1t came round the other end
having passed completely around the
store-housel ard gave him a sounding
slap ON the back, which made his eyes
snap.
I, tba ,,r,et ai.rtmant suit of Catha-