West Africa, Liberia (not certain) / Nigeria (not certain) / Ghana (not certain), Africa
Accession Date:
1883
Notes:
From card: "Refer: Collins' MS. p. 1176. USNM. Bull 127, p. 284." From U.S. National Museum Bulletin 127, p. 284: "African dugout canoe. This is a type of canoe used on the west coast of Africa, where the natives exhibit much skill in the management of their canoes. It is an open, sharp-ended, round bottom, keelless dugout canoe; the ends curve up from below and terminate in small pointed projections; canoe very thin and light. Dimensions of canoe. - Length, 14 feet 6 inches; beam, 15 inches; depth, 12 inches. Gift of Capt. Alfred Moloney, Surrey, Eng."
The collector/donor Alfred Moloney (he often did not use his first name Cornelius) is listed as an exhibitor on p. 125 of International Fisheries Exhibition. 1883. Great International Fisheries Exhibition, 1883: official catalogue. London: W. Clowes. Smithsonian and U.S. Fish Commission staff, including George Brown Goode, participated in this exhibition, so presumably the donation of the canoe to the Smithsonian came about through contacts made during the exhibition. Moloney exhibited on the grounds of the exhibition, and the material he exhibited consisted of some African fishing and boat related materials, including a scoop for bailing out a canoe, listed mainly as material from Lagos (now part of Nigeria), which was then part of the Gold Coast Colony (now Ghana), where he had served as an administrator. This catalogue at least does not list a canoe as part of the exhibit. P. 90 of the U.S. National Museum Annual Report for 1884 lists donation of what is presumably this boat: "A full-sized dugout canoe, such as is used on the Gold Coast of Africa, has been presented to the Museum by Mr. Maloney [sic], governor of the Gold Coast colony. ..." On p. 30 of his publication Moloney, Cornelius Alfred. 1883. West African fisheries: with particular reference to the Gold Coast Colony. London: W. Clowes and Sons, Moloney does mention a West African canoe: "On my return to England in April last [1882] I bought, as the steamer lay at anchor off the Kroo coast [Kru coast, Liberia], a canoe containing also a specimen of a native fishing-pot and a specimen of a scoop or bale. ... The Kroo canoe alluded to is meant to accommodate one, and is a sample of the "dug-out" so common and universally known." So, it can be speculated, that E160338 may possibly be the canoe Moloney acquired off the "Kroo coast" in 1882. If it is not that canoe, it is then most likely to be from Lagos, or another part of the Gold Coast Colony, where Moloney had been serving as an administrator.
