SHIELDS. 75 



Tomahawks and mnskets, which have been introduced by the 

 trader, are frequently possessed by natives of the coast. The owner 

 of the tomahawk fits it with a long straight handle which he often 

 decorates with inlaid pearl-shell. It is a formidable weapon in the 

 hands of a native, and it is one which he usually employs very 

 effectively, whether against his fellow islanders or against the white 

 man. The muskets are often of little use on account of the lack of 

 percussion caps and powder. 



The defensive arm carried by these islanders is usually a narro\A' 

 shield measuring 3 feet in length by 9 or 10 inches in breadth. 

 With the exception apparently of St. Christoval, these shields are to 

 be observed amongst the natives of most of the larger islands of the 

 group. They appear usually to be made of a layer of light reeds or 

 canes lashed together by rattan. In some islands, as in Florida and 

 in Guadalcanar, they are worked over with fine wickei'-work, and 

 are ornamented with beads in the case of a chief. In other islands, 

 as in Isabel and Choiseul, they are often more rudely constructed 

 and have no wicker-work. In the two last islands they are 

 rectangular in form. In Florida and Guadalcanar they are more 

 oval and are slightly contracted in the middle. Mr. Brenchley 

 figures one of the Florida shields in his " Cruise of H.M.S. 'Curacoa,' " 

 (p. 281) ; whilst a sketch of a shield of the Port Praslin (Isabel) 

 natives is to be found in the narrative of iSurville's visit to this 

 group.^ The Port Praslin shield is deeply notched at one end. I 

 did not observe these shields amongst the inhabitants of St. Chris- 

 toval and the adjacent islands, a circumstance which may be 

 explained by the fact that spears, and not bows and arrows, are 

 the offensive weapons usually carried by these islanders. Yet we 

 learn that three centuries ago it was with their bows and arrows 

 that the St. Christoval natives usually assailed the Spaniards (vide 

 pages 228, 231, It should be remembered that the flat-bladed curved 

 clubs of these natives also serve the purpose of a defensive weapon. 



The tactics employed in war are those which treachery and 

 cunning suggest. Very rarely, I believe, does a fair, open fight 

 occur. In their sham fights, one of which we witnessed on tlie beach 

 at Santa Anna, two parties confront each other in open and irregular 

 order and hurl their spears with all the excitement of a real contest. 

 Every man keeps constantly on the move as in dancing a jig, in 

 order to be able to more easily avoid the missiles hurled at him. 



1 Fleurieu's " Discoveries of the French in 1768 and 17G9." 



