40 



INTRODUCTION. 



dagger, which is usually called a dagger, and believed to have 

 been a weapon, can scarcely be regarded as being such. It is 

 so thin in the blade, and at times the point is so much rounded, 

 that it would ill serve the purpose to which a dagger had to be 



Fig. 24. i 



Fig. 25. 



Fi-. 26. 



Fig. 27. 



Fig. 28. i. 



Fig. 29. i. 



applied. It partakes much more both of the shape and character 

 of a knife^ and seems to have been intended rather for cutting 

 than for stabbing. At the same time it probably served more 

 than one purpose, and as the Kaffir uses the head of his assagai in 

 a variety of ways, so we may imagine that the knife-dagger sup- 

 plied the place of several different instruments. Some of these 



