The Portland daily press., 1893-02-25


in preparing the game, reptiles, digging
up roots, killing snakes, beetles, etc.,
for their daily spread. Snakes are deemed
a rare dish, but they eschew poisonous
snakes. The kangaroo and the emu are
their most favored articles of diet. The
kangaroo is hunted with the boomerang,
and while he thinks he is safe in Jun
gle and pokes his long head behind a
tree in fancied security the boomerang
thrower hurls his sharp pointed missile
almost through its head. The emu has
very long neck, and when he lengthens
it out taking observations the bushman
from behind tree twirls the curved in.
strument, the sharp edge cutting off the
head Of the bird.
Of late the bushmen have been "spear-
ing" the cattle of the "squatters," and
the "squatters" took the warpath with
Winchester rifles, which will shoot far
Their than a boomerang can be thrown,
and as result the population of the can
nibals has been somewhat diminished.
The boomerang ordinarily is thrown
900 or 800 feet It is convex ON the up
per side and flat below and made of
Australian wood. 1t has bend or angle
of about As degrees. All Australian wood
is hard, almost as solid as iron. The
ends are as pointed as dagger, and the
inner side is as sharp as razor blade.
These savages cannot explain how
they came into possession of an art
which civilization has not yet discov-
cred. They have q tradition that while
one of their lazy kings lay dreaming,
half awake, under the outrageous
shade of an eucalyptus tree his atten-
ton was attracted by a leaf falling. It
was curvelike and in it's descent was
borne hither and thither upon the breeze,
and finally after many curves and re-
bounds the leaf fell upon the lazy dream
or. He examined it and tossed it to the
breeze. Again and again he experiments
ed, and finally he made this instrument
of native wood as toy for amusement.
But later it became an instrument Of
warfare as well.
Ordinarily the boomerang is taken
from the forks of limbs and roughly
dressed with crude instruments. 1t is
then charred in the fire and the burned
coating removed, after which it Is sub
jected to the smoke of eucalyptus leaves
to make it pliable and to give it the
proper lateral shape. Expert throwers
send it 200 feet on straight line, wher
it bounds into the air, turns lend over
end" then fattens out like plate spin
ming, and after making a circuit of 700
or 800 feet returns to the feet of the
thrower. Many of the throwers are left
handed.
These aborigines are distinct race of
people, black as the negro, but the fore
head does not recede; neither does the
jaw project. Their hair is Of fine tex
ture, inclined to curl and always black,
but not 'skinky" like that of the negro.
A cannibal feast is celebrated with
their corroborree, or palti, native
dance. A huge fire is built, around
which the dancers circle, without any
clothing save a coat of paint on their
breast and limbs. They are painted in
white to represent skeletons. Each rib
is painted over with stripe Of white,
white st .lpe of paint runs down the
breast, each leg and each arm, and the
face is painted with white slashes. Their
black bodies, in stripes of white, circling
around the campfire, gives rather star
Ting and sepulchral effect, with the deep
darkness of the soughing trees for a
background.
They dance with vibratory move
ment from the knee upward, when
standing, or rather it is more of con-
tortion exercise. A funeral dirge is
chanted, each chanter accompanying
himself on their only instrumental piece
for music-the double boomerang. A
boomerang is held by the left hand, an
other is taken in the right, one is beaten
against the other, and they call it music.
Their feet are firmly planted upon the
ground-the dancing" is done with the
body.
Their bodies are disfgured with the
trademark of their tribe, each tribe hav-
ing a different brand. They also ssdeco-
crate" their bodies with scars, after the
manner of Indians. They slash their
bodies with a sharp stone and fill the
wound with clay, which forms ridge
or meet, encircling the arm, leg or body.
The cannibal dude cuts hole through
LID WlelO lOcO, LII WHICH u0 WctlIS q pOl-
ished white bone or inches in length,
and slashes his body in various designs.
Endurance of pain is held to bear EVIL
dence of bravery.
In addition to throwing the boomerang
they can ''throw" their voices, and some
are excellent ventriloquists. Their vo-
cabulary is confined to about 200 words
and as many grunts and gestures. Hav-
ing no language of their own, only a
gibberish, they are very quick to learn
other languages-fr pronunciation
only. They are the most illiterate of all
peoples, have no conception of time or
dates, cannot enumerate as high as 10
units, yet have wonderful faculty for
learning languages of other peoples.
sa ,.ss