390 Memoirs Bcniicc P. Dislwp Mitscii 



111 



No satisfactory information in regard to the form of the ancient sHngs 

 was obtained from the natives, but s])eciniens preserved in the Pealjody 

 Museums at Cambridge and at Salem, prox'e that two fiirms were in use. 

 (See PI. Lxx, A.) 



The simpler of these, represented by a single specimen, consisted of a broad flat plait 

 of coconut fiber, between five and six feet long, without a pocket. The cord tapered at either 

 end, one extremity being finished with a loop for the fingers and the other with a siini)le knot. 

 In another form the two cords were slender and there was a pocket of coconut fiber aijout five 

 inches long with a central width of about two inches tapering toward either end. The end nf the 

 sling that was retained in throwing was also made from coconut fiber, while the release cord 

 might be made either of coconut fiber or of twisted fan bark. .\ short distance from the end 

 of the retained cord a loop two to three inches long was formed by dividing the braid into 

 two strands which were again interwoven beyond it. 



In a specimen in the British Museum figured by Edge-Partington i 20, p. J[C^, No. 2) 

 the end of the retained cord was finished with a small tiki figure ot human hone trom which 

 hung a hair tassel. As may be seen from the photograph the pockets were often elaborately 

 and beautifully woven. Some specimens of the second type are over five feet in length when 

 ready for action, giving the thrower great range but little accuracy. 



A warrior going into battle carried his sling wrapped around his hand and 

 Langsdorff (38, pp. 150-160) says that natives from other valleys, when attend- 

 ing feasts, "commonly have with them a sling for stones, but it is bound around 

 the head so as to have rather the appearance of an oi"nament than a weapon of 

 defence." 



Most early visitors agree that the Marquesan slingers were ]>oor marks- 

 men, but Porter, who fought against them, says (49, ]). '?•'/) — "The stones are 

 thrown with such a degree of velocity and accuracy as to render them almost 

 equal to musketry." Evidence of the force of slung stones is offered by a missile 

 of this sort in the valley of Omoa, Fatu Hiva. The stone has been driven iitto 

 a crack between two rocks so solidly that the repeated efforts of curi(i hunters 

 have failed to dislodge it. 



SPE.\RS AND LANCES 



Several types of spears and lances were enqiloyed by the Marquesans, but 

 very few examples have been preserved. There are no authentic specimens in 

 the museums of the Atlantic Coast. The onlv spear remaining in the group, as 

 far as known, is a short javelin preserved as an heirloom in the familv of the 

 chief of Ta'aoa, Hiva Oa. This spear is aj^proximately five feet long with an 

 average shaft diameter of three-quarters of an inch. The lower end tapers to a 

 blunt point, while the upper end is flattened and expanded laterally to form a 

 sharp edged blade whose form may be seen from the accnmpanving illustration 

 drawn by Mrs. E. S. Plandy (fig. 10). An entirely different type of throwing 

 spear is mentioned by Porter (49, pp. 86-87) who says: "The other kind [of 

 spears] are smaller, of a light kind of wood, and are thrown with nuich accuracy 



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