 FIG. 84. |
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| FIG. 85. | FIG. 86. |
A war-spear of a peculiar form (Fig. 84) is used by the natives of Central Australia. It is a long weapon, made of a hard tough wood, and is sharpened at the lower end. It is not thrown with the Kur-ruk. I have never seen a spear of this kind amongst the weapons of the natives of Victoria.
I have received a collection of weapons from the northern parts of Australia, amongst which are several stone-pointed spears, generally resembling that shown in Fig. 85. The head of one is a piece of nearly black basalt, and the others are formed of fragments of yellowish-grey granular quartzite. They are not ground or polished. They are made by striking off chips, and the form of many of them is perfect. Indeed it is scarcely to be believed that skill could be so directed as to produce from pieces of stone, by percussion only, such beautiful weapons. The length of the stone-heads is usually about eight inches. The spears are from nine to nine feet six inches in length, and the shafts are composed of a kind of reed or bamboo. They are securely fastened to the stone-heads by twine and gum. They are hollowed at the end, and tied with sinews or twine to strengthen them, so as to be thrown with the long throwing-stick which is used in the north. They are ornamented with longitudinal grooves in bands alternating with plain spaces, and the colors used are red, yellow, and white, the white often appearing in dots on the other colors. The weight of these spears varies from ten ounces to eleven and three-quarter ounces.
With these stone spears were also other specimens of the skill of the natives of the north. Notably, a three-pronged spear, each prong being barbed (the barbs, twelve in number on each prong, pointing outwards); a wooden spear with twelve barbs on one side, and another with twenty barbs, all neatly cut, and certainly most useful implements in fishing and most dangerous weapons in warfare. With these were a long throwing-stick (Womerah), and a kind of club, almost paddle-shaped, which could be used for several purposes. It is shaped thus—(Fig. 86). It is colored a bright-red, and ornamented with white lines in the manner shown in the engraving. It weighs seventy-two ounces. Whether the latter is an Australian weapon or one brought from the islands
immediately north of the continent is uncertain. It is perhaps one of those held by the left hand, or wound upon a reel. This mode of fishing is still adopted in many countries; and the fish-spears of the South Sea Islanders have two, three, and four points, and are thrown nearly in the same manner as the bident of the ancient Egyptians. Their attendants, or their children, assisted in securing the fish, which, when taken off the barbed point of the spear, were tied together by the stalk of a rush passed through the gills."—The Ancient Egyptians, p. 239, vol. II.
