The natives who inhabit the islands of Torres Straits are a black,
frizzly-haired, excitable people, and therefore belong to the Papuan,
as opposed to the Australian stock.
Daudai is the native name for the contiguous coast of New Guinea, and
it forms with the islands one ethnographical province. Between their
respective inhabitants was a regular trade, chiefly in canoes, bows and
arrows from the mainland, and in turtle-shell, pearl shell, and other
marine shells from the islands.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.—Bamboo tobacco-pipes; one-tenth natural size.
Torres Straits. Drawn by the author from specimens in the British
Museum.]
Unless otherwise stated, the following description applies to objects
from the Torres Straits islands, the natives of which appear to be
rather more artistic than those of Daudai.
There are two methods of decorating smooth surfaces—(1) by carving the
pattern, the intaglio portion of which is often filled up with powdered
lime (Fig. 2); or (2) the design is engraved on the surface of the
object by means of fine punctate or minutely zigzag lines (Fig. 5).
The former method is alone applied to wooden objects, and also mainly
to those made of turtle-shell (“tortoise-shell”); the latter is that
employed on bamboo pipes and on many turtle-shell objects. Unbroken
lines are very rarely engraved.
It is characteristic of this district that the patterns are inscribed
within parallel lines, whether it be a comb (Fig. 2) or a bamboo pipe
(Fig. 1) which is to be decorated. The parallel lines are first drawn,
and then the pattern is delineated. A noticeable peculiarity is the
preponderance of straight or angled lines to the exclusion of curved
lines. Simple semicircular curves and circles are common, it is true,
but they are not combined into curved patterns; reversed or looped
coils and complex curved lines, such as scrolls, are completely absent.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.—Rubbing of the handle of a wooden comb; one-half
natural size. Torres Straits. In the author’s possession.]
The most common pattern is the ubiquitous zigzag, and this is
pre-eminently characteristic of this region. The zigzag may appear as
an angular wavy line, or each alternate triangle may be left in relief
or emphasised by parallel lines, thus forming a series of alternate
light and dark triangles, or what is sometimes termed a tooth pattern.
It is obvious that when several rows of this pattern are drawn, a
triangle of one row will so coincide with that of the contiguous row as
to form a diamond or lozenge. Strange as it may seem, it appears that
this is the actual way in which even such a simple form as the lozenge
was discovered in this district. Even now, after generations upon
generations of designers carving the same simple patterns, the lozenge
is very frequently made by drawing a median horizontal line parallel to
the boundary lines and then cutting a more or less symmetrical triangle
on each side of it (Fig. 2, third and fifth bands). A herring-bone
pattern (Fig. 2, fourth band) and a few simple combinations of
straight or angled lines complete the decorative attempts of these
people.
We often find that a feeling for symmetry prompts the artist to more or
less design his patterns with regard to the middle-line, although the
latter may not be indicated as such. The same comb offers examples of
this.
It must not be imagined that these people do not employ curved lines
in their patterns because they cannot draw them. On the contrary,
when they wish to represent animals, they can do so with spirit and
truthfulness. The accompanying illustration (Fig. 3) demonstrates
a fair amount of skill and a faculty for seizing upon the salient
features of the animal to be drawn. The diversity of animals is
also noteworthy. Nearly every great group of animals is represented
in native art, and often so faithfully that it is possible for the
naturalist to give the animals their scientific names.
Fig. 3 illustrates some of the animals delineated by the natives of
Torres Straits. On looking over the rubbings and tracings of animal
drawings from this district which I have collected, I find that
over twenty different kinds of animals are represented. Like the
ancient Peruvians, they have not disdained to copy jelly-fish (A)
and star-fishes (B); the former appears to be a medusoid belonging
to the Leptomedusæ. The remarkable hammer-headed shark (C) is often
represented by these people; the group of two sharks and a turtle (D)
occurs on one of a series of pearl shells which are fastened to a band;
(E) is probably an eagle-ray; the strange sucker-fish, which is used
in fishing, is shown in (F), the mouth, however, is on the opposite
side of the body to the dorsal-sucker; (G) is a green tree-frog, the
sucker-bearing toes are indicated in a generalised manner; this is
one of two frogs which are placed in the same position on a bamboo
tobacco-pipe, as are the two snakes (H) on another pipe (cf. Fig. 1);
the black disc between them indicates the hole in which the bowl is
inserted. A crocodile is seen walking along the ground at (I), and a
cassowary (K) is pecking at a seed; its three-rayed tracks are also
shown (cf. Fig. 4); (L) is a cleverly drawn dolphin, and (M) is a
dugong spouting, and below it the waves are indicated. The native dog,
or dingo, is shown at (N), and (O) is a man who has caught a large
mackerel-like fish; his belt, arm- and leg-bands are indicated.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.—Drawings of animals by the natives of Torres
Straits; one-quarter natural size.
A. Jelly-fish; B. Star-fish; C. Hammer-headed shark (_Zygæna_);
D. Group of two sharks (_Charcarodon_) and a turtle; E. Eagle-ray
(_Aëtobatis_); F. Sucker-fish (_Echineis naucrates_); G. Tree-frog
(_Hyla cœrulea_); H. Two snakes on a tobacco-pipe, between them is
the hole in which the bowl is inserted; I. Crocodile (_Crocodilus
porosus_), with foot-prints; K. Cassowary (_Casuarius_) pecking at
a seed [the latter is unfortunately omitted in the figure], and
footprints, cf. Fig. 4; L. Dolphin (_Delphinus_); M. Dugong (_Halicore
australis_) spouting, and indications of waves; N. Native dog (_Canis
dingo_); O. Man with a large mackerel-like fish.
A, B, G, H, L, occur on bamboo tobacco-pipes; C, E, I, K, M, N, O, on
drums; D, F, on pearl shells.
A, B, H, I, L, N, O, British Museum; C, E, K, Cambridge; G, Oxford; D,
F, Berlin.]
As is to be expected among an insular people who are continually on the
sea, there is a preponderance of marine forms.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.—Drum from Daudai; 37½ inches long. Sketched
by author from a specimen in the Cambridge Museum.]
It is somewhat remarkable that no case is known of the delineation
of animals in a linear series, or grouped in any way. They are all
scattered about on the objects decorated with them. The only exceptions
to this rule are in the cases of the drums, pipes, or in a few other
objects; in these two precisely similar animals are symmetrically
disposed with regard to the middle line. For example, in the lower pipe
of Fig. 1 a snake will be seen near the left-hand end, immediately
below the orifice, for the insertion of the bowl of the pipe, and there
is a corresponding snake on the opposite side. I have also noticed a
similar paired arrangement on the backs of four old women. Two women
had scarified upon them a pair of dugong, one a pair of snakes, and
the fourth a pair of objects, which I believe indicated the sting-ray;
now these are three of their totem animals, and the scars upon the
women’s backs indicated the clans to which they severally belonged. As
the paired animals on the drums (Fig. 4) and pipes (Fig. 1, B), etc.
(Fig. 3), are known to be totem animals, it appears probable that the
symmetrical disposition of two animals among these people indicate that
they are totem animals, and marks the object, or rather its owner,
as belonging to a particular clan. This paired arrangement strangely
recalls the “supporters” of our armorial bearings, and there is reason
to believe that these perpetuate in some instances the totem animals of
our savage forefathers.
Another point is worth mentioning. Many of the drums have engraved
on each of their sides the representation of a cassowary (Fig. 4). I
understood that in Mer (Murray Island) only certain people could beat
the drum; thus it would appear that throughout this district the men of
the cassowary clan, at all events, were the musicians.
Like many other savages, these people are more expert in depicting
animals than men, and the human form is rarely copied. Human faces are,
however, very frequently represented in the wooden and turtle-shell
masks for which the Torres Straits natives are famous, and small wooden
human figures were carved on arrows from the mainland, or as wooden or
stone images to act as charms. For analogous purposes models of dugong
and turtle were carved in wood, and many of these are really skilfully
executed works of art, while others are merely conventional renderings,
with a minimum amount of labour expended upon them.
The great dance-masks, to which mention has just been made, are
sometimes very elaborate objects, and the animal forms, which are
often used in combination with the human face, are doubtless symbolic,
but of their meaning we are ignorant. Various sharks, such as the
hammer-headed shark and the saw-fish, the crocodile and a sea-bird, are
very commonly represented.
The association of a human being and crocodile is shown in Fig. 5,
which is taken from a rubbing of a bamboo tobacco-pipe (the white spot
in the centre indicates the hole for the insertion of the bowl). Only
the face and arms of the man are represented. This design is repeated
four times on the same object. The figure also illustrates a concentric
treatment of designs which appears to be characteristic of the mainland
near the mouth of the Fly River.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.—Rubbing of part of the decoration of a bamboo
tobacco-pipe, probably from the mouth of the Fly River; one-third
natural size, in the Liverpool Museum. In the original the lines show
dark on a light ground.]
From about the same district where the last object came from are made
the carved wooden arrows, which are traded by the natives to the
islanders of Torres Straits, and which may be found in many of our
ethnographical museums. All the arrows formerly used in Torres Straits
were imported from the mainland of New Guinea. Of these there were many
kinds: some were quite plain, others had simple wooden barbs, while
others again had bone barbs; it is only with these latter that I am now
dealing.
No two of these arrows are precisely alike, but they fall into four
main groups—(1) undecorated, or with an occasional simple band pattern
below the barbs; (2) those with the figure of a man carved upon them;
(3) those with a representation of a crocodile; and finally (4) those
with simple patterns, which usually have a longitudinal direction.
I will confine myself to the third group, and will illustrate only
a few of the numerous variations which occur; these will suffice to
indicate what sort of modifications take place, and will enable any one
to interpret the carving on the majority of arrows belonging to this
class which may be met with in a museum.
_The Crocodile Arrow and its Derivatives._—This class of arrows forms
a very interesting series, as it becomes greatly modified. At one end
of the series we have an easily recognisable crocodile; at the other
we have a lizard, or a well-marked snake; and possibly even this may
degenerate into the simplest patterns.
(_a._) _The Crocodile and its Degenerate Forms._—In front of the main
design there are usually a few barbs, much as in the “man-arrow,”
but these barbs may be considerably increased in number in the more
degenerate type, or they may be altogether absent.
It is desirable to first describe a typical crocodile-arrow; and it
will be necessary to call attention to certain well-marked divisions of
the total representation: these are the snout, the head and neck (from
the eyes, inclusive, to the fore-limbs), the fore-limbs, the trunk, the
hind-limbs, and the tail.
(1.) The snout is plain; above, at the anterior extremity, are two
elevations, which are meant for the prominent valvular nostrils of the
crocodile. Occasionally one is placed behind the other (Fig. 6, A),
instead of their being side by side, or even but one may be present.
Laterally the jaws and teeth are usually characteristically rendered.
In one arrow (Fig. 6, B), the teeth of the upper jaw on one side
have, by an easy transition, been transformed into a zigzag line. The
underside of the snout and head is ornamented with lines and dots which
may have a longitudinal or transverse arrangement, or both may occur,
as in Fig. 6, B.
(2.) The head and neck, like the snout, are plain above, except for an
occasional representation of scales on the neck (Fig. 6, C), and the
ventral ornamentation is a continuation of that of the underside of
the snout. The eye is triangular, with the apex behind, rarely oval,
as in Fig. 6, C; a band-pattern, usually a zigzag, which is always
distinguishable from the ventral ornamentation, extends from the eye to
the fore-limb.
(3.) The region of the fore-limb has generally the greatest thickness
of the whole arrow. The limbs often arise from an ornamental band (Fig.
6, A), which represents the prominent scutes in this region of the real
animal. The fore-limbs first project backwardly, and then run forwards
towards the middle ventral line. The toes are usually indicated by
transverse lines.
(4.) The trunk has usually a row of chevrons or diamonds running along
the dorsal and ventral median lines; the lateral ornamentation usually
consists of transverse lines, separated by rows of spots; sometimes
these run longitudinally.
(5.) The hind-limbs may be separated dorsally by a triangular area
(Fig. 6, A), or by a row of tubercles (Fig. 6, E). The limbs invariably
bend forwards, and then backwards. The enclosed angle contains a row of
spots or rarely a plain ridge.
(6.) Typically the tail is ornamented with three, occasionally two,
dorsal rows of tubercles. The median row is a continuation of the
median series, or the triangular area above noted; sometimes the median
row is directly continuous with the central series on the back of the
trunk. The lateral rows start from the insertions of the hind-limbs
(Fig. 6, A, E, D). Beneath there is a large quadrangular plate,
ornamented with concentric lines, the sides of which often extend up to
the dorso-lateral angle of the tail.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.—Series of arrows from Torres Straits, collected
and sketched by the author, and presented by him to the Cambridge
Museum; one-third natural size.]
On comparing a number of crocodile-arrows with the animal itself, one
is struck with the numerous realistic details which have survived
the decorative treatment of the design. It must be remembered that
one is dealing with a work of decorative art, and not an attempt at
realistic carving. In one arrow several anatomical characteristics of
the crocodile will be suggestively rendered; in a second other details
will be more accurately carved; but in the great majority of arrows
belonging to this series, variation has occurred to such an extent that
the crocodile becomes almost unrecognisable as such.
A very typical crocodile arrow is to be seen in Fig. 6, A; the chief
variation in this is the placing of one nostril behind the other.
In Fig. 6, B, the nostrils are side by side, and the teeth of the upper
jaw are represented by a zigzag line. The hind-limbs and the tail are
entirely absent.
Fig. 6, C, is important in several respects. The nostril is single, the
mouth is partially closed; but the teeth have not, as yet, entirely
disappeared from the hinder closed moiety. The eye is oval, a rare
feature, and the dorsal scales of the neck are represented; this is
also rare. The fore-limbs have been converted into a raised zigzag
band, which encircles the arrow. The hind-limbs do the same, except
that the pattern is interrupted in the median dorsal line by a double
row of tubercles, which represent the prominent dorsal scutes of this
region in the living animal. The thigh is carved with a curved upper
border and a straight lower border.
There is rather a gap in the series between Fig. 6, C and D; but it is
easy to see that the hinder part of the mouth is closed, and the teeth
of both jaws are represented by different patterns; the front part of
the mouth is widely open, but edentulous. The nostril is single. The
eye has become enormously enlarged, and constitutes what I propose to
term an eye-panel; it extends backwardly to the fore-limb. The plain
upper surface of the head and neck has become much reduced, owing to
the encroachment of a double row of spots on each side. The artist
mistook the upper for the lower surface when he carved the fore-limbs,
for it will be seen that the toes are above and the dorsal scutes are
placed below. Another point of interest is the replacing of the central
row of caudal scutes by a plain ridge; so far as I am aware this is
unique.
Fig. 6, E, is a type of a large number of arrows. The front open part
of the mouth is quite small, and the surfaces of the jaws are scored by
oblique lines. The median dorsal plain band of the snout is no wider
than the lateral bands which indicate the closed hinder part of the
mouth. In the gape of the mouth an elongated triangle is very generally
present; this is doubtless intended to represent a tongue. Sometimes
it is notched. The eye-panels are elongated and narrow, and the dorsal
median band of the head and neck extremely reduced. The rest of the
body in this arrow calls for no special mention. Sometimes eyes are
carved on the dorsal surface of the gaping end of the upper jaw.
In the last arrow (Fig. 6, F) of the series which I figure, the front
part of the mouth has disappeared; but the hinder part of the head is
much the same as in the last arrow. The fore-limbs and body are absent.
The hind-limbs are narrow, but retain their characteristic forward
bend; the dorsal caudal scutes are replaced by numerous parallel
transverse lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 7. Snake-arrow from Torres Straits (cf. Fig. 6).]
Two features of the innumerable modifications of this design are
worthy of special allusion, the one is the remarkable retention of the
projecting nostril, which may often be found as a slight prominence in
very degraded arrows; and the other is the still greater persistence of
the tail and hindquarters of the crocodile. I suspect that the striking
decorative effect of the concentrically marked cloacal plate has
led not only to the retention of that part, but also to that of the
neighbouring organs.
(_b._) _The Snake Variety._—We now pass on to a small group in which
the open front part of the mouth of such an arrow as Fig. 6, E, has
suggested a complete head, and so eyes are added (Fig. 7); the rest
of the snout, the head and fore-limbs are omitted; the body is much
elongated, but the hind legs and tail are usually quite normal, or
subject to merely minor variations; the patterns may run transversely
as in the figure, or longitudinally. Such a carving irresistibly calls
to mind a snake; the natives themselves told me it was a snake.
The tail and hindquarters, however, proclaim the crocodilian original.
In this group of arrows we have a very interesting example of the
transition from one kind of animal into another; but hitherto I have
not seen a snake-arrow which has lost all trace of its saurian ancestry.
(_c._) _The Lizard Variety._—A few arrows are known to me which pretty
closely resemble Fig. 6, E, except that the hind-limbs are elongated
and slender, and the tail is not crocodilian. The body is depressed and
lozenge-shaped in section. In other words, the body, hind legs, and
tail are lacertilian in character. In these arrows, the crocodile has
been confounded with a lizard.
Other illustrations of the decorative art of these people will be found
in Figs. 44, 66; but as these examples illustrate other aspects of the
subject, I have described them in the relating sections of this book
and refrain from repeating them here.