Navigation and shipbuilding

An important element of the Polynesians or Melanesian vessel is the outrigger. This is shaped and fitted on in various ways, and is of various sizes. Light durable woods are used for this purpose; in the eastern districts mostly Pisonia, which, even in the Paumotu Group, reaches a height of 65 feet, while in the west it is generally Hibiscus, as light as cork, or an Erythrina. As a rule the outrigger is fastened to the vessel by two booms 5 to 6 feet in length, the forward one straight and stiff, the after one bent and elastic. Among the Fijians many kinds of craft are distinguished solely according to their outriggers.

The sail - there is never more than one - is three-cornered, composed of plaited mats, or woven from the bast of the leaf-stem of the coco-palm, bent on a frame of bamboos, and attached to the mast by a rope passing over or around the mast-head. It cannot be reefed. As an article of trade it is in demand proportioned to its importance.

Wooden baler, New Zealand - length approx 350mm. (British Museum.)

In large vessels the steering oar is 20 feet long, the blade over 6 feet, requiring two or three men to handle it in a heavy sea. The ordinary paddles are frequently the least practical part of the gear. The blade is lancet-shaped, often decorated at the pointed end, carved about the handle with figures of animals or other ornaments. Fancy paddles are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Where they are as strong as in the Solomon Islands, they can be used on occasion for clubs. Even the balers, with their often elegantly carved forms, show the value which is attached to the humblest nautical implements. The balers of the Admiralty Islands, with their single horizontal bar for a handle, were placed by Rear-Admiral Strauch, from a practical point of view, above those made in Europe.

Preserves, capable of keeping for a long time, are prepared for voyages from pandanus and breadfruit; cocoanuts also serve as provision, and their shells can be filled with water.

In the large war boats the number of rowers far exceeds 100. G. Forster speaks of 144 oarsmen, Wilson of 300 men in a single boat. The time of the paddles is given by singing. When a number of boats are sailing together, one man stands in the stern of the leading vessel and signals the course with a bunch of dry grass.