Fig. 49.—Pagaya, Sharpened Paddle.
The passage of the paddle into the Sword is well shown amongst the wilder ‘Indians’ of the Brazil. The Tupis still employ the Tacapé, Tangapé, or Iverapema, which is written ‘Iwarapema’ by Hans Stade, of Hesse, in the charmingly naïve account of his travels and captivity.[127] It was a single piece of the hard, heavy, and gummy wood which characterises these hot-damp regions,[128] and of different shapes with and without handles.[129] The most characteristic implement is a long and rounded shaft with a tabular, oval, and slightly-pointed blade: it was slung by a lanyard round the neck and hung on either side. With a weapon of this kind the cannibal natives slaughtered Pero Fernandes Sardinha, first Bishop of Bahia, and all his suite; the ‘martyrs’ had been wrecked on the shoals of Dom Rodrigo off the mouth of the Coruripe River. The scene is illustrated in the ‘History’ of the late M. de Varnhagen (p. 321).
A similar Brazilian instrument was the Macaná, still used on the Rio das Amazonas, and there called Tamarana. It retains the form of the original paddle, while for offensive purposes the pointed oval head is sharpened all round. In parts of the Brazil the Macaná was a rounded club; and the sharpened paddle used as a Sword was called Pagaye.[130] The Peruvian Macaná and the Callua—the latter compared with a short Turkish blade—were made of chonta-wood (Guilielma speciosa and Martinezia ciliata) which was hard enough to turn copper tools.[131] Mr. W. Bollaert[132] tells us that the ‘Macaná was said by some to be shaped like a long Sword, by others like a club.’ It was both. The Tapuyas set these broad-headed weapons with teeth and pointed bones.
Fig. 50.—Clubs.
1–4. Samoa Clubs; 5. Cross-ribbed Club; 6. Toothed Club (Fiji).
Fig. 51.—Paddles.
1–3. Spear Paddles; 4, 5. Leaf-shaped; 6. Austral Isles; 7. New Ireland; 8. African, from Gaboon River; 9. African, from Coast of Dahome.