Part 15

The almond-shape celt form, as I have already demonstrated, is one so universally distributed and of such very early origin, that we may naturally expect to find many of the more complicated forms of savage implements derived from it. [See diagram No. 3, reproduced in Plate XIV.] In a paper in the _Ulster Journal of Archaeology_ (Belfast, 1857, vol. v, pp. 125-27) a writer draws attention to the occurrence in the bed of the Bann, and elsewhere in the north of Ireland, of stone clubs, formed much upon the general outline of the celt, but narrowed at the small end, so as to facilitate their being held in the hand like a bludgeon. Fig. 50 is copied from the illustration given in the paper referred to, and fig. 51 is another in my collection, also from Ireland, of precisely the same form; the original is upon the table, and it will be seen that it is simply a celt cut at the small end, so as to adapt it to being held in the hand. Fig. 52 is an implement in common use among the New Zealanders, called the ‘pattoo-pattoo’, of precisely the same shape; it is of jade, and its form, as may be seen by the thin sharp edge at the top, is evidently derived from that of the stone celt. Fig. 53 is a remarkably fine specimen, from the Museum of this Institution; the handle part in this specimen is more elaborately finished. These weapons are used as clubs to break heads, and also as missiles, and the fact of their having been derived from the celt is shown by the manner in which they are used by the New Zealanders. I am informed by Mr. Dilke, who derived his information from the natives whilst travelling in New Zealand, that the manner of striking with these weapons is not usually with the side, but with the sharp end of the pattoo-pattoo, precisely in the same manner that a celt would be used if held in the hand. The spot selected for the blow is usually above the ear, where the skull is weakest. If any further evidence were wanting to prove the derivation of this weapon from the stone celt, it is afforded by fig. 54, which is a jade implement lately added to the British Museum from the Woodhouse Collection. It was, for some time, believed to have been found in a Greek tomb, but this is now believed by Mr. Franks to be a mistake; it is, without doubt, a New Zealand instrument. The straight edge shows unmistakably that the end was the part employed in using it, while the rounded small end, with a hole at the extremity, shows that, like the pattoo-pattoo, it was held in the hand. It is, in fact, precisely identical with the hand celts from Ireland, above described, and forms a valuable connecting link between the celt and pattoo-pattoo form. Now it may be regarded as a law of development, applicable alike to all implements of savage and early races, that when any form has been produced symmetrically, like this pattoo-pattoo, the same form will be found either curved to one side, or divided in half; the variation, no doubt, depending on the purposes for which it is used. The pattoo-pattoo, having been used at first, like its prototype the celt, for striking with the end, would naturally come to be employed for striking upon the side edge.[154] The other side would therefore be liable to variation, according to the fancy of the workman. Figs. 55, 56, and 57, are examples of these implements, in which the edge is retained only on one side and at the end, the other side being variously cut and ornamented. This weapon extended to the west coast of America, and there, as in New Zealand, they are found both of the symmetrical and of the one-sided form. Fig. 58 is one believed to be from Nootka Sound, in my collection. Fig. 59 is also from Nootka, in the Museum of this Institution. Fig. 60 is an outline of one from Peru, which is figured in Dr. Klemm’s work (l. c., fig. 46, p. 26), and I am informed that a nearly similar club has been derived from Brazil.

The same form as the pattoo-pattoo, in Australia, has been developed in wood. Fig. 61 is from Nicol Bay, North-West Australia, and is in the Christy Collection described as a sword. Fig. 62 is of the same form, also of wood, but of cognate form, from New Guinea. In fig. 63, which is also from New Guinea, we see the same form developed into a paddle. In the larger implements of this class we see the same form, modified in such a manner as to diminish the weight; thus, the convex sides become either straight or concave. I have arranged upon the walls a variety of clubs and paddles, from the Polynesian Islands, figs. 64 to 67, all of which must have been derived from a common source. The New Zealand steering-paddle, fig. 64, it will be seen, is simply an elongated celt form. Those from the Marquesas (fig. 65), Society Isles, Fiji, and Solomon Isles, &c., are all allied. In the infancy of the art of navigation, we may suppose that the implements of war, when constructed of wood, may have frequently been used as paddles, or those employed for paddles have been used in the fight, and this may perhaps account for the circumstance that, throughout these regions, the club, sword, and paddle pass into each other by imperceptible gradations. In the Friendly Isles we may notice a still further development of this form into the long wooden spear, specimens of which, from this Institution, are exhibited (figs. 68, 69, and 70).

We must not expect to find all the connecting links in one country or island. We know that the same race has at different times spread over a very wide area; that the Polynesians, New Zealanders, and Malays are all of the same stock, speaking the same or cognate languages. The same race spread to the shores of America on the one side, and to Madagascar on the other, carrying with them their arts and implements, and we may, therefore, naturally expect that the links which are missing in one locality may be supplied in another.

_Development of the Australian Boomerang._

We now turn to the Australians, a race which, being in the lowest stage of cultivation of any with whom we are acquainted, must be regarded as the best representatives of aboriginal man.

I have transferred the Australian sword, Plate XIV (diagram 3), fig. 61, to Plate XV (diagram 4), fig. 72, in order that from it we may be able to trace the development of a weapon supposed by some to be peculiar to this country, but one which in reality has had a very wide range in the earliest stages of culture; I allude to the boomerang.[155]

The Australians, in the manufacture of all their weapons, follow the natural grain of the wood, and this leads them into the adoption of every conceivable curve. The straight sword would by this means at once assume the form of the boomerang, which, it will be seen by the diagram, is constructed of every shade of curve from the straight line to the right angle, the curve invariably following the natural grain of the wood, that is to say, the bend of the piece of a stem or branch out of which the implement was fabricated.

All savage nations are in the habit of throwing their weapons at the enemy. The desire to strike an enemy at a distance, without exposing one’s self within the range of his weapons, is one deeply seated in human nature, and requires neither explanation nor comment. Even apes, as I have already noticed, are in the habit of throwing stones. The North American Indian throws his tomahawk; the Indians of the Grand Chako, in South America, throw the ‘macana’, a kind of club. We learn from the travels of Mr. Blount,[156] in the Levant in 1634, that at that time the Turks used the mace to throw, as well as for striking. The Kaffirs throw the knob-kerry, as did also the Fidasians of Western Africa.[157] The Fiji Islanders are in the habit of throwing a precisely similar club. The Franks are supposed to have thrown the ‘francisca’.[158] The New Zealander throws his ‘pattoo-pattoo’, and the Australian throws the ‘dowak’ and the waddy, as well as his boomerang. All these weapons spin of their own accord when thrown from the hand. In practising with the boomerang, it will be found that it does not require that any special movement of rotation should be imparted to it, but if thrown with the point first it must inevitably rotate in its flight. The effect of this rotation, it will hardly be necessary to remind those acquainted with the laws of projectiles, is to preserve the axis and plane of rotation parallel to itself, upon the principle of the gyroscope. By this means the thin edge of the weapon would be constantly opposed to the atmosphere in front, whilst the flat sides, if thrown horizontally, would meet the air opposed to it by the action of gravitation; the effect, of course, would be to increase the range of the projectile, by facilitating its forward movement, and impeding its fall to the earth. This much, all curved weapons of the boomerang form possess as a common property.

If any large collection of boomerangs from Australia be examined, it will be seen that they vary not only in their curvature, but also in their section; some are much thicker than others, some are of the same breadth throughout, whilst others bulge in the centre; some are heavier than others, some have an additional curve so as to approach the form of an S, some have a slight twist laterally, some have an equal section on both sides, while others are nearly flat on one side and convex on the other.

As all these varieties continued to be employed, it would soon be perceived that peculiar advantages were derived from the use of the flatter class of weapon, especially such as are flat on the under side, for by throwing these in such a manner as to catch the air on the flat side, instead of falling to the ground they would rise in the air, precisely in the same manner that a kite, (fig. 71), when the boy runs forward with the string, rises and continues to rise as long as it is kept up by the action of the air beneath. In like manner the boomerang, as long as the forward movement imparted to it by the thrower continues, will continue to rise, and the plane of rotation, instead of continuing perfectly parallel to its original position, will be slightly raised by the action of the atmosphere on the forward side. When the movement of transition ceases, the boomerang will begin to fall, and its course in falling will be by the line of least resistance, which is in the direction of the edge that lies obliquely towards the thrower; it will therefore fall back in the same manner that a kite, when the string is suddenly broken, is seen to fall back for a short distance; but as the kite has received no movement of rotation to cause it to continue in the same plane of descent, it soon loses its parallelism, and falls in a series of fantastic curves towards the ground. The boomerang will do the same thing if it loses its movement of rotation; but as long as this continues, which it usually does after the forward movement has ceased, it continues to fall back upon the same inclined plane by which it ascended, and finally reaches the ground at the feet of the thrower. There are various ways of throwing the boomerang, but the principles here enunciated will explain the course of its flight in whatever manner it may be thrown.

Now it is evident that this peculiar mode of flight would be of great advantage to the savage, for as we learn from a paper in _Trans. Ethnological Society_ (N.S. iii. pp. 264-5), by Mr. Oldfield, who speaks from experience, the natives usually employ this weapon against large flocks of ducks or wild-fowl in rivers or marshes; the weapon after striking or missing the prey would return to the thrower, instead of being lost in the morass; its use, therefore, would give to the individual or tribe possessing it a great advantage over their neighbours in the struggle for life.

But it is evident that the principles of the flight of the boomerang, such as I have described it, according to the recognized law of projectiles, must have been entirely unknown to the savage; he can no more be said to have _invented_ the boomerang than he can be said to have _invented_ the art of sustaining life by nourishment. Instinct prompts him to eat; little better than instinct would enable him to select from amongst his weapons such as are found most suitable for obtaining food; and we have already seen how he may have been led to the adoption of such an instrument as the boomerang, purely through the laws of accidental variation, guided by the natural grain of the material in which he worked.

The boomerang, though used chiefly for game, is used also as a weapon, and Mr. Oldfield says that it is capable of inflicting a wound several inches in depth.

A further movement is effected in the flight of the boomerang by giving the arms a slight lateral twist, by means of which it is caused to rise by virtue of its rotation, screwing itself up in the air precisely in the same manner that a boy’s flying top rises to the ceiling. By means of this addition, the weapon is sometimes made to strike an object in its fall to the ground, behind the thrower, but the twist is not by any means invariable, as any one may see by examining a collection of these weapons. Nor is it essential to ensure a return fall, which I have frequently ascertained by practising with a boomerang that was perfectly flat.

In examining Plate XV (diagram 4), it will be seen that the boomerang passes by imperceptible gradations from the straight sword, fig. 72, on the one hand, into the ‘malga’, a kind of pick, fig. 89, used for war purposes, on the other[159], and this Australian malga closely resembles a weapon of the same kind from New Caledonia, figs. 90 and 91, which, as already mentioned, is used both as a weapon and for tilling the ground. In Plate XV (diagram 5), figs. 92 to 100, I have also arranged the links of connexion between the boomerang and a kind of hatchet or chopper called the waddy. A slight swell or projection is seen to grow out of one end of the concave side of the boomerang, and this develops into the form of a chopper. In those specimens of this class in which the projection is only slightly developed, as in figs. 94 and 95, the sides of the implement are flat, and the weapon is obviously designed for throwing, but in some of those in which the projection is more fully developed, as in fig. 96, the shaft is quite round, and the head becomes thick and heavy, so as to render it totally unsuited to the purposes of a missile. We see, therefore, in this diagram, the transition, by minute gradations, from a missile to a hand weapon, or vice versa. The boomerang, the sword, the malga, and the waddy, are thus seen to be allied in such a manner as to make it difficult to determine which of the four was the original weapon, and, if properly arranged to display their development, they should be distributed in branch lines, starting from a common centre, exactly in the same manner that I have suggested the various forms of spear and arrow-heads ought to be arranged in the natural order of progression. [See, for example, Plate III, and pp. 37-8, above.]

_Indian Boomerangs._

In Plate XV (diagram 6), figs. 101-5, I have arranged a series of boomerangs from India. Figures 101 and 102 are specimens of the ‘katureea’ or boomerang of Goojerat, from the Indian Museum; they are used by the coolies, according to the ticket in the Museum, ‘for whirling at hares, boars, and other wild animals, and disabling them’. It is of ‘raen’ wood, thicker and heavier than the Australian specimens, and therefore not adapted to rise in the air and return. The section is equal on both sides, but in other respects it is precisely identical with the Australian weapon, and appears to have been roughly chipped into form. Figures 103 and 104 are of an improved form, from Madras, called the ‘collery’, also of wood, but having a knob at the handle end; they are from the Museum of this Institution. Figure 105 is precisely the same form in steel, from the India Museum. It is probable that this weapon led to the use of the steel ‘chakra’ or war quoit (fig. 106) of which I have given an illustration from the Museum of this Institution. The principle of its flight is precisely that of the boomerang, in so far as regards the increase of range and velocity produced by the rotation preserving the thin edge in the line of its forward motion. The earliest mention of this instrument is in the description of the Malabar Coast, by Magellan, about 1512, translated by Mr. Stanley, for the Hakluyt Society. The author describes amongst the arms used in the kingdom of Dely, certain wheels called chacarani, ‘two fingers broad, sharp outside like knives, and without edge inside, and the surface of these is of the size of a small plate, and they carry seven or eight of these each, put on the left arm, and they take one and put it on the finger of the right hand, and make it spin round many times, so that they hurl it at their enemies, and if they hit any one on the arm or neck, it cuts through all, and with these they carry on much fighting, and are very dexterous.’[160] These weapons are usually worn on the head, but the circumstance here mentioned of their being worn on the arm, reminds us very much of the peculiar weapon worn by the Djibba negroes of Central Africa as a bracelet; this is represented in figure 107; it is of iron, sharp on the outside and blunt on the inside, which touches the arm; the edge is usually covered with a strip of hide to prevent injury to the person. I am not aware that this weapon of the negroes is ever used as a missile, but the occurrence of two such singular weapons, similarly carried, is worthy of notice, more particularly as we have clear evidence of a connexion between the metal-workers of the whole continent of Africa and the hill tribes of Central India.

It is possible that many links of connexion may be supplied when the subject of continuity comes to be more carefully studied in these countries. It would appear extremely probable that the small Koorkeree and Goorkah knife, though now used only for hand fight, may have had their origin in these missile weapons, which they resemble in form, especially the large Goorkah knife. It would be interesting to know if they are ever thrown. I have heard stories of this having been the case, but no authentic account of such a practice. The Spaniards throw their long clasp-knives with effect for a considerable distance.

_African Boomerangs._