640 ANNUAL. EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 



Niger: "A crossbow is not enough to go to war with; whom do 

 you dare to face with a stick ? " Gov. Moloney produced exam- 

 ples of crossbows through the chiefs of Ibadan. They are called in 

 Yoruba akatanpo (the long bow being called oron or orun). The 

 release is like that of the Fan and Mandingo fonns, i. e,, effected by 

 means of a divided stock with peg and notch. The bow is drawn, 

 as is that of the Ba-Fan, with the aid of the feet. The string is of 

 bast, twisted fiber, or animal skin. 



In the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford there is the stock of a cross- 

 bow (the bow is missing) which closely resembles the Mandingo 

 example (fig. 2). It was obtained by Mr. G. F. Martin from a Benin 

 tribe at Oboru-Kitty, about 14 miles from the right bank of the Niger 

 and 30-40 miles east of Benin, and was presented by him to the 

 museum in 1902. The length of this stock is 33^ inches. The head 

 is carved in rectilinear designs. The loop which forms the hinge 

 uniting the two limbs is of cane, and allows the free ends of the two 

 limbs to separate to the extent of 3 inches. The release peg is fixed 

 to the lower limb somewhat diagonally, pointing forward. From 

 the shape of bow slot we may gather that the bow was rectangular 

 in section. There is a well-marked arrow groove upon the stock, and 

 close to the notch there are traces of wax, evidently employed for 

 causing the arrow to retain its place until the detente. 



It is clear, I think, that the Mandingo, Yoruba, Beninese, and 

 some of the Kamerun crossbows which I have mentioned are closely 

 related to those of the Ba-Fan and Mpongwe. The principle of the 

 detente is identical in all, allowing for the difference between the 

 hinged and split stocks ; the tendency of the bows toward a rectangu- 

 lar section, the arrow groove and the use of wax to keep the darts in 

 place, are all features common to these varieties of the weapon. 

 That these crossbows form one family group with local variations 

 can hardly be doubted. 



Dr. F. von Luschan has described and figured ^ a peculiar form of 

 crossbow from the Ba-Kwiri in the hinterland of Kamerun. Two 

 specimens were obtained by Lieut. Freiherrn, and are now in the 

 Berlin Museum. This type differs from those already referred to in 

 certain prominent characteristics. The crossbow itself is of small 

 size, the length of the stock being about 34 inches, but the total length 

 is enormously increased by the addition of a wooden barrel nearly 5 

 feet in length, through which the featherless darts (about 10 inches 

 long) are discharged. In use, the bowstring is drawn back into a 

 notch, as in other West African crossbows; but, unlike the latter, 

 there is no mechanism for the release. The stock, which is shaped in 

 imitation of that of a European musket, is solid and not divided, and 



iZeit. ftir EthnoL, 1897, p. [204]. 



