233 



ON THE ''ON\^\R" OF MALEKULA, NEW HEBRIDES. 



By Walter R. Harper. 



That the use of the bow, just as the potter's art, should never 

 have spread into Polynesia is strange, but not more so than the 

 fact that in many islands of the Western Pacific it is unknown 

 or else is merely a toy for children. 



For instance, a bow 6 feet in height and strung with a strip of 

 rattan is a formidable offensive weapon in the Papuan Gulf, up 

 the Fly River, and in North-eastern New Guinea, yet the natives 

 of vast areas of that island (as in the south-east) are unacquainted 

 with it. In the Bismarck Archipelago it is used as a toy on New 

 Britain,* and on New Ireland not at all.f In the Solomon 

 Group, although known in all the southern islands, it has given 

 place to long, heavy thrusting spears, and, in places, slings, | 

 except on Malanata, where it is still used in war. On Guadal- 

 canar, a small bow " with arrows made from the midrib of the 

 sago-palm is used solely for shooting birds or fish."§ In the 

 Santa Cruz Group it is an implement of warfare, and in the 

 Banks Islands is the principal weapon, spears being practically 

 unknown there. || Where it has not been displaced by firearms, 

 it is common through the New Hebrides, together with spears 

 and slings. It is known in the Loyalty Group,^ but is not found 

 on the great neighbouring island of New Caledonia. In the 

 Fijis, the limit of its distribution to the east, it is little more 



* Eev. B. Danks, Report Aust. Assoc. Adv. Science, Vol. iv, 



+ Ratzel, " History of Mankind," Vol. i., p. 234. 



X Codrington. " The Melanesians," p. 305. 



§ C. M. Woodford, " A Naturalist among the Head-Hunters," p. 30. 



II Codrington, op. cit. , p. 360. 



M Ratzel, op. cit., p. 234. 



