nstrument 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. Having so far
achieved his task, there is still a great deal before the black can
boast of a complete spear, for the bar is several inches in diameter,
and has to be fitted down to less than one inch. Of the use of wedges
he knows nothing, so is compelled to work away with the tomahawk, and
to call in the aid of fire; and when he has managed to reduce the spear
to something approaching its proper size, he gets a lot of
oyster-shells, and with them completes the scraping, and puts on the
finishing touches. It may easily be imagined what a boon glass must be
to the savage, enabling him to do the latter part of the operation in a
tithe of the time.

I am afraid that it is often the habit with us Australians to either
destroy or carry away as curiosities, the weapons and other little
things that the blacks manufacture, utterly regardless of the loss we
thus inflict upon them; for without his weapons the wretched native is
not only defenceless against neighbouring tribes, who would not scruple
to attack him when unarmed, but he is also literally deprived of the
means of subsistence. Without his spear, he is unable to transfix the
kangaroos and wallabies on which he so much depends for his daily food,
and, robbed of his boomerangs and nullah-nullahs, the wild duck can
pass him scatheless, and the cockatoo can scream defiance from the
lofty trees. I know that this practice of returning laden with native
spoil is more frequently the result of thoughtlessness or curiosity
than anything else. The implements appear so trumpery, that the
European thinks they can be of little use to anybody, but the bad blood
thus engendered between the aborigines and the settlers is greater than
would be easily credited. Another reason, I would venture to submit,
in opposition to this custom is, that in the case of the blacks doing
any mischief, no method of punishing them can possibly be devised equal
in severity to the destruction of their weapons. A tribe is rendered
more helpless and more innocuous by this than by shooting down half the
males, and I am sure that if they once found that only in ca