James Hornell (1865 – February 1949) was an English

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and seafaring ethnographer. He was a cousin of Edward Atkinson Hornel, a Scottish painter.

Career

As a zoologist Hornell published a number of papers on marine organisms working most notably with his father in law Joseph Sinel in Jersey, and in 1900 traveled to

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

(now Sri Lanka) to report on the pearl fisheries. Staying there for six years, Hornell published a number of papers on the pearling industry. While there he was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society for his work on marine worms. After working for several more years in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, organizing the fisheries of

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, he retired, and thus began his next career as an ethnographer of seafarming and maritime life. He traveled extensively around the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

world and east

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, making records of indigenous watercraft, sailing on Junks and Sampans, and as a member of an expedition to the south seas made many records of the watercraft of

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

. Further travels brought encounters with watercraft of northern India, the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, and northern Europe. Hornell was the Scientific Director of the St George expedition to the South Pacific which took place in 1924-1925. In the 1930s became the principal authority on traditional, indigenous watercraft particular logboats, skin boats, canoes of all types, floats and even small ships. His work is distinguished by careful observation and measurement and supported by drawings and photographs of seafaring life all but vanished over the second half of the twentieth century. James Hornell also collected string games. He collected string figures from Africa, Asia and Pacifics Islands.

Published works

Among his publications are: * *''String Figures from Fiji and Western Polynesia'' (1927) *''The String Games and Tricks of Sierra Leone'' (1928) *''Cat's Cradles, the World's Most Widespread Game'' (1928) *''String Figures from Sierra Leone, Libera, and Zanzibar'' (1930)
The Cypriote Threshing Sledge
(1930) *''String Figures from British New Guinea'' (1932) *''String Figures from Gujarat and Kathiawar'' (1932) *''Indonesian Influence in East African Culture'' (1934) *''Report on the Fisheries of Palestine (1934)''. A brochure which describes first attempts of growing common carp in Palestine. *''British Coracles and Irish Currachs with a note on the Guffah of Iraq'' (1938 as a book from Society for Nautical Research, previously a series of articles in their journal). *''String Figures from Anglo-Egyptian Sudan'' (1940) *''String Figure Diffusion'' (1943) *''The Canoes of

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

''; *''The Fishing Luggers of

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

''; and *''Water Transport: Origins and Early Evolution''. * "Water Transport" *''Sinhalese String Figures and Tricks'' (1999) *''String Figures from Burma'' (1999)

References

Works by James Hornal
Open Library

External links

*Tribute to James Hornel

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hornell, James 1865 births 1949 deaths English zoologists British ethnographers Fellows of the Linnean Society of London