SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 233 



more constant occupation than war. 

 John Lubbock, Loudon, 18G8.) C2 



(Cf. Sven Mlson, edited by Sir 



We now pursue tbe other branch of the section, in which the ball re- 

 mains attached to the cord by means of which it is projected. The sim- 

 plest form of this is the single stone or metallic ball sewed up iu raw- 

 hide and attached to the end of a thong a yard long. This, the bolas 

 perdida of the Spaniards, is whirled rapidly around the head and then 

 launched at the enemy or the game. A similar ball at the end of a 

 shorter thong is used as a slung-shot. 

 The bolas G3 of South America consists of two or three balls at the ends 



of as many raw-hide thongs, about nine feet 

 long, which are tied together. The bolas is 

 swung around the head of the rider, the 

 junction of the thongs being in his hand 

 and the balls Hying in a cluster. As soon 

 as they are launched at the game, the balls 

 fly apart by their centrifugal force, and, 

 still flying round, have a movement of trans- 

 lation in the direction of their projection. 

 As soon as a thong strikes the object, the 

 balls coil around it in contrary directions, 

 binding and entang- 

 ling it according to 

 the intention of the 

 thrower. This is not 

 too much to say, for 

 the Patagoniau will 

 bind the rider to the 

 horse, or tie the legs 

 of an animal together 

 or to the body at will. 

 Stones of ovoid 

 form made of tra- 

 chytic tufa and perforated for raw-hide straps are 

 used by t lie California India! is. 



Tigs. 33 and 34 show the bolas exhibited at the 

 Centennial by the Argentine Republic. They con- 

 sist of stones or balls of clay iu raw-hide pockets 

 at the ends of twisted thongs of raw-hide. The 

 specimens differ much in weight, from one-quar- 

 ter of a pound to one and a half pounds, and in 

 size from one and a quarter inches to three inches in diameter. They are 

 sewed up in their envelopes, and in one ease openings are made to expose 

 the bright red color of a peculiar stone of the country. It is the duty of 



Fig. 33. — Bolas of Paraguay, Argentine 

 Confi deration. 



Fig. 34.— 



of Argentine 

 Republic. 



62 Sven Nilson, PI. ix, Fig. 216; PI. ii, Fig. 31-35. 



6» Page's "La Plata/' 112. 



