war purposes. The former averaged from eight to ten
feet, whilst the latter varied from ten to fourteen feet in length; the
blade in each case, however, consisting either of bone or stone, with a
shaft of some light hard wood. Metals were, of course, perfectly unknown
as workable materials. The war-spear was not hurled javelin-fashion like
the hunting-spear, but propelled by means of a wommerah, which, in
reality, was a kind of sling, perhaps twenty-four inches long, with a
hook at one end to fix on the shaft of the spear. In camp the men mainly
occupied their time in making spears and mending their weapons. They
hacked a tree down and split it into long sections by means of wedges, in
order to get suitable wood for their spear-shafts.

To catch emus the hunters would construct little shelters of grass at a
spot overlooking the water-hole frequented by these birds, and they were
then speared as they came down for water. The largest emu I ever saw, by
the way, was more than six feet high, whilst the biggest kangaroo I came
across was even taller than this. Snakes were always killed with sticks,
whilst birds were brought down with the wonderful boomerang.

As a rule, only sufficient food was obtained to last from day to day; but
on the occasion of one of the big _battues_ I have described there would
be food in abundance for a week or more, when there would be a horrid
orgy of gorging and one long continuous _corroboree_, until supplies gave
out.

The sport which I myself took up was dugong hunting; for I ought to have
mentioned that I brought a harpoon with me in the boat, and this most
useful article attracted as much attention as anything I had. The
natives would occasionally put their hands on my tomahawk or harpoon, and
never ceased to wonder why the metal was so cold.

Whenever I went out after dugong, accompanied by Yamba (she was ever with
me), the blacks invariably came down in crowds to watch the operation
from the beach.

But, you will ask, what did I want with dugong, when I had so much other
food at hand? Well my idea was to lay in a great store of dried
provisions against the time when I should be ready to start for
civilisation in my boat. I built a special shed of boughs, in which I
conducted my curing operations; my own living-place being only a few
yards away. It was built quite in European fashion, with a sloping roof.
The interior was perhaps twenty feet square and ten feet high, with a