The finished article, which is
also used as a cement, is known as "Toon-coo."
Motor power for the canoe is a shovel-shaped piece of bark 5 inches by 3
1/2 inches, each man having a pair. Ever and anon the aft man ejects
leakage by a rapid succession of dexterous back strokes of his paddle.
Naked and unashamed, the blacks are well equipped for sport. They may
have three or four harpoons of their own manufacture, besides a live
fire-stick lying on a piece of bark sprinkled with sand, or they may
carry a couple of dry sticks for raising a fire by friction. The haft of
the harpoon is probably red or orange mangrove (BRUGUIERA RHEEDI), heavy
and tough. It has been duly seasoned and straightened by immersion in
running water and exposure to fire. At the heavy end it is hollowed out
to a depth Of 4 inches. The point is preferably of one of the black
palms (ARCHONTOPHOENIX JARDINEI), and a barb is strapped to it with the
fibre of the "Man-djar" (HIBISCUS TILIACEOUS) and cemented with
"Toon-coo."
I have never known one of these barbs to break or come loose, so adept
are the blacks in securing them. The point is about 6 inches long, and
on the barbless end is tightly wound successive layers of fibrous bark,
until its size is adjusted to the socket in the haft.
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