Two 19th century Australian Cat-O-Nine Tail Whips Each with a primitive turned and shaped tapering wooden handle, one with seven lead tipped rope tails, the other with nine hide tails, the handles 47 cm long. Provenance: note from the present owner: The present owner's family operated a removal and storage company in Hobart, Tasmania for over 100 years, the founder of the company was William Green. In a period, believed to be between 1930 and 1945, a gentleman, whose name is now unknown, deposited household goods in their store that came from the Port Arthur area. The goods were never collected, storage was never paid and no contact was ever recieved from the owner. In line with the usual procedure with unclaimed goods left for so many years, all items were disposed of with the exception of the cat o'nine tail whips, which were kept due to the history associated with them and their origin being from Port Arthur. After this lengthy period, the owner has decided to sell these items as they may be of interest to historians, museums or collectors. The whips have obviously been well used and one in particular has actually lost two tails. They are certainly a grim reminder of the history associated with the convict settlement at Port Arthur