Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-23
BOOMERANGS AND SPEARS.
Some Mistaken Impressions Corrected
How the Natives Use Their Weapons.

Some Mistaken Impressions Corrected
How the Natives Use Their Weapons.
From the Springfield Republican.
HOBART, TASMANIA, Dec. 20.-More has been
written. and less is understood, of the boone
rang than of almost any other weapon. 1t is
generally known to be a fiat stick of wood bent
into shape which suggests combination of a
~" and ~" although with the extremeties
spread apart until they are at right angles with
each other. In point of fact, boomerangs are
of almost every shape, from semicircular to
nearly straight, and seem to depend for their
efficiency not SO much upon the evident form
as upon the curves which are shown upon their
fiat sides. If ones takes boomerang and looks
along its sharp outer edge. it is seen that this
edge presents a wavy appearance delcately
adjusted sinuosity like the line of a long screw.
This curve is not deliberately fashioned or
smoothed into evenness; the hard wood of
which the boomerang is usually made, being
picked out with short blows from a sharpened
flint held in the hand. almost always shows, in
deed. Infinite irregularities.
What rule of construction the savage artificer
follows even he himself would probably be I'M
able to say. Yet he has some definite plan in
mind, no doubt, for while he chips and pecks
away at the wood he takes frequent squints
L
/ crossing. | have never seen two bOomerangs
that were just alike. but all are similar i'll their
relations of curves along the fiat side. The
I boomerang maker knows instnctivelv lust
/ where his boomerang will go when he throws
/ Il. although lie never seems TO aim any two in
/ the same way.
/ More lies have been told about the BOOM
! erang than can be well enumerated. and nearly
I every Australian traveller comes back with a
/ fresh assortment. One hears of men who can
I so n hop-piarnuCy hat
behind tree and then comes cheerfully fut-
/ tering back TO its owner, who thereupon hurls
/ Ii on fresh mission of carnage. 4 flock of
/ frightened cockatoos, speeding in intricate
! gyratiOns through the air to escape the attack
of natives who want bird for dinner, are pur-
/ sued at every turn by these erratic weapons
which strike them down dozen each. and so
return to the hand that cast them. Old wives
. fables, these. at which Australians laugh
/ knowing in the nature of things their falsitv
/ In the first place, the war boomerang il not
made for return. and is only slightly bent 80
I that II may go hopping and bounding along the
earth like hoop. and make capaciOus holes in
/ the body of the adversary. These are of hard
/ heavy wood. and ugly things to be hit withal /;
/ but the return boomerang is simply play-
thing. or 10 be used iii light hunting. and
| although II might give a man painful rap.
could hot seriously injure him. As for the
Z cOckatoO story, it has this much of truth-that
native boomerang hurlCr. If he saw flock
/ flying by him i'll a straight course. could SO
cast his weapon as 10 come upon them una
wares at given point. and perhaps knock one
/ down: but his boomerang would drop. too
having power OF flight after it has struck
! anything.
/ The boomerang is sufficiently remarkable
without being regarded in the light of long
! bow, and drawn by every tourist in the colo
| lies. IL Is held perpendicuiarsy and taken
. firmly IN the hand by one OF its extremities
/ with the other pointed forward. and is hurled
/ nv rtyp a,,I
! swing Of the whole body. A slight turn
/ of the wrist at the moment of discharge causes
/ u 70 assume various erratic COURSES Some
: times 1t will fly straight forward for 100 or
even ZuO yards, then rise sharply to "A great
! height. loose its force, and hutter down to
/ the feet of the thrower. Again, it will rise in
! the air, swoop down with immense rapid
! lty, and skim around in great semicircie a
/ few inches from the ground, rise once more,
| and return to the spot whence il started. It
will also start off in a great swoop to the right
| reverse 1t and turn to the left, skim around the
/ thrower III series of ever-narrowing circles
and. finding their center fan into il like an ex-
| hausted bird. There is something uncanny
about the thing; its movements are so unex-
pected and out of reason that il seems to be
/ alive. and to take a savage delight in strange
/ shoots and dashes. which make the new chum'
/ australian equivalent for ''tenderfoot') dodge
every time II turns. lest it should knock him ON
. the head.
The yarn about the Australian blacks ALWAYS
I throwing the boomerang with their backs TO
the object they desire TO hit is a piece off the
same whole cloth AS the coCkatoo fable, and
the lie about the missile returning to its owner
I after killing the gentlemen behind the tree
An expert thrower can cause his boomerang to
shoot behind him after a short preliminary ex-
curslon in front, and come very near a given
object. but ii he wants to hit anything. either
IN hunting or war, he doesn't fool away his
| time with the return boomerang but throws
I the heavy, nearly straight one, which goes
direct to the mark without any fourishes.
Such is the bOomerang-a two-formed utensil.
with one shape for business the other for sport.
! Another ingenious contrivsnce used by the
natives Is the handle and thong which they use
IN propelllng their spears-these being gener-
| ally of tapering, sharp-pointed sticks Of hard
wood, although sometimes tipped with flint or
iron. To add to the force of their discharge
! some sable philosopher. whose name is lost,
took bit of thick stick about foot long.
fastened to one end of IL strip OF
| leather or cord terminating in q socket.
| wherein to set the butt of his spear and was
| ready for action. When the cord or strip OF
leather was laid along the spear, the handle
| came In the center, and was held on the under
side of the weapon when it was cast When the
| spear left the hand the handle and its ap-
pendage Of leather or cord remained, and by a
dexterous movement on the part of the thrower
acted like sling to accelerate the fight of the
shaft. BY this device the spearman gained
the same advantage that q singer enjoys over
| a person who hurls a stone by his unaided arm
SO that cases are known where spears thus
hurled have flown 200 yards, and gone COM
pletely through the body Of the man who was
unlucky enough TO serve a. Q target