The merit of this little outrigger is its lightness, the dugout hull being of soft wood and very thin, but the whole boat is frail in the extreme.

Larger versions of this craft are sailed, but so far the islanders have failed to make headway against the wind. One of the reasons for this could be the frailty of the craft itself, for it would be submitted to much greater strains when beating - through necessity, were it present, would surely have changed this.

The makers of this canoe have a different approach to the Polynesian builders who use hard wood and build to last. The Papuan, who uses his canoe for coastal fishing and transport, and for moving up the forest-banked rivers, makes a cheap and expendable boat for the job, using materials that are always handy and yield to simple tools.

This outrigger was presented to the Association by the Revd. Jeremy Ashton of the New Guinea Anglican Mission, and was kindly shipped to England by them.

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Unknown

Fishing & Transport

Outrigger

Unknown

Papua New Guinea

Lae ~ Morobe

Length
12 ft 10 in

Width
10 ft 2 in