No. 2 (1920) OUTRIGGER CANOES OF INDONESIA III 



Madagascar at the present day. With the gradual abandonment 

 of the outrigger form that appears to have been in progress 

 in Java during recent centuries— possibly since the advent of 

 dominant Muhammadan (Arab) influence — this outrigger type 

 has gradually degenerated. The double form, most suitable for 

 deep-sea work, has been entirely superseded by the weatherly 

 Malay fcolek or majang, whilst the single form, possibly retained in 

 use from the earliest times for inshore fishing has so deteriorated 

 that two booms are now seldom used, the fore one only being 

 retained in the majority of cases. 



I am disposed to consider the Amboina loop and the Buru 

 U-type as derived from Polynesian and Papuasian types in which 

 the secondary connecting booms and float is formed of several 

 rod-shaped stanchions. At Humbolt's Bay in New Guinea, two 

 pairs of stanchions placed obliquely in such manner as to show a 

 V-shaped outline when viewed from in front or from behind, form 

 the connexion. If a V-shaped fork be substituted for separate 

 rods placed obliquely or in U-fashion we get a variation closely 

 approximating to the Ceram variety of the Buru type ; the U-shaped 

 joint would soon follow, as this form is clearly stronger and more 

 easily lashed on than a sharp-angled V-joint. From the U joint to 

 the Amboina loop or O-type is a short step in variation or evolution. 



