Northwards, through the territories of the Kukata, Arrabonna, Wongapitcha, Aluridja, Arunndta, and Cooper Creek tribes, the shape becomes leaf-shaped and generally of concave section, with a well-shaped haft and broad flint scraper; the peg is attached with resin and sinew. Within this same area, another type is less frequently met with, which is of similar shape, but flat; it is really used more for show purposes, and for that reason is usually decorated with engraved circles and lines, which during some of the ceremonies are further embellished with ochre and coloured down.
The last-named is the prevalent type, which extends westwards as an elongate form through the Murchison district right through to the Warburton River, where it is again broader. In both the areas mentioned, the inner surface of the spear-thrower is deeply incised with series of parallel, angular bands made up of transverse notches. In the south of Western Australia, the shape remains the same, but the incised ornamentation disappears.
Yet another variety comes from the old Narrinyerri tribe and from the lower reaches of the River Murray, where it was known as “taralje.” It is a small, flat, spatulate form, elongated at both ends, the lower (and longer) prolongation making the handle, the upper carrying a point of bone or tooth deeply embedded in resin. The inner side, against which the spear is laid, is flat, the outer surface being convex. The handle is circular in section and is rounded off at the bottom to a blunt point. The convex side is occasionally decorated with a number of pinholes, arranged in a rudely symmetrical pattern.
All through the northern districts of the Northern Territory and the Northern Kimberleys, the principal type is a long light-wood blade, tapering slightly from the handle end to the point and having comparatively flat or slightly convex sides. A handle is shaped by rounding off the ends and cutting away some of the wood symmetrically on each side, a few inches down. A clumsy-looking peg is attached to one of the flat surfaces at the opposite, narrower end with beeswax. The peg is made big on account of the instrument being exclusively used to propel the reed-spears, which are naturally hollow, and consequently have a large opening or pit at the bottom end. This type of thrower is nearly always decorated in an elaborate way with ochre. When used, the thrower and spear are held by the right hand in such a way that the shaft of the latter passes, and is held, between the thumb and index finger, the remaining fingers holding the handle of the thrower. Vide [Plate XIV], 2.
A spear-thrower used exclusively for projecting the small variety of reed-spear is known to the Larrekiya, Wogait, Wordaman, Berringin, and a few other coastal tribes of the Northern Territory. It consists of a rod of hard wood, four feet or so in length, tapering a little towards either end. A lump of resin is attached to one end, and, whilst warm and plastic, is moulded into a blunt point, which fits into the hole at the bottom of the spear. At about five inches from the opposite end, a rim of resin is fixed, and from it a layer, decreasing in thickness, is plastered around the stick to near the extremity. When using this thrower, the hand is placed above the resin-rim, and the shaft of the spear is held by the thumb against the top of the middle finger, without the aid of the index finger. In addition to this, its principal function, the thrower is often used for making fire, the native twirling its lower point against another piece of wood.
A variety of the above type is found in the Gulf of Carpentaria country, on the MacArthur River, which has a tassel of human hair-string tied with vegetable fibre immediately below the rim of resin around the handle.
One of the most remarkable of all spear-throwers is made by the Larrekiya, and other Northern Territory tribes, consisting of a long, leaf-shaped, and very thin, flexible blade, flat on one side and slightly convex on the other. The peg is pear-shaped, and is fixed with vegetable string and beeswax. The handle is thick and cone-shaped, and covered with a thin layer of resin or wax. It is ornamented with rows of small pits, which are pricked into the mass while warm with the point of a fish bone or sharpened stick. The instrument is so thin and fragile that only experienced men dare handle it. At times the blade is curved like a sabre.
In addition to serving as a projecting apparatus, most of the hard-wood spear-throwers with sharp edges are used for producing fire by the rubbing or sawing process; those of concave section also take the place of a small cooleman, in which ochre, down, blood, and other materials are stored during the “making up” period of a ceremony.
Any of the flat types of spear-thrower may be used for making fire by the “sawing process.” The edge of the implement is rubbed briskly across a split piece of soft wood until the red-hot powder produced by the friction kindles some dry grass which was previously packed into the cleft. The spark is then fanned into a flame, as previously referred to ([page 111]).