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[Page 7]
The spear selected for description has the shaft scarfed and is tri-pronged. Both portions of the former consist of stick-saplings fined down. The following are the measurements:-
ft in
Length overall 11 2
" of butt 4 0
" shaft proper 5 2
" prongs 2 0
The butt is cupped for the reception by a woomerah peg at the proximal end, & bound with coarse native twine; at the distal end it is scarfed to fit against the corresponding proximal scarf on the shaft piece, this union being also bound or lashed with similar twine. The head , or distal end of the shaft is grooved on three faces to receive the basal ends of the prongs, the whole union for the length of eight inches being again bound round or whipped with a native twine. The inserted position of the prongs is five inches, leaving a barbed length of nineteen inches; the blunt barbs are cut out of the solid, one behind the other & all facing inwards, but their distance apart on the same prong is not uniform varying from one to two inches.