other from an acacia, or some other tree that furnishes a hard wood. Of course both the sticks must be thoroughly dry, a condition about which there is little difficulty in so hot a climate. His next care is to shape one end of the hard stick into a point, and to bore a small hole in the middle of the soft stick. He now squats down . . . . . places the pointed tip of the hard stick in the hole of the soft stick, and, taking the former between his hands, twirls it backwards and forwards with extreme rapidity. As he goes on, the hole becomes enlarged, and a small quantity of very fine dust falls into it, being rubbed away by the friction. Presently the dust is seen to darken in color, then to become nearly black, and presently a very slight smoke is seen to rise. The Kaffir now redoubles his efforts, he aids the effect of the revolving stick by his breath, and in a few more seconds the dust bursts into a flame. The exertion required in this operation is very severe, and by the time that the fire manifests itself the producer is bathed in perspiration.
"Usually two men, at least, take part in fire-making, and, by dividing the labor, very much shorten the process. It is evident that, if the perpendicular
much appearance of justice, by Mr. Tylor (Early History of Mankind, p. 230). In the 'Ethnography of the United States Exploring Expedition,' Hale gives a list of Fakaafo words, in which we find Afi for 'fire.' This is evidently the same word as the New Zealand Ahi; but as it denotes light and heat, as well as fire, we might suppose that it thus found its way into the Fakaafo vocabulary. I should not, therefore, attribute to this argument quite so much force as does Mr. Tylor. It is, however, evident that Captain Wilkes did not perceive the importance of the observation, or he would certainly have taken steps to determine the question; and as Hale, in his special work on the ethnology of the expedition, does not say a word on the subject, it is clear he had no idea that the inhabitants of Fakaafo exhibited such an interesting phenomenon. The fact, if established, would be most important; but it cannot be said to be satisfactorily proved that there is at present, or has been within historical times, any race of men entirely ignorant of fire. It is at least certain that as far back as the earliest Swiss lake-villages and Danish shell-mounds the use of fire was well known in Europe."—Pre-Historic Times, pp. 453–4.
Mr. George French Angas repeats this statement, and says that the inhabitants of Bowditch Island knew nothing of fire until the arrival of foreigners amongst them.—Polynesia, p. 402.
Probably the statements in the cases cited amount to no more than this: That the observers were not able to ascertain—had not, in fact, the means of discovering—in what way the natives procured fire. Hunters and warriors, whose necessities compel them to range through the forests, separated for many days from their tribe, could not well secure game, or pursue their enemies, without having at hand the means of kindling a fire. Under pressing necessity, a warrior or a hunter might remain for days without seeing fire; but warfare, hunting, and other well-known practices of savages, could not be successfully followed constantly unless they had some method of getting fire.
With habits different from those of now existing savage peoples, life might be maintained and prolonged without any knowledge of the art of procuring fire. Without tribal laws compelling warriors to follow enemies; living in a state of degradation, far below that of the Tasmanians; and guided to the places where there was food, by intelligence scarcely surpassing that of the kangaroo, or the wombat—it is conceivable that life might be passed in ignorance of the element which is so highly prized by man.
If it be true that any races having the use of fire are yet ignorant of the mode of producing it, it should not lead us to regard them as inferior to other races that resort to friction or percussion. The habit of carrying fire-sticks continually, or the practice of getting fire from some near source, as a volcano, might result in the disuse of the fire-sticks and forgetfulness of the art; but that would not necessarily prove inferiority.
If procuring fire is in any tribe among the artes perditæ, it would be well for the observer to be more careful than Mr. Dove and Captain Wilkes, who seem not to have appreciated the importance of the question on which they have written so decidedly.
