386 Mr. Frederick Pollock [June 1, 



than at the handle (the scimitar properly so called) ; an exaggerated 

 representation of this type is the conventional weapon of Orientals and 

 barbarians among the painters of the Renaissance or even later. 

 Passing over earlier stages, however, let ns come to the sabre which 

 was made known to Western Europe by the crusades, and whose form 

 and fashion have continued to onr own day without notable change. 

 These Indian and Persian arms exhibit the perfection of a specialised 

 type. Great cutting power is gained by the curvature, which ensures 

 an oblique section of the blade, and therefore an acuter angle of 

 resistance, being presented to the object struck. Everything else is 

 sacrificed to the power of the edge, and sacrificed deliberately. The 

 small grip and the partial or total neglect of protection for the sword- 

 hand are part of the same plan. Defence is left to the shield and 

 armour. The curious projecting pommel of the commonest pattern of 

 Indian sabre may act, indeed, as a guard for the wrist, but it has other 

 uses ; it may become a weapon of offence at close quarters, it balances 

 the weight of the blade, and it may be grasped with the left hand for 

 a two-handed blow. Scottish broadswords not uncommonly have a 

 kind of outside loop made in the hilt for the same purpose. 



More time and labour have been given to the making and adorn- 

 ment of choice weapons in Syria, Persia, and India than in any other 

 part of the world. The best steel always came, it appears, from 

 India. Damascus has given its name to the characteristic processes 

 of Oriental metal-work, but has long ceased to be the chief seat of the 

 art : " the best blades at the present day are still made in Kliorassan, 

 where the manufacture has been carried on since the time of Timour, 

 who transported thither the best artificers of Damascus."* Neverthe- 

 less, Damascus blades, or what purport to be such, are still freely sold 

 to travellers in the East. One such purchaser, I am told, observed 

 that a number of these swords had the same inscription in Arabic 

 characters. He was unable to read it himself, but afterwards con- 

 sulted an Orientalist, who informed him that the writing signified — 

 " I am not a Damascus blade." It may be believed that the interpre- 

 tation was faithful, for the jest is quite in the Persian manner. The 

 damasked or " watered " appearance of the blades which are most 

 highly esteemed in the East appears to have been originally due to an 

 accidental crystallisation of the steel in the process of conversion. 

 The production of it was long thought a secret, but Western experts 

 have now both explained and imitated it.t 



While we are among Indian weapons, we may learn from them 

 that the development of the sword from the dagger by successive 

 steps and modifications is not a matter of mere archaeological con- 

 jecture. Almost conclusive proof is given by the series of inter- 

 mediate forms between the straight broad dagger (Katar), with a 

 handle formed by a pair of cross-bars set close together between two 



* Egerton, ' Handbook of Indian Arms,' p. 56. 



t Wilkinson, 'Engines of War * (1841), pp. 200 ct seq. 



