282 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 



neck. 



The bucklers used during the Trojan war had wooden handles. 197 

 One circular shield shown from India was of rhi- 

 noceros hide, L8 inches in diameter, and orna- 

 mented willi circular plates of 

 iron. The round buckler of 

 the Kurds 1 "" and Arabs are 

 made of the hide of the hippo- 

 potamus. The Lepcha 199 (Sik- 

 kim) shield is of cane with a 

 tuft of yak hair in the mid- 

 dle. The ancient Singhalese "" 

 shit Ids were sometimes cov- 

 ered with plates of the chank 

 shell (Turbinella rapa). This 

 is yet used as an ornament in 

 some parts of Malaysia. It is 

 a spiral shell, 20 ' the fishing for 

 which is a monopoly on the 

 Chinese coast, and is rented 

 like the pearl fishery. The 

 great market for the shells is in 

 India, where they are sawed 

 into rings, and worn by the In- 

 Fig. 127.— Wooden shield of iliaii women on theirarms, legs, F[( , 12i _ y ^ oden , hield 



theMa toes, and fingers. In Beugal **«*» °f Borneo - 



the shell has a ceremonial use, and is buried with opulent and distin- 

 guished persons. 



The Malaysian shields 202 are 

 usually of wood. Two were 

 shown in the Netherlands col- 

 onies collection. Fig. 127 is 

 strengthened against splitting 

 by transverse strips of bamboo 

 sewed on with ratan. The wood 

 is half an inch thick, the shield 

 4 feet long and IS inches wide. 

 The other shield, Fig. 128, is also 

 of wood, and belongs to the 

 Dyaks of Borneo. 203 The shape 

 is somewhat peculiar,, being nar- 

 rowed in the middle and pointed 

 Fig. 129.— Leathern shield, Philippine Islands. ubove and below. Ill the exam- 



ple, the wood has bindings of ratan and tufts of human hair set in the 



"Mliit.l. viii. L93. 



Nineveh," vol. ii, ],. 266. 

 ! Booker's •• Bimalaya," vol. i. p. 304. 

 ""Tennent'a "Ceylon," vol i, p. 500. 



Bertolacci's "Ceylon," 261. 



Raffle's "Java,"4to, i, PL opp. p.276. 



Wood, vol. ii, pp. lTo-76. 



