82 BULLETIN 137, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



hollowed slabs of wood, one of which is fitted with a transverse 

 perforation near the distal end for attachment of suspension cord. 

 The scabbard is wrapped with cord in double crossed roll which is 

 covered with pitched cloth. 



Length of blade, 17.5 centimeters (9.9. inches) ; length over all, 

 sheath included, 32.6 centimeters (12.8 inches). Collected by 

 Richard Coleman. (PI. 13, No. 2.) Cat. No. 205551, U.S.N.M. 



Dagger^ eastern Mindcmao. — The blade of this dagger " balarao " 

 is more lanceolate leaf-shaped and shorter in proportion to breadth 

 of blade than is No. 205551, U.S.N.M. The scabbard also varies 

 from No. 205551, U.S.N.M. in that it is incurved, an arrangement 

 secured by cutting off one of the two component slabs, enlarging the 

 other, and carving it to dovetail with the truncated slab. 



Length over all, 29.5 cubic centimeters (11.6 inches) ; length of 

 blade, 15.4 cubic centimenters (6 inches). Collected by Dr. Robert 

 B. Grubbs. Cat. No. 3515, U.S.N.M. 



Malay dagger. — The blade is of well-tempered steel. It tapers- 

 from the guard piece downward to the acute pointed distal end 

 and is slightly curved, but is not of the wavy kris type. The ante- 

 rior cutting edge is concave while the posterior is convex. The 

 blade has flattened and unornamented lateral sides except for the 

 slope near the edges and is 0.6 cubic centimeters in section. The 

 guard piece is distinct from the blade and is slotted to fit over the 

 tang end. The pistol-shape handle is curved downward or ante- 

 riorly like the handle of a kris. The ferrule is of punched silver,, 

 having a coppery glint; it is studded with a fretwork of embossect 

 floral design. The polished hardwood grip and pommel are carved 

 with representation of an animal figure, probably mythical, and 

 resembling a seal or probably a snake. This conventionalized figure 

 occurs on handle carving of many daggers produced in Malaysia.. 



Length of blade, 25 cubic centimeters (9 inches) ; length of blade 

 and scabbard, 39.7 cubic centimeters (15.6 inchs). 



The old form of scabbard is composed of three pieces of hollowed 

 wood or bamboo, the proximal end piece, the long central section, 

 and the cap piece at the distal end. In specimen (cat. No. 3897, 

 U.S.N.M.) the two end pieces are formed of highly polished but 

 unornamented light tanguile wood, while the central sector, which 

 is 20.5 cubic centimeters (8.1 inches) long, is formed from a darker 

 colored piece of wood. The scabbard is characteristically Malay 

 in that it consists of three distinct pieces and in the curved flare 

 of the outwardly projecting flanges of the proximal end or guard 

 piece, which reaches a total length of 16.5 cubic centimeters (6.5. 

 inches). 



