two languages whose grammatical construction was the same, because of their differing materially in their vocabularies."[1]
There are four statements in his address which call for remark.
- The utility of the return flight has been much exaggerated. By whom has it been exaggerated? A well-made boomerang thrown by a skilful native will as certainly return to him as a bullet from a rifle will strike a fair mark. A weapon of this kind thrown at a bird on the wing will kill the bird if it strikes it, and if it does not strike it, it will return to the thrower. The native can easily convince Europeans of the utility of the return flight of his weapon, under all circumstances, whether it be used in the chase or in war. That it is made principally for the purpose of affording amusement is true enough; but it has beneficial uses besides, and if these are not often exhibited, it is because he has other weapons better suited to his purpose.
- It has a random range in its return flight. This is the remark of one who cannot have seen the Wonguim thrown by an expert. A well-made Wonguim, in the hands of one who can use it, returns always to the place, or very nearly to the place, to which the thrower intended it to return. Many of the natives are not capable of using this weapon skilfully. In order to secure success, there must be some talent, much practice, and, whenever an experiment is made with the intention of displaying the peculiar properties of this missile, a patient observance of the circumstances of place and position. A hill in front which might cause an eddy in the air, a hollow where the wind might be fainter than at the point where the thrower was standing, the slightest thing which might influence the flight of the Wonguim, would be carefully noted by a skilful native if he were required to show with what success he could make the instrument perform.
- Many will not return when thrown. The Wonguim always returns to the thrower if properly thrown. A skilful thrower never fails in making it return.
- Very few of them have any twist in their construction. I never saw a Wonguim made by the natives of Victoria which was not twisted. The thin leaf-like weapons of the West Australians are twisted. In some the twist is so slight as to be scarcely perceptible, but it is there, and can always be discovered.
It is quite possible, as Col. Lane Fox states, to get some sort of return flight, if a crooked stick be thrown into the air; but the Wonguim of the Australian is something more than a crooked stick which sometimes comes back. On many occasions I have had the opportunity of seeing the most skilful amongst the natives exerting themselves to the utmost in throwing this weapon—one seeking to rival the other—and it is when they are thus bent on exhibiting their dexterity that it is possible to judge of the power they possess over the weapon. The feeling of the observer on the conclusion of such an exhibition is that the native can do what he likes with it.
- ↑ British Association, Section D., opening address by the President, Col. A. Lane Fox.—Nature, No. 146, vol. VI., p. 323.
