ABATTIS AND RANJOWS. 109 



In Southern Africa, during the late wars, the abattis was 

 found to afford the best defence against the Kafirs, and that 

 when the waggons and abattis were united so as to form a 

 fortress, not even the naked Kafir, with all his daring courage, 



CALTROPS. 



could force his way through them. Even artillery has but 

 little power against the abattis, which allows the shot to pass 

 between the branches, and is very little the worse for it. 

 Accordingly, it is in great use for defending roads, especially 

 those which are bounded by high banks, and makes a formid- 

 able obstacle in front of gates. 



THE two figures on the left of the same illustration represent 

 two modes of carrying out the same principle, the one showing 

 it as used in European warfare, and the other as a weapon of 

 defence which has been employed from time immemorial, and 

 is now in full use in many parts of the world. 



Both these weapons are intended either to obstruct the 

 approach of an enemy, or to cover the flight of a retreating 

 force. The most simple and most ancient is the Ranjow, which 

 is shown on the right hand of the illustration. The ranjow 

 is nothing but a wooden stick varying in length from eighteen 

 inches to nearly three feet, and sharply pointed at each end. 

 In Borneo, China, &c., the ranjows are almost invariably made 

 of bamboo, as that plant can be cut to a sharp point by a 

 single stroke of a knife. (See page 59.) 



When they are to be used, each soldier carries about a dozen 

 or so of them, and sticks one end of them into the ground, 

 taking care to make the upper end lean towards the enemy. 

 Simple as are these weapons, they are extremely formidable, for 

 it is necessary to pull up every ranjow before the troops can 

 advance. Sometimes it has happened that a body of soldiers are 



