Fire-stick

“ It is the duty of the women to carry fire. A stick, a piece of decayed wood, or more often the beautiful seed-stem of the Banksia, is lighted at the fire the woman is leaving; and from her bag, which, in damp weather, she would keep filled with dry cones, or from materials collected in the forest, she would easily, during her journey, preserve the fire got at the last encampment.
Messengers, warriors on an expedition, and hunters, would sometimes have to use the fire-sticks, but in ordinary camp life rarely. ”

“ They get fire very expeditiously with two pieces of stick: the one must be round and eight or nine inches long, and both it and the other should be dry and soft: the round they sharpen a little at one end, and pressing it upon the other turn it round with the palms of their hand, just as Europeans do a chocolate-mill, often shifting their hands up and running them down quickly to make the pressure as hard as possible: in this manner they will get fire in less than two minutes, and when once possessed of the smallest spark increase it in a manner truly wonderful. ”

“ They carry the smouldering brand with them for enormous distances, and only when, in spite of all care, it has gone out, and no other fire can be borrowed, the man takes up his two sticks and kindles a new fire by short but severe exertion. It is not every man who can do this. I have seen skilled practitioners who had a bright flame leaping up within half a minute from the first twirl of the stick, while others toiled away for a long time and effected nothing. ”

“ When the fire is lighted, first the paper burns easily and quickly, then the small pieces of kindling light more slowly and burn more slowly, and from them the small pieces of wood light yet more slowly and burn yet longer, and when they are really burning [227] one may put on the ordinary sticks, leaving always cracks between for the air and flames to draw through. Three sticks are needed to keep a good fire; a heavy one at the back, in front of it a stick almost burned through and a fresh one. ”

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But the stick didn’t stir,
So she called upon the fire:—
“Pray fire burn stick, stick won’t beat dog,
Dog won’t bite kid,
Kid won’t go!
And I see by the moonlight
’Tis almost midnight,
And time kid and I were home
Half an hour ago!”
But the fire only smoked,
So she turned and begged the water:—
“Pray water quench fire, fire won’t burn stick,
Stick won’t beat dog, dog won’t bite kid,
Kid won’t go! ”

“ If a stick is placed across, lying horizontally, supposing it catches fire, it just burns through the middle and that is all, the ends go out. If it is stood nearly upright, the flame draws up to it; it is certain to catch, burns longer, and leaves a good ember. ”

“ Fire was formerly made, and is still made, on occasion, by hunters and others who rapidly rotate a piece of hard stick, held vertically between the hands, in a cup-shaped cavity cut in a piece of soft wood which is held between the toes, the friction generating enough heat to produce sparks which light some tinder. The vertical stick is called the male, and the other piece the female, the reasons for which nomenclature are obvious. ”

“ The names applied to the two sticks indicate that the pointed stick (ondume) is regarded as male and the holed stick (otyiya) as female, and that the process of making fire by the friction of the two is compared to the intercourse of the sexes. As to the wood of which the fire-sticks are made accounts differ. According to Dr. H. Schinz the holed or female stick is of a soft wood, the pointed or male stick of a hard wood, generally of the |The male fire-stick made of the sacred omumborombonga tree.| sacred omumborombonga tree (Combretum primigenum) . ”

“ The point of the upright stick wears away the indentation into a fine powder, which runs off to the ground in the groove that has been cut; after a time it begins to smoke, and by continued friction it will at length take fire. This is an operation that is difficult, and requires practice; but if a drill-stick is used with a cord placed around the centre of the upright stick, it can be turned much more rapidly than with the hands, and the fire produced more readily. ”

“ There is a prevalent belief that to make fire by rubbing two pieces of wood is very difficult. It is not so; the writer has repeatedly made fire in thirty seconds by the twirling sticks and in five seconds with the bow drill.
Many travelers relate that they have seen various peoples make fire with sticks of wood. The most common way, by twirling one stick upon another is well described by Pere Lafitau with reference to the Hurons and Iroquois. ”

“ Their weapons consisted of spears, barbed and plain, brought to a sharp or broad point; woommeras, throwing-sticks, and boomerangs of several shapes, also a bundle of fire-making implements, consisting of two sticks about two feet long, the one hard and pointed, the other softer, and near one end a round hollow, into which the hard point fits. By giving a rapid rotary movement to the hard stick held upright between the palms of the hands, a spark will before long be generated in the hole in the other stick, which is kept in place on the ground by the feet. ”

“ The young man stands on one side of the bonfire and the girl on the other, and they, in a manner, join hands by each grasping one end of a long stick, which they pass three times backwards and forwards across the fire, thus thrusting their hands thrice rapidly into the flames. ”

“ One person works the "drill-stick" with a rude bow, and with his other hand holds a piece of stone or of wood above it, both to steady it and to give the requisite pressure--gentle at first, and increasing judiciously up to the critical moment when the fire is on the point of bursting out. Another man puts his hands on the lower piece of wood, the "fire-block," to steady it, and holds a piece of tinder ready to light it as soon as fire is produced. If a serious emergency should occur, it is by no means hopeless to obtain fire after this method. ”

“ They procure fire with infinite labour, by fixing the pointed end of a round piece of stick into a hole made in a flat piece of wood, and twirling it round swiftly betwixt both hands, sliding them at the same time upwards and downwards until the operator is fatigued, when he is relieved by some of his companions, who are all seated in a circle for that purpose, and each takes his turn in the operation until fire is procured: this being the process, it is no wonder that they are never seen without a piece of lighted wood in their hand. ”

“ If they want to make a little fire, they kindle one with matches, if they happen to have any with them; if not, a rapid twirl, between the palms, of a hard round stick fitting into a circular hole in another stick of softer fiber, will bring fire in from eight to forty-five seconds. ”

“ A man was fixing the curved stick which forms the pivot upon which a tourbillion rotates to one of those fireworks. The wire nail used for the purpose penetrated the composition and fired it. The remaining goods in the shed were ignited, and communicated to the neighbouring buildings, one of which was a magazine containing 3,000 lbs. of partially manufactured fireworks, including a number of rockets. These being without sticks and becoming ignited flew in all directions, setting fire to other buildings. ”

“ Fasten many gay-colored streamers of tissue-paper on one end, making them fully a yard in length. When all is ready, place the stick with streamers uppermost in the tube, draw back the rubber band with the stick (Fig. 310) , and fire (Fig. 311) . The sky-rocket goes swiftly through the air, carrying a stream of paper fire in its wake. As with the real fireworks you must be careful not to aim any of these in a direction where they will strike anyone. ”

“ They use also flint and steel, adopted from the Japanese. A specimen (No. 22257) is figured and described on page 583 of this paper. The fire-sticks 551 of the Ainos of Yezo (No. 129970, fig. 17) were loaned to the Museum by Prof. F. W. Putnam, who also secured the following letter of Mr. D. P. Penhallow, who collected the sticks:
At our request the chief brought several fire-sticks to my house, together with the necessary number of men to get fire in the approved style. ”

“ The hand fire-drill consists of a stick like an arrow-shaft cut to a blunt point, which is twirled like a chocolate-muller between the hands (shifted up when they get too far down) with such speed and pressure as to bore a hole into an under-piece of wood, till the charred dust made by the boring takes fire. ”

“ For a foot in the middle of the stick, cut half of the thickness away and hold this part over the fire until it can be bent easily to bring the two ends together, then fasten a crosspiece to hold the ends close together, shape the ends so that anything that drops into the fire can be seized by them, and a serviceable pair of tongs is the result. Any sort of a stick that is easily handled will serve as a poker. ”

“ When the Dyak wishes to procure fire, he places the wooden slab on the ground with the groove undermost, and inserts his pointed stick in the little hole and twirls it rapidly between his hands. The revolution of the stick soon causes a current of air to pass through the groove, and in consequence the fire is rapidly blown up as soon as the wood is heated to the proper extent. In consequence of this arrangement, much labor is saved, as the firemaker is not obliged to stop at intervals to blow upon the just kindled dust which collects in the little hole around the firestick. ”

“ Those on a long journey carry with them a sleeping-mat and wooden pillow, cooking-pot and bag of meal, pipe and tobacco-pouch, a knife, bow, and arrows, and two small sticks, of from two to three feet in length, for making fire, when obliged to sleep away from human habitations. Dry wood is always abundant, and they get fire by the following method. A notch is cut in one of the sticks, which, with a close-grained outside, has a small core of pith, and this notched stick is laid horizontally on a knife-blade on the ground ”

“ The ancient Bedouins kindled fire by means of the fire-drill, which was composed of a horizontal stick, the zenda, and an upright stick, the zend. The science of language furnishes us with many parallels for this mode of regarding the two parts as male and female; the two parts of the lock are distinguished in like manner; the spark is then the child, tifl; compare also our German Schraubenmutter, Muttergewinde. The sticks for making fire by friction are not taken from the same tree ”

“ The whole tribe is immediately summoned and large offerings of cattle are made as an expiation. Then the fire is relit by means of the friction of two sacred fire-sticks, which have been handed down from father to son. Every chief possesses such fire-sticks, and keeps them tied up with the bundle of holy sticks that represent the ancestors. One of the fire-sticks is pointed, the other has a hole in the middle, and sometimes also a notch cut round it. In the notch some fungus or rotten wood is placed as tinder. ”

“ Then you want a forestick on the andirons; and upon these build the fire of lighter stuff. In this way you have at once a cheerful blaze, and the fire gradually eats into the solid mass, sinking down with increasing fervor; coals drop below, and delicate tongues of flame sport along the beautiful grain of the forestick. There are people who kindle a fire underneath. But these are conceited people, who are wedded to their own way. I suppose an accomplished incendiary always starts a fire in the attic, if he can. ”

“ The pistol tinder-box may readily be made to perform the whole of what is here described. A bell rope attached to the trigger will suffice to elicit fire, which, communicating with a quick-match or fusee, will quickly ignite and produce the required light. If the fire is previously prepared with wood or some other combustible material, and a small quantity of inflammable spirits sprinkled over it, the slightest spark will throw the whole into a blaze. ”

“ When the old sticks had ceased to be used as fire-lighters, and were preserved merely as memorials of the dead, it is not surprising that their original function should be overlooked by some European observers, who have thus been led to distinguish them from the sticks by which the fire is actually produced at the present day. ”

“ The room was filled with a thick, black smoke, and every one coughed and choked; their eyes began to smart, and tears ran down their cheeks; but they worked bravely, and after a few minutes the last tiny flame was extinguished.
"What a queer way to put out a fire!" said one of the boys, after the excitement was all over. "I thought everyone always used water."
"Not when the fire is caused by burning oil," replied his father. "Water will only spread the oil, and make a bad matter worse. Always remember to use flour or sand to smother the flames, if a lamp explodes or is tipped over." ”

“ Over this packed scene of activity occasionally appear the white puffs of shrapnel smoke, which dissipate and vanish, while here and there a great spurt of yellow smoke and black earth shoots up as some high explosive shell bursts among the crowded depots and stores. The air is full of noise—the buzz of aeroplanes; the clatter of rifle fire; the staccato hammering of machine-guns; the heavy boom of guns firing; the dull crash of bursting shells; the buzz of flies on deck ”

“ Some of the sticks are kept throughout the year and laid on the hearth-fire during heavy thunder-storms to prevent the house from being struck by lightning, or they are inserted in the roof with the like intention. ”

“ Two or three men seize the nozzle of the great hose and rush with it into the burning [Pg 173] building to seek the heart of the fire. Smoke pours from the doors and windows in dense clouds, blinding and choking them until they gasp for breath. Water slops and spatters everywhere, steam rises from the blazing timbers, and the intense heat scorches and stifles them as they work. ”