Palm Stem Boat "Donga"
date: label: Collection Date
content: 1883 or before
name: label: Collector
content: Francis Day
label: Donor Name
content: Accession Number Unknown
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "General shape is that of a spoon, broad concave at the prow end, and tapering to a narrow almost flat part at the stern end. Used by native fisherman. Refer: USNM Bull. 127, p. 271." See also Collins Ms. p. 1254.
label: Notes
content: Described in USNM Bulletin 127, p. 271: "Jessor " donga." A peculiar type of dugout constructed from the stem of the tar palm tree and used by the native fishermen of Jessor, Bengal Presidency, India. This dugout is formed by excavating the soft portion of the palm stem and leaving only the outer layer, except at the smaller end where a narrow space has been left to prevent the water from entering. Its shape resembles that of a spoon with a deep bowl and a handle, concaved on one side and convex on the other. This form is due to the peculiar growth of the stem of the palm tree, which swells out into a rounded, bulb-like form at one end. "The broadly expanding base of the stem forms the prow or fore part of the canoe, and has a diameter of 2 feet 4 inches, while the narrow posterior portion is not more than 11 inches broad, the total length of this rude [sic] boat being 12 feet 10 inches. Gift of Surg. Gen. Francis Day."
label: Notes
content: At the time this boat was collected, Jessor/Jessore was a part of Bengal, India. It is now part of Bangladesh.
label: Notes
content: Records indicate this was a gift in 1883 from Surgeon General Francis Day through G. Brown Goode. It was apparently collected for and exhibited at the International Fisheries Exhibition in London of 1883. P. 87, in the Smithsonian Annual Report for the year 1884, part 2, reports that a collection of boats and boat models were presented to the museum by Surgeon-General Francis Day, F.L.S., Late inspector of Her Majesty's fisheries in India, and commissioner from India to the International Fisheries Exhibition at London, 1883. This boat or donga is described as part of this gift on p. 87. See also p. 149, # 225 in International Fisheries Exhibition. 1883. Great International Fisheries Exhibition, 1883: official catalogue. London: W. Clowes; http://books.google.com/books?id=EVk9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA149#v=onepage&q&f=false . See also Plate II, # 16, after p. 59 in Day, Francis. 1883. Indian fish and fishing. London: W. Clowes and Sons. (Handbook International Fisheries Exhibition, London 1883), for an illustration of what may be this object.
label: Notes
content: See p. 34 in Arnold, Béat, 2022. Sur la piste des pirogues-palmier. Neuchâtel, Editions Alphil (Le tour du monde en 80 pirogues, fascicule 6); DOI 10.33055/ALPHIL.16212 .
label: Record Last Modified
content: 5 Jun 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Jessore, Bengal, Bangladesh, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Not Given
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 000000
label: USNM Number
content: E160318-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Boat
physicalDescription: label: Height - Object
content: 39.4 cm
label: Depth - Object
content: 69.8 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 394 cm