ull of gravy. In the opinion of Captain Grey, wild
fowl dressed in this manner, on a clean piece of bark, was as good a
dish as he had ever eaten.

[53] The kiley, or boomerang, is a thin curved missile, which can be
thrown by a skilful hand so as to rise upon the air, and its crooked
course may be, nevertheless, under control. It is about two feet four
inches in length, and nine and a half ounces in weight. One side, the
uppermost in throwing, is slightly convex, the lower side is flat. It
is amazing to witness the feats a native will perform with this weapon,
sometimes hurling it to astonishing heights and distances, from which,
however, it returns to fall beside him; and sometimes allowing it to
fall upon the earth, but so as to rebound, and leap, perhaps, over a
tree, or strike some object behind.

But there are many other kinds of food which custom, and perhaps
necessity, have rendered palatable to the people of New Holland, but
which we can regard only with disgust and aversion. Among these it may
be scarcely just to reckon _frogs_, since they are an article of food in
one of the most polished nations of Europe, and those who have tasted
them properly dressed have usually no fault to find with their flavour.
The season in Australia for catching frogs and fresh-water shell-fish,
is when the swamps are nearly dried up by the heat; these animals then
bury themselves in holes in the mud, and the native women, with their
long sticks, and taper arms, which they plunge up to the shoulder in the
slime, manage to drag them out. In summer a whole troop of females may
be seen paddling about in a swamp, slapping themselves to kill the
mosquitoes and sandflies, and every now and then plunging their arms
down into the mud, and dragging forth their prey. Sometimes one of these
women may be seen with ten or twelve pounds' weight of frogs in her bag.
Frogs are cooked on a slow fire of wood-ashes, and being held in one
hand by the hind legs, a dexterous pinch with the finger and thumb of
the other at once removes the lower portion of the intestines, and the
remainder of the little animal is then taken at a mouthful. Muscles are
also abundant in the rivers, and in the north-western parts of New
Holland they form a principal article of food; but in the south-western
districts the inhabitants will not touch them, for there is a tradition
that some persons long ago ate them and died by means of sorcerers,
who consi