98 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



cleared itself; the weapon retaining tlie full force of the original impetus. 

 A 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 fastenmg 

 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. It 

 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 

 taiva). 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 of the 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.," I. 



