of twisted grass, with a fringe of strips of palm
leaves in front. the men go entirley naked. The aborigines make no
huts. In the wet weather a rude screen of leafy boughs, with palm
leaves--if any happen to grow in the neighbourhood--is set up as
a shelter.

14. The arms used by these natives are few and simple. Four sorts
of spears, made from the suckers of a very light wood tree with large
pith, headed with hard wood and generally topped with bone so as to
form a point or barb, are the most common. The end of the tail of a
species of ray fish is sometimes used as a point. It is serrated and
brittle, and on entering any object breaks short off. It is said to
be poisonous, but I do not believe such to be the case, as one of the
marines stationed here was speared in the shoulder with one of these
spears, and no poisonous effect was produced. The point which broke
short off, however, remained in the wound, and could not be extracted
for many months. The spear most commonly in use, and the most
effective, has merely a head of very hard wood, from a species of
acacia, scraped to a very fine sharp point. These are the only
spears which can be thrown with any precision to a distance--they
are sent with considerable force. I extracted two from the thigh of
one of my horses; the animal had another in the shoulder, which had
entered to a depth of five and a half inches. All spears are thrown
with the 'wommera', or throwing stick. A rudely made stone tomahawk
is in use among the Cape York natives, but it is now nearly
surperseded by iron axes obtained from the Europeans. I have seen no
other weapons among them; the boomerang and nulla-nulla (or club) are
not known.

15. The greatest ingenuity which the natives display is in the
construction and balancing of their canoes. These are formed from
the trunk of the cotton tree ('Cochlospermum') hollowed out. The
wood is soft and spongy, and becomes very light when dry. The canoes
are sometimes more than fifty feet in length, and are each capable of
containing twelve or fifteen natives. The hull is balanced and
steadied in the water by two outrigger poles, laid athwart, having a
float of light wood fastened across them at each end--so that it is
impossible for them to upset. A stage is formed on the canoe where
the outriggers cross, on which is carried the fishing gear, and,
invariably, also fire. The canoes are propelled by short paddles, or
a sail of palm-lea