I do not know where else to go---

[fernando]

Let's put them up, maybe it helps the imagination.
It could be, besides a handle stick, some sort of utensile, in fact. It might even have had two uses, one after the other, like the dip stick hipothesis, at a later stage in its life.
Surely not a needle, i would say. The idea is rational, but it doesn't match ... the orifice should be closer to the tip, and more worked up, besides other aspects.
The guy is a British colonial Sergeant and, for the matter, could still represent an Englishman, not an African serving in the British Army. This is a key point in determining this obect's reason of existance.
I bet Tim will pay a portion of " he kows what" to the member who will first tell us its utility.
fernando