INDUSTRY. 233 



Berlin Harbour section, must, according to the conical holes in hard material as in teeth and 

 shells, no doubt exist in Papua Tàlandjang; but I never came across them. Rasps, made 

 out of ray's skin, as mentioned from other parts (FlNSCH [188S, 63]), I hâve, never met with, 

 though no doubt accidentally ; neither the large bamboo knives, mentioned by some 

 authors, which had greatly excited my curiosity, after I became acquainted with the small 

 bamboo razor (page 61). However, I found no clear answer to the question, how the edge 

 of thèse knives is made. FlNSCH [1888 — 93, 198], when discussing the knives which are used 

 in carving the méat, writes: "Bamboo knives, out of a sharp edged pièce of bamboo, which 

 eut remarkably well" ; HADDON [1901, 115, fig. 11], illustrating a large knife with which a 

 human head can be eut off, says: "a fresh edge has to be made for each head that is eut 

 off", leaves the most important question, how during the stone period a fresh edge was 

 to be made, unanswered. MACGREGOR [1879, 60] mentions about the western warrior (Br. N. G.): 

 K he tears a thin slip of the bamboo, which then présents a keen edge". PRATT [1906, 44] writes: 

 c it is simply a pièce of cane, stripped off from the parent stem, leaving a natural edge". 

 According to XACHRICHTEN [1888, 225]: "it consists of a lengthy pièce of bamboo, which 

 obtains a good sharp edge, by cleverly pulling off part of the vascular bundles". The "cleverly 

 pulling off" is, therefore, the principal part; I présume that a method is meant as described 

 above of the shaving with bamboo. Shaving, however, also takes place with pièces of glass 

 and, where thèse are imported, with western kitchen-knives, which are sharpened on a whetstone 

 like N°. 704 of Sâgeisârâ, consisting of biotite-quartzite, to which on the broken surface the 

 mica (biotite) scales give a golden shine. How the Papuan workman knows to appreciate a good 

 instrument, was proved to me at Tobâdi, when amongst the articles for barter I used the very 

 pretty, but really poor pocket knives. They at first, on account of the mechanical part, 

 were very much in demand, but after their inferiority had been proved, I was asked to 

 exchange them for ordinary kitchen knives. The blades of thèse, fastened with rattan lashings 

 to a handle previously split, down the entire length (N°. 701, PL XXIV, fig. 10), are much 

 used; ground down transversely at the point, they are used as a chisel (N os . 702 and 703, 

 PI. XXIV, fig. 1), fastened into fairly long, and often very nicely carved handles, they can 

 be used with both hands. The man crouching down on the back ground behind the canoë 

 of fig. 124 is busy smoothing down the outside surface with such a chisel. It is still to be 

 observed, that hère the splitting of the handle does not continue as with N°. 701, but at 

 a certain distance it goes in a transverse direction, whereby the end of the handle, on 

 which they sometimes knock with the hand used as a hammer, is purposely left unsplit 

 and smooth. 



The collection contains besides, small wooden hammers (N os . 705 — 709, PL XXV, 

 figs. 4 — 8) of Lake Sentàni, consisting, like the sago clubs and hatchets, of a handle with an 

 oblique socket near the end for inserting the hammer-head. The grip-end of the handle is 

 usually fitted by a slight endwise thickening, for a firm grip; the other end, for a heavier 

 knock, broadened and thickened. The hammer-head has a long and narrow striking surface, 

 and fits into the somewhat transversely oval socket of the handle, which thus prevents it from 

 turning round. The Amsterdam collection has for a long time possessed such a small hammer 

 (Ser. 1, N°. 1579J, described only as a wooden driver, and ornamented exactly in the same 

 manner (fish-ornament), and said to hâve corne from the S. E. coast, which statement must be 



XOVA GUINEA. III. ETHNOGRAPHY. 30 



