The stone or glass heads are firmly fixed in a lump of spinifex gum, and this is held firm on the shaft by kangaroo tail sinews.  The shaft is of cane for half its length, the upper part being of bamboo, which is found on the banks of the northern rivers.

Up to a distance of eighty to one hundred yards the spears can be thrown with fair accuracy and great velocity.

The length of these spears varies from 10 feet to 15 feet.  The one shown in sketch is of glass, and is one-half actual size.

In the Nor’-West (that is, the country lying between the Gascoyne and Oakover rivers), wooden spear-heads with enormous barbs are used.  Sometimes the barbs are placed back to back, so that on entering a body they can be pulled neither forward nor back.

C. The woomera (or Wommera)—­the throwing-board—­held in the hand as in sketch.  The spears rest on the board, and are kept in place by the first finger and thumb and by the bone point A, which fits into a little hollow on the end of the shaft.  The action of throwing resembles that of slinging a stone from a handkerchief.  As the hand moves forward the spear is released by uplifting the forefinger, and the woomera remains in the hand.  These boards vary in size and shape considerably; that shown in the sketch is from the northern portion of the desert.  In the central portion the weapons are more crude and unfinished.  In the handle end of the woomera a sharp flint is often set, forming a sort of chisel.

In Kimberley the long spears are thrown with narrow and light boards varying from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 6 inches in length.

I believe that the method of holding the spear varies somewhat, some natives placing the handle of the woomera between the first and remaining fingers.

2.  Tomahawks.—­D.  Iron-headed; E. Stone-headed.

D. Pieces of iron, such as horseshoes, fragments of the tyres of wheels, and so forth, are traded from tribe to tribe for many hundreds of miles.  Those shown in sketch were found about lat. 21 degrees 50 minutes, long. 126 degrees 30 minutes.

E. Stone tomahawk—­from Sturt Creek—­given to me by Mr. Stretch.

The head is of a very dark and hard green stone, ground to a fine edge, and is set between the two arms of the handle and held in place with spinifex gum.

The handle is formed by bending round (probably by means of fire) a single strip of wood.

The two arms of the handle are sometimes held together by a band of hair-string.

The iron tomahawks are similarly made.

3.  Boomerangs.—­These weapons are now so well known that a description of the ordinary pattern would be superfluous.  However, near Dwarf Well we found one of uncommon shape; and until reading a book on a Queensland tribe I was unaware of its use, nor could I find any one who had seen one of like shape.  The weapon in question is the beaked or hooked boomerang (F).