CHISELS AND GOUGES. 



91 



In all cases the intention seems to be to honor the stone implement rather than 

 the temporary owner. As the warrior in mediaeval times held his sword in rever- 

 ence, so the artisan of the 

 stone age regarded his principal 

 tool as most worthy- of honor. 



Chisels and Gouges. — We 



have seen in the illnstration of 

 the adzes of the Solomon islands 

 (Fig. 81) forms closely adapted 

 for cutting grooves or for the 

 more general work of a chisel, 

 and among the ancient Hawaii- 

 ans both chisels and gouges were 

 in nse during the period preced- 

 ing the introdu6lion of steel. So 

 far as my experience goes the 

 latter tool was more commonly 

 formed from a marine shell 

 {Alifra or Tcrcbra sp. ), the 

 basal portion being ground at a 

 suitable angle, while the taper- 

 ing apical end served conveni- 

 ently for a handle. The Bishop 

 Museum has lately?, however, 

 come into possession (in a lot 

 of material recentlj^ used in 

 heathen praftices) of a well- 

 made stone gouge which is 

 shown in Fig. 92. It is 5 iu. 

 long, 0.6 in. wide at the cutting 

 edge, and weighs 3.5 oz. 



About the same time Mr. Paul 

 Hofer gave to the Museum the 

 finest stone chisel that I have 

 ever seen. This is shown in 

 Fig. 91, and is 6.8 in. long, 

 weighs 7.7 oz., and has a cutting edge of 0.5 in. Of a form suitable for holding in the 

 hand it must have been a serviceable tool for carving images or the like, and certainly 



required no handle. It has been carefulh" ground on all sides in such a wa}' that it 



[423] 



FIG. 89. CEREMONIAL ADZES FROM MANGAIA. 



