SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 283 



edges. It is 4 feet long, 10 inches at the widest and inches at the 

 midlength. Other shields have beads and feathers, either separately or 

 with the tufts of hair. The plain 

 wooden surfaces are sometimes 

 painted with geometric figures. 



The Philippine Islands collection 

 had a number of shields — one of 

 hide and a number of wood. Fig. 

 129 is a buckler of hide painted 

 with geometric figures. Figs. 130 

 and 131 are four wooden shields 

 of the Philippines. They are from 

 3 to 5 feet long and from 10 to 12 

 inches broad. They may also be 

 classed among the parrying wea- 

 pons, being evidently intended to 

 glance off arrows or spear thrusts. 

 The shield (kalasag) of the Ygor- 

 rotes of the Philippines is of wood 

 covered on the edge with ratan, 

 and is 19 inches in circumference. 204 

 The shield of the Malakus 205 of the 

 Eastern Archipelago is narrow, of 

 hard wood, bent to an arc shape, 

 inlaid with bits of shell, and pro- 

 vided with a single handle placed 

 in the center. The warriors of the 

 Solomon Islands use clubs, spears, 



boWS 'Hid arrOWS Their OVal T " IG ' 130 - — Wooden shields, Philippines. 



shields are of rushes so thickly plaited as to resist arrows. 



The Siamese shield, Fig. 132, is indebted for its lightness, stiffness, 

 and strength to the bamboo. It is 5 feet in height, 20 inches in width, 

 and has two thicknesses of plaited bamboo splits, inclosing a layer of 

 plantain or bamboo leaves. 



The Chinese shield (Fig. 133) is made of ratan cane, coiled from the 

 center outward, and interlaced with ratan splits proceeding in a general 

 radial direction. The diameter is 32 inches, the height of the cone <S 

 inches. It has a cross-bar lashed by ratan splits and an arm-loop and 

 hand-grasp similarly attached. 



The Australian shields are of three general descriptions : The towerang, 

 Ormulga (Fig. 131), which is light, long, and narrow, used for warding 

 Off the blows of spears and boomerangs by a circular twist which de- 

 flects them from their course; the heilamon {gee-am) or oval shield, which 

 covers the person more or less perfectly and receives the impact of the 



2M Ja<rar, " Philippines," p. 210. 



^Belcher's "Eusteru Archipelago," vol. ii, p. 376. 



