98 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
cleared itself; the weapon retaining the full force of the original impetus. 
À much greater distance could, I believe, be attained by this method than by 
hand-throwing. I have been shown two or three different ways of fastening 
the whip, but in each case, even when two or three turns were taken, the 
projectile cleared itself more or less readily. It, therefore, appears to me 
that the plan of notching the arrow was devised in order to avoid the 
necessity of taking a turn with the whip; a method more liable to foul. I 
have given such an arrow into. the hands of a more southern native, who 
took little notice of the notch, but immediately made one turn round the 
shaft of the arrow as above described. I should also state that many 
natives to whom I have shown the arrow appear to have forgotten its use, 
but immediately I explained the matter they readily understood it. 
I have deemed the subject worthy of being brought before the notice of 
this society, as it is one which should not be allowed to pass unrecorded. 
I have often wondered how it is that the aborigines of New Zealand 
should have made so little use of the bow-and-arrow, this being a weapon 
peculiarly suited to savage tribes, and, moreover, the familiar one of their 
ancestors. I believe that Maori tradition points to its use, but I have been 
unable to discover the existence of any such weapon even in our museums. Tt 
is also peculiar that the Maoris, ignorant as they appear to be of the 
ordinary bow-and-arrow, should still possess the strange method of pro- 
pulsion above described. * Whether the whip is an adoption of the ancient 
sling is a question. A similar method may exist among some of the 
inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, but I have not met with it. If it does, 
I trust it will be pointed out, as the ethnological analogy will be useful. 
Mr. Colenso, in his able essay on the ** Maori Races of New Zealand,” * 
makes no reference to the bow-and-arrow. "That writer speaks of **long and 
short spears, and especially of bird spears," which were very long, ** some 
being upwards of thirty feet and made of the light-wood, tawa (Nesodaphne 
tawa). They also made darts with heads of light combustible materials ; these 
they used in attacking a pa or village." No mention is made as to the 
manner by which these darts were projected. I imagine by one of the 
modes hereinbefore described. : 
With regard to spears, I may mention that some of them could be 
projected a very long distance, fully 100 to 130 yards. The end ofthe spear 
was stuck lightly in the ground, the head pointing toward the desired 
direction. The whip was then made fast and the spear propelled. Such a 
spear would be about twelve feet long, made of a hard wood, with a large 
head and tapering end, polished by constant rubbing in a sand or gravel 
bank, first one end and then the other. This method of propulsion is very 
* Trans, N.Z. Inst," L 
