To Make A Spear Must Be A Work Of Many Weeks' Duration, When The Imperfect
Implements At The Natives' Disposal Are Taken Into Consideration.
In the
first place, his missile must be perfectly straight, and of the hardest
wood; and no bough, however
Large, would fulfil these requirements, so it
must be cut out bodily from the stem of an iron-bark tree, and the nearer
the heart he can manage to get, the better will be his weapon. His sole
tool with which to attack a giant iron-bark is a miserable tomahawk, or
hatchet, made of stone, but little superior to the rude Celtic flint
axe-heads, that may be seen in any antiquarian's collection. These are of
a very hard stone, frequently of a greenish hue, and resembling jade; and,
having been rubbed smooth, are fitted with a handle on the same principle
that a blacksmith in England twists a hazel wand round a cold chisel. The
head, and the portion of the handle which embraces it, then receive a
plentiful coating of bees'-wax, and the weapon is ready for use. Fancy
having to chop out a solid piece of wood, nine feet long, and of
considerable depth, from a standing tree, with an instrument such as I have
described, which can never, by any possibility be brought to take an edge!
I have frequently examined the trees from which spears have been thus
excised, and the smallness of the chips testified to the length of the
tedious operation; indeed, it would be more correct to say the segment had
been bruised out than excised.
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