Either in the
quality of the wood, or in the seasoning, or in some particular which
we would not be apt to notice, it would, in all probability, differ
very much from the weapon carved out by the savage. If the American
mechanic was to throw his boomerang away from him, I think it would
stay away. There is no reason to believe that it would ever come back.
And yet there is nothing at all wonderful in the appearance of the
real boomerang. It is simply a bent club, about two feet long, smooth
on one side and slightly hollowed out on the other. No one would
imagine, merely from looking at it, that it could behave in any way
differently from any other piece of stick of its size and weight.
But it does behave differently, at least when an Australian savage
throws it. I have never heard of an American or European who was able
to make the boomerang perform the tricks for which it has become
famous. Throwing this weapon is like piano-playing; you have to be
brought up to it in order to do it well.
In the hands of the natives of Australia, however, the boomerang
performs most wonderful feats. Sometimes the savage takes hold of it
by one end, and gives it a sort of careless jerk, so that it falls on
the ground at a short distance from him.
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