244 G - A - J- VAN DER SANDE. 



blood-groves, and sometimes also the strong gutter shape (N os . 934, 935, 1208, 1216 and 1217) 

 facilitate still more the outflow of blood. Yet in H. B., boar arrows with palm wood heads 

 were presented to me under the name rugwè (N°. 763, PL XXVII, fig. 4). For practical reasons 

 bamboo heads are always lashed with the concave side of the narrow stem a Ion g and not 

 i n the shaft (foreshaft). 



The palm wood arrow heads are always inserted inside the split shaft. The 

 hardening of arrow heads in the fire, as described of Netherl. N. G. e. g. by Van DER Goes 

 [1858, 109, 120] and Van Hasselt [1886, 580], is certainly not practised in H. B., as white 

 points are hère very often met with. The length of the heads, as well as that of the whole 

 arrow, is, no doubt, also chosen according to practical principles, and it sounds somewhat 

 strange when visitors like MOSELY [1879, 444] call the arrows of H. B. too long for their 

 bows. A heavy arrow, although only useful at a short distance, gives with an equal speed, 

 a higher power of pénétration ; the small ones, of which some weigh only 20 gram, are 

 intended for a greater distance. Long bones, sharpened, loosely stuck on the arrow head, and 

 often provided with jagged edges, can, with the effort to withdraw the arrow from the wound, 

 remain in the same, and possibly through this, the arrows hâve obtained in H. B. the réputation 

 of being deadly. HADDON [1894, 48], who was told the same thing in British N. G., thinks 

 however that thèse bone tips are poisoned in advance, by inserting them into decomposing 

 human corpses. The spine of the sting-ray has also a bad réputation, as the barbs may break 

 off and would cause wounds difficult to cure (De CLERCQ and SCHMELTZ [1893, 116]). 

 Perhaps HoRST [1889, 237] refers to thèse stings when lie mentions arrow heads of fishbone 

 of Jâpen, and his boars' hoofs are possibly cassowary claws, of which especially the inner 

 one is powerful, straight and pointed, and which were also met with by HADDON [1. c] and 

 SCHMELTZ [1904, 219] on arrow heads of the Tugeri. 



The cane shaft, is placed with the thicker end in front (see above); the after end 

 as a rule not far behind a node, preventing the splitting-up, is never knobbed, as would 

 be necessary for the primary release (MORSE [1885, 6]), and never notched. Seldom the shaft 

 is left in a rough state, almost always the circular thickening at the nodes is eut 

 away ail round, in order to decrease the résistance of the air, but also to prevent the 

 thickenings from striking against the bow. With each node a ring, deprived of the upper 

 skin, has thus been produced, which has often been erroneously counted as an ornament. That 

 a principle of suitability is above ail the cause of thèse rings, is évident from the fact that 

 the foremost node, which remains in front of the bow, is not ringed, and that with many 

 ornamental arrows, with nicely carved and painted heads, with plaited work, Nassa, feathers, 

 etc., but which are never used for actual shooting, ail nodes hâve often been left 

 quite un-ringed, a peculiarity which already struck SCHMELTZ [1896, 124]. Whether the 

 painting in black of thèse ringed nodes, means a protection against insects (DE CLERCQ and 

 SCHMELTZ [1893, 113J), I am unable to décide; but it is worthy of notice that with fish 

 arrows, which are used in sait water, the rings are generally left white. Ring-shaped carvings, 

 eut in close to the nodes, possibly serve as a distinctive mark of the owner. 



The foremost of the internodes, is generally provided with scratched-in ornaments, 

 often also the other ones, sometimes ail except the back one. On a single occasion I saw 

 ail the internodes, except the front one ornamented. FlNSCH [188S — 93, 214] calls the orna- 



