Weapons and Implements of the West Australians.
Some six years ago I asked Mr. H. Y. L. Brown, who was then engaged in making a geological survey of part of the Colony of West Australia, to procure for me some of the weapons of the natives of the west and north-west coast of Australia; and he was good enough to send me a very valuable collection, which I have used in preparing this brief account of some of the more important implements employed by the blacks in this part of the continent. In order that accurate descriptions of them might be given, I applied to the Honorable Fred. Barlee, the Colonial Secretary at Perth, to supply information respecting some of them; and with his usual kindness, and with an alacrity in the promotion of scientific investigations not always found in gentlemen occupying similar exalted positions, he furnished valuable notes, made by himself, from statements communicated to him by an intelligent native.
No one but a person who has engaged in such labors as have occupied me for many years knows how difficult it is to ascertain the facts respecting even the commoner implements and utensils used by the natives. I have had the most positive statements respecting the use of one kind of spear absolutely contradicted by other statements apparently equally trustworthy; and in all such cases it has been necessary to apply to the blacks themselves for an explanation. A spear of a peculiar form is employed in one locality almost exclusively as a weapon of war; in another it is commonly used for striking fish; and in a district not far distant perhaps it is altogether unknown.
With such difficulties to encounter, it was with peculiar satisfaction that I was able to avail myself of the aid of gentlemen of culture and experience in procuring some few data for this necessarily imperfect description of the West Australian weapons and utensils.
Perhaps the most interesting of all the offensive weapons used by the natives of the western part of the continent is the Kylie or boomerang. It is essentially the same as that found in the southern and eastern colonies, but it is somewhat different in form, and is exceedingly thin and leaf-like. Some of those in my possession are scarcely three-tenths of an inch in thickness in the thickest parts, and they have knife-like edges. The weight of the heaviest is four and three-quarter ounces and the lightest a little under four ounces. The extreme length varies from twenty inches to twenty-three inches, and the breadth is from one and three-quarters to two inches. At first sight they appear to be quite flat; but a close examination shows that there is a slight
