FOOD, DR1NK AND DELICACIES. 5 



simplest amongst them are after ail the spoons made out of the shell ofthe 

 cocoa-nut (N°. 2 — 27, PL I, fig. 12, 13, 17) which are used largely on Lake Sentàni, are 

 found in most of the men's bags and are often provided with carved ornaments. Only once 

 I met with such a spoon in Humboldt Bay (N°. 28); this explains why until now no 

 mention was made of thèse spoons from Netherlands New Guinea. Never is a handle attached 

 to it, very rarely is a real handle eut out with the spoon from a single pièce, as for instance 

 characteristic of the spoons of English New Guinea. 



One of thèse articles, in the possession of the Leyden Muséum Ser. 592, N°. 13, from Yule Island, 

 shows an animal head. Finsch [1S88 — 93, 109] mentioning similar spoons of the Motu, considers thèse 

 objects, also on account of the hardness of the material, their best products of art. Loeber [1903, 60] 

 describing such spoons of the inhabitants of Timor, also points out how extremely difiïcult it is to work 

 the cocoa-nut shell. Remembering the Malay people, who eat rice with their fmgers, Loeber considers 

 that the people of Timor, on account of the use of spoons, stand higher. For the Papuans however, such 

 a comparison cannot hold good. For the sago-porridge cannot be eaten with the fmgers and some other 

 means must therefore be devised. 



Almost everlasting, the spoons of the collection date for the greater part from the 

 stone period. The fish ornament is prédominant on thèse spoons and sometimes covers the 

 whole surface, whilst the cut-out parts are often colouréd white with lime. 



Similar spoons from K. W. Land are according to Finsch [1888 — 93, 198] very often quite plain, 

 but from Astrolabe Bay, Biro [1901, 94, fig. 42] shows some spécimens only ornamented at the point, in- 

 tended for the use of women and children, and which were shown to him in great secrecy. Still more 

 beautiful are the spoons which Parkinson [1900, PL XVIII, fig. 12, 13) shows as scrapers (?) made out 

 of cocoa-nut shell. The same shape, in mother of pearl, used also as scraper (?), Biro [1901, 95, fig. 43] 

 found amongst the coast people ; again différent from thèse and made from Turbo and Meleagrina, are those 

 which De Clercq and Schmeltz mention ') from the west, where also tortoise shell spoons are met with. 



Another kind of spoons is made ofbone. The collection contains some spécimens 

 of thèse, but amongst them not a single one made out of the shoulder blade of the pig, as 

 formerly met with by FlNSCH [1888 — 93, 198] in Humboldt Bay. They are made out of 

 fémur (N°. 29 — 31, PL I, fig. 11) or tibia (N°. 32 — 36, PL I, fig. 16) of the pig, out ofthe tarso- 

 metatarsus of the cassowary (N°. 37), out of the radius of Dendrolagus (N°. 38, PL I, fig. 14) 

 or out of the tibia of cassowary (N°. 39 and 40, PL I, fig. 18). The last numbers hâve the 

 spatula shape and hâve erroneously been taken for lime spatulas, whilst De Clercq and 

 SCHMELTZ -) add the name of kamau, which in Humboldt Bay is however intended for 

 .dagger". But it is perfectly certain that the bone dagger (See Chapter IX), which is almost 

 without exception made out of the tibia of the cassowary, is never used hère for domestic 

 purposes, as represented by FlNSCH [1888a, pi. V, fig. 7] as knife and breaker from K. W. 

 Land. BlRO [1899, 38, fig. 5] even suggests that his universal instrument is used for three 

 purposes, as a knife, a culinary utensil and a weapon. The bone spoons of which N°. 31, 

 PL I, fig. 1 1 especially, is beautifully carved, are used principally for the eating of the sago- 

 porridge ; as planes or scrapers of hard objects an ordinary bone can be of no use. For this 

 purpose, on account of its greater hardness, the boar"s tusk is used, (see Chapter VIII). 

 Besides, thèse people were already in possession of steel knives. The wear, caused by the 



1) 1893., 67, N». 319—32S, PI- XV, fig. 1, 2, 3. 2) 1893, 69, No. 334, PI- XVII, fig. 18. 



