Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/224

genious throw-sticks by means of which the native Australians are enabled to cast their weapon, with the greatest accuracy, an astonishingly long distance.

The boomerang, or bommerang as it is sometimes called, is one of the most mysterious weapons known. Evolved by slow degrees from a simple war club by the ignorant and savage Australians, this instrument excites the interest and astonishes the civilized man by its strange and apparently unaccountable properties. To all appearances it is a simple, roughly hewn club, yet its movements when thrown by an expert hand are so eccentric as to make it a curious anomaly even to persons educated in natural philosophy. Whatever is wonderful or marvellous is always a subject of peculiar interest to mankind generally, but to boys an inexplicable natural phenomenon is a treasure-trove of immeasurable value.

With boiling water scald a piece of well-seasoned elm, ash, or hickory plank that is free from knots. Allow the wood to Image missingFig. 123. remain in the water until it becomes pliable enough to bend into the form indicated by Fig. 123. When it has assumed the proper curve, nail on the side pieces A, A (Fig. 123) to hold the wood in position until it is thoroughly dry; after which the side pieces may be removed, with no fear that the plank will not retain the curve imparted.

Saw the wood into as many pieces as it will allow (Fig. 124 B), and each piece will be a boomerang in the rough that only