Etlmugrapliy of Micronesia. 



51 



(Fig. 18, b). hi point (if sluipe, iKnvever, there is not much 

 variation. 



Utensils similar to tlie pounders mentioned above are also found 

 in Polynesia, where they are called poi pounders and are employed 

 for mashing baked tar(^. Tliere is no unif(^rmity in their size, 

 but it may he said that tiiey are generally of a better make th;in 

 those found in the Caroline Islands. Tlie mashing utensils which 

 are observed in the Hawaiian and Mar(iuesas Islands resemble most 

 closely the kinds in use in the Caroline Islands.^ In the Hawaiian 

 Islands, the pestles are made 

 from coral or basalt, as in the 

 Caroline Islands ; and as for 

 mashing boards, the islanders 

 have what are called poi- boards, 

 which are ma<lc of hard wood 

 and which have a slight hollow 

 in the middle.'-^ 



b. Shell Scrapers. Tools 

 obtained from cowry shells are 

 employed in paring the fresh bread-fruit. To make these scrapers, 

 holes are first bored in the dorsal portion of the shell, and then 

 the bored regions are rubbed thin and sharp. These scrapers are 

 found on all the islands. It may be added tliat in taking the 

 animal out of the shell, sometimes the dorsal portion, sometimes 

 the ventral is injured (Fig. 19). 



c. Wooden Knives. The islanders of Truk now employ iron 

 tools of a large size in cutting the taro, bread-fruit, etc., while in 

 Kusaie they make use of wooden knives or swords some 45 cm. 



Fig. 19.~ Shell scrapers from Pocapé ('() 

 and Tnik (b). 



1 British Museum, '• ffandbco'c to the Ethnographical Collections," il) 10, p. 117 ; tig. Vl'X 

 ^ W. A. Bryan, "Natural History of Hawaii," p. Gß. 



