300 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES, 
pw'aif, and were^ when unstrung^ perfectly straight, 
about five feet long ; an inch, or an inch and a quarter, 
in diameter in the centre, but smaller at the ends. They 
were neatly polished, and sometimes ornamented with 
finely braided human hair, or cinet of the fibres of the 
cocoa-nut husk, wound round the ends of the bow in 
alternate rings. The string was of romaha, or native 
flax 5 the arrows were made of small bamboo reeds, 
exceedingly light and durable. They were pointed with 
a piece of aito, or iron-wood, but were not barbed. 
Their arrows were not feathered; but, in order to their 
being firmly held while the string was drawn, the lower 
end was covered with a resinous gum from the bread¬ 
fruit tree. The length of the arrows varied from two 
feet six inches, to three feet. The spot from which they 
were shot was considered sacred \ there was one of these 
wdthin my garden at Huahine. It was a stone pile, 
about three or four feet high, of a triangular form, one 
side of the angle being convex. 
When the preparations were completed, the archer 
ascended this platform, and, kneeling on one knee, 
drew the string of the bow with the right hand, till the 
head of the arrow touched the centre of the bow, when 
it was discharged with great force. It was an effort 
of much strength in this position to draw the bowstring 
so far. The line often broke, and the bow fell from 
the archer’s hand when the arrow was discharged. 
The distance to which it was shot, though various, was 
frequently three hundred yards. A number of men, 
from three to twelve, with small white flags in their 
hands, were stationed to watch the arrows in their 
fall. When those of one party went farther than 
those of the other, they waved the flags as a signal 
