the union is commonly made perfect with Pid-jer-ong. Sometimes a bone is substituted for the piece of hard wood.
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| FIGS. 77, | 78. |
This instrument is commonly used for spearing eels; but it is employed in battle also, and it is then thrown with the Kur-ruk. It is known and used in all parts of Victoria. The reed-spears of the Lower Murray, Dr. Gummow says, vary in length from six to seven feet, but they are seen of all lengths.
The name of the reed-spear amongst the natives of the Lower Murray is Ulawa; the reed of which it is made is called Tar-gie, and the hard-wood head Tarronnie. The sinews of the tail of the kangaroo with which the head is fastened to the shaft are named Werrannee, and the resin of the pine (Callitris verrucosa), which is used to make firm the union, is named Bij-jin-ne. The name given to this spear by the natives of Lake Tyers is, according to Mr. Bulmer, Kam-ma. Another kind of reed-spear, which is thrown with the Merri-wan or Kur-ruk, is called by them Kowat.
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| FIGS. 79, | 80. |
Two forms of spear are shown in Figs. 77 and 78. In Fig. 77 the head and barb are formed wholly of bone, which is firmly attached to the shaft of wood by sinews and gum. In Fig. 78 the head and shaft are of wood, and the barb is a piece of bone, which is fixed by sinews and gum to the side. These are used principally for spearing fish.
Dr. Gummow, of Swan Hill, who is well acquainted with all the weapons and implements of the natives, states that these are used also in war. The name of the spear is Koanie; the spike of bone is called Kulkie, the barb Tilloo, and the shaft of the spear Marrongie.
Figs. 79 and 80 are common forms of fishing-spears. They are made wholly of hard tough wood. Dr. Gummow states that No. 79 is called Gowdalie, and No. 80 Wormegoram. They are from ten to fifteen feet in length. They are used, says Dr. Gummow, during the spawning season, when the fish are on flooded ground, in about eighteen inches or two feet of water. The blacks in their canoes quietly traverse the extensive flooded ground, where the aquatic grasses are just appearing through and above the surface of the water. The fish are then spawning, and as the canoe proceeds, the fish gently glide or steal away, conveying to the grass a wavy motion perhaps within a few feet of the canoe, when the black with unerring aim strikes with
