THE rOLYXESTAX BOW.* 



Bv E. Tkegeak. 



Pei'liiips ono ot'tlie most puzzlinu' inoblems known to aiitliropolo,iiists 

 is to aceoniit foi- the apparent dislike shown by the fair Polynesians 

 for the use of the bow^ and arrow. They fonnd the mighty weapon of 

 tlie arelier in the hands ot almost every Melanesiau or Papuan inliabi- 

 tant of the neighboring- islaudvS; they had experience of its fatal powers, 

 and yet, except in the case of tlie Tongans, the weapons appeared to 

 be viewed with disfavor and neglect. 



The bows used by the Tongans in the days of Cook were slight and 

 by no means powerful instruments. Each bow was titted with a single 

 arrow of reed, which was carried in a groove cut for that purpose along 

 the side of the bow itself. By the time that mariner arrived among 

 these islanders, in 18()(), they had possessed themselves of more power- 

 ful bows and arrows, probably j)rocured from Fiji or imitated from 

 Fijian weapons, as constant intercourse of either warlike or pacific 

 character was then going on between the Friendly and Fijian islands. 

 Moreover, they had also procured guns at that epoch. 



Tlie Hawaiian weai)ons were spears, javelins, clubs, stone axes, 

 knives, and slings; the use of the bow being contiiied to rat shooting. 

 The Tahitians used the bow only as a sacred ])laything; the bows, 

 arrows, quiver, etc., being kept in a certain place in charge of appointed 

 persons and brought out on stated occasions. The arrow was not 

 aimed at a mark, but merely shot off' as a test of strength and skiil, 

 one archer trying to shoot farther than another. The Samoans did 

 not use the bow, but fought with the club and spear, the sling being 

 the missile weapon, as it also was in the Mar<piesas. 



In regard to New Zealand, the subject has been handled at any 

 length only by two writers. The first was JMr. C Phillips, whose 

 paper appeared in the Transactions of the Xcw Zealand Institute, vol. 

 X, p. 97. The article did not deal with the bow pro})er so nuich as with 

 the weapon known to the Maoris as kotaha, which consists of a sfick 

 and whip with wiiich a spear is thrown. ^Ir. Phillips made some 

 incidental remarks on this paper, which ])rovoked Mr. Colenso to reply 

 in an article published in the Transactions of the Xeic Zealand Institute, 

 vol. XI, p. 100. 



*Froin The Journal of tlie Polynesian iSocktij (Welliuf^ton, New Zcahind), for April, 

 1892; Vol. I, pp. 56-59. 



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