80 WORKED FLINTS. 



In the island of Faro, which is entirely of volcanic formation, 

 flints are not known to the natives, and it would be interesting to 

 ascertain whether they are similarly absent from other islands of 

 the same character. When in search of the source of these flints, I 

 was more than once led off" on a false scent. It was on one such 

 occasion, when accompanying Gorai, the Shortlaud chief, on an ex- 

 cursion in his war-canoe to the north-west part of the island of Alu, 

 that I experienced a great disappointment. Learning from the 

 chief that he could direct me to the place where the flints ("kilifela") 

 were found, I was in great hope of at last finding them imbedded. 

 The locality, however, proved to be of volcanic formation, and a pit 

 or cave in which the flints were to be found, successfully eluded our 

 eflforts to discover it. I w'ould, however, recommend future visitors 

 to endeavour to find this pit which lies a little way in from the 

 beach and close to the north-west point of Alu. Its examination 

 might throw some fresh lioht on the aborigines of these regions. 



The occurrence of flints on the south-east coast of New Guinea 

 has been recorded by Mr. Stone.^ He tells us that the small island 

 of Tatana at the head of Port Moresby is " strewn with pieces of a 

 cornelian-coloured flint, called by the natives vesika and used for 

 boring holes through shell, bone, or other hard substances." In 

 1767, Captain Carteret found spears and arrows pointed with flint 

 in use amongst the natives of the Santa Cruz Group and of Gower 

 Island, one of the Solomon Islands.^ M. Surville, wdien anchored in 

 Port Praslin in tlie Solomon Group in 1769, observed that the 

 natives employed " a sort of flint " as knives and razors and for ob- 

 taining fire.^ In my own intercourse with these islanders I did not 

 find flints in use among them ; but it is very probable that in some 

 islands the ancient flint implements are occasionally employed for 

 cutting purposes.* 



1 " A few months in New Guinea," by O. C. Stone. London, 1880, p. 72. 



- Hawkesvvorth's " Voyages" : vol. i., pp. 296, 297. 



3 Fleurieu's " Discoveries of the French in 1768 and 17G9," etc ; p. 144. 



•» In Raffles' " History of Java " (1830 ; vol i., pp. 25, 33) it is stated that common flints, 

 hornstone, chalcedony, jasper, cornelian, etc., are frequently found in the beds of the streams 

 of this island. If not already inquired into, furtlicr information should be sought concern- 

 ing the shape and the eource oT these flints 



