250 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



of the savage. These suggestions are not mere 

 fancies ; in savage tribes existing in the world 

 to-day these different stages in Evolution may 

 still be seen. 



After weapons of offence came weapons of de- 

 fence. At first the fighting savage sheltered him- 

 self at the back of a tree. Then when he wished 

 to pass to another tree he tore off part of the 

 bark, took it with him, and made the first shield. 

 Where the trees were without suitable bark, he 

 would plait his shield from canes, grasses, and 

 the midribs of the leaves, or construct them from 

 frameworks of wood and skins. In times of peace 

 these hollow shields, lying idly about the huts, 

 would find new uses — baskets, cradles, and, in an 

 evolved form, coracles or boats. In leisure hours 

 also, new virtues discovered themselves in the 

 earlier implements of war and of the chase. The 

 twang of his bow suggested memories that were 

 pleasant to his ear ; he kept on twanging it, 

 and so made music. Because two bows twanged 

 better than one, he twanged two bows ; then he 

 made himself a two-stringed bow from the first, 

 and ended with a " ten-stringed instrument." By 

 and by came the harp ; later, the violin. 

 The whistling of the wind in a hollow reed pre- 

 pared the way for the flute ; a conch-shell, broken 



