The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristicsWood, J. G. (John George)
History
The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2: Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Anthropology; Ethnology; Manners and customs
Looking at the results, we might naturally fancy that the dusky
architect possessed a goodly array of tools; but, in fact, his tools
are as few and simple as his weapons, and may be practically considered
as two, the adze and the chisel. On the next page an example of each
is drawn, the artist having taken care to select the best and most
valuable specimens; the blades being formed from the precious green
jade, and the handles carved elaborately, so as to be worthy of the
valuable material from which the blades are shaped.
As may be imagined, these tools cannot have very sharp edges given to
them, as the brittleness of the stone would cause it to chip into an
edge like that of a bad saw, and in consequence the worst iron axe is a
far better tool than the best specimen of green stonework that a Maori
ever made.
At No. 3 may be seen one of the common “tokis,” or stone axes, that
were formerly so much used in building canoes. The specimen from
which it is drawn is in my collection, and I have selected it for
illustration because it gives so excellent an idea of the structure of
the tool, and the mode of fastening the blade to the handle. This is
achieved in a very ingenious manner, and although it scarcely seems
possible to secure the requisite firmness by a mere lashing of string,
the Maori workman has contrived to attach the blade as firmly as if it
had been socketed.
This mode of fastening the blade to the handle prevails over the
greater part of the Polynesian group, and, although the elaboration of
the lashings varies considerably, the principle is exactly the same
throughout. The same plan prevails even in Borneo, and there is in my
collection a boat-builder’s adze, the iron blade of which is lashed to
the socket in precisely the same manner, the only difference being that
split rattan is employed instead of string. The reader will notice the
peculiar shape of the adze-edge, which is exactly that of the incisor
tooth of any rodent animal. Whether the maker intentionally copied the
tooth is doubtful, but that he has done so is evident.
Tools such as these are necessarily imperfect; yet with these the
Maories patiently executed the elaborate and really artistic designs
which they once lavished on their dwellings, their canoes, their
weapons, and their tools. They could not even make a walking stick but
they must needs cover it with carvings. There is in my collection, and
illustrated at fig. 4, a remarkably fine example of such a walking
stick, called in the Maori tongue “toko-toko,” which was presented to
me by Stiverd Vores, Esq. As the reader may see from the illustration
it is ornamented with six complete human figures, and a human face on
the knob of the handle. The portions of the stick that come between the
figures are completely covered with carving, and the only plain surface
is that which is intended to be grasped by the hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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