1846.] ANT ISLANDS. 133 



distinctly until near low water. The islands received the 

 name of Ant Islands. They are situated at the extre- 

 mity of the long sandy bay, extending from Abai and 

 Tampassook. A small river discharges itself into the sea 

 at the termination of the sand ; it is not, however, acces- 

 sible until high water, and then at times unsafe, owing to 

 the prevailing ground swell and rollers which set in upon 

 this part of the coast. A long house, similar to those 

 noticed at the Tampassook mouth, stands upon the sandy 

 tongue, which I have little doubt is an Illanon haunt. 

 During the period that I was engaged in examining this 

 part of the coast, two horsemen made their appearance 

 on the hill above us, and, had opportunity offered, would 

 probably have treated us with a Sumpit arrow, as the 

 weapons which they bore much resembled the Sumpitan, 

 or tube from which it is discharged, and which they have 

 the character of using freely to the eastward of Brune. 



The Sumpitan is a tube formed of hard wood, generally 

 Casuarina equiseti/olia, the bore being of one quarter of 

 inch, and so truly executed that it is quite a matter of 

 surprise how it is effected, nor have I been able to learn. 

 The length varies from seven to eight feet, and one of its 

 peculiarities in manufacture is, that it will only remain 

 truly straight in one position. When this is determined, 

 an iron sight is fixed on the upper, and a spear on the 

 lower side. The arrows are generally nine inches in 

 length, formed of the leaflet ribs of the Nibon Palm ; 

 sometimes of the outer wood of the tree itself. The sharp 

 end is anointed with a deadly, gummy poison, in which 

 the sap of the Upas is the principal ingredient. It dries 

 hard and brittle, forming a kind of sheath, which remains 



