1845. O. Wendell Holmes, `Modest Request' (in Poems):
"Like the strange missile which the Australian throws,
Your verbal boomerang slaps you on the nose."
1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 39:
"This instrument, called a bommereng, is made of wood, and is much like the blade of a scimitar. I believe it has been introduced into England as a plaything for children."
1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 57:
"The boomerang is an extraordinary missile, formed in the shape of a crescent, and when propelled at an object, apparently <i>point blank</i>, it turns in any direction intended by the thrower, so that it can actually be directed in this manner against a person standing by his side. The consummate art visible in its unnatural-looking progression greatly depends upon the manner in which it is made to rebound from the ground when thrown."
1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 107;
"He [Sir Thomas Mitchell] applied to the screw propeller the revolving principle of the boomerang of the Australian natives."
1867. G. G. McCrae, `Balladeadro,' p. 25:
"While circling thro' the air there sang
The swift careering boomerang."