58 BULLETIN 134, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



compared with those described by Roth, inasmuch as there is no 

 outer protective tube of palm-fiber basketry, no separate mouth- 

 piece to fit the lips of operator ; no sights are employed at any place 

 on the outer surface of the tube. The reinforcement of cotton cord 

 wrapping at each end seized with a black gummy substance consti- 

 tutes the sole protective measure against splitting or breakage. The 

 w.apon, however, has the advantage of extreme lightness and the 

 compactness obtained through its sectional construction. 



The blowgun in its origin as a weapon was used only in those areas 

 where reeds grew plentifully. Beginning with the eastern United 

 States, where the Cherokee, Iroquois, and Muskogean tribes cm- 

 ployed this weapon for killing birds, and where the Choctaw about 

 New Orleans made a compound blowgun by fastening several reeds 

 together, and proceeding to Mexico and Central America, where the 

 w apon was in common use, it is found existing to-day among most 

 of the tribes of tropical South America, who make a weapon similar 

 to the type employed by the Darien tribes or construct one from 

 two pieces of wood which are grooved and fitted together. Mason 

 remarks that " from the inventor's point of view, the blowtube with 

 the dart, driven to the mark by the elasticity of the breath, should 

 be the antecedent and parent of the gun, pistol, and cannon. His- 

 torically the archer was the father of the cannoneer. It is doubtful 

 whether the inventors of gunpowder ever saw an American or 

 Malayan blowtube." 



Bows. — The universal projecting device of North America was the 

 bow for propelling arrows and barbed harpoons. These weapons 

 are found in their simplest form in Darien in use by the native tribes. 

 Wafer writes of them that " the men, when they are at home, trouble 

 themselves little with any business; but that they may not be quite 

 idle, they will often be making their cups and baskets, arrows and 

 heads for them, lances, nets, and the like." (p. 158). A fish bow, 

 "kingi," (Tule), (Cat. No. 327595, U.S.N.M.), (pi. 9, No. 3), from 

 the coast Tule of Caledonia Bay, is carved from a section of black 

 chonta palm wood and is 70 inches long. The lateral surfaces of 

 the bow T , both the inner surface toward the archer and the back, are 

 flattened throughout their length and polished by use. From the grip 

 or central section the arms taper toward the nock, where they are 

 abruptly truncated, except for the projecting horns with their nock, 

 8.9 cm. (3.5 in.) in length, upon which the bowstring is attached. The 

 entire bow is of one piece and, except for a slight convexity of the 

 back surface, has no reinforcement such as the grooved pilaster! ng 

 practiced by the Guiana Indians or the sinew-backed bows of the 

 Plains Indians. The bowstring, "kingi tuva," (Tule), is a heavy 

 three-ply cotton cord, each ply consisting of 38 to 42 strands of native 

 yarn spun from tree cotton. As the inner surface is flat and the 



