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 By Eyre, Edward John
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Each Spear Averages From Six To
Eight Feet In Length, And Is Thrown With Facility And Precision To
Distances, Varying From Thirty To One Hundred Yards, According To The
Kind Made Use Of, And The Skill Of The Native In Using It.
Of the large spear there is - 1, the karkuroo, or smooth heavy spear, made
of the gum-scrub; 2,
The same description of weapon, barbed with
fragments of flint or quartz; 3, another variety, having five or six jags
cut at the point, upon one side; and 4, a similar weapon, with the same
number of barbs cut upon both sides of the point: each of them is from
twelve to fourteen feet long, and is thrown with most deadly force and
accuracy to distances of from thirty to forty feet. The fishing spear has
already been described. The Nga-wa-onk, or throwing stick is from
twenty to twenty-six inches in length, and is of a very similar character
throughout the continent, varying a little in width or shape according to
the fashion of particular districts. It consists of a piece of hard wood,
broad about the middle, flattened and sometimes hollowed on the inside,
and tapering to either extremity; at the point the tooth of a kangaroo is
tied and gummed on, turning downwards like a hook; the opposite end has a
lump of pitch with a flint set in it, moulded round so as to form a knob,
which prevents the hand from slipping whilst it is being used, or it is
wound round with string made of the fur of the opossum for the same
purpose.
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