Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 02Eyre, Edward John
History
Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 02
Eyre, Edward John
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Ethnology -- Australia
the arm is then drawn back, the weapon levelled to the eye, a quivering
motion given to it to steady it, and it is hurled with a rapidity, force,
and precision quite incredible.
The Wangn or wangno (the boomerang of Eastern and kiley of Western
Australia) is another simple but destructive weapon, in the hands of the
native. It consists of a thin, flat, curved piece of hard wood, about two
feet long, made out of the acacia pendula or gum-scrub, the raspberry-jam
wood, or any other of a similar character, a branch or limb is selected
which has naturally the requisite curve (an angle from one hundred to one
hundred and thirty degrees) and is dressed down to a proper shape and
thickness, and rounded somewhat at the bend, those whose angles are
slightly obtuse, are usually thrown with the sharp edge against the wind,
and go circling through the air with amazing velocity, and to a great
height and distance, describing nearly a parabola and descending again at
the foot of the person who throws them; those which have the largest
obtuse angle are thrown generally against the ground from which they
bound up to a great height, and with much force. With both, the natives
are able to hit distant objects with accuracy, either in hunting or in
war; in the latter case this weapon is particularly dangerous, as it is
almost impossible, even when it is seen in the air, to tell which way it
will go, or where descend. I once nearly had my arm broken by a wangno,
whilst standing within a yard of the native who threw it, and looking out
purposely for it.
The (katta twirris) or two-edged sword is a formidable weapon, used among
the tribes to the north of Adelaide, exclusively for war; another weapon,
common among the same tribes, is the katta, a round chisel-pointed stick,
about three feet long, and used principally in pitched battles between
two individuals.
Another weapon is an angular piece of hard wood, pointed and shaped very
much like a miner's pick, the longer or handle-end being rounded and
carved, to give a firmer grasp; another dreadful weapon, intended for
close combat, is made out of hard wood, from two to three feet long,
straight and with the handle rounded and carved for the grasp, which has
an immense pointed knob at the end; the bwirri, is also a weapon of hard
wood about two feet long, rather slight and merely smoothed in the
handle, with a round knob at the extremity, it is principally thrown, and
with very great precision; but is more generally used after game than in
warfare.
The shield (tar-ram) is made out of the bark or wood of the gum-tree, and
varies in shape and device, the ordinary shield is about two or two and a
half feet long, from eight to eighteen inches across, and tapering from
the middle towards the extremities, two holes are made near the centre,
through which a piece of wood is bent for a handle; shields are always
carved and painted in time of war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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