The spears of the Port Essington natives may be divided into two classes--first, those thrown with the hand alone, and second, those propelled by the additional powerful leverage afforded by the throwing-stick.

The hand-spears are made entirely of wood, generally the wallaroo, in one or two pieces, plain at the point or variously toothed and barbed; a small light spear of the latter description is sometimes thrown with a short cylindrical stick ornamented at one end with a large bunch of twisted human hair.

The spears of the second class are shafted with reed.

The smallest, which is no bigger than an arrow, is propelled by a large flat and supple throwing-stick to a great distance, but not with much precision.

Of the larger ones (from eight to twelve feet in length) the two most remarkable are headed with a pointed, sharp-edged, flatly-triangular piece of quartz or fine-grained basalt, procured from the mountains beyond the isthmus.
These large reed-shafted spears are thrown with a stiff flat throwing-stick a yard long, and with pretty certain effect within sixty paces.
ARTICLES OF FOOD.
The food of the aborigines consists chiefly of fish and shellfish, to which as subsidiary articles may be added lizards, snakes, possums, various birds, and an occasional kangaroo, turtle, dugong, or porpoise.
Several roots (one of which is a true yam) together with various fruits in their seasons--especially a cashew-nut or Anacardium, also the base of the undeveloped central leaves of the cabbage-palm, are much prized.