carving, and are painted a bright colour; in other instances they are merely a rounded piece of wood, or a rod cut from the branch of a tree; whilst a still more primitive kind are made of a piece of bark. Instances have been observed where marked pieces of bone are used in a similar manner. They are marked in various ways, consisting of notches, dots, strokes, curves; and also with triangular, quadrilateral and zigzag devices. In some of the more elaborately carved there are rude representations of human beings, whilst in some tribes they are not marked at all, but consist merely of a plain piece of wood. "Stick letters" summoning festive gatherings are sometimes decorated with the down of birds, with or without other marks. In some tribes the wood used for making the stick must be of the same totemic division as the sender of the message, and the man who carries it must also belong to the same division. The marks are cut upon them with a piece of sharp stone, bone, or broken shell. These "talking sticks" appear to have been made according to some conventional design known among the tribes using them. One kind of stick is used for a corroboree where a large number of people assemble; another is used to convey messages or reminders between friends residing at some distance from each other. A certain sort of stick would be used for festive gatherings; another in cases of sickness or death, and so on. These sticks, differing perhaps but little in general appearance, would nevertheless be recognized by the people inhabiting the tract of country in which they were used, and would thus, to a certain extent, have a more or less fixed significance; which would, however, be very much restricted unless accompanied by a verbal explanation by the bearer. The stick is given to the messenger to assist him in remembering the heads of the message, by connecting them with certain pictures, marks, or notches cut upon it, which are explained to him before he sets out on his journey. The stick also serves as his credentials, being a confirmation or guarantee of the genuineness of the message. BULLROARERS made of wood, sometimes ornamented by carving on one or both sides, are used at those ceremonies where the boys are inaugurated into the rank of manhood. *For copies of the carvings on seven "message sticks," see my paper on that subject in The American Anthropologist, vo!. x, Plate VII. |