30 BULLETIN 137^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



gion which directed attention and hostility toward the outsider. 

 Everywhere in the Philippines and in Malaysia the pacifist did not 

 enjoy the respect of the tribe. An hereditary chief or datto enjoyed 

 double esteem of his subjects if he could lead them successfully in 

 battle. 



BOW AND ARROW 



Characteristic features of the Negrito how and arrow. — The bow 

 is the principal weapon of the Negrito in the Philippine Islands and 

 elsewhere in Malaysia, in the Andaman Islands, and in Africa. The 

 bow, as it is usually made by the Negrito, consists of a simple, plain, 

 unwrapped, bow stave, rounded in section and often possessing a 

 longitudiDally grooved inner surface. It is provided with a bow 

 string of twisted root or bark fiber. The more crudely constructed 

 bows of some of the Malayan Filipino tribes are merely flattened 

 staves of palmwood or of bamboo flattened toward the ends. 



The bow is not a primitive clubbing or throwing weapon, but is 

 rather a primitive gun. It lends increased prehensility to the hand 

 and when flexed brings into application a natural force to aid muscu- 

 lar strength. The bow as a missile weapon lends itself well to the 

 roving and rather furtive life habits of the forest-dwelling Negrito. 

 The Negrito arrow varies with the purpose for which it is to be 

 employed, as for hunting deer and wild pig, for small game, for fish- 

 ing, and in war. It is either provided with palmwood, bamboo, or 

 iron tipped points, and is either of simple, compound, or composite 

 harpoon construction. 



Antiquity of the how in Malaysia. — The bow was formerly in 

 general use among the more highly cultured Malayan Filipino 

 peoples as well as among the more primitive Indonesians. Old 

 accounts hj various Spanish writers relate how practically all of 

 the Filipino tribes employed the bow. Archers were enlisted or, 

 rather, drafted into service on many of the Spanish expeditions 

 undertaken for purposes of war, conquest, and exploration. Padre 

 Caspar de San Augustin relates that Governor de Sande took with 

 him 1,500 Filipino bowmen from the Provinces of Pangasinan, 

 Cagayan, and the Visayan Islands on his expedition against Borneo. 

 A few years later, in 1593, Governor Das Marinas had with him 

 Filipino bowmen on his expedition against the Moluccas. Artieda 

 describes large bows employed by the Filipino, more powerful than 

 those of English archers. The long bow of the English archer has 

 gone down in history as an efficient weapon, although few, if any, 

 examples have been preserved in museums or elsewhere ; the produc- 

 tion of bows of similar or superior effectiveness implies a long 

 acquaintance with the weapons of the bow type. Some of the Fili- 

 pino tribes mentioned by early writers as using the bow are the 



