Madras in the summer of 1905, I heard that there were, among the Muhammadan 

 people known locally as Lubbais or L,abbis, certain men who made a livelihood by- 

 shooting pigeons with blow-guns. At Kilakarai, a port on the G. of Manaar, I was able 

 to obtain a specimen, as well as particulars. The latter were given me in Malay. 



According to my L,abbi informants, the " guns " are purchased by them in Singapore 

 from Bugis traders and brought to India. There is still a considerable trade, although 

 now diminished, between Kilakarai and the ports of Burma and the Straits Settlements. 

 It is carried on entirely by Muhammadans in native sailing vessels, and a large propor- 

 tion of the Mussalmans of Kilakarai have visited Penang and Singapore. It is not 

 difficult to find among them men who can speak Straits Malay. I was told that at the 

 time of my visit six hundred men from Kilakarai alone were known to be in Singapore. 

 The local name for the blow-gun is senguttdn and is derived in popular etymology from 

 the Tamil sen (" above ") and kutu ("to stab "). I have little doubt that it is really a 

 corruption of the Malay name of the weapon — sumpitan. 



The blow-gun l which I obtained, measures 180/6 cm. in length : its external diameter 

 at the breech is 30 mm., and at the other extremity 24 mm. The diameter of the bore, 

 however, is practically the same throughout, viz., 12 mm. Both ends are overlaid with 

 tin and the breech consists of a solid piece of tin turned on a lathe and pierced, the dia- 

 meter of the aperture being the same as that of the bore. The solid tin measures 35 mm. 

 in length and is continuous with the foil which covers the base of the wooden tube. 

 The tube itself is of very hard, heavy, dark wood, apparently that of a palm. It is 

 smooth, polished and regular on its outer surface, and the bore is extremely true and 

 even. At a distance of 126 mm. from the distal extremity, at the end of the foil which 

 protects the tip of the weapon, a lump of mud is fixed on the tube as a " sight." The 

 ornamentation of the weapon is characteristic and shows that it must have been made 

 in North Borneo. It consists of rings, leaf-shaped designs with an open centre, and 

 longitudinal bars, all inlaid with tin. My figures may be compared with that of a 

 specimen, now in the Oxford Museum, from North Borneo which is figured by Ling Roth 

 in his " Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo " (Vol. II, p. 185). The missiles 

 used at Kilakarai were not darts but little pellets of soft clay (fig. ze) worked with 

 the fingers immediately before use. 



The specimen figured will be sent to the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford. 



Although a " sight " is used in some Bornean blow-guns, I was told, probably 

 correctly, that the lump of mud on the Kilakarai specimen had been added in India. 

 I was also told that it was the custom at Kilakarai to lengthen the tin breach of 

 the " gun " in accordance with the capacity of the owner's lungs. He first tried the 

 tube by blowing a pellet through it, and, if he felt that he could blow through a longer 

 tube, he added another piece of tin at the proximal end. It is said that blow-guns 

 entirely of brass or copper are occasionally made in the Madura district, but I could 

 neither see a specimen nor get definite proof of the existence of one. The use of pellets 

 of clay instead of darts is probably an Indian makeshift. 



I A brief record of this specimen appeared in Man, 1906, art. No. 15. 



