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
The canoes of these people are furnished with a double outrigger, only
one touching the water, and the other projecting at an equal distance
on the opposite side. They are connected by a platform, on which the
commander stands when the sail is lowered and laid on the second
outrigger. When the sail is hoisted, he stands on the place where
it had been laid. Each outrigger projects about eight feet from the
gunwale. The paddles are about six feet in length, and are furnished
with a broad blade, which is made separately from the handle, and
firmly lashed to it with cord.
The sail is made of matting, and about thirteen feet square. The mast
is twenty feet in height, and when the canoe is to be pushed to its
full speed, the sail is hoisted diagonally, with one angle projecting a
yard above the top of the mast. When the natives desire to go slowly,
they only hoist a few feet of the sail, the rest of it lying in the
canoe; and by thus hoisting or lowering the sail they can regulate
their speed much as they like. When the sail is hoisted to its fullest
extent, the canoe can beat the swiftest sailing ships. The ordinary
length of a canoe is about thirty-two feet, and the extreme breadth is
only twenty-six inches.
The Admiralty Islanders chew the pepper leaf, with the addition of
lime, which they keep in a little calabash, but do not seem to add the
cocoa-nut. Only the chiefs appear to practise this habit, probably on
account of the difficulty of obtaining the proper materials.
* * * * *
One of these islands, named BOUKA, was visited by Captain
D’Entrecasteaux in 1792. The natives are black, tall, powerful, and
quite naked. The face is rather broad and flat, the nose projects but
little, the mouth is large, and the lips peculiarly thin. They pluck
all the hair off the body, and only allow that of the head to grow,
sometimes powdering it with red chalk. Red and white paint are freely
used on their bodies, and their ears are pierced and loaded with large
shells, which drag them nearly to the shoulders. Round the waist they
wear a cord which passes round the body several times, and some of them
have a custom of binding the upper arm in a similar manner, placing
some flat pieces of wood between the arm and the ligature.
These people are good canoe men, and, when they man their large war
canoes, exhibit a discipline which is hardly to be expected among
savages. Between every two paddlers on each side stands a warrior armed
with bow and arrows, while intermediate parties of warriors stand with
their faces toward the stern, so as to observe the enemy and fight
during a retreat. Two of the crew are told off to bale out the water,
which beats continually over the side of the canoe when the wind blows
freshly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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