FIRE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE 119 



ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE BAMBOO STRIKE-A-LIGHT 



One of the most surprising examples of aboriginal technology con- 

 nected with fire making is the bamboo strike-a-light . 



"For striking a light the men carry in their waist belt a small bam- 

 boo prettily carved, in which some tinder and a bit of porcelain are 

 kept out of the rain. B}^ holding the tinder and the piece of broken 

 plate in the right hand, and striking it sharp on the side of the bam- 

 boo, the tinder is lighted. " ^® 



Were it not for the scientific standing of those who have published 

 their observations on this method, the matter might be dismissed 

 as a traveler's tale. The flint and steel strike-a-light is easily 

 underetood as a scientific and widely distributed way of making fire, 

 but the use of wood instead of steel is anomalous, to say the least. 



The great naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace, in the well-known 

 work, The Malay Archipelago, describes the bamboo strike-a-hght as 

 follows: "The Ternate people use bamboo in another way. They 

 strike its flinty surface with a bit of broken china and produce a 

 spark, which they catch on some kind of tinder" (p. 332). 



In various other parts of Malaysia this fii'e-making device is found, 

 and in the Phihppines it is seen among the Battaks of Palawan and 

 the Mala3^s of Balaback. 



The device is found in Cochin China. 



The Alfuros of the Waigiou Islands, northwest of New Guinea, had 

 the bamboo and pottery apparatus. 



" Their method of obtaining fire was new to all of us, the spark 

 being struck from the hard, siliceous exterior of the bamboo and a 

 fragment of pottery, which latter article they had probably obtained 

 from the coast tribe." ^"^ 



These references indicate that the method had a considerable range, 

 possibly into the Congo region in West Africa. Its distribution has 

 not been worked out, but it is hoped that Henry Balfour will take up 

 the subject. The writer finds no difficulty in making fire by this 

 method. Observations on the specimens in the United States Na- 

 tional Museum show that a particular kind of bamboo having a hispid 

 siliceous coating is used. The Filipinos call tliis bamboo buyo. 

 Smooth bamboos are not serviceable. The tinder must be quick, and 

 the scm-f down of a species of Caryota palm (determined by Kew 

 Gardens) or the like is used. 



LENS AND MIRROR 



It is perhaps of minor consequence whether the lens and mirror 

 were used to make fire, as they could never have been of much im- 



«• D. D. Daly. Explorations in Nortli Borneo, Proc. Roy. Ocog. Soc, Jnnuary, 1888. 

 "F. H. II. Quillemard. Cruise of the Marchesa to Kamschatka and New Guinea. Second Edition, 

 New York, 1889, p. 371. 



