380 ANTHROPOLOGY. 



We can but regard these workshops as the places whence were ob- 

 tained, and that for centuries, many of the darts used not only by the 

 peoples who resorted for supplies of fish and game to the banks of the 

 Savannah, but by the tribes of Southern and Southeastern Georgia and 

 Southern Carolina. 



If we may credit Adair and other early observers, the Savannah River 

 at certain times of the year must have presented an animated scene. 

 Upon its banks, at appointed seasons, multitudes of Indians from the 

 interior congregated. Weeks were spent in the general and active pur- 

 suit of fishes and game. All accumulations beyond present subsist- 

 ence were smoked and dried, and in the end transported to their homes. 

 It was during these periods, when these riparian abodes were thronged 

 by peoples from a distance, that the primitive arrow-makers reaped 

 their richest harvests. Some of these spear-points are 14 inches in 

 length, while arrow-points are occasionally seen scarce half an inch long. 

 These last are marvels of delicate flint chipping; and, attached to a 

 very small arrow-shaft, and feathered with thistle-down, were probably 

 blown from a tube. Swamp-canes supplied the ordinary shafts, and 

 these were guided by feathers. Into the larger end a spike-shaped flint 

 tip was sometimes inserted, but in most instances a slit or notch was 

 made for the reception of the barb, which was securely fastened by 

 means of moistened threads of deer sinews, or glue made from the soft 

 horns of a buck, or small thongs of deer skin. Reserve arrows were 

 carried in a quiver made of fawn or cougar skm, suspended from the left 

 shoulder, and hanging just behind the right hip, where most convenient 

 access could be had. Hickory, locust, white oak, ash, and red cedar are 

 said to have been the favorite woods employed by these peoples in the 

 manufacture of their bows. These, the customary shape of which was 

 that of a single curve, they seasoned well, and frequently anointed with 

 bear's grease to render them flexible and to keep them from cracking. 



Upon the use of these bows and arrows the Indians relied for sub- 

 sistence and for defense. They "never lack meat," says the Hidalgo of 

 Elvas. " With arrows they get abundance of deer, turkeys, conies, and 

 other wild animals, being very skillful in killing game." Cabeca de Vaca 

 describes the Florida Indians as being all archers, admirable in their 

 proportions, spare, and of great activity. Their bows were as thick as a 

 man's arm, eleven or twelve palms in length, and capable of projecting 

 arrows for a distance of two hundred paces, and with such precision as 

 to miss nothing. Even the good armor of the Spaniards proved an in- 

 sufficient protection against these missiles; and a bufl'alo or bear could 

 not withstand the fatal effect of these well-directed shafts. But the 

 history of the use of the bow and arrow among these primitive peoples, 

 and their various methods of hunting and fishing, are foreign to our 

 present purpose. We desire simply to call attention to the manifest 

 proofs of the extensive and long-continued manufacture of arrow and 

 spear points along the line of the Savannah, and we conclude with the 



