A collector approached me recently, asking whether I could identify the model of an old double-hulled canoe he bought while visiting Tasmania, on the basis of a few pictures.

The collector wondered whether it might be of Tongan or Solomon Island origin.

Looking at the type of sail, I could tell that it was definitely not of Polynesian origin. It was a Melanesian-type sail, but not Solomon Islands either. The tribes along the South-West coast of PNG were rigging their canoes with this triangular type of sail. Those tribes were the "Motu" and the "Roro". It was a type of canoe observed by A.C. Haddon and mentioned in his work 'Canoes of Oceania", page 226.

A few double-hulled canoes have been observed with ligated gunwales on the upper edges of the hulls, which is an exceptional technique in this region. This technique has been implemented on this model.

The Roro name for this type of canoe was "ahi rua iviri."