Interesting Totokia

[Kinikini]

Originally Posted by LJ

That had set me thinking also, then I remembered the photographs of the trees in the WWI battlefields. They had been subjected to high explosives, shrapnel and bullets, and although many branches went the stumps still stood. It reminded me how resiliant wood can be - and I had little doubt that the very tough woods used in West Polynesian clubs would withstand the impact of a musket ball.

However, in my prosaic imagination I imagine somebody firing the balls at a club that was laid down or propped against a wall (rather than fending them off in a fight). There could be reasons to do this other than mere vandalism: to show how the old technology could be "stronger" than the new for instance or in some way to reinforce the mana of the club.

I too doubt that any Warrior could have been so skilled or stupid to rely on a 2 inch wide "stick" to shield himself from Musket balls.
I also find it illogical that the club could have been fired at in order to either demonstrate the strength of the club/wood or the power of a Musket or to reinforce the Mana by almost blowing it in half......i'm sure this would have pissed the God's and the club's proud owner right off !!! I presume, that like the battle fields of WW1 there must have been lot's of examples of "bullet's" embedded in the trees around Fijian battle sites that displayed the power of a musket and the density of the wood.. demonstrating the power of the Musket or the club would have been very straight forward........Just go pick a fight with someone...and win !!! All the best K