a slinger or an archer at the top of the mast, and which is also
represented in the Assyrian sculptures, was still used for the same
purpose in Europe in the fifteenth century, was modified in the
sixteenth century, and became the mast-head so well known to midshipmen
in our own time. The two raised platforms, which in the Egyptian
vessels served to contain the man with the fathoming pole in the fore
part, and the steersman behind, became the _prora_ and the _puppis_
of the Romans, and the _forecastle_ and _poop_ of modern European
vessels. The _aplustre_, which, in the form of a lotus, ornamented the
stern of the Egyptian war-craft, gave the form to the _aplustre_ of the
Greeks and Romans, and may still be seen on the stern of the Burmese
war-boats at the present time.
* * * * *
All these numerous examples serve to show that where civilization has
advanced the forms have been gradually changed; where, on the other
hand, it has not advanced, they have remained unchanged. Sir Gardner
Wilkinson and others have pointed out the striking resemblance between
the boats of the ancient Egyptians and those of modern India. ‘The
form of the stern, the principle and construction of the rudder, the
cabins, the square sail, the copper eye on each side of the head, the
line of small squares at the side, like false windows, and the shape
of the oars of boats used on the Ganges, forcibly call to mind,’ he
says, ‘those of the Nile, represented in the paintings of the Theban
tombs.’ We have also seen (p. 214) that the inflated sheep-skin still
serves to transport the Mesopotamian peasant across the Euphrates, as
it did when Nimroud was a thriving city. The skin and wicker tub-shaped
vessels still float down the Euphrates with their cargoes to Baghdad,
are broken up, and the skins carried up the river again on mules, as
they were in the time of Herodotus, upwards of 2,000 years ago. What
is there to prevent our believing that the primitive vessels which we
have been describing in the southern hemisphere, the representatives of
some of which have been discovered in river deposits of the stone age
in Europe, may have been in use in the countries in which they are now
found, as long, and longer--far longer?
What reason is there to doubt that the rude bark-float of the
Australian, the Tasmanian, and the Ethiopian; the catamaran of the
Papuan; the dug-out of the New Zealander; the built-up canoe of
the Samoan; and the improved ribbed vessel of the Ke islander, are
survivals representing successive stages in the development of the art
of ship-building, not lapses to ruder methods of construction as the
result of degradation; that each stage supplies us with examples of
what was at one time the perfection of the art, inconceivable ages ago?
Some, as we have seen, especially the more primitive kinds, spread
nearly all over the world, whilst others had a more limited area of
distribution. Taken together, they enable us to trace back the history
of ship-building from the time of the earliest Egyptian sculptures to
the commencement of the art.
Nor does the interest of this inquiry confine itself to the development
of ship-building. As affecting the means of locomotion, it throws light
on the development of other branches of culture in early times. For
even if we set aside exceptional instances in which individual canoes
have been driven away to great distances--such as the case in which
an Esquimaux in his kayak was picked up off the coast of Aberdeen, or
that of a Chinese junk having been wrecked on the north-west coast of
America, which might or might not have produced permanent results--and
confine ourselves to those cases in which the distribution of like
forms of vessels proves that there must probably have been frequent
communication between shore and shore; and if we further assume, as I
propose to do, that the existing means of communication in the Pacific
in a great measure represents the amount of intercourse that took place
across the sea in prehistoric times, that is to say, in times prior to
the earliest Egyptian sculptures, we find no difficulty in accounting,
by this means, for the striking similarity observable in the arts and
ideas of savages in distant lands; for not only have these vessels
been the means of conveying from place to place the material form of
implements, such as celts, stone knives, and so forth, which, being
imperishable, have been handed down to us unchanged, and the forms of
which we know to have spread over large geographic areas; but also each
voyage has conveyed a boat-load of ideas, of which no material record
remains, in the shape of myths, religions, and superstitions, which
have been emptied out upon the seashore, to seek affinity with other
chatter that was indigenous to the place.
Thus, by means of intercommunication, no less than by spontaneous
development, have been formed those numerous combinations which so
greatly puzzle the student of culture at the present time.
FOOTNOTES:
[219] A Paper read at the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
and Ireland on December 22, 1874, and published in the _Journal_ of
the Institute, vol. iv (1875), pp. 399-435. (N.B.--This paper was
not furnished by the author with either plates or references. The
latter have been supplied, so far as possible, on pp. 229 ff.: for
illustrations, reference should be made to the section on Navigation in
the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford.--ED.)
[220] (The _Catalogue of the Anthropological Collection lent by Col.
Lane Fox to Bethnal Green Museum_ (London, 1874, parts i and ii) only
contains ‘Weapons’; part iii was never issued.--ED.)
[221] _Notes and Queries on Anthropology, for the Use of Travellers
and Residents in Uncivilized Lands_, drawn up by a Committee appointed
by the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1874); 3rd
edition, 1899, published by the Anthropological Institute, 3 Hanover
Square, W.
[222] ‘Primitive Warfare,’ pp. 127-30, 148-51, above.
[223] Address to the Anthropological Department at the Brighton meeting
of the British Association, 1872. _Report Brit. Assoc._ (London, 1873),
p. 161.
[224] Since writing this I have seen the illustration in Sir H.
Rawlinson’s note to this passage, in which he gives it as his opinion
that this is the meaning and use to be ascribed to these pins; and he
says that this system is still employed in Egypt, where they raise an
extra bulwark above the gunwale. Rawlinson, _Herodotus_ (1862), vol.
ii. p. 132.
[225] _Denmark in the Early Iron Age_, by Conrad Engelhardt (London,
1866), p. 31.
[226] ‘On Vessels of Papyrus,’ by John Hogg, Esq., M.A., F.L.S.;
_Magazine of Nat. Hist._, vol. ii (1829), pp. 324-32: cf. p. 206, above.
NOTES TO ‘EARLY MODES OF NAVIGATION’
P. 189. Steinitz, _The Ship: its Origin and Progress_ (London, 1849),
Pl. ii (frontispiece): cf. pp. ix, 4.
Gregory, ‘Expedition to the NW. coast of Australia,’ _Roy. Geogr.
Soc. Journal_, xxxii. (1862) p. 376.
P. 190. Cook, _Voyages_ (ed. London, 1842), vol. i. p. 204.
Kitto, _Pictorial Bible_, note on 2 Sam. xix. 18.
Pliny, ix. 10 (cf. vi. 24); Diodorus, iii. 21, 5; Strabo, p. 773;
turtle-shell boats were in actual use among the ‘Turtle-eaters’
(_Chelonophagi_) of Carmania and the islands of the Red Sea.
P. 191. Kalm, _Travels into North America_ (London, 1771), vol. ii. pp.
38-9.
Raleigh’s Expedition; Amadas and Barlawe, _The First Voyage to the
Coasts of America_ (= Pinkerton (1811), vol. xii. p. 567).
Columbus, _The Journal of Christopher Columbus, &c._; transl.
Markham (Hakluyt Society, 1893), p. 39, mentions dug-out canoes
(cf. pp. 58, 94), but not the use of fire.
Mouat, _Adventures and Researches among the Andaman Islanders_
(London, 1863), pp. 315-6; only hand-hollowing in use in his time:
no mention of Blair here: perhaps a verbal communication to the
author.
Symes, _An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava_ in 1795
(London, 1800), p. 320 (= Pinkerton (1811), vol. ix. p. 500).
Turner, _Nineteen Years in Polynesia_ (London, 1861), pp. 425-6.
P. 192. Wood, _Natural History of Man_ (London, 1868-70), vol. ii. p.
732.
P. 193. Wilkes, _United States Exploring Expedition_ (Philadelphia,
1845), vol. ii. p. 150 (Samoa); vol. v. p. 322 (Manilla); vol. v. p.
353 (Sooloo).
De Guignes, _Voyages à Peking, Manille, et l’Ile de France_ (Paris,
1808), vol. iii. p. 402.
De Morga, _The Philippine Islands_ (1609); transl. by Hon. H. E.
Stanley (Hakluyt Society, 1868), p. 272; two types, (_a_) ‘made
of one very large tree’; (_b_) ‘also _vireys_ and _barangays_ ...
joined together with wooden bolts.’
Symes, _An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava_ in 1795
(London, 1800), p. 320 (= Pinkerton (1811), vol. ix. p. 500).
P. 194. Turpin, _Histoire de Siam_ (Paris, 1771), vol. i. pp. 34-6.
Pietro della Valle, _Viaggi_ (Brighton, 1843), vol. i. pp. 602-3.
Duarte Barbosa (Magellan), _A Description of the Coasts of East
Africa and Malabar_ (1514); transl. by Hon. H. E. Stanley (Hakluyt
Society, 1866), p. 9.
Livingstone, _Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa_
(London, 1857), p. 64.
Barth, _Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa_
(London, 1857), vol. ii. p. 469; the tributary is the _Faro_; Yola
is the adjacent town.
Grant, _Walk across Africa_ (London, 1864), p. 304.
Condamine, M. de la, _Relation abrégée d’un voyage fait dans
l’intérieur de l’Amérique méridionale_ (Paris, 1745), p. 63 (at
Laguna).
P. 195. Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_ (London, 1862), vol. i. p. 169.
Bartram, _Travels through N. and S. Carolina, Georgia, &c._
(London, 1792), p. 225.
Kalm, _Travels into N. America_ (London, 1771), vol. ii. pp. 240-2.
Pliny, xvi. 40 _Germaniae praedones singulis arboribus cavatis
navigant, quarum quaedam et triginta homines ferunt._
Keller, _Lake Dwellings of Switzerland_ (transl. by J. E. Lee, 2nd
ed., 1878), p. 45, Pl. x. 8.
Sir W. Wilde, _Catalogue of the Antiquities of the Museum of the
Royal Irish Academy_ (Dublin, 1863), vol. i. pp. 202-4.
Ware, _The Antiquities and History of Ireland_ (London, 1705), p.
47.
Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_ (London, 1862), vol. i. pp. 153, 160.
P. 197. Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1842), vol. i. p. 193.
P. 197. Barth, _Travels_ (London, 1857), vol. ii. p. 469.
Byron, _An Account of the Voyages undertaken ... for making
Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere ... by Commodore Byron,
&c._, by John Hawksworth (London, 1773), vol. i. p. 79.
P. 198. Duarte Barbosa, _A Description_, &c. (Hakluyt Society, 1866),
pp. 14-15.
Denham and Clapperton, _Travels in Northern and Central Africa_
(London, 1826), p. 60 (Denham).
Barth, _Travels_ (London, 1857), vol. iii. p. 293.
Grant, _Walk across Africa_ (London, 1864), p. 196.
P. 199. Cook, _Voyages_ (1842), vol. i. p. 425 (Friendly Islands); pp.
95-7 (Otaheite).
La Perouse, _Voyage autour du monde_ (Paris, 1897), Atlas, No. 61.
Wilkes, _United States Exploring Expedition_ (Philadelphia, 1845),
vol. i. pp. 331-2 (Wytoohee); vol. ii. p. 157 (Samoa).
P. 200. Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_ (London, 1858), vol. i. pp.
71-6.
Wilkes, l. c., vol. v. p. 52.
Wallace, _The Malay Archipelago_ (London, 1869), vol. ii. p. 159
(the long journey); p. 92 (nail-less boats); pp. 183-6 (the Ke
islanders). [The author’s text has been amended to conform with the
statements of Wallace.--ED.]
P. 201. Dampier, _A New Voyage round the World_ (London, 1729), vol. i.
p. 429.
Turpin, _Histoire de Siam_ (Paris, 1771), vol. i. p. 36.
P. 202. Duarte Barbosa (Magellan), _A Description_, &c. (Hakluyt,
1866), pp. 147-8.
Marco Polo, _Travels_, transl. by Sir H. Yule (London, 1903), vol.
i. p. 108.
P. 203. Lobo, _A Voyage to Abyssinia_ (London, 1735), p. 24.
Isaiah xviii. 2; see Kitto’s _Pictorial Bible_, note on 2 Sam. xix.
18.
P. 204. Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_ (1862), vol. i. p. 169.
Sir Gardner Wilkinson, _The Manners and Customs of Ancient Egypt_,
3rd ed., 1878, vol. ii. p. 208, No. 403 (No. 399, 1st ed.).
Lucan, _Pharsalia_, iv. 136 _Conseritur bibula Memphitica cymba
papyro._
Plutarch, _de Iride et Osiride_, 18.
Pliny, vii. 56 _Nave primus in Graeciam ex Aegypto Danaus advenit:
ante ratibus navigabatur, inventis in Mari Rubro inter insulas a
rege Erythra_ (cf. ix. 10, and note on p. 190 above). _Reperiuntur,
qui Mysos et Troianos priores excogitasse, cum transirent adversus
Thracas. Etiam nunc in Britannico Oceano vitiles corio circumsutae
fiunt: in Nilo ex papyro, et scirpo, et arundine._ [The quotation,
as given in _J.A.I._, iv. 414, is inaccurate.--ED.]
Huxley, _Trans. Int. Congr. Preh. Arch._, Norwich, 1868 (London,
1869), p. 92; see also p. 147 above.
P. 205. Owen, _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, vol. iv. p. 240.
Rosellini, _Monumenti dell’ Egitto e della Nubia_ (Pisa, 1834),
Mon. Civ., Pl. cxix. 1, cxvii. 3 (= Plate XV. 109-11 herewith).
P. 206. Prideaux; Markham, _A History of the Abyssinian Expedition,
with a chapter ... by Lieut. W. F. Prideaux_ (London, 1869), p. 101.
Denon, _Voyages dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte_ (London, 1807),
vol. ii. p. 72.
Belzoni, _Narrative of Operations and Recent Discoveries ... in
Egypt and Nubia_ (London, 1820), p. 62; (holds nine persons).
Bruce, _Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile_ (London, 1790),
vol. v. p. 6.
P. 207. Pliny, xiii. 2 refers to wooden boats; v. 2 to wickerwork:
_ibi Aethiopicae conveniunt naves: namque eas plicatiles humeris
transferunt, quoties ad cataractas ventum est_.
Belzoni, _Narrative of Operations_ (London, 1820), pp. 380-1.
Pliny, v. 2 (above). Lucan, _Phars._ iv. 136 (above).
Herodotus, ii. 96. Wilkinson (Birch), 3rd ed., vol. ii. p. 307.
P. 208. Homer, _Odyssey_, v. 241-261. Smith, _Dict. Gr. and Rom.
Antiq._, s. v. ‘Navis.’
Nydam boat. Engelhardt, _Denmark in the Early Iron Age_ (London,
1866), pp. 29-39, Pl. i-iv.
Tacitus, _Germania_, 44.
P. 210. Regnard, _Œuvres_ (Paris, 1854), vol. i, _Voyage de Laponie_,
pp. 51, 100.
Outhier, _Journal d’un Voyage au Nord, en 1736 et 1737_ (Paris,
1744), pp. 60-1.
Bell, _Travels from St. Petersburg in Russia to diverse parts of
Asia_ (Glasgow, 1763), vol. i. p. 168 ff.
Atkinson, _Oriental and Western Siberia_ (London, 1858), pp. 14-15.
P. 211. Belzoni, _Narrative of Operations, &c. ... in Egypt and Nubia_
(1820), p. 62.
P. 212. Wilkes, _U. S. Exploring Expedition_ (Philadelphia, 1845), vol.
i. p. 127. [Pritchard.]
Kalm, _Travels into North America_ (London, 1771), vol. ii. p. 298.
Lahontan, _New Voyages to North America_ (London, 1735), vol. i.
pp. 26-9.
P. 213. Lane-Fox (Pitt-Rivers), _Report of the British Association_,
Brighton, 1872 (London, 1873), p. 163.
Steinitz, _The Ship: its Origin and Progress_ (London, 1849), Pl.
xvi. 6.
P. 214. Layard, _Nineveh and its Remains_ (7th ed., London, 1848), vol.
ii. pp. 381-2. Cf. Herodotus, i. 194.
Lempriere, _A Tour from Gibraltar to Tangier_ (London, 1793), p.
421.
P. 215. Herodotus, i. 194.
Kitto, _Pictorial Bible_, note on 2 Sam. xix. 18. Layard, l. c.
Hamilton (Alexander), _A New Account of the East Indies, 1688-1723_
(Edinb. 1727), vol. i. p. 88. They are described, even later, by
Sir R. K. Porter, _Travels in Georgia_, &c., 1817-20 (London,
1821-2), vol. ii. p. 260; and figured in Rawlinson, _Herodotus_
(1862), vol. i. p. 268, after Chesney, _Expedition for the Survey
of the Euphrates and Tigris_ (London, 1850), vol. ii.
Buchanan, _A Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore,
Canara, and Malabar_ (London, 1807), vol. ii. pp. 121, 141, 151,
163.
P. 216. Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1842), vol. ii. pp. 303-4.
Frobisher, _The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher_, ed. Collinson
(Hakluyt Society, 1867), p. 384.
Kerguelen, _Relation d’un voyage dans la mer du Nord_ (Paris,
1771), pp. 178-9.
Kalm, _Travels into North America_ (London, 1771), vol. ii. p. 241;
iii. p. 16.
Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_ (London, 1862), vol. i. p. 148.
P. 217. Caesar, _de Bello Civili_, i. 54.
Lucan, _Pharsalia_, iii. 131-5.
Bellenden, _The History and Chronicles of Scotland_, &c. 1536
(Edinburgh, 1821), vol. i. p. lix.
Sir W. Wilde, _Catalogue ... of the Royal Irish Academy_ (Dublin,
1863), vol. i. p. 204.
Ulloa, _A Voyage to South America, 1735_ (London, 1807), vol. i.
pp. 182-5.
P. 218. Bartolomew Ruiz. See Benzoni, _Historia del Mondo Nuovo_
(Venice, 1572), p. 165 (figure): reproduced in Benzoni (ed. Smyth:
Hakluyt Soc., 1857), p. 243: cf. Winsor, _Narrative and Critical
History of America_ (London, 1886), vol. ii. p. 508 (figure).
Condamine, M. de la, _Relation abrégée d’un voyage fait dans
l’intérieur de l’Amérique méridionale_ (Paris, 1745), p. 30 (on the
Maranon, not the Chinchipe R.). ‘Un exprès que j’avois dépêché de
Tupenda ... avoit franchi tous ces obstacles sur un petit radeau
fait avec deux ou trois pièces de bois, ce qui suffit à un Indien
nud et excellent nageur, comme ils le sont tous.’
Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_ (London, 1862), vol. i. p. 177.
P. 219. Bonwick, _Daily Life of the Tasmanians_ (London, 1870), p. 51.
Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_ (London, 1858), vol. i. p. 76.
P. 220. La Perouse, _Voyage autour du monde_ (Paris, 1797), vol. ii. p.
94.
Wilkes, _U. S. Exploring Expedition_ (Philadelphia, 1845), vol. i.
p. 331.
Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1842), vol. i. p. 425.
Wilkes, l. c, vol. ii. p. 151 (Samoa); iii. pp. 365-6 (Fiji); v.
pp. 11-12 (Bowditch Island).
P. 221. Dampier, _A New Voyage round the World_ (London, 1729), vol.
i. p. 215 (at Guam in the Ladrones; elsewhere he notes them ‘only at
Mindanao’ in the Philippines, pp. 298-300).
P. 221. Pigafetta, _Voyage round the World_ (= Pinkerton (1811), vol.
xi. p. 325).
Wilkes, _U.S. Explor. Exped._ (Philadelphia, 1845), vol. v. p. 52
(Kingsmill Is.).
Dampier, _A New Voyage, &c._ (1729), vol. i. p. 298 (Kingsmill Is.,
and Ladrones).
Baines, quoted in Wood, _Nat. Hist. of Man_ (London, 1868), vol.
ii. p. 8.
Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1842), vol. i. p. 425.
Wilkes, l. c., vol. iii. p. 365 (Fiji); ii. p. 151 (Samoa).
P. 222. Wilkes, l. c., vol. iii. p. 365 (Fiji); v. p. 52 (Kingsmill).
P. 223. De Guignes, _Voyages à Peking, Manille, et l’Ile de France_
(Paris, 1808), vol. iii. p. 402.
Dampier, _A New Voyage round the World_ (London, 1729), pp. 298-300.
Symes, _An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava_ in 1795
(London, 1800), p. 223 (= Pinkerton (1811), vol. ix. p. 455).
P. 226. Wilson, _Prehistoric Man_ (London, 1862), vol. i. p. 175.
Lahontan, _New Voyage to North America_ (London, 1735), vol. i. p.
28.
Lloyd, _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, vol. iv. p. 28.
P. 227. Wilkinson (Birch), _Manners and Customs of the Ancient
Egyptians_ (3rd ed., London, 1878), vol. ii. p. 219.
Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press by HORACE HART, M.A.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Note
Illustrations have been moved next to the text which they illustrate.
The following apparent mistakes have been corrected:
p. xvi "parodoxical" changed to "paradoxical"
p. 35 "haves hown" changed to "have shown"
p. 46 "which I I am" changed to "which I am"
p. 51 "which they resemble." changed to "which they resemble.[19]"
p. 56 (note) "172-80" changed to "172-80."
p. 62 (note) "DC." changed to "D.C."
p. 76 "glaves" changed to "glaives"
Plate XVI. "AUSTRALIAN SHIELDS" changed to "AUSTRALIAN SHIELDS."
p. 158 "Pescheira" changed to "Peschiera"
p. 172 "the Caucasus:" changed to "the Caucasus;"
p. 186 (note) "The former" changed to "The latter"
p. 198 "mats’." changed to "mats.’"
p. 198 "persons’." changed to "persons.’"
p. 214 "Bagdad" changed to "Baghdad"
The following possible mistakes have been left as printed:
p. 31 use it.
p. 72 (1846), vol. ii. 1. p.
The following are used inconsistently in the text:
blowpipe and blow-pipe
Butan and Bootan
cocoa-nut and coco-nut
firearms and fire-arms
gipsies and Gipsies
pl. and Pl.
sheepskin and sheep-skin
shipbuilding and ship-building
wickerwork and wicker-work
Inconsistent punctuation in plates XV and XVI has been retained.