CHAPTER I X. 



A RM S. 



The conditions existing amongst the Papuans necessitate the possession of arms for 

 securing the safety of persons and property as well as for fishing and hunting. "The women 

 of the Dembebi tribe (ANNUAL REPORT [1901 — 02, 16]) are as ready and expert with the 

 bow as the men", and the occurrence of palmwood swords for women is known of Tumleo 

 (ERDWEG [1902, 328, figs. 228 — 230]), but otherwise the carrying of arms is limited to the 

 maie inhabitants; thèse are seldom seen without arms, which has often unjustly been taken 

 by visitors as a proof of an unfriendly disposition, and has sometimes even without further 

 cause led to aggressive action. 



Amongst the weapons intended for fighting at close quart ers, the dagger is 

 intended for the actual hand-to-hand fight, and in order to finish a wounded enemy; conse- 

 quently the most gênerai distribution occurs where swords or clubs and short spears, intended 

 for the same purpose, are either wanting or scarce. Only occurring on the north coast, the 

 western limit of its area lies near P*. D' Urville, whilst to the eastward it was not met 

 with any further than Hatzfeldt Harbour (FlNSCH [1888 — 93, 215]). According to Van DER 

 GOES [1858, 173], daggers are made of pig's bone or, as also stated by Van DER CHYS 

 [1885, 192, N°. 3240], of the human thighbone. As far as I am aware, however, the tibia 

 of the cassowary is always made use of, not the fémur, as PARKINSON [1900, 29] writes 

 of the Berlin Harbour section. Generally the handle is formed by the lower joint; ERDWEG 

 [[902, 327], no doubt by mistake, writes "the proximal joint". Usually the head of the joint 

 is ground down latéral and medial, to such an extent, that the breadth hère corresponds almost 

 with that of the shaft, but the saddle-shaped part of the surface of the joint is retained. 

 For in this, the thumb of the person who carries the weapon, must rest, the thenar against 

 the back surface of the tibia and the four fingers grasping round the adjoining part of the 

 shaft, which, for this purpose, is left cylindrical exactly over the necessary length. Of the 

 remaining part the bony substance has been obliquely ground down, from the front towards 

 the back, the hollow of the bone being thus opened, the blade and point of the dagger 

 formed by the back lamella of the tibia. The edges of the blade, are generally only slightly 



