390 keport— 1879. 



holding in the hand. They are, as a rule, long, narrow, and of a cylindrical form, 

 rather than broad and flat, but some of the latter kind occur. Some of the largest 

 are 7 or 8 inches long, and from 2 to 3 inches broad at the base, and there is one 

 very fine implement of the flat land, resembling the triangular Palaeolithic imple- 

 ments, which is 6 inches long, nearly 4 inches broad at the base and 1£ inch, 

 thick. Dr. Evans, in ' Stone Implements and Ornaments of Great Britain,' mentions 

 that he has found implements of Palaeolithic form on the shores of Lough Neagh, 

 near Toome. The author has also found similar implements at that place ; but as 

 Tooine is only a little farther up the Bann, and the diatoniaceous earth is found 

 there, he believes they have been obtained from that deposit by denudation. 



The second set of objects may be described as large triangular flakes with a 

 central rib down the back and having the base wrought into a tang. In the 

 Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy, this form of implement is represented in 

 Fig. 3, the tang being looked on as the first step in the process of development into 

 arrow and spear heads ; but the author is of opinion that instead of showing a step 

 towards greater perfection these were perfect implements of their kind, and also 

 manufactured specially for use about rivers. 



There is no means of determining the age of these objects, except some sort of es- 

 timate is formed from the fact of their being found in a deposit underlying the peat. 

 If they are of Neolithic age, they are very interesting from being confined chiefly to 

 a river valley and not being obtained where other Neolithic implements are found 

 in abundance. This fact would, according to the author, suggest a reason for the 

 large triangular flints of Palaeolithic age being chiefly confined to the old river 

 gravels, while the implements of the same age from the caves are so different. The 

 implements of the pointed kind in all cases might not be for general use, but chiefly 

 for the river valleys. They may probably have formed weapons for attacking the 

 larger animals when they came down to drink, but the theory that they were used 

 for breaking holes in ice is also a very likely one. The author believes that the 

 tanged flakes were used mounted, probably for spearing fish, as suggested by Dr.. 

 Evans in ' Archaeologia,' vol. xli. p. 401. 



3. Notes on the Polynesian Race. By C. Staniland Wake. 



The object of the paper was to show that the statements of recent writers that 

 the Polynesian Islanders are a scantily bearded race, and that they are not acquainted, 

 with the bow and arrow, are erroneous. The evidence of travellers was cited' 

 showing that the beard is fully developed with the natives of Penrhyn Island, the 

 Gambier Islands, the Hervey Islands, the Society Islands, Savage Island, New 

 Zealand, the Marquesas Islands, and the Sandwich Islands. It was shown also 

 that the natives of some of the Ellice group of islands, which were populated 

 from Samoa, wear the beard, and that the Tongans who visit Fiji cultivate consider- 

 able beards, in imitation of the Fijians, from which we may infer that the beardless 

 character of the Samoans, who appear to be the parent stock of the Eastern Pacific 

 islanders, is not owing to a natural defect. 



As to the bow and arrow, it was shown that this weapon was formerly used 

 by the Society Islanders, the Sandwich Islanders, and the Friendly Islanders, and 

 that it was not unknown to the natives of Savage Island, the Ellice Islands, the 

 Hervey Islands, and New Zealand. Its inefficiency as a weapon of war had, how- 

 ever, led to its abandonment, except in certain sports which were restricted to the 

 chiefs. That it had not been derived by the Polynesians from the Papuans is 

 proved by the word for ' bow,' paiutJi, being the same in the Polynesian and 

 Malayan languages, but different in that of Fiji. 



As the bow was not known to the New Caledonians and Tasmanians, probably 

 the Papuans were not acquainted with it at the date of their earliest migrations ; 

 and as the Polynesians used it only in their sports, it must have lost its warlike 

 character before they left their early home in the Indian Archipelago. 



In conclusion, the paper proposed the use of the term Kanaka as a name for 

 the Polynesian race, instead of Mahori, a name recently introduced by Mr. Ranken ; 



