A long fly-whisk from Hawaii appears in the same collection, formed of the neck feathers of the cock, of varying colours, white, orange, and brown, with black tip; the handle of wood, bound round with black and buff cane.
The most primitive form of fly-whisk is that from the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, made of grass fibre, bound to a stick, and resembling a rough besom.
Vegetable fibre of various kinds would appear, indeed, to be the material most commonly employed for these articles, being, doubtless, the readiest substance to hand. A remarkable series of fly-whisks from Tahiti, formed of fibre, were presented to the British Museum by Sir W. C. Trevelyan, Bart.; in these, the handles (of wood) are finely plaited halfway with fibre of two colours, the rest of the handle of a spiral form, the head carved to a fantastic shape.
An interesting fly-whisk from the Tonga Islands is formed of cocoa-nut fibre, finely plaited at its junction with the wooden handle; small turquoise, black, and white beads, are
affixed to the plaited portion, these forming an extremely effective contrast to the rich red brown of the fibre. In Samoa, enormous fly-whisks are formed of this material, sometimes affixed to a handle of wood, and occasionally bound round with the same material to form the handle. (Page 81, Nos. 11, 12.)
A curious fly-whisk from Tahiti is of twisted fibre, the handle being formed of two birds’ wing-bones bound together, with a portion of plaited fibre in two colours forming the extremity of the stem at its junction with the whisk.
The Matabeles employ fly-whisks of horse-hair, both white and black. An example of white horse-hair bound with brass, fixed in a handle of cane, and also one of black hair, with the handle formed of plaited brass wire, are to be seen in the British Museum.