Report of the Curator of the Pitt-Rivers Museum (Ethnographical Department)
for the year 1897

The progress in the Museum during the year has chiefly been of a general kind, calculated to increase its educational value, and to give greater facilities to the general public for seeing the specimens and learning from them. To this end special attention has been given to increased labelling, and the possibility of having satisfactory labels printed in the University Museum has greatly facilitated this work. Hitherto these printed labels can only be produced a few at a time, and it is greatly to be hoped that some means may be found in the future whereby their production may be more continuous. Numerous sketches, photographs and diagrams have been added to explain the nature of exhibited specimens. In the upper gallery there has been a rearrangement of the Palaeolithic series, and a six-drawer cabinet has been added for the non-exhibited material, allowing of a concentration of the material. A similar cabinet has been added to the Neolithic series. The labelling is to be continued. The Acton palaeoliths now occupy a separate case. At the east end, the series illustrating the working of flint, jade etc., has been rearranged in three cases and labelled; the series of forgeries of stone and other implements has been arranged in two cases and labelled, and is probably the most complete series of its kind the country. The Cissbury find has also been rearranged and partially labelled. In the lower gallery, a small series of ancient and modern strigils has been arranged and labelled; a series of ancient bone and other skates has been made; an important series of primitive agricultural implements and objects used in the preparation of food has been arranged upon screens and in table-cases, and fully labelled with printed labels, with numerous sketches. Printed labels of a general kind to indicate the nature of the various series and subdivisions have been largely added in both galleries. In the court a special case has been added for the musical instruments sounded by means of a “free-reed,” and various labels and sketches, etc., supplied to different series. A reference set of ferricyanide prints of all the Ethnographical negatives in the Museum has been made.
    
The more noteworthy accessions to the Museum are the following:—The collection of native Australian implements and ornaments collected during the "Horn Expedition" to Central Australia, 1894, presented by Mr. W. A. Horn, who provided the funds for the expedition. Dr. Stirling kindly furnished descriptive labels of the objects sent. A collection of obiects from the Faroe Islands, obtained and presented by Mr. T. N. Annandale. A fragment of a composite archer's bow, presented with other objects by Prof. W. F. Petrie. Several Nicobar carved figures sent by Col. R. C. Temple. An important collection of Naga specimens from Assam, obtained by Mr. S. E. Peal. A number of the interesting "palaeolithic" stone implements recently found in Somaliland, including several fine examples, purchased. A number of S. African specimens, obtained by the well known traveller W.J . Burchell, c.1812. These were discovered in turning over old material in the Geological Department, and may have been part of the collection presented by Miss Burchell to the Ashmolean Museum 1865, whence they may have been transferred with geological material. They must have remained unnoticed in the Geological Department for very many years. As many of these specimens are the identical ones figured by Burchell in his Travels, their interest is very great, and it has been possible to ascertain the exact provenance of the larger number. A full list of accessions is appended. The Curator gave a course of lectures in Hilary Term on the "Realistic and Decorative Art of Primitive Peoples."

1897.

ACCESSIONS BY DONATION.

      Weaving-loom from Kusaie, Caroline Islands; native skeleton sea-chart, Jaluit, Marshall Islands. Presented by Herr Landeshauptmann Irmer, Pestalozzistrasse, 10, Charlottenberg. Hand-woven grass belt, Caroline Islands; 43 photographs of natives, &c.; 3 water-colour drawings of New Zealand natives and scenery; photograph of Indian lingams. Presented by Graham Balfour, Esq., M.A., 151 Woodstock Road, Oxford. Two native baskets of phormium tenax, bark water-vessel for attracting wild pigeons, mat of phormium tenax leaves, New Zealand; 2 "snake" nuts, Guiana. Presented by the Director, Royal Gardens, Kew. implement, Pretoria; 2 ditto, Mossel Bay; 3 stone scrapers, Stornberg, Cape Colony; 2 large worked flakes, Somaliland, Africa; imitation " mound-builder's " pipe, North America; native net, 2 string-work ornaments, 2 pendants of leaves, opossum-hair fringe-apron, hank of human-hair string . Queensland, Australia. Presented by Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., Owens College, Manchester. Head flattening apparatus, Milanau, Borneo; flint showing natural pitting of the surface, Beckley, Oxon; printed sheet for the game of lotto, Naples. Presented by R.G. Gunthcr, Esq., M.A. Magdalen College, Oxford. Scales of lepidosteus, said to be used as arrow-heads, Oregon U.S.A.; line with thorn-hooks for flat-fish, and baited example, Essex coast; 4 pottery tobacco-pipes, Bali tribe West Africa; 3 steel straw-splitters, Bedfordshire; flint hollow and convex-scraper, Exceat, S. Downs; Finnish peasant shoes of bark, Wiborg; eighteenth-century razor, Sømanland, Sweden; vine-pruning knife, Olympia, Greece; cast of Eskimo stone scraper in handle; 3 hollow-scraper flakes of flint, France; wooden strigil, South-East Africa; 10 ancient shell-beads from mounds, Lake Medad, Canada; long stone bead, Sacred Spring, Hamilton, Ontario; 22 worked flints, Nettlebed, Chipping Norton, North Stoke, Grim's Bank (Wallingford) Battle; all near Oxford; hollow and convex-scraper, Cave of Solutre, France; 12 pieces of turquoise prepared for bead-making, New Mexico, U.S.A.; piece of breccia with scraper in situ Les Eyzies, Dordogne; sting-ray spine dagger, R. Congo, Africa; 4 pieces of native iron money, W. Africa; bird-shaped bronze fibula, Taranto, S. Italy. Presented by Henry Balfour, Esq., M.A., Curator. Three "score-sticks" for keeping accounts, Coachford, Co. Cork; "muggin" or butter-measure of wood; bog-wood splints for use as candles. Presented by Miss K. Lawless Pyne, " The Cottage," Coachford, Co. Cork. Large "pituri " bag, Innaminka, Cooper's Creek, Australia; 9 photographs of Australian tree-burials, &c. Presented by Dr. E. C. Stirling, Melbourne. Rubbing of large Nestorian tablet in Chinese and Syriac script, date seventh century, in Buddhist temple, Shensi, China. Presented by A.G. Shorrock, Esq. Four ancient pottery vessels, Island of Cyprus. Presented by R.W. Doyne, Esq., M.R.C.S., St. Giles', Oxford. Thirty-eight N. Irish forgeries of stone arrow-heads, &c.; scraper from a cave near Bushmills; 2 spindle-whorls Ireland, and Wandsworth; English forgery of bronze dagger; flakes and cores from Neolithic workshop at Lakenheath; 3 forgeries of flint implements, Brandon; forgery of drift-type implement, East London make. Presented by Mr. G. F. Lawrence 7 West Hill, Wandsworth. Neolithic flint-scraper, Eriswell, Suffolk; palaeolithic "hollow-scraper" from old gravel-beds, Iffley, Oxon. Presented by A.M. Bell, Esq., M.A., Limpsfield, Rawlinson Road, Oxford. Eight forgeries of stone implements (France, Yorkshire, Scotland, Guernsey); 17 casts of stone implements; cast of small celt with Gnostic inscription, Egypt. Presented by Sir John Evans, K.C.B., F.R.S., Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead. Peasant's felt-overcoat, Balukiser, Asia Minor. Presented by J.A.R. Munro, Esq., M.A., Lincoln College, Oxford. Glass imitation of Mecca necklets with carnelian "'arrow-head" pendants, Mikhalitch, Turkey; pocket flint-and-steel, Turkey; licensed beggar's badge, 1709, Dromore; charm written, on parchment found in a horn by a Sheffield horn cutter. Presented by Prof. W.C.F. Anderson, 263 Glossop Road, Sheffield. Native match-lock fuse, Oudh, India. Presented by G. Bower, Esq. Two photographs of stone implements collected in Devon. Presented by S.G. Percival, Esq., Henbury, Bristol. Two spindle-whorls, Haute Garonne, Pyrenees. Presented by Prof. Gabriel de Mortillet, Societe d'Anthropologie, Paris. Two "ex votos" of pottery, Palestrina, near Rome. Presented by F. F. Tuckett, Esq., Frenchay, near Bristol. Forgery of flint arrow-head, Brandon, Suffolk, I895. Presented by G.W. Ord, Esq., M.B., Mildenhall, Suffolk. Two wooden clothes-beaters, masses, Mentone, S. France. Presented by J.J. Tylor, Esq., Mayfield, Sussex. Votive rags, &c. from holy well of St. Kieran, Clonmacnoise, King's Co., Ireland; pair of skin shoes, Aran Island; skin shoe and woman's embroidered sock, Dalmatia. Presented by Percy Manning, Esq. Piece of piece of chalk rudely inscribed, Cissbury galleries, Sussex. Presented by J. Park Harrison, Esq., M.A., Christ Church, Oxford. Wooden tumbler-lock, N. Sweden; 2 photographs of ballastpit at Broomhill, near Axminster. Presented by C.E. Peek, Esq, M.A., Rousdon, Lyme Regis. Spear with carved head, Ambrym Island, New Hebrides; bone flute obtained from an Aeginetan at Athens. Presented by R. Carr Bosanquet, Esq., M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. Straw figure of a man used as a charm by Chinese in Formosa. Presented by H. Matheson, Esq. Two pairs of Penobscot (Iroquois) Indian mocassins. Presented by T. A. Cook, Esq., M.A., 22, Jermyn Street, London. Photograph of an Apache playing native fiddle. Presented by Mrs. J. Crosby Brown.  Two horse-chestnuts used as a cure for rheumatism, Boston, Mass, U.S.A. Presented by S.L. Gulick, Esq. Ancient pottery from Cyprus, viz., 2 ewers and 2 bowls with handles, from a bronze-age tomb, Laksha tu Riu; small globular jug and handled bowl from a middle bronze-age tomb, Agia Paraskevi; small globular jug and bowl from later section of a bronze-age cemetery, Kalopsida. Presented by J.L. Myres, Esq., M.A., Christ Church, Oxford. Charm consisting of the left foot of a " grave-yard " rabbit, Georgia, U.S.A. Presented by the Hon. Hoke Smith, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. Wooden head-rest, Kaffir, Natal; woman's snuff-gourd, combined snuff-spoon and strigil, man's necklet with snuffbox, unmarried girl's waist-belt, married woman's ditto, man's bead face-ornament, man's necklet of pieces of wood, man's hair-comb of horn, ear-stud of ivory, 2 women's bone hair-pins, girl's grass-work armlet, pottery bowl of fine make, Zulu, S. E. Africa; photograph of Zulu girls. Presented by Mrs. Charles Roberson. Pair of skin shoes, pastalas, and pair of lime-tree bark shoes, wihses, Lettish, Livonia. Presented by Dr. Paul Gahtgens, Ph.D., 3 Junkerstrasse, Strassburg. Rudely made child's doll, Loango, W. Africa; piece of iron ring-money, Lower Congo River; fan charm, bian, of string-work, Ogowe River; pineapple fibre for string-making, Fan, Ogowe River. Presented by Miss Mary Kingsley, 100 Addison Road, London, W;  Collection of native implements, &c. from Central and Northern Australia, collected during the " Horn Expedition " of 1894, viz., 3 spear-throwers, I boomerang, I beaked boomerang, 2 clubs, 4 spears, MoDonnell Range; 5 spears, N. Australia; 2 shields, Alice Springs and MCDonnell Range; 2 quartzite knives with resin handles, 2 long-handled chert chisels, 2 ditto with iron blades, bone awl, spindle for spinning fur-string, 2 wooden food-bowls, 2 slings of human hair for carrying the bowls, kangaroo and wallaby tendons for binding, &c., red ochre for painting, 2 seed-grinding stones, MGDonnell Range; 2 kurdaicha shoes of feather and hair-work, Arunta tribe, Charlotte Waters; 2 corrobboree hats, MCDonnell Range; girdle of human hair, Alice Springs; 2 girdles of opossum-hair string, 3 men's " aprons," Alice Springs; woman's " apron " of fur string, McDonnell Range; man's " apron " of peragale tails, Ellery's Creek; 2 miniature fur string "aprons" worn by men, Crown Point; 3 necklets of fur string, Arunta tribe; necklet of fur string with peragale tails, Tempe Downs; necklet of Stuart's bean-tree seeds, McDonnell Range; 2 head-ornaments of human hair, ditto of fur string, Arunta tribe; 3 head-rings of fur string, Ellery's Creek; head-band of human hair, Arunta tribe; chignon-pad of felted emeu feathers with bone pins, Luritcha tribe; 2 feather tufts for the head, McDonnell Range; 3 feather bunches worn in the small of the back, Finke River. Presented by W.A. Horn, Esq., Adelaide Club, Adelaide, S. Australia. Polished jade celt, Guatemala. Presented by Prof H. Miers, M.A., Magdalen College, Oxford. Serpentiform stem of a climbing plant used by snake charmers, Mirzapur, India. Presented by W. Crooke, Esq., Wimbledon. Piece of iron slag from native smelting, from near Zanzibar. Presented by Rev. W. E. Taylor, 335 Beverley Road, Hull. Miniature bow-and-arrow phleme, New Guinea; 5 depila tories made of fibres bound together, New Guinea. Presented by Dr. John Thomson, Brisbane. Series of 21 models of S. Russian agricultural implements, &c. Presented by J.O. Wardrop, Esq., H.B.M.'s Consul at Kertch. Collection of objects from the Faroe Islands, viz., old wooden bismer, ditto with weighted end made from a gun- stock, old wooden tumbler-lock, model of a wooden lock, fire-shovel made from a small whale's jaw-bone, ring of sheep's horns used as a ball for playing a kind of rude cricket, house-brush made of a puffin's wing, pump-drill, old stone whorl dug up at Solitude village, wool-heckling comb, wool-bag made of halibut stomach, 3 spindles, model of spinning-wheel and photograph of the same, 2, small snuff-mortars, tin lamp, iron crusie-lamp, spinner and winder for horse-hair string, apparatus for twisting horse-hair string into rope. The following from Iceland: bone net-sinker, large wooden spindle, long plaited horse-hair rope with sheep's-horn loop. Presented by T.N. Annandale, Esq., Balliol College, Oxford. Pair of Greek vases from a tomb in Tyre. Presented by Rev. W.B Keer, M.A. Facsimile of Anglesea "pibcorn" or "hornpipe." Presented by Rev. F.W. Galpin, M.A., Hatfield Vicarage, Harlow, Essex. Leather bottle with incised ornament, gazelle-trap, from the Ramesseum, Egypt; bronze pin, bronze cross pendant, pair of wooden tablets, wooden stilus, 6 reed pens, turned wooden object, fragment of a composite archer's bow of late form, Roman period, Belmesa, Egypt; wooden boomerang, XIIth Dynasty, from a tomb below the Ramesseum; 2 long covered baskets of parallel stalks, Vth Dynasty, Deshasheh; 3 circular baskets, portion of rope-work mat and samples of Vth Dynasty rope, Deshasheh. Presented by Prof. W. Flinders Petrie, University College, London. Wooden shield, carved spear-thrower, and wooden club, Western Australia. Presented by C.A.V. Butler, Esq. Haliotis shell and curved needle (?) made from one, New Zealand. Presented by H.M. Prins, Esq., University College, London. Pump-drill with flint point, Alite, Solomon Islands; shell bladed adze, Santa Cruz Islands; piece of fine bark-cloth, Fiji. Presented by Rev. R.H. Codrington, D.D., Chichester. String of leaves for hanging on lintels after a marriage, for luck, used by Hindus in India. The following from the Nicobar Islands: conventional animal figure copied from Burmese ship's figure-head; 4 kareau magic human figures for protecting houses; small carved figure of a soldier; 2 carved grotesque semi-human figures; ditto for keeping away evil spirits; 3 henta koi in form of a bird, a garfish and a fish-eagle; padded fighting hat; spathe basket; spout- vessel of cocoanut-shell; cocoanut-shell funnel; 2 stands for holding cigarettes; roll of palm-leaf strip for making cigarettes; bambu flageolet; pig's skull preserve as a memento of a feast ceremonial roll of fire-wood for placing on a grave. Presented by Colonel R.C. Temple, Chief Commissioner, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Port Blair. Tobacco-box of birch-bark, and two noise instruments with string and membrane, North of France. Presented by Prof F. York Powell, M.A., Christ Church, Oxford. "Tromba marina," monochord, English. Presented by Mr. T.W. Taphouse, Magdalen Street, Oxford.

ACCESSIONS BY PURCHASE.
Sixteen well carved models illustrating Chinese customs, native life, &c., Shanghai. Obtained by R.T. Turley, Esq., Mukden, Manchuria. Western Eskimo tobacco-pipe with lead bowl; necklet with boar's-tusk-shaped shell pendant, sling, British New Guinea; glass bladed spear, N. Australia; camel rider's lance, Egypt; number of ox bone implements used by ancient pin makers, from London excavations. From Miss Cutter. Bronze Etruscan belt and portions of another, S. Italy; engraved Etruscan mirror and fragment of ditto, S. Italy; II flakes and worked flakes of flint from the "kitchen-midden" at Hastings; Etruscan bronze belt, Vulci; bronze mirror, S. Italy; ditto with handle, Smyrna; ancient bronze key, S. Italy; 7 ancient bronze lock-bolts, 5 ancient lock-hasps, small bronze key, 2 finger-ring keys, Smyrna; ancient bronze key, London; larger ditto, Icklingham, All Saints; iron padlock from Thames at Wandsworth; piece of cut greenstone, New Zealand; stone adze, New Zealand; green stone adze-blade, German New Guinea; cartouche case, Abyssinia; grass-work pouch, Old Calabar, W. Africa; bambu comb, New Caledonia; comb, no locality; dagger-sheath with quill-work, N. America; priming-horn from Thames near Wandsworth; small powder-horn, English; cocoanut shell pendant and seed ornament, (?) New Guinea; long bambu and wood pointed arrows, S. America; throwing-spear and two palm-wood arrow-heads, S. America; calendering stone mounted in wood, English; quiver and darts for blow-gun, British Guiana; 4 bambu "calthrops," Burmese; 4 ground stone celts, Denmark; I ditto, Dinant, Belgium; I ditto, Schaumforst, Thuringen; I ditto, Portage, Ohio. From G. F. Lawrence. Carved figure head and stern-post of small Maori canoe, New Zealand; old sickle and flail, Minster Lovell, Oxon; 2 early tooth drawing instruments, Thame and Moreton-in-the-Marsh; 2 ancient bronze thimbles, Wendlebury, Oxon; early lace-bobbin winder, Oxon; silk-twister, Berkshire; plate with representation of dandy horse; 3 old drinking-horns, Oxford. From J. Bateman. Thirty photographs of natives of various islands of the S. Pacific. From T. Andrews. Two obsidian daggers, Admiralty Islands; gourd flute, New Ireland; pottery pipe, Buka, Solomon Islands. From E.J. Brill, Leiden.
Spear, New Britain; axe of turtle-bone, pointed stick, Matty Island; Kaffir strigil and snuff-box combined; iron axe-blades shaped for hafting like stone ones, Cloudy Bay, New Guinea; Fijian cannibal fork; mummied hawk, Egypt; Siamese oboe; netted work-bag, bone pin, S. E. New Guinea; 2 flutes, Umritsar, India; mallet for bark cloth, (?) New Guinea; rattle made of reeds, East Central Africa; pump- drill, New Guinea; arrow with point of cassowary claw, New Guinea; S. American bow; N. American spear-shaft; 2 dolls and raw-hide pouch, N. America; Kafhr woman's bead- girdle; engraved powder-horn, " King'.s Own Borderers "; iron manilla or ring-money, W. Africa. From W. D. Webster. Pair of wooden pattens, Oxford. From A. Kent. Collection of specimens from Assam, viz., 2 small agricultural hoes, hide cuirass, shield, 3 state spears, fighting spear, 3 dau or choppers, calthrops and quiver, crossbow and 18 arrows, rain-coat, 2 wooden effigies from burial platform toy carving of mother and child, 2 bambu drinking mugs, tobacco-pipe, bambu spoon, gourd flask, chief's ornamental queue, man's perineal band, bag, 2 dress hats, man's head band of spathe, 2 chiefs' brass belts, 2 men's bone hair-pins, horns of deo sagoli used as ear ornaments, pair of bambu ear-plugs, ditto with hair-tufts, 3 pairs of ditto with coloured hair fringes, 2 small carved human heads showing tattooing patterns, 6 seed necklets, chain necklet of cane work links, number of sets of armlets worn by men, 3 cane waist belts, strainer of basket work, small wicker food table, fish catching basket, woman's load-basket, 2 small ditto for chiefs' wives, 10 basket satchels elaborately ornamented, carried by men. Obtained from various Noga tribes by S.E. Peal, Esq., Sibsagor. Old flint-lock gun with safety catch. From a sale in Oxford. Musical instrument with vibrating tongues, Umtali, Mashonaland; 3 sets of dolasses or divining tablets, several small leaf shaped knives with ogee section, carved wood snuff box, Mashonaland; Dyak war-coat of hide with feather ornamentation, Borneo; pistol converted from flint-lock to percussion, Wisbech; small powder-horn, English. From sales at Messrs. Stevens'. Indian sporting spear. From Parker, Oxford. Eighteen flint implements from Blenheim Farm,Wallingford; 2 old buckles, Wallingford; 3 coarse pottery rings found in drift-beds in a field near Milton Stream, Berks. From Carter, Oxford. Five forgeries of chipped "neolithic" celts, and 10 forgeries of "neolithic" arrow-heads, Brandon, Suffolk. From C. Roberts. Collection of palaeolithic stone implements from Bolgoshan and Narodiyeh, Somaliland. From H. W. Seton-Karr. Locks of two flint-lock guns and one match-lock, European. From W. Fenton. Native sickle, Selangor, Straits Settlements. From S. Dukes.

ACCESSIONS ON LOAN.
Central African native smith's bellows. Deposited by R. Gunther, Esq., M.A., Magdalen College, Oxford.  Modern Egyptian wooden tumbler-lock; baker's tally sticks, Auvergne; potato carried as cure for rheumatism, Oxford; flint "fish-hook"; Turkish archer's thumb-ring; 6 bone skates from London excavations; 13 forgeries of flint implements made at Brandon; works of an English musical-box (for comparison with the African “sansa"); shell bladed digging implement, Fiji. Deposited by the Curator, H. Balfour, Esq., M.A.

ACCESSIONS BY TRANSFERENCE FROM OTHER UNIVERSITY COLLECTIONS.
Collection of objects collected by W.J. Burchell about the year 18I2 in South Africa, viz., I3 wooden spoons, I double spoon, 4 native made iron awls for stitching, 3 sheath knives, I ivory and 2 wooden signal whistles, Bachapin tribe; pair of anklet-rattles made of springbuck ears, Bushman, Kaabi's Kraal; small bone snuff box, bambu snuff box, neck charm of antelope hoofs, raw-hide thong, Bachapin; 2 samples of rush cord, Hottentot; bracelet of sinews and copper beads, ditto with porcelain beads, 6 bangles of copper wire, 4 larger ditto, I plain brass bangle, 3 ornaments of strung copper beads, 2 necklets of pieces of wood, pair of copper ear-pendants, Bachapin; finger-ring, not of native make, Hottentot; man's ear-plate of copper and circular plate, probably for making a similar object, 3 ornamental twisted cords, Bachapin; 2 pieces of Hottentot embroidery made under missionary tuition. From the Geological Department, University Museum.  2 mummied cats, Ancient Egyptian; bird-trap, Egypt; 3 steatite tobacco-pipes, Bishari, Assouan; bronze bell; pair of leathern sandals. From the Ashmolean Museum.

HENRY BALFOUR.