248 



FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



WEAPONS AND TOOLS. 

 OFFENSIVE WEAPONS. 



As previously stated, on p. 45, the Ellice Group 

 has enjoyed peace so long that not only have the 

 making and handling of weapons fallen into 

 disuse, but all instruments of war have now dis- 

 appeared. No exact account of these seems to have 

 been preserved in literature. Shark tooth knives 

 were described to me by old men and are recorded 

 by early travellers. Figures of such in the Ethno- 

 logical Album* are referred with doubt by Edge- 

 Partington to the Ellice Group. 



In the absence of extinct originals, models locally 

 made are of some interest. An aged, white-haired, and 

 tatooed native of Funafuti made for me such of two 

 weapons as previously used by his tribe : 



A missile, "apa," (fig. 14) is a smooth, spindle-shaped 

 piece of hard, heavy wood, probably Pemphis, sharply 

 pointed at each end. It weighs one pound five ounces, 

 and measures two feet in length and one and three 

 quarter inches in greatest diameter. In battle it was 

 Fig. 14. thrown at an enemy, and was probably capable of 

 inflicting an ugly wound upon a naked foe. The 

 Tahitians had " the tiora, a polished dart about three 

 feet long, cast from the hand generally in the naval 

 engagements, but occasionally on land."f From the 

 Gilbert Group, Edge-Partington figures a missile club, 

 "goramaton," similar to this. | An Australian weapon, 

 " konnung," closely resembles this pattern in use and 

 appearance. Indeed so simple an article might be 

 expected to independently recur in different quarters 

 of the world. 



The model of the sword-club, " lakautaua,"|| (fig. 15) 

 is roughly made, but probably presents the general 

 appearance of the ancient weapon. A narrow lanceo- 

 late blade, truncate at the extremity, tapers to a 

 rounded handle. From a central longitudinal keel, 

 where the thickness is an inch and a quarter, the 

 sides thin down to a square edge a quarter of an inch 

 thick. At half the weapon's length, a notch half an 

 Fig. 15. inch deep 'is cut on each side. From a point an inch 



* Loc. cit., i., pi. xxxvii., figs. 6-11 ; pi. xxxviii., figs. 1-5; Additional 

 Notes ; ii., pi. Ixxxix., fig. 8. 



t Ellis op. cit., i., p. 298. J Id , Loc. cit., ii., pi. xcv., fig. 12. 



Brough Smyth loc. cit., p. 302, fig. 64; and R. Etheridge, Junr. 

 Macleay Memorial Volume, 1803, p. 240. 



j| Of. Wilkes loc. cit., v., p. 16. 



