Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-11-09
Charles Kraerner.
735 9TH Street N. w.,
Distributor for Washington.

| miliarly as 'screw-pine," he weaves on
cures a long strip decorated by several of
dry leaves. This strip is probably
| wound about him as he stands upright and
then left In place until IL wears out The
effect is something like a leather belt about
the waist, with half dozen leaves da nglinR
from 1t behind, like a butchers f1y brush
Similar circles are wound about his ankle.
and wrists or used garters.
On his head the islander wears cirrlets e,f
bones, some of them apparently human YER
tebrae, wound with vegetable hbers and
decorated with a fringe of small shells In
this work Of decoration the Mandanese ar
tisans exhibit the greatest possible patience
but the results not to be compared with
those achieved by other barbarous peoples.
Skulls Worn About the Neck.
The last Item of personal decoration
found among the natives is the most re-
markable of all. When a near relative dies
there the survivor carefully cures some
part Of the skeleton of the deceased and
wears II suspended from about his necS
Ordinarily the island fancy inclineS to the
skull bones, but the Andsman fashion Is
by no means rigorous. DR.. Abbott has
sent to the museum a skull worn in this
way. The bone is decorated with whits
pipe-clay, cross-patched In what the sci
entists call the 'lozenge pattern" About
the jawbone are hung small shells The
harness with which the mourner suspends
his grewsome memorial from his neck II
made of a net woven from the fiber OF a
q.
Two or three baskets are included in the
exhibition. They are long, brown contrf-
vances, shaped somewhat like a pineapple
cheese, open at the bottom. The witnes
Oh which the rattan Is woven are Ingenious
ly Joined at the bottom OF the basket, as
though the maker had been construc,ins
sleeves In comparison with the brilliant
and effective color-schemes of the American
savage the decoration Is almost nothing
The Andamanese basket maker Is content
with daubing his work in dull red, observ-
ing roughly the "lozenge pattern If the
memorial skull included i'm the collection.
Still Use Primitive Weapons.
In their warfare. fishing and hunting the
natives adhere to the methods indicated In
old ALIASES. The wild pigs are still spsared,
the turtles are still harpooned and the
enemy Is still repulsed with the bow ana
arrow. Even among instruments OF this
class the weapon of the Andamanese fighter
Is primitive. The spears are all iron head
ed, the iron being obtained in some way
from traders who anchor near the group
The harpoons are barbed and the iron head
Is fastened to the pike by q cord carefully
twisted and wound and intended to pre-
serve the head to the huntsman should 81
work OF while In the turtles body. Many
of the arrow heads are nails nattened and
sharpened, but the greater number Of ar
rows in DIR. Abbott's collection are mounted
only with the root OF some tropical tree
hardened in the fire.
From the length of the spears and hsr-
poems the natives must have strong arms
One of the former. for instance, is well over
eight feet long and rather heavy. To
throw II fifty yards would be a consider
able feat Of strength. to say nothing of
throwing 1t accurately.
Adamanese bows are OF very unusual
form. The wood used is fiattened, narrow
at the tips and in the middle but wide
where a bow is ordinarily bent. The bow
moreover, is curved reversely above the
hand, so that the string lies fat against IT.
The estimate of the museum authorities Is
that about 100 pounds pressure is required
to draw such a bow. But at least that
much force would be required to send one
Of their heavy arrows any distance with
any bow.
In lieu of a real canoe Of the sort used in
Andaman waters DIR. Abbott has sent the
museum a model evidently executed by ma
tive workmen. 1t IL an open boat, double
ended, and equipped with an "outrigger.s
continuance much like q catamaran rig
The boatmen paddle such craft on both
sides OF the boat. their paddles being sin
gle blades somewhat heart-like IN shape.
Such a boat manned with negroes clothed
only in armlets and armed with primitive
bows and arrows, would make the Amerf-
can Indian with his pony and rife seem
In comparison the exponent of high de-
gree of culture.