EtlmograpLy of Micronesia. 73 



representing cockatoos. It is increasingly evident from these quota- 

 tions that the prow ornaments are intended as charms for ensuring 

 the safety of a voyage, etc. Further, it is of extreme interest to 

 see that even the human-like representations on the prow may be 

 traced in their development back to the figures of birds. 



Tlie custom of ornamenting the prow with carved figures of 

 birds is, of course, found in many other islands. A model of the 

 canoe of the Moro tribe in Mindanao, which is preserved in the 

 Anthropological Institute of the Tokyo Imperial University, has a 

 blue-painted carving of a bird affixed to the prow. According to 

 A. C. Haddon,^ the natives of Teste, a small island situated south- 

 east of New Guinea (Teste with the neighbouring islands form the 

 Massim District), adorn the pr(3w with wooden carvings represent- 

 ing in all probability the frigate bird. Again, 0. Finch'^ writes 

 that similar ornaments of birds are found iu Trabriand, another 

 island of the Massim District. Further, this custom may be met 

 with not only in British New Guinea but also in the Dutch portion 

 of the island. According to Van der Sande'^ and K. Th. Preuss,* 

 the natives on the northern coast of Dutch New Guinea ornament 

 the prows of their canoes with bird-figures and other representa- 

 tions. In his recent paper, C. G. Seligmann^^ describes the bird- 

 figure prow ornaments from Humboldt Bay, Dutch New Guinea ; 

 he compares them with similar ornaments from British New 

 Guinea, pointing out their mutual relationship. We find also the 



1 A. C. Hacldon, "The Decorative Art of British îsew Giünea," l89i, p. 197; PI. XU, 

 fig. 185. 



- O. Fincli, "Ethnologischer Atlas. Typen aus der Steinzeit Îseu-Guineas," Leipzig, 1888, 

 ]). 127 ; Taf. VII, -fig. 6. 



3 G. A. J. Van der Sande, " Nova Giünea, III. Ethnog. and Anthr.," p. 208 ; Pis. XXII, XXIII. 



4 K. Th. Preiiss, "Künstlerische Darstellungen aus dem Deut seh -Holländischen Grenzgebiet 

 in Neu-Gmnea," Intern. Arch. f. Ethnog., XII, 1899, p. 169 ; Taf. V. 



5 C. G. Seligmann, " Canoe Prow Ornaments from Netherlands New Guinea," Man, XVII, 

 1917, 30 and PI. C. 



