UNIVERSITr CJF CAt If OITJIA SAH DIECO 3 1822 00778 1495 .00370- A I JML|M|L ^ - I r THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO JA JQLLA, CALIFORNIA . l«llifllllll'irnimf.(H'''P"'^'* SAf^iEGp "^ 822 00680 3605 UNIVERSITY Of CALIfORfJIA SAN DIEGO 3 1822 00778 1495 a ^my-/ ^-/ yf/' C GENERAL APPENDIX TO THE SMITHSOiNIAN REPORT FOR 18T9. The object of this appendix is to illustrate the operations of the Institiition, as well as to furnish information of a character suited especially to its catTV'.PiWJndents and collaborators. 211 a A STUDY OF THE SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, PHILADELPHIA, 1876 . By Edward II. Knight, A. M., LL. D. INTRODUCTION. The objects illustrated in the following paper are merelj' those of one class, shown at the Centennial Exhibition, in Philadelphia, 187G. The paper, therefore, makes no pretense to completeness, as the weap- ons shown in the various national sections were in most cases treated as mere casual objects thrown in as curiosities, and in many cases so little esteemed by the parties in charge that they were huddled away under tables ; surprise was sometimes expressed that any one should pore over the coarse and clumsy when the best talent of the country had exerted itself on the objects prominently displayed as worthy of notice. More than 700 sketches of the crude and curious implements shown at the exhibition were made by the author; the following were a por- tion, including weapons only, while a much larger, embracing tools of industry, were the subject of a series of papers in the Atlantic Monthly, May, 1877, to April, 1878, inclusive. There was no concurrence of design in the exhibition, so far as con- cerns our present subject. In almost all cases the objects were mere casual additions; in a few the scientific spirit was evident, and some care had been taken to illustrate this side of ethnology. To illustrate : The curious collection of musical instruments and weap- ons brought by Capt. Long (Bey) from Central Africa was almost hidden in a corner, while the tufted carpets, embroidered robes, and horse-trap- pings were prominently shown. In the collection from Java and the other Dutch Colonies in the Malay seas, much more was shown of the appliances of the semi-savage races of the region. Brazil, which had so admirable a collection of its agricultural and forest products, had scarcely anything which touches our subject, and Japan had a great deal, though much less in the way of its wcai)ons than in its industries and domestic implements. The Centennial Exhibition was mainly of the means and results of modern industry and art, and the primitive objects were comparatively but strays and occasionals. It is, therefore, not the author's fault that the exhibit of the relatively rude is so incomplete, as he has rigidly con- 213 214 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. fined liis illustrations to objects actually oxliibited there; and he is not responsible for the circumstance that the comparatively unknown and little thought of Portuguese colony of Angola had more in his line of search than the whole continent of South America. It may be mentioned, however, that the Dutch and Portuguese colo- nies had a manifold better exhibit in Paris in 1878, and that the former had the finest ethnological display of the mechanical ingenuity of an unlettered people which it has ever been the good fortune of the author to see. Types of Savage Weapons. — The simplest form of a weapon is a stick; a heavy stick is a club. The club with a knob becomes a mace ; the swell- ing end sharpened on one edge is an axe. Point the stick and it is a spear; if light, it is a javelin; shorter still, it is a dagger for close quar- ters. Flatten the stick and give it an edge, it becomes a sword ; or, if short, it is a knife. So far the weapon is a single piece of wood ; but some ingenious man contrives to mount a stone in a withe, or sling it with a thong or in the skin of an animal's leg, or lash it to a stick ; or he learns how to project a light spear from a bow, or a heavier one by means of a stick or a thong. We find all these modifications in the collections from various countries at the Centennial. Another type of weapon is the stone or club which is thrown ; the simplest method is, of course, the mere hurling of stones by the hand. Then there are several forms of slings ; the one having two thongs and a pocket, and the other a stick for hurling a perforated stone. The stone on the end of a string may be considered a third kind, and out of this grows the holaf — several associated balls on as many strings — which has a whirling motion when thrown. All of these also were exhibited. The lasso of South America naturally occurs to one in speaking of the holas, though the noosed lasso belongs to another class of devices, not exactly a weapon but a snare. Materials employed. — The statement of Lucretius [Be rernm nattirw) in regard to the discovery of weapons relates rather to the material than the form. " The first weapons of mankind were the hands, nails, and teeth ; also stones and branches of trees, the fragments of the woods ; then flame and fire were used, as soon as they were known; and lastly was discovered the strength of iron and bronze. But the use 6f bronze was known earlier than that of iron, inasmuch as it is more easy to work and its abundance is greater." Bronze has greatly the antecedence of brass, the former being not less than a score of centuries the more ancient. Brass is an accidental alloy, formed originally by melting copper in contact with calamine stone (silicate of zinc), the practice, purely empi- ric, producing what was not known as an alloy, but as a bright copper, valued for its color and other qualities. Certain copper mines were valued as producing this gold-colored copper, but it was found out sub- sequently that by melting copper with a certain mineral (calamine) the same effect was i^roduced. Aristotle, Strabo, and Albertus Magnus re- SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 215 fer to an earth wliich conferred a yello".Y color on copper. Sulphate of zinc had a place in the pharmacopa'ia before its metalHe base was known. Tiie metal was discovered by that brilliant absurdity, Paracelsus, in the sixteentli century. Brouze, on the contrary, luisalways been j-cco^nized as an alloy, bciu^ir made by the fusing^ together of copper and tin in suitable proportions. It is found in those countries whicli jiosscss l)oth of these metals, and also ill tlios(\ ancient lands to which llie IMi. "Eli.sde Rcclus, Suiitlisoiiian Report, 18G1, ji. 357. 3Sir Jolin Lubbock's lutroductiou to SvcuNilsou'a "Stoiio Age," page xli. 21 G SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. Zuliilaiid, tlio Gold Coast, Borneo, aud the Philippiues; also, ancient broii/cs from l\uyi)t. Copi)er, which may beheld to have preceded bronze, was shown in the Indian relics from Wisconsin, an() inches in length and made of hard wood. The Djibba clul) has also a tlattened head with a sli.iri»edge, whicli i,cnm. one of the Swiss Lakes. See memoir by M. E. Desor." Stag's-horu hammers are also very numerous in the debris of the lake dwellings. A hammer of serpentine with in- serted helve and with a hanunering face and pointed peen is mentioned by Nilson.'^^ ]\rany other forms are found among the Indian tribes, but the aim has been to place together the wooden clubs made in a single piece. Those in which stones or metal are mounted will be shown presently. Fig. 13 is a pestle shaped war- club of the Pai-Utes and Mohaves. They are termed "face mashers," since they are carried concealed about the person and used for striking an enemy in the face. Figs. 14 and 15 are from the Facitic Coast. They are elaborately carved war-clubs of hard wood from the Ilaidah Indians of Ik'lla-bella, Lritish Colinnbia. They arc what we should call " grotes(iuely carved," but the emblems on them are mythological, Fio. u.-Haidah ;^,j(| ^]^^^ i,|pa of plcasautry does not, we are war -club . — ?\a- *^ "^ -pj^, j^ Pai Ute tionaiMv^etim. informed, cutcr into 1 lic work. The canoes, ciub.-Xatwnal Mu- totem-posts, i)addles, bowls, and other ob- **"'"• «*Sir Stamford Raffles' "Java," 4to cd., i, 296 (Figs. 8, 9). "Translatiou in Smitlisouiau Report, 1865, page 357. 2^Ibi(l., page 359. 222 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. jects fiisliioiied iu wood, exhibit the same style of ornamentation, as it must be called. The Arj^eutine Republic sent a mace, which is shown at Fig. 16. It is of hard wood resembling Ihpnm rita\ and is 48 inches long. It belonged to an Indian of the pampas. A spear eight feet long, of the same kind of wood and tapering to a i)oint, was exliibited with it. The club of the Gran Chaco Indians^"' of the La Plata region is square in section, larger towards each end, and is grasped in the middle. It is called a macana, and is used either as a hurling weapon or as a club at close quarters. The clubs of the Guiana Indians are maces of square section, or paddle-shaped with some- what sharp edges. The handles are em- broidered with cotton string, some in a very ornamental manner. The Uaupe Indians of the Amazon-*^ also use carv^ed wooden clubs. We come now to a class of clubs in which a stone is mounted upon a withe or other kind of handle to form a maul or hammer. AVe do not in the present article consider those which have sharp edges, and are de- signed to form axes and adzes. They will -^ja. carved war-chib.- \yQ oToupcd Separately. Fig. 17 is about as National Mu- ^ '- ^ ^ ^ «cMm. primitive an affair as can well be devised. It is a sheU-headed club from a shell-heap on Saint John's River, Florida. The head is a Pyrula, and the specimen is peculiar in this, that though ancient it still has the remains of the original handle. In connection with this method of mount- ing, by a perforated head through which the helve is thrust, mention may be made of hammer stones, sometimes known as helved wedges, simi- larly handled, and riG.17. — Shell-hcadedclub/romaFloHdashell-heap. — National Museum. -^JjjqI^ haVC bcCU hurl- ing axes. They are more frequent in Europe than in America. Some riG -Ilaidah 16.— Mace from Paraguay, Argentine Con- federation. 25 Wood, vol. ii, pp. 569, 570. "6 Wallace's ' 'Amazon," 504. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIHITION. 223 of these liiive their edges in line witli tlie handle and some across it, as axes and adzes respectively. See Sven Nilson's ••' Stone Age,"-' edited by Sir John Lnbbock. A re- 'larkabU^ i'our-]>roiig('d stone battle-axe is shown in the mu- seum of Luild, Sweden, hav- ing a diameter of 8 inclies, and i)erloiated for a handle.-' Fig. 18 is a stone man lashed with raw-hide tliongs to a T-shai)eritis]i Columbia. Fig. 1!> is a large stone maul lashed to a short handle formed of a forked limb. It is from Sitka, Alaska. Fig. 20 is irom New Zealand. It shows that a similar mode of mounting is practiced by the Maories, the bowlder being secured in the crotch by means of thongs. Tlie pursuit f,c.. lo.stone maui «/ Alaska of similar examples leads us a devious dance. '"'""' MuBeum. We find that the (Iran Chaco Indians, of South America, have a peculiar method of embedding a cylindrical stone in a club so that it may project Fig. Vd.— Stone maul, from BritUh Columbia. — Natwnal Mu- scu in . ■^'-■'S Fig. 20. — 'Maori t,(oiie club, Kew Zealand. like an axe blade. A hole is bored into a sapling of suitable size and the stone driven in. As the tree grows, the wood advances upon the stone and grips it firmly. The sapling is then cut and shaped. Fig. 21. — Sti)7ie maul of Arickarces. Fig. 21 is a stone maul of the Arickaree Indians of the Upper Missouri River.29 It is a reddish, granite pebble of three and a half pounds « Pago 7-2, .111(1 plato ix, Figs. 183,184; pp. 73,74; and plate viii. Figs. 180,181. '" Ibid., page 7;'), and ]>!. ix, Fig. 159. •9 Sec " Tweuty-first lleport of X. Y. State Cabinet," pp. 31-:{G, pis. i, ii, iii. ' 224 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. weight. The witlic is bent around it, occni)ying a circumferential cle- l)re.ssion, which is interrupted opposite the liandle. The same kind of hammer was used by the native workmen formerly in the Lake Supe- :^ii..iiiittMafavfiTMTrKriiililliii^HlJjja> Fig. 22.— Stone mauls of Missouri Yalley Indians. — Xational Museum. rior copper mines. It is used by the Missouri Indians in driving stakes and tent-pegs. Fig. 22 shows two stone implements of the Sioux, the hereditary enemies of the tribe last mentioned. The u])per one is a rude grooved axe mounted in a hickory sapling, the two ends of which are brought together with raw-hide thongs to form the handle. The lower figure is a war-club with an egg-shaped limestone head and a handle of ash ; the end of tire latter is ornamented with the tuft from the tail of a buffalo. Between the two figures is a representation of the Eoman sacrificial malleus, which, even in the time of the emperors, was employed in slaugh- tering the victims. It seems to have come down from times then ancient, the order of procedure admitting of no innovation, just as the knives of flint were used in ancient Egypt and among the Hebrews in performing ceremonial observances and sacrifices. Dr. Schliemann found hun- dreds of rude stone hammers in the hill of Ilissarlik. Another mode of mounting a large peb- ble or wedge-shaped stone is by means of a raw-hide covering to the stone and withe. Fig. 23 shows an Arickaree weapon made in this manner : The granite pebble weighing 22 ounces is grooved circumferentially and a withe Fir. Fig. 23.-4 r icka r e e stone maul. 2i.— War-dub of Apaches. Ari- zon a. — Xational Museum. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXIIiniTION. 225 tant around it and secured by raw iiidc*tli(niinos of Victoria," Discnssion on, pj). 321 et aeq., vol. i. '-Il)iil {noio pa nut in), i, 2\)d. \ ^ Scliweiufnrtb. S. Mis. 54 15 226 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. has a movement of translation in a horizontal plane. It is also a hack- ings hand-to-hand weapon. Somewhat similar weapons with two blades are found in ni)per Sennaar and Central Soudan, and are used by the Fans. The Icecrie or knobbed throwing-stick of the Kafirs has been already described. The lismn is the curved throwiug-stick of another Fig. 26. — Niatn-niam hurling-weapons (t'^umbash). African tribe ; the iron hungamunga^* of the Tibbus and of Darfur is also a hurling weapon. ^^ It would be singular, indeed, if a cudgel for throwing at game were found in but one part of the world, and at but one period; but the dis- covery of the Australian hoo^nerang, the most curious of its class, has directed attention to ^yhat might otherwise have been passed over as unimportant. The Egyptian and Assyrian monuments have been con- sulted, and in each case the curved stick has been noticed in the hands of bird-catchers or hunters. An ancient thro wing-stick about eighteen inches long is in the Abbott Egyptian collection of the New York His- torical Society. A short, crooked stick {pedum) was used by the Eomans to throw at hares, and centaurs are represented with a short pedum {/.aycuiSo /.()>) in the other. In coming to Australia we reach a peoj^le living in an almost primi- tive condition, so low, ill-formed, and ignorant that their name has be- come a synonym for imbecility. Here, however, the throwing-stick has attained its highest development. The maximum of improvement has '*• Illustrated in the discussion on the boomerang. Smith, " Abor. Victoria," 321 et seq. 3fl Tylei-'s " Early History of Mankind," 175-6. See also paper by Fergnson in Trans. R. I. A. Dublin, 1843, vol. xix. Paper by W. Cooke Taylor. The Nat. Hist. Soc. London, 1840, vol. i, page 205; Eyre, vol. ii, p. 303; Klemm, C. G. vol. i, p. 316, plate vii. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 227 not, liowever, been reached by the natives of all parts of this island, which is almost as largo as the United States and Territories. The hoo7ncran(/ {Fig. 27), used with such singular dexterity by the "black Fig. 21.— Boomerangs of New South Wales. fellows" of Xew South Wales, is almost unknown to those of the colony of South Australia, which, by the bye, is not the most southerly portion of the island, that position being occupied by the thriving colony of Victoria. The boomerang is, however, used in Western Australia, where it is called a Jiy-lie. This is a true return-boomerang.'" Even in the districts where the boomerang is used there are all grades of throwing- sticks, three of which of dift'erent forms were in the Xew South AVales exhibit, and are shown in Fig. 28. The upper one is carved with raised serpentine figures, the stick being painted red in the intervals. With these weapons the natives give a direct blow, a whirling blow, or a ricochet upward-rebounding blow. The boomerang is made of the wood of the blue gum [Eucalyptus glob- Fio. 28. — AvstraUan thrniping-sticks, Tictoria. ■ulufi), or sometimes from the iron-bark of the she-oak, and is of flatted curved shape, convex on the upper surface and flat below, always thickest in the middle, from which it is scraped away towards both edges, which are tolerably shar}), especially the outer one. Boomerangs vary much in shape, but do not depart from the characteristics men- tioned. They differ in their curves, lengths, widths, taper, and weight. *' Aborigines of Victoria, vol. i, 33G, Fig. 140. 228 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. A good specimen may be 33 inches from tip to tip measured alonj? the carve, 2 inches wide, and weigh 12 ounces. There are several ways of throwing the boomerang so as to make it execute its peculiar' evolutions. In throwing it, the native grasps it by the handle end, which has some notches upon it, and holds the flat side downward; then balancing it a moment in his hand, and making a few quick steps forward, he launches it with a sharp Hiug, bringing his hand back so as to make it revolve in the plane of its curve with groat rapidity. Tlie ])eculiarity of the boom- erang is in what may be considered its erratic flight. Thrown so as to strike the ground 40 yards in advance of the thrower, it rebounds, de- scribes a high circular backward course, and falls behind the thrower. Thrown high in the air it mounts to a great height, circles backward nntil its force is expended, and then drops dead at a point behind the thrower. It is also thrown, so as at a given distance to make its rebound in other than an upward circular dirertion, and curve its flight around an object so as to strike something behind the latter. This is merely an eflbrt of skill. The boomerang is thrown against the wind; and, though it is easy enough to hurl it, it is very difficult to make it per- form at command all the peculiar evolutions which distinguish it. It is roughly made, so far as mere finish is concerned; but the work upon it in adjusting the curves is most scrupulously and patiently performed by the natives, some of whom never acquire proficiency, while others become celebrated for their skill in the manufacture of the weapon. Lili;e all instruments which have attained something like perfection, the difference between the best and i)oorest is greater than in the case of some other tools where a more general level of excellence is preserved. The subject of the boomerang lias been learnedly and carefully consid- ered in R. Brough Smith's "Aborigines of Victoria." ^^ The discussion has elicited the fact that some throwing-sticks move with a spinning or whirling motion, and even pursue a curved jiath, as a billiard or base- ball player can curve the trajectory by imparting rotation to the ball. Kone of the implements, however, described by Col. Lane Fox (British Association, 1872), or referred to in Mr. Ferguson's learned i7a]:)er before the Royal Irish Academy in 1838, are fairly comparable to the Austra- lian weapon. It must also be remarked that the distinction between the play weapon and the war weapon is clearly drawn in the mind of the native, though the back-return boomerang cannot always be distin- guished from the war boomerang by a novice. The barnyeet of the Yarra,^^ for instance, is a war weapon, and not a come-back; nor is it so much curved as the regular boomerang, iconguim?^ A group of the vari- ous kinds is shown in Mr. Smith's work, previously referred to.""* From the straight round stick, knobbed stick, flat stick, curved stick, edged curved stick (a wooden sword), through every degree of curva- ture up to the perfect boomerang, the series of Australian hurling weapons occupies the whole ground. The most curiously-curved weapon, 3' Vol. i, p. 321, ct scq. ^Ihid., Fig. 96. '^'^ Ibid., Fig. 95. ^^lUd., i, 315, Fig. 99. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 229 which shouhl not bo omitted, is the quh-rUnuj-an-wKn, iiiii)Ossible to explain witliout an illustration, and not shown in Pliila(lcli)hia. It is a thin flake of wood, curiously twisted and curved.^' Fi^. 29 shows, for purposes of comparison, an Australian hoomernng {a) from Murray I'ivcr, and a curvod tlirowin.n'-stick (/>) used by tlie Moqui and Sliimmo Indians in killing;- rabbits. These throwin^^-sticks, though Fio. 29. — Boomerang and Mrifjvi throunng-stiek. curved so as to resemble in one important res])ect the Australian weapon, cannot, like it, be made to describe the peculiar divergent ciuvcd course through the air. These sticks were formerly used bj' many of the Southern California tribes. The langaroo rat {weet-iceet),^^ Fig. 30, of the Australians has been Tic. 30. — Kangarnn rat. South Atistralia. sometimes spoken of as rather a toy than a weapon, but it is a danger- ous missile. Its head is usually a ])iece of hard wood, of a conoidal or double conical shape, and its tail is a flexible handle a yard long. By this handle it is thrown ; the native takes the rat by the tail and swings it. back and forth several times, bending it almost double. Suddenly letting it fly by an underhand jerk, it glides hissing through the air, striking and rebounding like a fiat stone skimming the surface of the water — the familiar "ducks and drakes'' of our childhood. Tt does not rise more than nine feet above the surface of the ground, and the dis- tance it reaches depends upon the force of the projection ajul also ui)on the angleatwhichit first strikes the surface of the earth. Tf the trajectory be too high, it makes a number of high leaps and soon tires ; if too low, the force is soon expended in friction on the ground. The body with a trailing tail making fl^'ing leaps has much the appearance of a small ^' n>id.,\, :ur), Fi<;.315. ■•nVood, ii, i>. 41. 230 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. kaiiiiiiroo, niid is well iiainod the T^anrjnroo rat. The exampleillustrated is of wild butlalo horn, heated and pressed to shape. The kangaroo rat described by E. Brough Smith is about 2(3 inches long, the tail being 21 inches and the head 4.5 inches.*' Something like the kangaroo rat of the Australians is a missile employed in a game of the Fijians.** A reed four feet in length termi- nates in an ovoid piece of hard and heavy wood six inches long. It is held between the thumb and finger and thrown by an underhand jerk, so as to skim horizontally over the ground. A long smooth stretch of turf is Icept in good order in the villages for this purpose. This suggests the pitching of quoits and horseshoes, curling stones, hockey, polo, and other ball games, which we merely suggest as we pass, sup- posing them not to be distinctly savage, though some of them are ath- letic survivals of ancient barbaric exercises. The dialer a^^ or " quoit weapon" of the Sikhs is savage enough to be worth a mention. It is an annular disk of thin steel with a sharp edge all round. It is whirled upon the fore-finger and then thrown, spinning as it flies, and is a formidable weapon when aimed at the face of an enemy, several being hurled in rapid succession and with great force. • They can also give it a ricochet flight. A similar weapon has been brought from Guatemala by M. Boursier, the French Consul. It is disk-shaped, very sharp on the edges, and about G inches in diameter. Hurliug-disks have been found also in Brittany and Central France. The Peruvian hurling-disk is of diorite with a central opening 1 inch in diameter and 10 circumferential teeth 2 inches long. It is thrown by aid of a thong like the bolus. The Mexicans have a similar weapon*^ and the Australians a crude affair of the same general idea. From this cutting disk whirled by the finger we re'ach by a single step the simple pebble which is hurled by hand. We began with a stick, and after considering the club simple and compound, and the various forms of throwing clubs, have come to simple missiles — the pebble or small bowlder. Some^ tribes, however, are not content with the stones of the brook, but shape the projectile ; the Tahitians,*"^ for instance, make oval balls of stalagmite, which they hurl by hand with force and accuracy, not using a sling. The Fuegiaus, although very skillful with the sling, are adepts at hurling stones by hand. Incendiary balls were used by the ]N'ervii, who fired the camp of C.nesar, and the balls of charcoal kneaded with clay, and found in the lacustrine village remains in Switzerland, are believed to have been for the same purpose. The arrow with a lighted tow torch is commonly noticed among the ancients, and is found in all parts of the world where the bow and arrow survive. "'Aborigines of Australia, i, Fig. 170, p. 352. **Wood, ii, p. 283. <* Wood, i. « Louvre collection. *^ Wood, ii. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 231 ric. 31. — Navajo sling. — Sa tional Muticuiii . The subject liere Uiiturally diverges and takes two separate paths. The projectile is loose and is liurled by a stick or a sliii}^ ; or it is at- tached to a striug which flies with it. We shall cousider these sepa- rately aud in the order stated. Tlie slin<;- is an unimpressive object wlieii liun^ uj) ainon;;- a thousand other thin;;s in a collection, and how many were overlooked l)y the writer at the Centennial it is not i)ossible to say. The example, Fi^;. 31, was in the National IMuseum exhibit in the Government Building, having been obtained from the Navajoes of Xew Mexico. Slings are rarely used among this pcoj)]*' at pres- ent, except by boys. They are, however, mentioned in tlu' old actiount of the "Journey to the tSeven Cities of Cibola.'" There is no doubt about the antiquity of the device. It is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew writings, and is shown on the Egyptian^' and Assyrian monuments.''" The Konum sling was named from its funda or purse which con- tained the ])rqjectile. Besides its ordinary use for hurling stones, leaden balls {(jhoidcs) were used ; these wereellipsoid- al i)lummets, often with inscriptions ui)on them, as "FIK," for Jirmiter, ''throw steadily"; Grecian bullets also, marked with the figure of a thunderbolt, or the inscription (h^at, "take this," have been found. Schliemanir'" recovered from the excavations at Ilissarlik sling-bullets of loadstone, copper, alabaster, and diorite. The fmtibolus was a four-foot pole, which had a sling attached in the center, enabling both hands to be used in throwing. The sling is not so universal a weapon that a statement of the coun- tries where it is used becomes a mere geographical recitation. The Javan sling •''' {handrhtr/) is uoti(;ed by Sir Stamford liaflies. The Fijians, as already stated, excel in its use. The sling of the Sandwich Islanders^^ is a double thong with a stone receptacle of plaited sinnet. The stones are egg-shaped and ground for the pur]iose. Another form of Hawaiian sling has an oval stone with a circumferential groove, and is hurled by a cord passed around it and secured by a sailor's half-hitch so as to be released when the thong is jerked T)ack to discharge the stone. A simi- lar mode of hurling the spear is founri xloiie hatchet. New Zealand. Before adducing examples of eacli of these inetliocls, we may simply notice the stone hatchet from New Zealand, which is used independently of a handle, and is a hand-to-hand weai)ou, like some of the merainoY pdtUr patns, shown in a ])r<'vious ar- ticle, and considered character- istic of the Maori race. AVhilo some of the methods of seciirin<;tlie axe-head to th(^ helve are considered indicative of certain tribes and jx'oples, it cannot bo said that any pe- culiar mode is found at a certain place or in such a tribe and nowhere else. In fact, it may be stated that amon(() from Firactice of makinpf the perforated hipennls in stone was wi(h'ly spread. It may be mentioned that tlie hok> in h, Fij?. 52, is only rudi- mentary. A fine selection of i)er- forated axe-heads from Denmark is in the Teabody Museum, Cam- Fio. r^2. — Douhle-hitted perforated axcx. bridge, and a great many more at St. Germain, France, and in the mu- seum of Geneva, Switzerland. This object is called a " banner stone " in Abbott's article on the Stone Age in Xew Jersey"; compare also Nil- son's " Stone Age." 8" The hipouiis, or double-bitted axe, was the weapoji of tln^ female war- riors of Scythian race known as Amazons. It Avas also known in As- syria. Its antiquity may also be assumed from its being the sacrificial axe of the Roman j^riesthood : DoJahra ponflJicaJh. The old scena or mccna of the Latins had two cutting edges, largo and small, the former seeuris ; the latter ^?o/a/>/vf. It may have been copied from tlie agricul- tural axe (lolahru, which was something like our mattock, with an axe edge and a i)ick on the respective ends of the head, and was used in cutting wood and clearing land of bushes and grubs. The ilohiheJUi was the small axe or bill-hook. The sacrificial nudlrusvrns a round ball i)er- forated for a handle, and it also seems to indicate the long-sustained use of very primitive forms of weai)ons and implements for ceremonial l)urposes. Many copper battle-axes were recovered by Schliemann from a depth of 28 feet in the ruins of Hissarlik. " "'•' Sinitbsoiiian Report, lt!75, p. '632. «>Nil8on, PI. viii, Fig. 173 and p. 71. 81 <'Troy and its Remains." 244 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. Fig. 53. — Eskimo adzes. We have now reached the second division of axes, those of metal. In this section we can scarcely preserve the quadripartite subdivisions of the stone group. The collection, however, furnished good specimens of crude workmanship in two classes of axes — those which are lashed to a seat on a handle and those which xjer- forate the handle. The examples of those which are lashed to a seat on the handle are, singularly enough, tools in which iron blades obtained from the whites have been attached to handles in the manner previously adopted with stone tools. Fig. 53 shows two adzes of the Anderson Eiver Eskimo, the handles of which have been ingeniously fashioned to fit the hand. The blades are both made of hatchet heads, in one case (o) the eye is made use of in lashing the handle to the iron ; iu the other case (Jb) the eye has been ground away, and it is secured to the handle by thongs in the manner of a stone celt. The tools indicate both the in- veterate habit of mounting and also the preference for the adze method of using. The Greenlander's adze (Fig. 54), shown in the Dan- ish department of the Main Building, is made of a common 2^-inch chisel strapped by a seal-skin thong to a beech wood handle about a foot long. Fig. 55 is a small hand adze or chisel with a bone handle. The blade was originally a hatchet of which the eye has been split and a piece removed. The handle shows an imitation of a saw-han- dle. It is from the Haidah In- 54. — Chreenlanders' adze. Fig. -Indian adze, Haidahs, British Columbia. dians of Bella-Bella, British Columbia. The Javan axes '^^ are mounted in diiferent ways ; two kinds, known respectively as 2?(?^^^ and tPrtr7K7?anese axe is a ccmipromise, its bent tau^^ bciu^,' held by a ring which slips on the handle.^* Africa furnishes us with the greatest variety of tlie axes whicli per- forate the han- dle. Begin- ning at the south, we lind Fio. 57. — liechuana axes. South Africa. the Katirs85 in possession of an axe, but rio.56.-j«pa»e*e ^^'""^'^ principal axe. weapon is the assegai, a javelin made by their native blacksmiths. With the Iceerie or short club, shield, and assegais, a Zulu considers himself well furnished. The Bechuana axe. Fig. 57, is a steel bit sinqjly fastened by a tang ia the enlarged wooden head. The term Bechuana may be used generally to include a number of tribes, embracing the Makololo,^*' who are among the most accomplished workers in metal on the continent. The smaller axes in Fig. 57 are other patterns, made by the Bechuanas; and Fig. 58 is ==--_^ a still more fanciful one, shown in the Portuguese Colonies De- ])artment of the Agricultural Building. The head is of steel and the handle is in part wrapped with fine wire. The blade is peculiar in form and ornanuMita- tion, and has what we should consider a rather insecure attachment to the helve. Fig. 5J) is another axe of Angola, shown in the same col- lection ; it has a curious curved blade and a long ¥ir.. ryrf_—jix4; of Angola. taug iuscrtcd in the usual African method into the wooden handle. The elephant axe of the Banyai," of the Zambesi, was also snown in *« Rallies "Java," 4to, i, PI. opp. p. 29(5, Firr. 7. «Siebold'8 " Nippon," vi, PI. 6; alsoii, PI. .5 his., Figs. 14,9, 15, IG, 13; also ii, PI. 11, 13. «» Caaalia' " Basutos," 132. ^ Balnea' "South Africa,"' 4G7. 8^ Wood i, p. 404. Fiu. bS.—Battk-axe, Angola, Africa. 246 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. the group of Angola and Mozambique weapous, Fig. GO. It has a very long tang projecting entirely through the handle, and secured thereto by raw-hide lashing. One end has an axe-blade and the other a spear point. The handle is made by cutting off a limb of a convenient length, and also a small piece of the trunk at the insertion of the branch. A hole for the tang is then bored through the knotty wood, where thelimbisas it were rooted into the body of the tree. The han- dle is then dressed to shape. FIG. m.-mephant axe of the Banyai, Zambesi, Africa. rjr^^ ^^^^^^ j^ SOmctimCS three feet in length, and is carried over the shoulder. It is used in ham-string- ing the elephant. The hunters go in i)airs, one carrying the axe while the other goes before the animal to distract his attention. The axeman comes up behind stealthily and severs one ham-string of the animal at a single blow. One form of the elephant axe was noticed to have a curved handle and a stay-lashing at a point six inches distant from the socket. The Banyai of the Zambesi have also a convertible axe and adze. The knob of the handle has two slits at right angles, so that the tang of the blade may be optionally inserted either to bring the edge in line with the sweep of the tool, as with the axe, or transversely, as with the adze. Curiously enough the Water Dyaks, of Borneo, have a chipping tool of the same kind used in boat-building.^^ It has an iron blade, wooden head, and ratan (Malay rotan) lashing. The blade has a square tang, and by taking it out of the socket, turning it one-quarter round, and in- serting it again the blade is changed, in reference to the handle, from an axe to an adze, or vice versa. Fig. 61. — Axes of Egypt, India, Mexico, and Yucatan. The Djibba axe has two pointed i^rongs projecting lengthwise from the head to make it efficient in thrusting. The Monbuttoo axe,"^ follow- ing the universal African type, has its tang inserted through the thick end of a knobbed club. 88 Wood, vol. ii, p. 453. 88Schweiiifurth's "Airica," vol. ii, p. 112. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 247 Fig'. Gl sliows tliat this system of insortinj? the blade in the liandle has been practiced in far distant times and phices. a b are ancient forms of Egyptian bronze axes.^ c d are ancient axes from the ISaclii tope'-" at Bhilsa, in Central India, c is an axe shown on a Mexican nionnment. The obsidian or copper blade is inserted in the handle, /and (j show the iustrumeut known as mdhquahuiti, a double-headed axe with obsidian (^ '^^""^"^^^-^-^-^-^^^^^^^^^^^ - Fio. 62. — Axe of the Philippines. flakes inserted in wooden handles, h shows a copper axe of Yucatan, the plate being inserted in a slitted handle. The battle-axe was the weapon of the Peru- vian soldiery.^2 Nu- merous Trojan battle- axes of copper were found by Dr. Schlie- mann at Uissarlik.^^ The axe of the Thil- ijjpines was shown in the Spanish Building. It has a peculiarly shaped head and a long i''«- c3.-cns«e-<<'-te, Dakotah. ferrule. The hand-stop on the helve was the only instance of the kind in the exhibition. It is a sort of rudimentary guard, like a partial hilt on the two-handed helve. (Fig. C2.) The jungle hook of the Singhalese {ic((l-(h(l- Cunuingliam'8 " Bhilsii Tope," pi. xv, Figs. 8, 9. '"Proscott's "Conquest of P(!ru," vol. i, p. 72. MSchliemaun'a "Troy and its Remains," pp. 330, 331. 9^ Knox's "Ceylon," pp. 273-4. »ifcjd., p. 61.' 248 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. Fig. 63. — Norwegian axes. It is called a casse-tcte by the Freucb of the neighboring departments, but j)en-bas by tUe Bretons.^'' Sec also the marble knob for a stick, found by Dr. Scliliemann at llium.^" The same form is shown by Catlin to have been very common among the Blackfeet and other Indian tribes on the headwaters of the Missouri. An axe of Terra del Fuego, shown by Nilson, has a blade of iron inserted in the African man- ner in a wooden Fig. di.— Halberds, India and Norway. stOCk which haS becQ dressed by flint tools.^^ Desor also shows hatchets of (liorite, serpentine, and quartzite in sockets of buck- horn, which were mounted in a wooden handle by a lateral hole in the side of the club. Ill another case the stone was inserted endwise in a horn socket which was pierced for the liandle.^^ In another case the stone in a horn handle had the j)Ositiou formerly occupied by the brow antler. Fig. 0-4 shows three forms of halberds, light axes on long handles : c is from Norway and belongs to the class with a tang driven into the handle ; a h are Sowrah battle-axes from India, and belong to the last class of our list — the handle inserted through an eye in the head. To this also belong the Norwegian axes (Fig. Qo) and the Arickaree iron tomahawk (Fig. 60). III. — Knives and Swords. The knife in its primitive form is a sharp flake of stone or obsidian, a sliver of bamboo or wood, or a shell with a sharpened edge. When the point is the specially engaged portion the weapon is a dagger. Many other crude materials furnish the hand-to-hand cutting or piercing weapons, such as the pointed hornsof animals, the tail of the stingray, seTrollope's " Summer Tour iu Brittany," Loudou, 1840, Pis. opp. pp. I2b, 220, 296. ^'' Schlieraann's " Troy and its Remains," p. 265. 9« " Stone Age," PI. vii, Fig. 155. 93 Desor. trausl. iu Smithsonian Report, 1865, pp. 360, 361, Figs. 17, 18, 19. Fig. 66.— Iron tomahawk, Dakotah. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 249 shark's teeth tied upon a staff, and sharpened bones. When the lit off by the skillfully api)lied pressure of a T-shai»ed wooden implenu'nt. The nucleus and Ihdces (Fig. 07) were shown in the National Museum and are from Mexico. The same collection in the Government Building had the obsidian knife (Fig. 08). This has a '<» Exodus, iv, 2"); Joslina, v, '2. 101 Herodotus, ii, 86; Diodoriis Siculus, i, Ul ; Kitto, i, 81. '»- Pliny, xii, 54. * ^"^Ibid., XXXV, 40 ; xi, 100. Coniparo also Pliiiy, xix, 57 ; xxiii, 81 ; xxiv, 6, 62. 104 ti Troy and its Rpmaiiis," p. 79. 'o-'" Stono Arr.'," p. 76 and PI. ii ; Figs. 24, 23, and PI. iii, v. lo*"' Smithsonian Report, 1875, p. 300. 107 Torquemada. Fi,:. CX—Ohxiilianhii/e, California. 250 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. wooden liaiullc which shows the marks of a similar cutting instrument, and is tberclore a veritable specimen of the stone age. The YcUowstoae Park has lately been stated to possess hills of obsid- ian of dilierent colors, which have afforded for ages the material for the arrow-heads of the Indian tribes in the vicinity. The flint knives of the Indians of the California peninsula are men- tioned by Baegert.'"^ As far away as the Admiralty Islands of the Papuan group we find ob- sidian used for knives, razors, and spear-points.'"^ The natives tie the spear-heads to the shaft with i)laited string coated with gum. The knife used by the New Caledonians for carving the human body is called 7ibouet, and is a flat serpentine stone oval in form and seven inches in length. Holes are bored in it, by which it is fastened to a wooden handle. The Kew Caledonians eat their slain enemies, the women, who are the cooks, following the army and dragging the bodies off the field to prepare them for the supper of their returning husbands and broth- ers. The palms being considered as tid-bits, are the perquisites of the priests. Each part belongs to certain persons, and the carving is regu- lated by rules. The body is opened by the nhouet and the intestines re- moved with a fork made of two human arm bones sharply pointed and lashed together. The women cooks prefer to truss the bodies in sitting posture, bake them whole, and serve them in war costume. Many collections show knives of flakes of silex mounted in wooden and horn backs,"" and serrated knives or saws made by the insertion of flakes of obsidian, flint, or shark's teeth in a grooved wooden back. Some are mentioned later when referring to spears. Such are found in Cali- fornia, Sweden, the Philij)pines, Australia, and elsewhere. The knife "^ dahba of the Victorian blacks consists of quartz fragments attached to a wooden handle with gum. Passing to knives of wood, we find none which would make impres- sive illustrations; in the South Sea islands wood has been the prin- cipal material; until lately stone was unknown in some islands, and metal in almost all. The Fijian knife for cutting up baJcolo (long pig), as the edible human body is called, was a sharp sliver of bamboo."''- The Ajitas of the Philippines and New Guineans also use the bamboo sliver."^ The Sandwich Islanders have a battledore-shaped piece of wood "Mike the mcrai of the Maories, but armed on the edge with shark's teeth. It was formerly emjilo^'ed in cutting np the bodies of warriors who fell in battle, or of persons sacrificed. The Mundurucus of the Amazon use a i°sTranslatiou in Smitlisouiau Report, 1863, p. 363, 109 Wood, vol. ii, p. 302. ""Desor. traiisl. in Smithsonian Report, 1865, p. 360. "1 Smith's "Aborigines of Victoria." "2 Smytho's " Ten Months iu Fiji," p. 85. ii» Wood, vol. ii, p. 242. ^^*lbid., vol. ii, p. 435. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 251 bamboo knife in decapitating,^ their enemies to prepare tbe heads as tro- phies. Tlie jjentle sava;;es aie, however, jiot oblivious of tiie vahie of metal when they have an o])p()rtunity to see it. Francis Si)arrow, whom Raleigh left to explore the country of the Orinoco, received eijijht beau- tilul yonn^ir women for a red-handled knife — value in Kn<;lan(l at that time e(]ual to one cent. The Australian da^j;er is a stick ])()inted at both ends, grasped by the midlength, and struck right and left."^ FlO. 69. — Greeidande.rn' hmie kiiircD. In the extreme northern countries no material is so ready to hand as bone. The harpoons, knives, and many other domestic implements of the Eskimo are of bone. Fig. 00 shows the fish and blubber knives of the Kajak natives of Greenland. They were shown in the Danish collection in the Main Building, a is made of the bone of a whale, and is 18 inches long; h is of wood, and is 10 inches long. Fig. 70 shows two other bone implements of the Kajaks, a bone knife used in skinning tlie seal, and a fish scoop. The knife is 14 inches long and two and a half inches wide; the bone spoon is four inches long and two wide. Fig. 70. — Bone implements of Greenland. Some of the bone knives of the Laplanders are very elaborate, espe- cially those used in preparing skins. "6 Smith's "Aborigines of Victoria," vol. i, p. 302. 252 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. The Eskimo in winter live in dome-shaped houses, called igloos, built of blocks of ice or snow. These blocks are voussoir shaped, so that they make a safe and symmetrical vaulted structure. They are hewn from the bank or field of solidified snow with large knives like Fig. 71, made of the bones of m hales. Several of these knives were shown in the ^National Museum and in the Greenland department TiG.n.-i:6ki,uubuaesnuw'knife. of the Danish collection. Two men, one to cut blocks and one to lay them, will erect a house in two hours. Just above the door a large plate of fresh- water ice is built in so as to illu- minate the interior. Inside is a raised bench of snow, on which are laid sprigs and such scanty vegetation as the summer affords, to support the seal-skins which form the bed and bench. The dwellings are sometimes as much as 16 feet in diameter and 8 feet in height. The inevitable lamp is a stone dish with a wick of moss supported in it, and a quan- tity of oil fed from blubber piled upon it. This lamp is at once the warming and cooking stove, the light, the means of drying the clothes and melting the snow for drink, for the whole family occupying the igloo. Above the lamp is the cooking-pot, which also does duty in con- taining snow to be melted for drinking water. Above the ccoking-pot (and by this time we are pretty near the roof) is a net spread to hold wet fur clothes, in order that they may be dried; after which they are chewed to make them supple. Poniards and pike-heads of bones of deer and urns are described by Desor.*'^ One or two other instances of animal material used in knives and daggers may be mentioned before we reach the metallic. The double dagger of the East Indies has two sharpened antelope horns joined at their bases ; or it is a single straight two-ended blade of steel, a circular guard protecting the handle of the w^eapon, which is intended to strike right and left in. a crowd. The Sandwich Islanders use daggers {paliua) of wood, held in the middle and having a point at each end. The large mussel shell is the knife of the Fuegian ; the original edge is knocked off and the solid portion made sharp by grinding upon a stone. The dagger of the Pelew Islanders is the tail bone of the sting-ray, and it is carried in a sheath formed of a joint of bamboo. The Tahitian dag- ger has the tail of the sting-ray as a point ; it comes off in the wound and works deeper and deeper. Fig. 72. — Indian knife of native copper. This brings us to metal, of which we first consider copper. The cctpper knife. Fig. 72, was taken from an Indian mound. It does "6 Desor. Translation in Sniitlisonian Eejiort, 1865, p. 358. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 253 not appear that any of the North Aiueriean Indians who had access to copper worked it by smelting' ; but they treated it as malleable stone and shaped it by haniinerinj;-. The (Ireenland Eskimo make knives from the copper obtained from Coppermine Kiver, from Hint, from walrus ivory, or from such pieces of iron as they may obtain l)y barter or may pick up from whalers or explorers. Fi'g. 73 shows a number of copper implements — knives, a spear, and Fio. 73. — Native copper implements, Wigcongin. a hook ; these are Indian remains from Wisconsin, the metal having doubtless been obtained from the Lake Superior copper district in earlier times. They, together with many other copper tools, were exhib- ited by the Wisconsin Historical Society in the ^Vlineral Annex of the Main Buildin/j:. We cannot pretend to distinguish carefully between the weapon and the domestic implement. A knife is a knife whether for the throat of an enemy or of a deer. Fio. 74. — Copper weapon and steel dagger, British ColuTnbia. Fig. 74 shows a knife-like club a of native copper, a hereditary posses- sion in the family of a Haidah cliief in British Columbia. Beneath it 254 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. is shown a double-ended dagfger (ft), bound with copper, and obtained from the Kutchin Indians of Northwest British America. Such daggers are forged by the Indians from ohl files obtained from sawmills near the settlements. They are in general use among the northern and north- western tribes. / Copper seems to have been the earliest metal to be fashioned into tools, and its alloy, bronze, the first efficient tool material. INIolds of mica schist for casting copper weapons and ornaments were found by Dr. Schliemann in the hill of ITissarlik."^ Tliere are also many such specimens in museums. The modern supposition that the ancients had a method of tempering copper as we do steel — or with analogous effects at least — is a myth. The metal acted upon was the alloy, bronze, and the range of effects is far inferior to the capacity of steel. The Assyrians wore a profusion of daggers, two or more in the same sheath."* The handles were elaborate, made of ivory, inlaid, set with precious stones, carved the shape of heads of animals, etc. One of copper was found by Layard at Nimroud. The Assyrians, like the Persians, probably used them as knives. Copper knives were found by Schliemann"^ in the lowest stratum of the excavations at Ilissarlik ; one of them was gilt. Also a number of copper daggers at a depth of 28 feet. Egyptian knives were of bronze and of copper.'^" A comi^arison of the forms of knives of the ancients and moderns shows that what may be termed the "leaf-shaj^e" has been very general. It is true that the variety of shapes of leaves is so great that the term may be held indescript- ive ; it suits the case, however. Fig. 75 shows, in the uiij)er row, a number of Eoman knives of the classical period, and in the lower row a number of African knives of the present day. a is the secespifOj a sacrificial knife with an iron blade and an ivory handle ornamented with gold and silver ; h is the^w^io or two-edged dagger worn by the officers of the army and by persons of rank ; c is the culter coqinnarUis. or cook's knife ; oth of the last-mentioned tribis have two-handled knives. The l>onjo knife'-' is used by the women in peeling tubers and slicing gourds and cucumbers ; it has an oval shape, and is sharj) on both sides, like the Unyoro knife 1, Fig. 75. The Dyoor knife'-" is si)indle-shaped, and is used for similar i)ur])0ses. Dr. Schliemann found, in his, excavations at Troy, a dagger of steel four inches long. The blade, which is double-edged and in the form of an arrow, is l.C inches long, and in a jterfect state of preservation, which Dr. Schliemann attributes to the antiseptic power of the red wood ashes, mixed with charcoal, in which he found it em- bedded, in the large mansion close to the gate, 28 feet below the surface. The Balonda dagger from the Zambesi is shown in Fig. 16, and has a remarkable resem- blance to a and (', Fig. 75, which are respectively Roman and Gaboon. This dagger is 24 inches long, and the handle is partly wrapped with raw-hide. The handle is by no means a con- venient one, but no doubt the owner felt well satisfied with its ornamental appearance as it protruded from the scabbard. Fig. 77 is an Angola dagger, with an iron blade and wooden handle. It looks much more like business than its fellow. Fig. 78 shows an Angola dagger, with a ^0/ Hahnda^A/- straugclyshaiied scabbard of sheet copper. It has a copper-covered wooden handle and a steel blade. The broad base of the sheath is probably indicative of its '*' Translation in SmitliHonian Report, 1865, p. 374. "-/W«- dagger, made in his time of bone, was peculiar to the Nadowessioux, or that family later known as the Da-ko-tahs or Sioux. There is one class of weai)ons for grappling at close quarters, which may be mentioned here, as it was shown in the exhibit from British India. The haynuik is a five-clawed weapon hidden in the hand, having loops through which the first and fourth fingers are passed. When the i"Wood, vol. i, p. 103. i^scasalis' "Basutos," p. 136. •29Siebold's "Nippon," vii, plate 19, Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXIIIIUTION. 257 hand is opened, the steel claws, lilce those of a lion, an^ exposed, and are intended to rip the naked belly of the adversary. The term baymnic is understood to include several forms of weapons, such as brass knuckles and splices which are <;arri<'d in the hand. The vSamoans have a somewhat similar woapon — a ^love made of coir, and havinj? on the inside several rows of shark's teeth, set hookinfi: so that they retsnn anythinjj^ which is grasped. Lilcii the 1)nymal\ it is intended to rip the abdomen of an enemy. To ^uard themselves a^^ainst this weai)on the Samoans use a heavy and wide belt of coir, re-aehinf:^ from the arm-])its to the hips. This belt was the nearest to the nature of clothin.i;^ of anythini; in the islands; a number of cords of sinnet are strained on two parallel sticks about 30 inches apart; the sinnet weft is then worked in over and under alternate threads."" The htHjue dc inort, seen bj' Stendhal in Ifonie,'""" is like the East Indian haj/mak in the mode of hidin;:^: it in the hand, but it has only two claws, which arc of steel, very sharp and like those of lions. The piece to which the claws are rooted is held in the hand by rings, through which pass the second and third lingers, beneath which the claws are hidden, nothing appearing but the rings. Poison is placed in grooves channeled in the claws, like the poison groove in the fang of a rattle- snake. Stendhal says: "Dans une foule, au bal par example, on saississait avec une apparence de galanterie la main nue de la femrae dont on voulait se venger; en la serratit et retirantle bras, on la dechirait profondement, et, en meme temps, on lassait tomber la bague dc mart. Comment, dans une foule, trouver le coupableT' The Djibba tribe of the Upper Nile wear bracelets for cutting and tearing, the edge being protected by leathern sheaths when the weapon is not required for duty. Some of them have double jagged edges and others a single sharp edge. The Xuehr carry on the wrist an iron ring with projecting blades. The Roman boxing gauntlet, cesUis, was a much less sanguinary affair, being merely armed with lead or with bosses. We pass from knives to swords ; which is but to an implement of a larger kind. The sword proper is a weapon, but the machete of the Spaniard, the corn and cane knives of the plantation and farm, are domestic implements of similar character, but with less ornamental fur- nishing. Where vegetation is as large a-; that of the corn or sugar-cane, a sword like implement is necessary in gathering it, and the same large knife is used in tropical countries in cuttingaway the vines and creepers which obstruct the narrow pass(>s through the woods.'^' Of the cruder materials, stone and wood, used in swords, the Exhibi- tion furnished but few examples. Some of the clubs already considered '•»Woo(i, vol. ii, p. 354. inoa " proraena(l<'8 dans Rome," vol. i, p. 267. >=' Raffle's "Java," llo, p. 113. S. Mis. 54 17 258 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. liad sharpened edj;es and ai)i)roxiinated the sword character. The New Zeahmd stone sword, Fi^'. 80, can hardly be classed under any other head, as it has a handle, a back, and an edge, and is ad- apted to deliver a cutting- blow. The swords of the Pelew Islanders are of Avood inlaid with i)ieces of shell.'^^ The Kingsmill Islanders have wooden swords, armed on tlicir edges with sharks' teeth lashed with sinnet braided IVoni the liber of the coQpa-nut. The wooden blade has grooved ridges to receive the teeth, cor- responding holes being made in the ridges and teeth through which the braided cord is repeatedly passed to fasten the teeth in this artificial alve- ohir ridge. The swords are single or double edged, and have guards similarly- armed with teeth, so that no part of the weapon except the handle can be touched with impunity. The spears are similarly armed, like some whicli were shown from the Philippine Islands. A fine assort- ment of those weapons, obtained by the Wilkes Expedition, is in the National Museum at Washington. The gold-coast section of the English colonies presented two curious swords with broad, thin blades, especially wide near the point. The perforations make the blade still lighter. The tang is set in a wooden handle with two knobs, be- tween which is the hand-hold. Fig. 82 has a double blade, and is referred to as an "executioner's sword "5 a weapon in much demand all around that part of riG so.-2raori stone the worM, especially Dahom^. """"*• blades of Fig The two "Fig. SI.— Stvord of the gold coast, Africa. 82 are united at a point where the flattening of the bl^ides commences. The blades are 24 inches long; the carved handles are 8 inches long, and one of them is gilded. The swords of Dahome ^^^ have knobs on the ends of the blades, so that they may be used as clubs. One noticed had a knob carved like a human head. The back of another had a series of backwardly-curved prongs, intended as hooks to catch a pursued enemy. The classic liarpe, the sword of Mercury and Perseus, had a similar prong, ham us. Another sword of bloody renown is the weapon of the "Eazor Women," who form 15- Wood, vol. i, p. 449. iMDuucan's "Western Africa," p. 226. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 259 Fig. K.—Tii'nhlailed award of lite ijuld coast, Africa. ono battalion of tlie Dulioint* Ainnzoiis. Tlio weapon is coiiicd from tlio wliite man's razor, but Las a blade 2 feet lonj,^, and a handle of propor- tionate size. A spring holds the blade open. It is as if, in a jocular si)irit, soiiK' trader liad foisted an absurdity iii»(»n tliem; but the natives claim it as an invention of the late Kiiij^ Gezo. The real razor of the Ashantee is of a nearly trape- zoidal form; this latter is for leiritimate shaviii;;. Coining soutinvardlyalon^" the coast of Afiicawe arrive at Anj^ola, which, as we have already had occasion to re- mark, was well rep- resented in the Ag- ricultural Duilding. Fig. 83 is a sword made by a native armorer of Angola; it has a curiously- shaped hilt, and tufts of liorse-hair stained red. The hilt is in part cov- ered with sheet-lead. The gay api)ear- ance of the hilt, as it showed when sheathed and worn at the side,was prob- ably its i)rincipal recom m e n <1 a t i o n . Fig. 83.- ^.ford 0/ axe. >ii-tnooraoT mo- ^^^ Angola, Africa^ zambique, Africa. ff [^^ frpueral sluipe of the Africj^n sword is curved, although of the examples from the Portu- guese colonies two are straight and but one bent. The specimens illus- trated from other sections of the continent will amply compensate An- the l)resent larger majority of straight-bladed weapons. Fig. 84 shows a na- tive sword of Mozambique. It has a short wooden handle, from which the usual button on the end of the tang has dropi)ed oft'. The guard of the hilt has a i)eculiar scroll shai)e, and one branch has been broken. The sword of the Ilamram Arabs, of Central Africa, '^^ is also straight, double edged, and has a cross-guard. The blade is .'{G inches long, and each edge is as sharp as a razor. It is carried in a Avooden scabbard made of two pfeces, hollowed to receive the blade, and covered with leather. With this weapon the Arab will cut a man in two, or will hamstring an elephant. '3<\Vooa, vol. i, p. 753. 260 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. Fig. 85 is a steel cimeter of Mozambique, with a broad and very tliin blade. I. iias a wooden handle ornamented with sheet brass enchased and jeweled. It is 40 inches long-, and has a groove near the back of the blade. ri<^. SG is a sickle-shape cimeter, brought by Col. Long (Bey) on his re- turn from his expedition into Central Africa in the service of the Khedive. It was shown in the Egyptian Department in the Main Building, and is like the Aveapon represented by Schweinfurth as held by the Monbuttoo King Munza during the audience which he held with that poteutate.'^^ Fig. do. — Cimeter of Mo- zambique, Africa. Fig. 86. — Monbuttoo cimeter, Central Africa. It is usually of steel, but on that occasion was a weapon of ceremony, and made of pure coj^per. The adjacent tribe, the Xiam-niams, use im- plements of somewhat similar shape, curved broad-ended blades, some- what after the bill-hook order, reminding one of the corresponding Eoman implement, the falx vinitoria. The JcooJcery of the Ghoorkas, a tiger-fighting hill tribe of India,-'*^ is another example of a boldly curved chopping-sword, broad near the end, and shari^ened on the concave edge, which is, however, of an ogee shape. It is about fifteen inches long, is used either to cut or thrust, and is made of" the famous " Wootz" steel. Two little knives are carried in side i^ockets of the scabbard. 136 ''Africa," vol. ii, pp. 9, 10, 107. 136 Wood, vol. 11, p. 7(i0. Fio. SI. — Saber of Soudan, Africa. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 2G1 Fig. 87 is a saber brought by Capt. Long (Bey) from the Soudan Expedi- tion. It has a boldly curved steel blade and a wooden liandle. The sheath and belt are of leather. The Nu- bian cimeter is, ]>er- hai)s, even a little more curved tlian that shown from Soudan ; but doubt- less the weapons of a distriet vary, and are not contined rig- idly to a certain curve, as in some countries where such things are de- lined in the "liegu- lations." The curve in each case is much greater than that of the xo-i-:, the east- ern cimeter of classic times. The Apongos useacimeterof similar shape, and with a handle shaped like a dice-box. The blade is 4 feet long. Xo other cimeter of Africa has so peculiar a bend as the sliotel of the Abys- siuians.'" The blade is nearly straight for two feet, and then suddenly makes a turn of about sixty degrees. The edge is on the concave side, and it is intended that the point shall reach over the top of an enemy's shield. The blade is wider and heavier toward the point. It is of soft iron, has a rhinoceros-horn handle, and is swung on the right side. Among the most curious weapons of the savage world are the hurling cimeters — if they may be so called — the tnimbashes of iha Niam-niams.^^* The tern) is from Sennaar, and refers generally to the missile weapons of the negroes. The irumhofih of the Kiam-niams {kuJbeda) Fig. L'G, con- sists ordinarily of several limbs of iron with jminted prongs and sharp edges. Somewhat similar implements are used by the tribes of the Tsad basin, and a weapon on the same i)rinciplc is used by the iVIarghy and ]\[usgoo. The Niam-niams carry them attached to the insides of their shields ready for duty, atid hurl them with great rapidity, force, and accuracy. They are ma/ca) of the Phili[>pines is of caryota wood 2.27"' long ; the head of bamboo, carved wood, or iron (purchased).'^" The large spear of the Sand- wich Islands '^^ is 12 or 15 feet long and is not barbed, but the hurling spear is 6 or 8 feet long, of hard wood, and tapers toward the butt, to throw the center of gravity forward of the mid-length and enable it to Hy straight. The Fijians, '^ who excel in ingenuity, have several kinds of spears. The fishing spear has three oy four i)oints set in separately. Each point has a round, scpuire, or semicircu- lar section, is dovetailed into the shaft and lashed thereto with sinnet. The war spear has a carved head, and barbs, either cut in the wood, or made of the tfiil of the sting- ray and set in separately ; these brittle barbs conie off in the wound and insure cruel sulfering and generally death. One Fijian si)ear is made of a wood which bursts when moist, so that it is with difti- cnlty extracted. The dilVer- ent islands, such as the Tonga, Herveys, Fiji, and the New Hebrides have distinguishable varieties of spears. '■Mi " Philippines," p. 210. »« Wood, vol. ii, p. 434. »« Williams " Fiji," pp. 44-5. Fig. 92.— Spears of the Philippines. 266 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. The Australian sj^ears are of various qualities and sliai)es : a sharp- ened stick {nanduin) Avith notches for barbs; '" a spear with a separate liead of hard miaU wood decjjly cut with barbs, and fastened to a reed {phra<;mefcs communix) sliaft; "^" one with a basalt or quartzite head lashed to the shaft with sinews from the tail of the kangaroo,'^' with long in-ojectinji" barbs on each side, curiously formed from hard wood,'^^ a single bone lashed tJ the head and projecting laterally and back- wardly from the point so as to form a barb ; the mongile, a head armed with sharp basalt or quartzite flakes set with pid-jer-ong gum ; '^' one with a head piece of bone which is lashed to the shaft so that its respective ends form point and barb ; ^^* lastly, leisters with from two to four barbed points,'^* and from 6 to 15 feet long. The flower stalk of the grass-tree furnishes the spear-shaft, which is 9 or 10 feet long. Fig. 93 shows two South Australian spears, one with a double set of inserted barbs made of obsidian or quartz, and a kangaroo spear with a wooden head 30 inches long, and a single row of barbs; the shaft is 8 feet long. Fig. 94 shows two fish- spears, one with two prongs and the other with three. The prongs of hard and tough gum- tree wood are tai^ered towards each end, iDointed, and barbed ; their butt- ends are then inserted in notches on the end of the shaft and held in po- sition by black-boy gum, while the prongs are spread apart by wedges driven between them. The j^rongs are then lashed with sinews. The Australian has a blade on the end of his spear to act as a paddle as he stands in his dug-out canoe and watches the water or quietly moves from place to place. The night is Fig. 93.— Australian the faVOrite time for fish- spearing, a Fig. Qi.—AuftraUanv'ooden wooden spears. j- ^ • i i i j? j. i fishing-spears (leisters.) ^ fire being made on a bed of wet sand and stones in the bottom of the canoe. The natives also carry torches of inflammable bark ; this mode of fishing is common in North America and in Scotland, called " burning the water" in the former, and " leis- tering " in the latter. '^'■•K. Brougli Smith, "Aborigines of Victoria," vol. i, p. 304, Fig. 71-74. '«« Ibid., vol. i, p. 305, Figs. 75, 76. 15' Ibid., vol. i, p. 308, Fig. 85. '^-Ibid., vol. i, Figs. pp. 69, 70, and i, 308, Fig. 84. ^^Ibid., vol. i, p. 304, Fig. 68, audi, 330, Fig. 141. ^^*Ibid., vol, i, p. 306, Fig. 77, 78. ^^"•Ibid., vol. i, p. 306, Figs. 79, 80, p. 337, Fig. 144 tf al. See also PI. iv, and pp. 33-5 Nilson's " Stone Ajre." SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 267 The large spear of the Australian, not to be thrown but used as a pike, is as much as 13 feet in length, the liead of hard wood, the shaft of lighter wood, and as large as the wrist. Th(3 Australians also use a forked spear, hobo, to secure eels and snakes alive.''"' Tlie turtle liar- poon, like the hippopotanuis hari»oon of Africa, has a head detachaVtle from the shalt. To the head is attached a rope, on the. other end of which is a buoy. The har[»()on i'ov tlie dugoiig lias a bone head 1 inches long and covered with barbs. It becomes detached from the shaft after strik- ing ; the cord attached to the spear-head has no float, but is secured on board the canoe. The simplest form of fishspear is a long sharp stick used in gigging tish in water-holes.'" The spears in the ITew Zealand department were all of wood. Some were simi)ly i)ointed i)oles of hard wood; otheis had carved heads with pyramidal points. The spear is not a favorite weapon of the Maoris ; in fact is said to have been laid aside. The heads of the spears are understood to be a conven- tional representation of the human tongue thrust out. That shown in Fig. 95 is destitute of ornament ; Fig. 90, called by the natives taiaha lucra, has suspended tufts of dyed hair. The styles of ornamentation peculiar to New Zealand, Kew Guinea, and Fiji are re- ferred to by 11. Brough Smith.'"* The harpoon of the Ant^aman Islander''^ is shot from a bow, and has a detachable head with a connected cord, which is held . by the archer. The spears already considered are made of wood, although the use of the tail of the sting-ray by the Fijians and of bone and ob- sidian by the Australians have been incident- ally mentioned. Materials in great variety have been used for the heads or barbs of spears. Stone spear-heads were shown in the South Australian dei)artinent. They were obtained Fig. sry.-Maori ^'oui the northern i):irt of the island near fk;. !)G._7f«»n>;.car wooden spear. Melville's Ishiud. They are genuine sp.eci- taiaha kw,a. mens of the stone age, which dt»es not represent a spe(;ific time but a grade of civilization. Consideration must also be had to the al)sence of metals in some localities. The stone spear-heads are chii)ped to shape and lashed to reed shafts with sinews, or with fiber obtained from roots. The reeds are feet long and the heads from 4 to inches. The spears of the Solomon Islanders aretipi)ed with sharp Hints; those of the Admiralty Islanders are of obsidian lashed to the shall and coated "* Aborigines of Victoria, vol. i, p. 307, Fijj. 82. ^"^Ibid., vol. i, pp. 29G, 297. ^^■> Ibid., vol. i, p. 307, Fig. 81. »«»Mouat "Amlamau," p. 326. 268 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. -Stone spear-heads, South Aus- tralia. with gnm. The Mexican spears were pointed with obsidian. The ob- sidian spear-heads of the rai)aans excited the surprise of Schouten, an early navigator in those seas; he remarks that they had "long staves with very long, sharp things at the ends thereof, which, as we thonght, were linnes of black fishes.""* The aborigines of the Canaries, a race of Af- rican origin, when first discovered, used hatchets, knives, lancets, and spear heads of obsidian, and axes of green jasper. The lances fonnd in the npper strata dur- ing the excavations at Hissarlik '®' were of a very hard black or green stone. The spear of the ISorthern American Indian was for- merly of stone or flint, but is now of steel.'®'' We may refer in a single group to those spears which are tipped with animal material, bone, horn, shell, shark's teeth, claws of beasts and birds (such as of the kangaroo, cassowary, or emu), and the tail of the sting-ray. In the times of Her- odotus and Strabo, African spears were headed with the sharpened horns of antelopes,'*'^ and the jjractice still ob- tains, i*^* The Canary Isl- anders, when discovered, in the fourteenth century, had spears and digging-sticks tipped with horns.'*^^ ^ _ , Fig. 9i>. — Wooden Fig. 98 shows fi-^h-^pear. Ma- T> I.JIII/-.7J . ^^ . - ^■''''*' 'if British -Bone spear-heads and hook, Greenland. ^ ^y q Xv aj ii k Columbia. spear-heads and a hook of bone, exhibited in the Greenland section of the Danish department. The upper one is cut down so as to leave barbs. The next beneath it has an iron tip riveted to the bone. The lower ex- ample is a bone hook abo^t 2 inches across. Barbed harpoons of bone, from a Scanian bog, Sweden, from a ctive in Perigord, and from Terra del Fuego, are shown in Nilson's "Stone Age."""^ iGopurchas, vol.i, p. 95. "'1 " Scliliemann's Troy, &c.," p. 79. 163 Dr. Abbott in Smithsonian Report, 1875, pp. 269, 274. 163 Herod., vii, 69-71. Strabo, xvl, 4, 9, 11. 16^ Andersson, p. 15. 165 Tylor, p. 222, and note passim. i66piate iv, Figs. 69, 70, 72. Tig. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 269 Fig. 99 is a fish-spear head of wood with incurved i)oiiits or barbs of bone; the binding is of cherry bark. These liooks are used by the Makalis and other Northwestern Indians. Fig. 100 is a fish-spear of the Choolcchees ( T.s'c7j ucJdochies) of Kortheast Siberia. It has a long stout shaft of i)inc wood, only one-half the length of which is shown. The head consists of two baleen prongs, on the ends of which are lashed two incurved points of ivory, forming barbs. The same style of fish-spear is used by the Youcou In- dians of the IMackeuzie Kiver country.'"' The Fuegan fishing-spear is 10 feet long and has an octagonal shaft with a bone head 7 inches iu length, with a single barb. The National Museum in the (lovernment Building had specimens of whale and seal lances from (Siberia, Alaska, and Greenland. Fig. 101 is a seal-spear from the Chookchees of North- east Siberia. It has a long spliced pine-wood handle and movable point of bone with a metallic tip. Harpoons with movable'^' and immovable points'^" are shown in SvenNilson's " Stone Age," edited by Sir John Lubbock. Fig. 102 is a whaling-lance from the Ponook Eskimo of Alaska. It is pointed with a portion of a marrow-bone cut off obliquely so as to afford a long cutting-edge. The butt-end has a flattened piece to fit the throwing-board. which will be shown presently, spur or button to prevent the s too far. The Ostiaks, Chookchees, and Keriaks secure the same end The piece on the side is a rio. loo.— c/iootc/iw . , , , Jis/inpear, Siberia. spur or button to prevent the spear penetrating the whale Fk;. 101. — Seal-spcar of the Chookchees, Nortlieast Siberia. by binding the shaft with raw sea-lion hide, which, drying, forms an im- i^^' -''- ^■'-C-1-i..^ — --^— - .- ■- ■- .- .-— — x^ — '11 PS^g??^«?g!88Sa«g?a?^>:ll m which were the iron weapons. Fig. 108. One of these has a sword-blade, and a number of ferrules to prevent the tang from splitting the shaft. Another spear has two barbs, and a third one has a lanceolate head. The trident, Fig. 110, was also shown in the same collection. The mora, or crossbar, to limit the penetration of the spears, shown in the Eoman venahulum or hog spear, does not seem to be in common nse in the Orient. The Japanese have as many as 14 kinds of spears, '^* perhaps more. Fig. 109 is a three- pointed spear from Timor, shown in the collection from the Portuguese col- onies. It has three sim- ple points, the outer ones being on the ends of a cross-bar slipped over the middle prong and bent forward. The Philip- pine trident. Fig. 110, is used for fishing, but the II- laiioon pirates''* use a bifurcated spear with re- treating barbs to catch men by the neck. The three -pointed spear is found in many widely sep- arated parts of the world, and is mentioned in the history of the Saracen conquests, i^articularly in one of the feats of Ali. Fig. Ill shows three Fig. Wi. — Shark's- « , , ^ i i ^ tooth spear of the spcars of the Island of 4- 4- 4 4 4 4^; 4<^ 4- 4 m # Philippines. Fio. 108. — Iron spear-heads of the Philippines. Timor. They show the same tendency as to shape as the halberds and lances of the middle m « xroy and its Remains," p. 330. i^s u Conquest of Peru," vol. i, p. 73. "■• Siebold's " Nippon," vol. ii, jil. G. '^^ Belcher's "Eastern Archipelago," vol. i, p. 252. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CEXTEXXIAL EXHIBITION. 273 ^> ages. Tlie weapons of Timor and of the Philippiues are very similar, as miglithave been anticipated. The African spears show a great variety. Over the hirge portion of the continent iron is eitlier j)lentil'al or readily accessi- ble by means of the native traders. The nietallnr^ic process is a. direct one iVom tlie ore and tlie prodnct is a steel. \Vei,i;lits, s]ia])es, and sizes of the weapons dif- fer greatly. The Bongos of the l^pper Nile '"''" are skillful rm. wo.-Tridem of Timor. blacksmiths and make excellent lances, especially considering the crude character of their tools. The spears of the Niam- niams and ]Monbuttoos'" are of a hastate shape, and their weai)ons all have Fic. m.-Trident of the rhiiippines. blood groovcs, which dis- tinguishes tliem from the weapons of the Bongo and Mittoo. TheMan- gauji spear ''"■* is sometimes made with a paddle or dibble at the end of the handle, and is weighted with iron rings. The spear of the Kanemboo infantry soldier of Borneo is 7 feet in length, and armed below the head with a num- ber of hook-shaped barbs. The Abys- sinian spear is seven feet long and has four grooved sides. It is nsed either as a pike or a Javelin. The natives have also a way of throwing it at close quarters by letting the shaft pass through the hand and catching the butt-end. The bark of a young tree being removed, the wood is seasoned by fire, greased, then hung in the sun to obtain the desired color. The hippopotamus spear of the Zam- besi''" is a beam four or five feet long armed with a spear-head or hard-wood spike covered with poison. The spear Spears of Timor. is suspended from a forked pole by a cord, which, coming down closo '"' Schweiiifiirth's "Africa," vol. i, p. 2b0. '" H)hL, vol. ii, ]). 27. '"" Livingstone's " Zambesi," p. 532. "« Livingstone's Zambesi, p. 107; Baker's Ismailia, PI. opp., p. 135. S. Mis. 54 1» 274 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. to the path frequented by the animals, is liehl by a catch and is set free when the animal treads upon it. The Banyai of the Zambesi have a hii)popotamus spear with a wooden shaft, iron head, and weighted with stones ; like the former, it is suspended over the track of the animals. The Fans of the Gaboon have a similar contrivance. The Dor tribe pre- pares a similar spear, but the hunter climbs a tree and drops it upon an elei)hant i)assinj? beneath. The elephant si)ear of Unyoro is similar. The hipi)oi)otamus harpoon of the Zambesi'-" has an iron head inserted in the end of a long i)ole of light wood. The head has a stout barb and becomes detached from tlie shaft ; the rope attached to the head unreels from the shaft, and when it has all run out the shaft acts as a lloat to indicate the locality of the animal. An inflated bladder is sometimes used as a float. The rope is made from the bark of the milola, an umbra- geous hibiscus. The Ilamram Arabs use a float of ambatch, an extremely light wood. The Makobahs of Lake l^fgami'®' attach the rope to the head by a large bunch of loose strands, which cannot be cut clean off by the teeth of the animal. A rope of palm leaf is attached to the shaft, and is coiled up in the boat. The turtle-spear of the Central American Indians is a heavy palm-wood stafl" with a notched iron peg at the end, and twenty fathoms of silk- grass line attached. The assegai, the hurling spear or javelin of the Kafirs, was shown in the Cajje of Good Hope collection. It is a very formidable weapon in 1-?////^ y/^yy/ yy^y^ ^yyy/^y v>^ ^ A^i,u,wJA\^SAV-SW\WV Pig. 112. — Eajir assef/ais. the hands of this athletic and untamed people. The people of " the Cape" say that the Kafirs are the remains of the lost " ten tribes of Israel," and have fought their way all down through Africa. Their asse- gais are made from native iron, have, wooden shafts, and are decorated with tufts of cow hair. The blade has various symmetrical lanceolate shapes. A ridge passes along the center of the blade, which is concave on one side, convex on the other. This sha])e is intended to give rotation to the weapon. The head of the assegai is about the size of the blade of a table-knife, and has a tang which is inserted by burning it while red- hot into a shaft of assegai wood {Curfisia jaffinea), which resembles mahogany. The two parts are secured by lashings of raw hide, which contracts in drying and holds all firmly. The assegai is the main weapon of the Kafir, and with it he kills his cattle, skins them, and cuts them up ; with, it he also carves his clubs, spoons, dishes, pillows, and niilk- •'8oLivingstone'.fl Zambesi, p. 44. i»i Wood, vol. i, p. 379. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 275 pots, and sliave.s liis bead — or rather that of his friend. His other weapon is a cUib ; he does not use the bow and arrow. The liechuana a.s',sr///^n.s'"'^ have cruel barbs on tlieir sliafts, being orij^inally for<;ed scpiare and the barbs made by cut- ting- and raising the corners. . The (tfsscffui of the Damaras has a broad, Icaf-sliajx'd, soft-iron bhuh'. a foot in length j it has a strong han- F... U3.-Copper han><>on point, '^^^J ^^ ^hlch is a tlowiug OX-tail. ^^"xkn- The speiir of tlie (Jran (Miaco In- dian of LaPhita is 1.") feet h)ng; it is his princii>al war weapon, and is also used as a vaulting-i)ole in mounting his horse. The Fuegain thro wing-spear is shorter and has a row of barbs down cue sides The harpoon-point of native copper, with unilateral barbs, is shown in Fig. 113. It is from the Atnacs of Cop- per Kiver, Alaska. The harixjon used l)y tlie Alits of Vancouver's Island in whale-fishing has a yew handle ten feet long, on the end of which is a de- tachable iron barbed blade; it has a line of deer sinews connecting with the main cord of cedar- bark twine laid up into a rope and having a num- ber of inflated seal skins attached. The tish-spear of the Frobisher l>ay Eskimo, Fig. 114, has a jwint of iron, and incurved barbs made from sharpened nails set in flexible bone ]trongs, which are lashed to the short pine-wood handle. Fig. 115 is the salmon spear of the Pas- sama(]Uod(ly Indians. It has a long stout shaft, wooden prongs, and iron point. Norway sent some rel- ics of the past, the hal- berds and lances. Fig. IK). Throwing -sticks are used in many i)arts of the \M)rld to increase the power of flight of the s])('ar by extending the radius of the arm in throwiiig. The throw- TiG. 116.— Norwegian haiberd«. stick of the Australians, Fig. lU. — Fhh- spear. Fruhinhrr Bay Eskimo. "2 Wood, vol. i, p. 314. 276 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. f called by tliem ^yummerah^'^^ mkllah, meera, JcuricuJc, is a stick"" about three feet long. The spear lies along the arm and the stick, its rear end being against the prong on the outer end of the latter. The butt of the si)ear has a socket for the tooth ou the end of the stick. This is sometimes a tooth of a kangaroo ; in other cases of bone or of wood. The fonii of the icnmmcrdh varies in differ- ent parts of the island, being sometimes a mere stick Avith a swelled hand-hold at one end and the prong at the other. Other spec- imens show flat boards, leaf-shaped or tapering. Itisof hard and elastic wood, and heavy enough to be used as a club at close quarters. The spear is quiv- ered like the Kafir assegai in throwing, and undulates like a thin black snake in its passage through the air. It is also thrown underhand, skimming and ricocheting on the ground. Figs. 117 and 118 are throwing-sticks of South Australia and Victoria, shown in the Main Building. Fig. 119 shows the way of using it. The plan reminds one of the Span- ish method of knife-throwing, in which the fore-arm and hand are used as the l^rojector, the knife lying in the hand, which is extended palm upward. Although the plan of bending the spears in throwing does not appear to be universal in Australia, it is some- times adopted to increase the force of the projection. The Pelew Islanders use a throwing-stick about two feet long to hold the butt of the spear, which, in throwing, is bent by the left hand until it is nearly double. The spear is released by the left hand simultaneously sticks, South Australia.' ^'\x\x the swccping motion of the right hand and arm. The Purupurus of the Amazon,^**^ unlike all the other tribes of the region, have neither blow^un nor bow, but project their arrows by means of a throwing-stick {palhcta). Like the Australian and American implements it has a projection at the end to hold the '^•'' Baekhouses's "Australia," p. 433. »^^R. Brough Smith, "Aborigines of Victoria," vol. i, pp. 308, 309, Figs. 88-93, and p. 338, Figs. 146, 147. 1S3 Wallace's "Amazon," p. 514. Fig. 117. — Spear-throwing Fig. l\%.— Throw- ing-stick of Vic- toria, Australia. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 277 butt of tlie arrow. The middle of the arrow and tlie handle of the i)oJ- hvta arc held in the right hand, and the arrow is projected as ironi a sling. The natives are very skillful with it. The throwing-boards used by the Northwestern Eskimo and Indians are shown in Fig. ll'O. They resemble the spear-casters [xuiotln- tU) used by the Aztecs at the time of the Span- ish COiniUest. On the Tia.UQ.—Amtraliaa throwingsUck. mural luunumenls of Mexico the gods are generally represented as using the stick to throw the javelin. The Mexican stick most resembles the upper one in Fig. 118. Some other Eskimo throwing-sticks have pro- jections against which the butt of the spear is jdaced; and others (see the lower in the figure) have holes for the tail end of the spear. The llomans used the amentum {cf. hahcna), a thong fastened at the center of gravity of the javelin to hurl the weapon. It is mentioned by Livy and Ovid. By giving the thong a few turns around the shaft a ro- tary motion could ^z^^^^^^^^^asss*^ l^g imparted to the javelin in throwing. The ansa of the anm- iithafifa Wits a sem- icircular strap- handle to a spear, like the bow on a sword-hilt. The Fig. lIQ.—Tlirovnng-hoards of Xorlhwestern Eskimo. acUs Of the anciCUt Osci was a massive spear like a harpoon, with an attached line for recov- ering it. The natives of New Caledonia have a javelin 15 feet long, which is discharged by a plaited cord {oHnep) atta<;hed a little behind the middle of the spear. This oiinej) (otherwise called aipp), answering to the amen- tum of the ancients, but'superior thereto, is a plaited cord made of com- bined coir fiber and fish-skin ; it has a knot at one end and is worked into a loop at the other. It is wound around the spear-shaft so as to give it a rotary motion in tiying.'"*^ When a spear is to be thrown the forefinger of the right hand is put into the looj), and the man balancing the weapon to find the mi(hlle takes a saihu's half hitch at a i>oint behind the center of gravity. Throwing the si)ear he looses his grasi) at once, projecting the weapon by the cord, which becomes detached as soon as the back- ward pull on it occurs, leaving the cord in the hand of the thrower. The ancient amentum was attached to the spear. >f Nilson, "Stouo Ago," p. 174. Zi SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. V. — Shields. Shields were in force, iu Pliiladelpliia, from Africa, Asia, Malaysia, and Australia. They were of grass, ratan, hide, wood, and other mate- rials. Some were so large as to cover the person 5 others were smaller and intended to be moved to intercept a weapon; others still were long and narrow, used in parrying s])ear-thrusts. Beginning with the South of Africa, the first we find is the Znln shield in the department of the Cape of Good Hope. It is of ox-hide and of a long ellip- tical shape. The color denotes service. Black shields are for boys; white, with mottlings, for warriors. The prevalence of color or j^eculiar markings denotes the regiment to which the warrior belongs. The shield is strengthened by a vertical stake at the rear, which forms a handle, and projects below and above, where it forms a rest and an ornament, respect- ively. A strii) of black hide is passed iu and out of a double row of slits, one row on each side of the stick, showing on the front of the shield like oblong markings on a white ground. Standing on its end the shield comes uj) to the warrior's eyes, the stick to the crown of his head. The shields are the property of the chief, and are apportioned to the deserving. The shapes of the shields vary among the dif- ferent tribes of what may be called the Fig. i2\.— Zulu shield of ox-hide. Kafir racc. Somc of the shields have de- pressions in the sides as if a piece had been cut out, resembling the ancile or sacred shield of Numa, which was supposed to have fallen from Heaven. In some instances the depressions in the sides are so great as to make them hour-glass shaped. The Basuto Kafirs'*"' have a curious shield, resembling a body with two wings. The Bechuana have a shield smaller than the Zulus and cut from the thickest part of an ox- hide. The Barolongs and Batlapis have a rectangular shield, edged at top and bottom with two rounded wings. Passing northward and reaching the latitude of Portuguese occupa- tion, we find the mat shield of Angola, Fig 122, made of a species of grass growing commonly in many parts of Africa. The same style of manufacture is shown almost all along the Western Coast — the baskets and mats of the Gold Coast, for instance. The grass is made into long is^Caaalis' "Basutos," pp. G3, 135, 136; Livingstone's "Zambesi," PL opp. p. 40. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 279 rolls, wliicli are laid spirally, beiiip; interlaced by ratan strips which proceed from the center ladially. The view shows the hack of tlie shield witli the two sticks which form the handle. The shields of Londa-land, in Equatorial Africa, on tlui AVest ( 'oast, are madc^ of reeds jdaited to- gether. Theshai)e isoblonf^-scjuare, 5 feet by 2. The Apono shields are circnlar and of basket-work. The shield of the Fans of the Gaboon "*« is a i)iece of hide 3 feet long aud 2i feet wide from the skin of the ele- phant's shimlder. This resists all the native weapons: axes, spears, arrows, or even bullets in a glancing ^"^Jififtfflii^^tJ*^ S direction. ' *^ The Egyptian collection showed ^'"- i=2.-J/a**/.-w of Angola. a number of shields from Central Africa, trophies brought nortli by Long Bey from his exi)editiou beyond Khaitoom. Fig. 12.'5 is a leathern conical shield with a handle of the same. It is 2 feet in diameter; alti- tude of cone, () inches. It is made of ox hide and has a strong leathern binding. It is ornamented to represent basket-work. Anotlier shield exhibited was of giraffe hide and 1 foot in diameter. The Roman clipeus was a round buckler of several folds of ox hide covere liat, except a raised rim and boss. Herodotus says'** that the Carians invented the hani)ine Ishmds collection Inul a nund)er of sliields — one of hide and a number of wood. l''i;4-. ILM) is a buckler of hide i)ainteil with geometric figures. Figs. 130 and liU are four wooden shields of the ]'hilipi>ines. They are from 3 to 5 feet long and from 10 to 12 inches broad. They raay also be classed among the parrying wea- l)ons, being evidently intended to ghince aft" arrows or spear thrusts. The shield {htl((s<([i) of the Ygor- rotes of the rhili]>pines is of wood covered on the edge with ratan, and is 10 inches in circumference.''"* The shield of the IVIalakus-"-' of the Eastern Archipelago is narrow, of hard wood, bent to an arc shape, inlaid with bits of shell, and i)ro- vided with a single handle placed in the center. The warriors of the Solomon Islands use clubs, spears, bows and arrows. Their oval ^'<'- i3o.— iroodcn shields, Philippines. shields are of rushes so thickly jdalted as to resist arrows. The Siamesj'. shield, Fig. 132, is indebted for its lightness, stifl'ness, and strength to the bamboo. It is 5 feet in height, 20 inches in width, and has two thicknesses of i»laited bamboo siilit;--, inclosing a layer of plantain or band)oo leaves. The Chinese shield (Fig, 133) is made of ratan cane, coiled from the center outward, and interhuied with ratan splits jn'oceeding in a general radial direction. The diameter is 32 inches, the height of the cone 8 inches. It has a cross bar lashed by ratan si)lits and an arm-loop and hand-grasp similarly attached. The Australian shields are of three general descriptions : The toicerang, or miihjd (Fig. 134), which is light, long, and narrow, used for warding off the blows of si)ears and boomerangs by a circular twist which de- tlectsthem from their course ; the heilamon {gee-am) or oval shield, which covers the i)erson more or less perfectly and receives the impact of the "o^Jasar, " Philippines," p. 210. ^'•'^Bdclicr's "Easteru Archipelago," vol. il, p. 37G. 284 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. •weapon ; and a smaller shield held like a cricket-bat in the hand by a handle at the end. On this island continent are various tribes, with varying dialects, and the names of the shields are not the same in all districts. The names mnJga and geemn are those given by R. Brough Smith.''"'' The toWerang {mulf/a) or par- rying shield was shown in the Victoria section of the Aus- tralian department. It is 2^ or 3 feet long and used for fencing off the blows, of mis- siles by striking them in flight. Fig. 1^2.— Basket-work shield of ti'ianx. riG.131. — VToodcn sJiiclds of the rhilipjiincs. It is made from the blue-gum tree, which is relatively hard and heavy, enabling it Avlien it strikes a flying weapon to swerve it from its flight without too great a strain on the wrist. The hand-hold is cut out of the solid back of tlie shield, or, when the material is thin, the ends of the handle piece are driven through the front of the shield and secured. The size given by R. Brough Smith is 35 by 5 inches, and he states that they are usually made of iron-wood or the box-wood of the colony. 206 Aborigines of Victoria, Melbourne, 1878, pp. 330-334. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 285 Fii;. 133. — Chinese shield of basket-work. (Itiside.) All have liaiid-liolds, made out of tlic solid, and tlir wci^dit is from 2i to 3.i pounds. A variety of sizes and some variation ol jtat terns are shown in Fi<^\ carved out of the wood. That shown in Fig. 135 is made from the wood of the gigantic nettle-tree. In otlier i^arts of Australia the bark of some one of the numerous species of gum is bent to form by '^/ tlie ap])lication of heat, and a han- dle or arm bow is laslied on. The shape is usually a long oval, but some are of a diamond shai)e. The bark shield is called nvilahakkn. The Murray liiver blacks make canoes, by means of this bending process, from the bark of the tea- tree {indaleuca, i. e., black and white), and from various species of eucalypti. In the work just referred to,*"- the larger shield^ for general protec- tion, isspoken of as generally made of green bark, whicli is curved by ^'ang'^rpaVrVing laying it upou au earthen mound shield of Austra. ^^ ^^^^ required shape, covered with hot embers ; the bark is laid therera- t zil -'^ and the Gran Chacos of La Plata. ^ The Tartars and Chinese use a bow which assumes a recurved form when unstrung. The exanjple shown in Fig. 141 was upon theefligy of aChinese soldier in the^Iiiieral Annex to the Main Building. It is nearly G feet in length and a few inches from each end is a bone stud over which the string passes. The bow is bent by placing it behind the right thigh and in front of the left, then bending it by a sud- den stoop of the body throwing the force on the right leg, and, by a (piick motion, catching the string over the end of the bow and into the notch. The body of the bow is a bent bamboo strip of the solid variety, and to its ends wooden pieces are lashed with sinews. It has a cord string. The shape is exactly that of the Scythian bow {(ircu,s M-ylhicus) as shown on «'Tenuent's "Ceylon," vol. i, p. 500. ^''Kuox, "Ceylon," 61. *-'^H. S., "Ceylon," London, 1876, vol. i. «*> Forbes' "Ceylon," vol. ii, p. 78. »' Teunont'8 " Ceylon," vol. i, p. 499. "'Indira. 1. xvi. "» Fletcher & Kidder's "Brazil," p. 553. 292 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. /i classic vases and gems. The Japanese bows and arrows are shown in Siebold's <.'re!it work.^^* The bow of the North American Indian is sehlom much over 4 feet lonf>- and is always used on horseback ; his aim is not remarkable for accuracy, but he discharges the arrows with groat force and rapidity. The bow is made of wood, bone, or iron. An ash bow with the sinews of the buf- falo or deer worked into the back is no contemptible weapon either to draw or to face. The bow, Fig. 142, like tlie Roman arctis paUdns, is made of several horns spliced together. In the present case, the horns are those of the mountain sheep. Oris Montana. They are made by heating the horns in hot ashes and drawing them out, then splicing pieces together with bands of deer sinew. The joints are hidden by orna- mental coverings of cloth, skin, or dj^ed por- cupine quills. Such bows are valued at the price of two horses, as the horns of which they are made must be obtained by barter with Eocky Mountain Indians. The arrow is of wood or reed and headed with flint, bone, or iron. Indian arrow-heads are the most common article in the American sections of ethnological museums, and show wide differ- ence in shape, material, and size. The exam- jde, Fig. 143, has a point of chipped chalced- ony. Fig. 144 also shows chipped flint arrow-heads of the Pai-Utes of Southern Utah. They are cemented and bound to the wooden shafts. The Indians of the California peninsula make bows of willow-root, and attach strings of intestines. Their arrows are of reed with triangular hard-wood heads.-^'* Flint arrow- heads of Terra del Fuego, and of the stone age of Sweden, are shown and described in i Nilson,^^® and those of the dwellers on the * dianhowof mount- 'pW^ villagcs of tlic Swis.* lakcs, in Desor's ^'''- ^"^^ ain sheep's horns. i oq7 -r» • . i r, n work.-^' J3one arrow points and bows of yew are also found in the same localities.^*'' 2^«"Xippou," vi, PI. 1, bis; vii, PL 19, Figs. 1, 1, a, '2; vv, PI. 22; see also Ibid, ii, PI. 5, for bovr3 and arrows in great variety. Also upper row iu PI. 15 and 21, vol. ii. 23S Baegart, in Snuthsonian Report., 18G3, pp! 362, 3. 2^"' Stone age, Plate v, and pages i, 43-5. *'" Translation in Smithsonian Report, 1865, p. .374, .356. *^^ Morlot. Traualaticn in Smithsonian Report, 1862, p. 376. Sioux stone-pointed arroto, Dakota. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 293 (^^^^^ Fic. U4.— Chipped fliiU an headii, Utah. The Oregon Indians make their bows of cypress, Cuprcssus Lawsoniana, or of yew, Taxus hrevifoJiu. The woixl is strciijjjtlu'ncd on tlu' back with sinew, in the manner so comiiKni throughout tlic Xortliwest The string is of sinew and the arrow of reed pointed with obsidian. The arrow-head is ehippcd to ioriii by a tool siini- hir to that by which the ^hi/.ier nibbh*s liis ghiss to shajie. The feathers of the arrow are set on si)irally. Poison for the arrow-heads is made by causing a ratth'snake to strike its fangs into liver, which is tlien allowed to pu- trify and the arrows are smeared therewith. Tlie bow of the Ahts of Vamtouver's Island ^^' is also of wood fortified with sinews. The arrow is large and has a barbed bone lip ; the arrow for fish has two tips barbed on the inside like the Australian fishing-siu'ar, and clasps any object it may come across. The feathering of tlie arrow is put on spirally. The Ahts have also an arrow with a detachable barbed bone point, connected by two cords with the shaft, with which they form an equilateral triangle ; the shaft impedes the seal in its motions and acts as a float. The same fea- ture is common in Eskimo harpoons. The bow of the Kutchin tribes of the IVLackenzie and Youcon Kivers are of willow, 5 feet long and with an enlargement at the grasp to pro- tect the hand against the snap of the string. The arrows are of i»ine; arrow-head of bone of wild-fowl, or of bone tipped with iron for moose or deer,"" The bow of the Greenland Eskimo is made of horn, bone, or wood, re-enforced on the outer side with a multitude of deer sinews, which are put on so tight as to give the bow some backward curvature. Its aver- age length is 3}t feet. The bow string is twisted deer sinews. The Eskimo arrows are of wood tii)ped with bone or stone; or in some cases of wood and bone tipped with iron. Bow and arrows arc in a quiver of seal-skiu. Fig. 14") sliows three arrow- heads in the Greenland division of the Dan- ish department ; the left-hand is of bone and the others of stone. Tlie Eskimo uses a wrist-guard of bone plates tied together and fastened by a button and loop ; it re- ceives the blow of the Viow-string. In tlie warmer regions of America, like the countries to which Ave have referred, the jioisoned arrow is no new thing. Her- Fiu. Wj.—Egkimo arrows, Greenland, i.^.j..,^ fj,,. Spanish ad Venturer, died from the efltects of a poisoned arrow. I)e Soto's historians"' mention arrows barbed with flint, arrows without barbs, arrows of reed tipped with *** Wood, vol. ii, p. 725. ^ Stnithsonian Report, 1866, p. '.yi2. «••• Irving, op. cit.. pp. IIU, VJo, 225. 294 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. lozenge-shaped buck's-horu plates, and arrows tipped with fish-bones, with palm spikes, and with hard wood. The zarabatanar*' or blow-guu of the Guiana tribes is made in two pieces, each of which has a semi cylindrical groove, so that the two form a perfect tube when bound together with spiral strijjs of the pliable iacitara wood. The outside is covered with wax and resin. A trumpet- shaped mouth-piece directs tlie wind from the mouth and lungs into the tube when the lips are suddenly opened ; the puff seems to be directly from the chest. The blow-gun is 12 feet long and quite heavy. A lighter gun, pucuna, of the same region, is made of a ten or fifteen feet section of a reed {Arundinaria Schomhergii), which grows in a limited region on the Upper Orinoco, and has a length of over 12 feet between the joints of its lower portion. This reed forms the ourah or barrel and is slipped into a stick of palm {Ireartia setUjera) from which the pith has been pushed out. The mouth-piece end is bound with silk grass and the other end fortified with the half of an acuero nut, which also forms the muzzle sight. The breech sight is made of two incisor teeth of a cavy, which are secured with wax to the tube, the depression be- tween the teeth being the valley sight. The gun is held in the left hand, the elbow of that arm resting on the hip. The right hand grasps the tube near the mouth piece, and the gun is raised by bending the body. It weighs about a pound and a half — but a fraction of the weight of the zarabatana. The arrow is made of the leaf rib of the coticourite palm. It is 10 inches in length, about the size of a crow- quill, is pointed by means of a fish-tooth scraper, and is fitted to the bore with a pledget of wild cotton {Bomhax cciba). The arrows depend, like the sumpits of the Dyaks, upon their sharp poisoned tips. The i)oison is obtained from the wourali vine {Strychnos toxifera) and a bitter root, the hyarri, to which are added poisonous ants, poison fangs of snakes, and other things to give efi^'ect to the stufi", or to con- ceal the real ingredients, as the composition is a secret in the hands of the conjuror. The poison has an instantaneous numbing effect, the vic- tim seeming void of pain or fear, dropping immediately, and dying in a short time without a struggle. The arrows are kept in a "quiver" or in a "roll," and each is cut deeply near the head, so that the i)oisoned por- tion may break off in the wound. The range is from 50 to 100 yards. A modification of the arrow is one in \7hich, instead of the cotton, a piece of bark is placed spirally on the stem of the arrow, terminating in a hollow cone, which fills the bore when the cone is expanded by the wind ; a singular anticipation of the hollow-base Minie bullet, which is ex- panded into the grooves of the rifle by the evolution of gases due to the explosion of the powder. A piece or two of bark, laid spirally on the arrow-shaft, feather the arrow, and make it revolve in flying. This is equivalent to the rifling of a gun. This arrow is tipped with a small piece of iron. !"* Wood, vol. ii, p. 583. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 295 For war or for killing the tapir or jaguar, an arrow G feet long is made of a reed, having for a head a hard-wood spike, an iron point, or the tail bone of the stingray. Poison is used ou either. The arrow is projected by a bow. The blow-gun of the Uaup^s of the Amazon-^' is called the grara- tana^ and is made of two stejQS of the small palm Ireartia sctigira, one slipping within the other so as mutually to correct curvatures. The pith i.s pushed out, and a conical mouthpiece htted to one end. Arrows are maile from tlie spinous processes of the patawa [JlLiwcarpns hatawa), pointed and anointed with poison of the wourali. The butt of the arrow carries a little tuft of tree cotton to make it fit in the tube. The ordinary bow of the Uaupes,^" the aboriginal Indians (jf Brazil, is of different kinds of hard elastic wood, and is fi om o to feet long. The string is" either of the tucum leaf-liber {Astrocaryuni vulgare), or the inner bark of trees called tururi. The arrows are 5 feet long or over, are made of the Hower-stalk of the arrow-grass, and are tipped with hard wood, barbexl with the serrated spine of the sting-ray. For war, the head is anointed with poison, and is notched in two or three places so as to break off in the wound. Arrows for shooting lish have usually iron heads, bought of the traders, but others are made of monkey's bones and barbed. The arrows have three feathers laid ou spirally. Tiie Indians of the Amazon also use a two-stringed bow for shooting stones. The pellet bow has a pad or net in the middle of the string, to hold a stone or ball of clay, to project it in the manner of an arrow. Such are used in South America and Africa.^^* The arrow of the Guiauians, used in shooting turtles, is projected by a bow and has a movable harpoon head of iron detachable from the shaft, but secured loosely thereto by a thong. The turtle-shooting bow of the Central American Indians is made from the Soupar palm, GuiUelma spcciosa ; the shafts of the arrows from the dry stalks of the cane, saccha- rinum officinarum, tipped with hard wood or iron. The Peru\ian arrows were tipi)ed with coi»per or bonc.'^ The arrows of the Paraguayan Indians are of several kinds. Some have block points to kill birds without bleeding them ; others with long wooden four-sided heads, sharpened and cut into barbs. These heads are carefully lashed on to the shaft, which is in all cases of cane. The arrows were shown in the Agricultural Building, are from 3 to 4 feet long, and have feather flyers put on straight. The Gran Chaco Indian of the La Plata region,"' destitute of habita- tion himself, employs tire-arrows when attacking a settlement. He binds some cotton around the head of each arrow just behind the head, and then lying down he holds the large bow with his feet while he draws the «« Wallace's Amazon, pp. 214, 215. ^Ibid., pp. 486,487. «^«See Tylor'3 " Early History of Mankind," notes, p. 177. «*«" Conquest of IVru," p. 73. »<'Wood, voL ii, p. 570. 296 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. Fig. 146. — Paragitayan arrows. string witli both hands and kits lly the lij^hted arrows one after the other, with considerable rapidity. The malleolu,s of the Kouians was a large missile like a distaft" with an arrow-point; the cage of the distalf was filled with tow steei)ed in pitch. It was lighted before being discharged, and it was intended that the ar- row should penetrate the wooden object or thatch and hold it while the incendiary ma- terial shoidd set lire to the building. The Fuegian bow is strung with twisted sinews ; the arrow is of hard wood and has a notch in the end, holding a piece of Hint or obsidian, which comes off in t-he wound. We may conclude this account of savage weai)ons by some references to the cross-bow. This was shown in the i^Torwegian Department in the Main Building, and is a remnant of me- diieval times. The instrument, however, is found in use in several parts of the world, and some of the African and Asiatic examples show more ingenuity than the European weapons with which we are more familiar. The Norwegian cross-bow. Fig. 147, has a stock 30 inches long with a 24:-inch powerful steel bow. The stock is handsomely inlaid with ivory; the string is a covered cord, and the bolt is shown in its groove. TheEoman Scorpio was perhaps the oldest instrument of the kind on record, and was used to discharge stones, plummets, and arrows. We find cross-bows among the Fans of the Gaboons in Western Africa; the Mishni, a tribe of Assam in Eastern India; the iSTicobar Islanders^^* ; the Chinese and the Japan- ese'-'^ The cross-bow of the Fans is 5 feet long and has a very strong bow 2 feet long, which is bent by holding it with the feet while both hands strain the string into the notch. The string is thrust oat of the notch by a clumsily ingenious arrangement. The shaft is split so that the for- ward end of the lower portion has a limited motion up and down, the split terminating at a point a little forward of the string-notch. To the lower portion is attached a peg which extends upward through a hole to thrust the string out of the notch. A trigger-pin lies in the split of the shaft and holds the portions apart so that the string can lie in the Fig. 147. — Norwegian crossbow. 2«Wooc1, vol. ii, p. 220. 2«Siebolcl's "Nippou," vol. ii, PI. 5 bis. SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 207 notch ; but as soon as the trij:gcr-pin is removod tlic soparatod ])()rtioiis fly togC'tlier, the pin rises, hits the string, and the arrow is diseliarged. The Chinese have a somewhat siinihir method. The arrows of the Fan cross-how are small and light, and about a f(jot in length. Their range is about 20 yards, and they owe their elheiency to their poisoned tips. When laid in the groove of the shaft to be discharged, the arrow is slightly held by a piece of wax. A larger arrow with an iron head is used in hunting. The Japanese have also a cross-bow. The repeating Chinese cross-bow is i)erhai)s the greatest advance in this implement, which has been so en- tirely superseded in Europe. The magazine is above a movable block which has a slot in which the string moves, and the whole block is mov- able back and forth in the main stock by a lever attached to the latter and shackled to the block. As the lever is raised the block slides for- ward until the string of the unbent bow drops into a notch. This al- lows an arrow to fall out of the magazine into the slot. Kow draw back the lever; this action draws upon the bow-string and bends the bow in the first place, and when the lever is depressed to its fullest extent a l)iu in the block comes against the stock and is pushed up so as to lift the string out of the notch and discharge the arrow. The limit of speed in firing is the quickness with which the lever is liftCvl and depressed. The bow is made of three thicknesses of the male l)and)oo, overlapping like the plates of an elliptic carriage spring. The string is a thick twisted gut. The arrows are straight, both with heavy steel heads and very slight spiral leathers. Its utmost range is possibly 200 yards. ^i^ IWr^fZV^'i!^. . i«ja' • 'iJ^ ^^r^Kmn,-: '^^^CusH^i^^' ,' AA 000 930 451 -u35J.i>' liiiiP i ^ .,^ifp.?m>. ^AlSf)-^ keI '^, «^r.,„ i^r —