686 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGES. 
right angle with one another, and the socket piece is so long that the whole seems a most 
clumsy arrangement, and it is most difficult to strike a blow with it with any precision. 
The shorter the socket piece the easier it is to direct the blade with certainty in a blow. 
In Polynesia generally the stone blades are thus fixed close up to the ends of the handles, 
but in New Guinea this curious long-legged angular handle is in vogue. It is difficult 
to understand the reason , unless these natives began with a chisel and mallet ; and havino- 
got so far in improvement as to join them together, have not yet discovered the 
advantage to be gained by shortening up the socket piece. 
Fro. 232.— stone-bladed 
Chopper and Stone-headed Hammer in use at Humboldt Bay, also a larger view of the stone hammer- 
head removed from its socket. 
A curious stone implement, similarly mounted to the chopper, was common in most of 
the Humboldt Bay canoes. The stone head is cylindrical in form, tapering to fit the 
socket at one end, and hollowed slightly on the striking face. It is used for pounding 
sago. The awkwardness of its method of mounting is at once felt on trying to drive a 
nail with it. 
The ethnographical details of the people of Humboldt Bay are, thanks to the 
