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Economic Botany Collections
The New Guinea Collection
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| Illustration of a stone-bladed chopper and stone-headed sago pounder collected by the crew of the H.M.S. Challenger. |
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These artefacts were collected by the H.M.S. Challenger when at anchor in Humboldt Bay in today's Irian Jaya, and are illustrated in Narrative of the Cruise. The illustration includes a larger view of the stone hammer-head of the sago pounder removed from its socket. The following description accompanies the illustration in the text:- 'In the Humboldt Bay stone choppers, the stone blade is mounted in the end of a long wooden socket piece which is fitted into a round hole at the end of the club-like handle. The socket piece can thus be turned round so that the blade can be set to be used like that of either an axe or an adze. The handle and socket piece form nearly a 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 a mallet; and having got so far in improvement as ro join them together, have not yet discovered the advantage to be gained by shortening up the socket piece.' 'A curious stone implement, similarly mounted to the chopper, was common in most of the Humboldt Bay canoes. The stone end 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.' Illustration from: Back to New Guinea: Early Explorers |
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