646 



woman carries her own, and her husband's, personal belongings 

 (TohaJ. This form is made in Mailu, but it is also imported 

 from the east, from the Southern Massim of Bonabona, and 

 from the neighbouring coast, where they are apparently more 

 skilful in tne manufacture of the Novo than are the Mailu. 

 The Novo form of basket is not known to the west of the Mailu 

 district. 



Stone Implements. — At the present day, when steel axes, 

 adzes, and chisels are used for felling trees and scooping out 

 canoes, the natives no longer make stone implements. It is 

 therefore not possible to give an account of this subject from 

 personal observation ; I was only able to question the natives^ 

 a proceeding which is particularly unsatisfactory when material 

 objects have to be enumerated and descril^ed. The natives, 

 however, gave me the names, with some details, of the follow- 

 ing implements. 



U'a. — Stone axes used for felling trees and scooping out 

 canoes. The stone blades, made of dark-green volcanic tuff, 

 were imported from the east (comp. chap, iv., sec. 4), and 

 those used for the first-named work were very large and 

 strong, and were permanently fixed to their handles. For 

 scooping out canoes smaller blades were used, which could be 

 turned in their sockets and thus be fixed at an}^ angle to the 

 striking plane. This adjustment permitted them to be used 

 for hollowing out canoes through a fairly narrow opening. 



When a blade broke they took it out of the handle and 

 sharpened it on a broad flat sandstone. Thus in the course of 

 time the large blades became reduced in size. 



Ota, is the small blade used in the sago pounder (comp. 

 chap, iv., sec. 1). This blade was manufactured locally, and 

 it is still made and used. Unfortunately, I was not able to 

 observe the process, as the necessary stone comes from Ahd'iiy 

 and there was none of this in the village during my stay. 



The sandstone implement used for polishing the arm- 

 shells and axe blades, and the implement used for grinding 

 clown the arm-shells from the inside, have been described. 



Obsidian flakes, obtained in a manner described above 

 (chap, iii., sec. 1), were used for shaving and as chisels for 

 finer carvings, such as those of limesticks. 



Carrifif/-^. — There were a few objects regularly carved by 

 the Mailu. Amongst these were the carvings on the vertical 

 boards closing the dug-outs of both sides in the large double 

 canoes (com.p. chap, iv., sec. 4). So also those on the boards 

 forming the verandah roofs of the houses, and on the outside 

 of the piles (comp. chap, ii., sec. 4). The fine carvings on 

 smaller objects were made in Mailu, in imitation, of those of 

 the Southern Massim, but were quite inferior to the latter. 



