108 BULLETIN 139^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The Polynesians possessed excellent wood for fire making in the 

 pariti (ante hibiscus) tiliaceum, which Dr. O. F. Cook argues was 

 introduced in the Polynesian islands from America. -^ 



The plowing method of fire making, however, has no reference to 

 the spread of the plant, as this method is not found in America. 



In Borneo the method is found among the natives of Sarawak, 

 and a valuable description which brings out details coinciding with 

 the process among the Polynesians is given by E. H. Lamont: 



"One of the men strikes fire by means of a small branch of soft 

 wood placed on the ground. Squatting opposite it, he holds it in its 

 place by one of his toes, whilst some one places a foot on the opposite 

 end for the same purpose. This piece of stick having been cut flat 

 on the upper side, a pointed piece of harder wood, when it can be 

 procured, is held in the right hand obliquely against the lower piece, 

 somewhat as we hold a pen, with the left hand pressing on the fingers 

 of the right to add force to it. It is first moved gently along the 

 line, the motion being graduall}^ quickened, till some brown dust is 

 scraped up at one end of the incision thus made, and the friction be- 

 ing then increased in velocity, the wood finally smokes and takes 

 fire. A dry piece of poro or huck, brought from the house where it 

 is kept for the purpose, readily ignites when the burning dust is 

 deposited in it, and being waved backwards and forwards is soon in 

 a blaze." 22 * 



The Solomon Islanders also use the plowing method : 



"A stake of dry, soft wood is selected, a convenient size being about 

 as thick as the wrist. For convenience a few chips are sliced off in 

 one place to make a flat surface to rest upon. The stake is then 

 placed upon the ground in front of the operator, who sits on one end 

 of it and holds it steady between liis toes. Then with a pencil-shaped 

 piece of harder wood, held firmly in both hands, he begins rubbing 

 up and down upon the flat surface. A groove is formed and a dark- 

 colored dust soon produced, which is pushed to the farther end of 

 the groove. The dust before long begins to smoke. The pace is 

 increased and it begins to smoulder. A piece of dry touchwood is 

 then applied to it and quickly blown into a glow. With perfectly 

 dry wood a native will almost certainly produce fire in less than a 

 minute. I may add that I have rubbed till my elbows and shoulders 

 have ached, but have never been able to produce more than smoke." ^^ 



The Tasmanians used the ordinary simple fire drill, but are occa- 

 sionally said to have used the plow method. It appears that the 



" O. F. and R. C. Cook. The Maho or Mahagua as a Trans-Pacific Plant, Journ. Washington Acad. 

 Sci., vol. 7, Mar. 19, 1918, pp. 153-170. 



2» Wild Life Among the Pacific Islanders, London, 1867, p. 156. 



" C. M. Woodford. A Naturalist Among the Head-Uunters, New York, 1890. See also The Sav- 

 age South Seas, by Norman Hardy and E. W. Elkington, London, 1907, p. 132. 



