in length, two and a half to three inches and a half in breadth, and about one inch in thickness. They are dish-shaped, and the part used for polishing is smooth, and in some specimens much hollowed. In one case both sides of the stone have been used for sharpening. Some are of dense sandstone—nearly all quartz—and others of micaceous schists and sandstones of various degrees of hardness.
These stones were used for polishing the edges of tomahawks, and for finishing clubs, shields, &c. They are found occasionally on or a little beneath the surface of the ground all over the colony. When much worn, they are liable to break in the middle, and the half of a sharpening-stone of this kind is often seen.
Mr. Turner, of Mooroolbark, says that when polishing a tomahawk with a stone of this kind the native holds the stone between the toes of one foot, and slowly sharpens his axe, which he has in his right hand, by gently rubbing the edges in the hollow.
Wye-wye-a-nine says that amongst his people the men were accustomed to grind and polish their axes on any suitable stone that they could find, and that this was done day by day, as opportunity served. The same native saw an oval-shaped piece of rough gritty sandstone in my collection, which was sent to me by Mr. John Green as a specimen of the stone (Yourri-urrok) used for sharpening the heads of spears. He recognised it at once, and told me that the name of it in his tribe was Mirg-ma-rook, and that it was commonly employed for the purpose stated.
Another piece of stone—(Fig. 220)—a weather-worn fragment of micaceous sandstone, hard and gritty—was used for rasping the sapling and shaping it into the form of a spear. The name of this stone is Wallen-jah; and though bearing the same name as the fragment shown in Fig. 215, has not exactly the same use. The latter is used for scraping the sapling, the former for rasping and shaping it; the one is a cutting instrument, the other a sharpening-stone. This specimen was found by one of the Geological Surveyors in the basin of the River Loddon.
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| FIG. 220.—(Scale ¼.) | FIG. 221.—(Scale ⅓.) |
This fragment (Fig. 221) was used for sharpening the points of the wooden spears. It also is named Wallen-jah in the Lower Murray district. It would appear that the natives had several stone implements all called Wallen-jah, which were employed in making spears at different stages of the operation.
The stone shown in Fig. 215—a chip of basalt with a cutting edge—was used for scraping off the bark and removing excrescences from the sapling; that shown in Fig. 220—a piece of rough sandstone of irregular form—as a
