nown as the boomerang,--of which every one
has heard, but which few have seen. It is a weapon whose characteristics
have caused its name to pass into a synonym for anything which turns
upon the person who uses it. It seems at first sight to be only a flat,
crooked, or curved piece of polished wood, about twenty-eight inches
long and three-quarters of an inch in thickness. There is nothing
remarkable about this weapon until we see a native throw one. In doing
this he carefully poises himself, makes a nice calculation as to
distance, raises his arm above his head, and brings it down with a sort
of swoop, swiftly launching the curved wood from his hand. At first the
boomerang skims along near the ground, then rises four or five feet, but
only to sink again, and again to rise. As we carefully watch its course,
and suppose it just about to stop in its erratic career, and drop,
spent, to the ground, it suddenly ceases its forward flight, and rapidly
returns to the thrower. It is thought that no white man can exactly
learn the trick of throwing this strange weapon, and certainly few ever
care to attempt it a second time.

Ethnologists tell us that these blacks belong to the Ethiopian
race,--they are the lowest probably of all the human family. The
conviction forces itself upon us that they must be the remnant of some
ancient people of whom we have no historic record. When Australia was
first taken possession of by the whites, it seems to have been, if the
term is in any instance admissible, a God-forsaken land; certainly it
was the most destitute of natural productions of any portion of the
globe. We can well believe that before these blacks came
hither,--perhaps a thousand years ago,--this land was untrodden by human
beings.

No species of grain was known to these natives; not a single fruit
worthy of notice grew wild, and not an edible root of value was
produced. The only game of any size was the kangaroo and a few species
of birds. Now, the trees, fruits, vegetables, and game of all regions
have become domesticated here, proving to be highly productive, whether
transplanted from tropical or from semi-tropical regions.

Queensland measures thirteen hundred miles from north to south, and is
about eight hundred miles in width, containing a population at the
present time of three hundred and forty thousand. The climate may be
compared to that of Madeira, and it is entirely free from the hot winds
which sometimes render Sydne