Last weekend I stumbled over an article in the September Edition of the german magazine GEO (2013/09): "Königin Emma" (Queen Emma) by Christina Krätzig.
It is about Emma Forsayth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Forsayth), a trading woman, who lived around 1880 in the Pazific.

The particular text passage, which raised my attention:
Quote:



Translation:
--
As Emma Forsayth and her crew are steering the landing boat towards the beach, the captain sees several men in the bushes. The are carrying weapons. The crewmembers turn the boat and row. Back on the ship they set sail towards the open sea.

But it is strange: No Canoe is taking up the pursuit. Forsayths men think they are save as suddenly stones rain onto the deck, rip holes into the sails and the ship Edited:
. The men on the beach use slings, like no one of the whites has ever seen before. The stones hit with force and accurately, even on a distance of 100 meters. They only just manage to escape.
--

This incident is dated in the text to August 1880 and the location is "Neubritannien" (New Britain).

What do we gather from this text: The sling was in use by the indigenous population of "Neubritannien" in the 1880's and was also used in raids/warfare. Further it is interesting, that the white people did not know the sling. Therefore it seems that the sling was not generally known as a weapon in the colonial circle of this time.
They also considered a distance of 100 m well worth a shot. However the power of such a slung stone is in my eyes a little bit exagerated (ripping holes in sails and ship Edited:
). I believe that a stone can rip a hole into a sail but a hole in the planks of a ship may be a little bit exagerated.

The article in the magazine shall be based upon a book by R.W. Robson.
So if anyone wants to know more about the use of the sling in "Neubritannien" in 1880 this may be a useful source.

Edited:

I agree with jlasud, I have broken 1X6 boards (25mm X 150mm) with egg sized stones.  I doubt that every stone punched a hole in the ship but enough probably did that they felt it was worthy of commenting on.

If they wrote it down,it probably happened. But I agree,sling stones ripping through more than 1" planks is not probable. A lot is in the details,that we don't know.

Still,good article!

I was under the impression that the stones were hitting the superstructure on the stern and breaking boards and punching holes in them.  Not punching holes in the hull or deck.  I should have clarified, sorry.  The deck and hull probably would have been closer to 3 inches (75mm).