i8o Chinese Clay Figures 



tions into large and thin sheets, such as could be weighed and divided 

 into equal parts. It would be unreasonable to infer that a rhinoceros- 

 skin in its natural state of thickness could be properly cured, and then 

 utilized for the making of an armor: the skin was split into strata evenly 

 thick, which were cured, probably boiled, and according to the number 

 required were tightly pressed together. The fact that the harness was 

 not composed of seven, six, and five pieces becomes sufficiently evident 

 also from the rule that the long hide strips were laid around the trunk 

 horizontally; * naturally, for this was the most rational and efficient use 

 that could have been made of them. In all probability, the entire 

 affair consisted of only two main parts, — the corselet enveloping the 

 trunk, and the skirt protecting the thighs, — both being closely joined 

 together. Either part could have been made from a single piece of 

 hide. The sewing, of course, refers to the various layers of hide and 

 the seams. How the garment was put on is not indicated in the text; 

 but it seems plausible to infer that it was open in the middle of the front. 

 By a very similar process, cuirasses were still turned out in northern 

 China and Mongolia in recent times. The American Consul Bedloe 2 

 reported on this subject as follows: "The original armor of the north 

 (Manchuria and Mongolia) seems to have been leather, and in shape 

 was more like a blouse than a jerkin. In the course of years the skin 

 was doubled, trebled, and quadrupled, and a Chinese lower garment 

 that might be called leather greaves and cuirasses combined was added 

 to the upper one. The Mongolian nomads learned at an early age that 

 a coat or cuirass made of sheepskin in several thicknesses makes a very 

 warm garment and would turn a spear, arrow, or sword. Apparel of 

 this class is in use to-day and may be bought very cheaply in Shan- 

 tung." In the same manner the cuirasses of the Mongols invading 

 Europe were wrought. Thomas of Spalato, an historian of the thir- 

 teenth century, describes their defensive armor as made of ox-hide, 

 several layers of it being so tightly pressed together that the armor is 

 quite impermeable, and affords considerable protection. 3 This is 

 confirmed by Marco Polo, 4 who relates that the Mongols wear on their 

 backs armor of cuirbouly, prepared from buffalo and other hides, which 



1 Biot translates with perfect correctness, "On prend leur longueur totale pour 

 faire le contour de la cuirasse." 



2 Consular Reports on Commerce, Manufactures, etc., No. 147, p. 494 (Washing- 

 ton, 1892). 



3 G. Strakosch-Grossmann, Der Einfall der Mongolen in Mitteleuropa, p. 28 

 (Innsbruck, 1893). The Tlingit cuirass on Plate XI consists of two superposed layers 

 of elk-hide. 



4 Ed. of Yule and Cordier, Vol. I, p. 260. 



