SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 291 



point and butt, the former receiving a quad- 

 rangular steel piece, and the latter the feathers 

 and the notch for the string. Another Indian 

 arrow has a wooden shaft with barbed head 

 lashed to the shaft with twine, and "feath- 

 ered," so to speak, with dry leaves set in slits 

 in the butt of the arrow. 



The maritime people of Ceylon are largely 

 from the Malabar coast of India and are dis 

 tinct both from the Singhalese, the principal 

 nation of the island, and from the Veddahs, 

 the wild aborigines who still inhabit the less 

 accessible forests. The Singhalese chronicles 

 record that the Malabar arrows were some- 

 times "drenched with the poison of serpents." 227 



The Veddahs 22 - are expert with the bow, 

 whieh they hold in the right hand and draw 

 the string with the left. The bow is G feet 

 long, and the arrow 3 feet. 229 Iron arrow 

 blades z3 ° are the only articles of foreign man- 

 ufacture which they covet. Another Veddah 

 bow is sprung by the feet, 231 the string being 

 held by both hands, the archer lying upon his 

 back. This unusual mode is mentioned by Ar- 

 n'an, 2 ' 2 and is practiced by the Cabaclos of Bra- 

 zil 233 and the Gran Chacos of La Plata. 



The Tartars and Chinese use a bow which 

 assumes a recurved form when unstrung. The 

 example shown in Fig. 141 was upon the effigy 

 of aChinese soldierin the Mineral Annex to the 

 Main Building. It is nearly 6 feet in length 

 and a few inches from each end is a bone stud 

 over which the string passes. The bow is 

 bent by placing it behind the right thigh and 

 in front of the left, then bending it by a sud- 

 den stoop of the body throwing the force on 

 the right leg, and, by a quick motion, catching 

 the string over the end of the bow and into the 

 notch. The body of the bow is a bent bamboo 

 Strip of the solid variety, and to its ends 

 wooden pieces are lashed with sinews. It has 

 a cord string. The shape is exactly that of the 

 Scythian bow {arcus scythicus) as shown on 



227 Tennent's "Ceylon," vol. i, p. 500. *" Tennent's "Ceylon," vol. i, p. 499. 



'•• K Knox, "Ceylon," HI. - M Indica, 1. xvi. 



-•' II. S., "Ceylon," London, 1876, vol. i. *» Fletcher & Kidder's "Brazil," p. 553. 

 230 Forbes' "Ceylon," vol. ii, p. 78. 



