284 FUNAFUTI ATOLL. 



projections are left in the middle line, to which white shells of 

 Cypraea ovula are attached for ornament. The upper surface of 

 the stern-piece is not horizontal, but slopes obliquely downwards 

 to the end. The canoes would hold seven or eight people."* 



These canoes are propelled both by sail and paddle ; the sail 

 was formerly of palm or pandanus mats, and is now of calico. It 

 is hoisted after the ordinary Polynesian method, upon two con- 

 verging masts, stepped upon the thwarts or gunwale and steadied 

 by a backstay. At each tack the masts and sail are unshipped, 

 and carried round bodily end for end, the craft therefore never 

 "goes about." Under sail they can travel seven or eight miles an 

 hour easily ; they lie close to the wind, but for want of a keel 

 make rapid leeway. 



With paddles three men are the usual complement, but one 

 alone can handle such a craft comfortably. The paddlers sit on 

 the thwarts, paddling chiefly on the starboard side, as the out- 

 rigger impedes them on the port. When in earnest the natives 

 can drive them at a great rate. One day I saw a crew chase, 

 overtake and board a ship which was passing the atoll three or 

 four miles away, and making probably five or six knots. The 

 paddle is never rowed, grasped in both hands it is plunged vertic- 

 ally into the water and withdrawn after a short fore and aft 

 stroke. A course is kept by all without any particular steering. 

 To turn sharply the paddle is struck into the water by the after- 

 most man as far away as he can reach and pulled through the 

 water towards him. When in sufficiently shoal water, the 

 paddle is always exchanged for the pole, a method of progression 

 which is likewise preferred by the Papuans. For an anchor, a 

 block of coral is made fast to the painter. These canoes draw 

 about six inches and weigh about a hundredweight and a half. 



Although there are not, as in other Pacific Islands, jetties or 

 boathouses, the canoes are well taken care of. Returning from 

 an excursion, the canoe is carried to above high water-mark, two 

 men lifting it clear of the ground. Here it is rolled over and lies 

 deck down, hull up, well covered over with a pile of mats till again 

 required. A worn out canoe cuts up into handy troughs or coffins. 

 On Nukulailai the canoes were all tarred over, but on Funafuti 

 they remain unpainted. 



I regret my omission to note the native words for the parts and 

 furniture of a canoe. 



The specimen before me (Plate xv., fig. 1) of the ordinary out- 

 rigger canoe of Funafuti supplies the material for the following 

 figures and descriptions, with which are included a few notes 

 taken on the spot. 



The Museum specimen is twenty-three feet six inches in total 

 length, one foot five inches in greatest depth, and one foot three 



* Lister loc. cit. 



