442 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



sense in which it is usually applied to the main body of the 

 aborigines of New Guinea. 



The Papuans, as well as all the tribes of dark, frizzly- 

 haired Melanesians, make pottery for cooking, thus differ- 

 ing from all the brown Polynesian tribes of the Pacific, 

 none of whom are acquainted with this art. Of course 

 the actual seat of manufacture will be dependent on the 

 presence of suitable materials ; but those who do not make 

 it themselves obtain it by barter, so that earthenware 

 cooking vessels appear to be in general use all over the 

 island. Cups and spoons are made out of shells or cocoa- 

 nuts, while wooden bowls of various sizes, wooden mortars 

 for husking maize or rice, wooden stools used as pillows, 

 and many other articles, are cut out and ornamented with 

 great skill. A variety of boxes are made of the split leaf- 

 stalks of the sago palm, pegged together and covered 

 with pandanus leaves, often neatly plaited and stained of 

 different colours, so as to form elegant patterns. A variety 

 of mats, bags, and cordage are made with the usual skill 

 of savage people ; and their canoes are often of large size 

 and beautifully constructed, with high-peaked ends orna- 

 mented with carvings, and adorned with plumes of 

 feathers. 



The weapons chiefly used are spears of various kinds, 

 wooden swords and clubs, and bows and arrows ; the 

 latter being almost universal among the true Papuans 

 and most of the allied frizzly-haired races, while the 

 Polynesians seem never to possess it as an indigenous 

 weapon. It is very singular that neither the Australians, 

 the Polynesians, nor the Malays should be acquainted with 

 this weapon, while in all the great continents it is of un- 

 known antiquity, and is still largely used in America, 

 Asia, and Africa. Peschel, indeed, attempts to show that 

 the Polynesians have only ceased to use it on account of 

 the absence of game in their islands ; but mammalia are 

 almost equally scarce in the New Hebrides, where it is in 

 constant use even in the smallest islands ; whilst in 

 Australia, where they abound, and where it would be a 

 most useful weapon, it is totally unknown. We must 

 therefore hold that the use of the bow and arrow by the 



