ian savage
throws it. I have never heard of an American or European who was able
to make the boomerang perform the tricks for which it has become
famous. Throwing this weapon is like piano-playing; you have to be
brought up to it in order to do it well.

In the hands of the natives of Australia, however, the boomerang
performs most wonderful feats. Sometimes the savage takes hold of it
by one end, and gives it a sort of careless jerk, so that it falls on
the ground at a short distance from him. As soon as it strikes the
earth it bounds up into the air, turns, twists, and pitches about in
every direction, knocking with great force against everything in its
way. It is said that when it bounds in this way into the midst of a
flock of birds, it kills and wounds great numbers of them. At other
times the boomerang-thrower will hurl his weapon at an object at a
great distance, and when it has struck the mark it will turn and fall
at the feet of its owner, turning and twisting on its swift and
crooked way. This little engraving shows how the boomerang will go
around a tree and return again to the thrower. The twisted line
indicates its course.

Most astonishing stories are told of the skill with which the
Australians use this weapon. They will aim at birds or small animals
that are hidden behind trees and rocks, and the boomerang will go
around the trees and rocks and kill the game. They are the only people
who can with any certainty shoot around a corner. Not only do they
throw the boomerang with unerring accuracy, but with tremendous force,
and when it hits a man on the head, giving him two or three terrible
raps as it twists about him, it is very apt to kill him. To ward off
these dangerous blows, the natives generally carry shields when they
go out to fight. Sometimes an Australian throws two boomerangs at
once, one with his right hand and one with his left, and then the
unfortunate man that he aims at has a hard time of it.

Many persons have endeavored to explain the peculiar turning and
twisting properties of the boomerang, but they have not been entirely
successful, for so much depends not only on the form of the weapon,
but on the skill of the thrower. But it is known that the form of the
boomerang, and the fact that one of its limbs is longer and heavier
than the other, gives its centre of gravity a very peculiar situation;
and when the weapon is thrown by one end, it has naturally a tendency
to rotate, and the ma