BY R. ETHERIDGE, JUNE. 



279 



The Rev. J. Watt Leggatt, of the Amy Gertrude Russell 

 Mission at Aulua, Mallicollo, says his natives do not use a spear- 

 thrower. (Letter to Mr. S. Sinclair, Ap. 27, 1899). 



I have now traced the occurrence of this remarkable implement 

 from New Caledonia to three of the New Hebridean Islands, or 

 vice versa as the case may be, for in the present state of our 

 knowledge it is impossible to say on which it originated. 



The spear-becket does not appear to be in use in the Solomon 

 Islands, Dr. H. B. Guppy, R.N., having failed to find any trace 

 of it in that group. He says* — " None of the contrivances for 

 assisting the flight of the spear, such as the throwing-stick or the 

 amentum, were employed by the natives of the islands we 

 visited." 



Whether or no it occurs in the Admiralty Group is still an 

 open question, for I am unable to find any published evidence of 

 the fact; on the contrary, such as does exist is in the negative. 

 In the " Challenger Narrative "f it is said — " Their only weapons 

 are lances or spears of several kinds, which are thrown with the 

 unaided hand, not even with a cord as in New Caledonia." It 

 must not be forgotten, however, that the " Challenger " Expedi- 

 tion remained but a brief period off" the Admiralty Islands, and 

 the members may have failed to notice so small an implement. 

 On the other hand, Mr. R. Parkinson, of Ralum, Blanche Bay, 

 New Britain, a well known contributor to German Ethnological 

 literature, and a traveller of wide range in the South Pacific, 

 assures me that some contrivance of a cord or sling-like nature 

 for spear propulsion does exist amongst these islanders, although 

 he is not acquainted with details of its construction. 



A form of spear-thrower was in existence amongst the Maoris. 

 Mr. W. P. Reeves in a recent workt says, " With help of a 

 throwing-stick, or rather whip, wooden spears could be thrown in 

 the sieges [of pahs] more than a hundred yards." Confirmation 



* Solomon Islands and their Natives, 18S7, p. ~-. 



t Challenger Narrative, i., Pt. 2, p. 718. 

 J The Long White Cloud, Ao-tea-roa, 1898, p. 48. 



