B 'O \V 



is much danger awn by the currents which 



sit iijto tlic- hay, it' UP- point opposite to the Toucan- 

 'ii-il too near in calm weather; and if 

 you have once fallen into the bay, there is nogetting 

 out till tii- \\e:;t HID. i Mini sets in again. The go- 

 vernor of Banila was once detained a whole year in 

 this vexatious gulf, wliicli, on this account, received 

 the name of Divaal, or Mistake Bay." The capital 

 of Bouton is Cullasusurf, which is situated on the 

 top of a hill about a mile from the sea, and surround- 

 ed with walls. According to Bougainville, the in- 

 habitants, who are small, and of a dark olive com- 

 plexion, cultivate rice, maize, yams, and other roots, 

 ; cocoa nuts, citrons, and pine-apples. They 

 carry on a considerable commerce in pearls, cloths, 

 and slaves. The inhabitants, who are Mahometans, 

 are gentle and faithful. They work a kind of co- 

 loured cotton stuff, and obtain their spiceries from 

 Ceram and Banda. See Stavorinus' Voyage to the 

 1'Mst Indii'S, vol. ii. p. 29~ 301 ; and Bougainville's 

 I'tydife. (11) 



BOW, a well known offensive weapon, which has 

 been used in war and hunting from times of the most 

 remote antiquity. Although the invention of the 

 bow is, at first sight, extremely obvious and simple, 

 yet the application of a missile body along with it, 

 renders the use of it more complicated. Hence the 

 rudest class of savages are entirely unacquainted with 

 its properties, though they possess weapons appar- 

 ently of more difficult construction. 



The form and substance of the bow have been 

 greatly diversified in different countries : wood, 

 horn, and steel, have all been successively adopted ; 

 but the first, from convenience, is in most general es- 

 timation. In Tartary, Persia, and other eastern re- 

 gions, bows are manufactured from the horns of 

 the antelope, and beautifully ornamented. They are 

 sometimes composed of wood and horn, two pieces 

 of equal length being applied parallel to each other, 

 bound together by catgut, and then covered with 

 the smooth bark of a tree, which receives suitable 

 decorations, and a coat of varnish. The Laplanders 

 are said to frame their bows of two flat pieces of 

 birch and fir glued together ; and in England, the 

 modern bows are constructed of yew or cocoa wood, 

 with a slip of ash, or some other elastic wood, glued 

 on the back. 



The figure of the bow has undergone many altera- 

 tions. To judge from the coins and sculptures of the 

 ancients, it was straight in the middle, and curved at 

 each end: the modern Tartar bow unstrung, nearly 

 resembles an incomplete ellipse, and is recurved until 

 the ends almost meet. The Saxon bow was partly 

 curved, but that of our English predecessors straight. 

 However, it is not improbable that the fashions of 

 different countries have, at various periods, resembled 

 each other; and we find in fact both the figure of the 

 Saxon bow, and the loose play of the string being 

 unconfined in notches, among some relics of those 

 eastern nations which claim tlie highest antiquity. 



The bow of the ancient Greeks and Romans was 

 very short, that of the 'Tartars is still so ; and a 

 tribe of diminutive people in the southern parts of 

 Africa use one little more than two feet long. The 

 English long bow was six feet in length, and that of 



the South Ameri ;cs is scarcely shorter. 



Those modern nation:;, who ii eavahyaie aimed with 

 the bow, use it short for convenience; though it is 

 certain that the force and range of the arrow are 

 augmented by the length of the bow. 



I'he quality of the bow-string is of much conse- 

 quence, and we are told that battles have been lost 

 or gained by its imperfections. Probably the si- 

 news of animals, or thongs cut from their hides, 

 were first employed, as catgut is now by the east- 

 ern nations. But instead of forming a thick and 

 strong cord of a single piece, a number of small fila- 

 ments, bound together in different places, constitute 

 the string. The long hair of animals, and even that 

 of women, was anciently converted to bow-strings, 

 whence a temple was erected at Rome, dedicated to 

 Venus the Bald. Thus Julius Capitolinus observes, 

 Prtftoratndum ne illiul quidem est, quo/1 tanta Jidc 

 Aquiletenses contra Maximinnm pro senatu f/tcntnt, ill 

 Junes tie cap'/lis mulierttm facerent quitm dee.mail 

 iicrvi ad sagit/as emitlendas, quod aliqitamlo Ramie 

 dicdnr fact/tin. I/ide in. honorem malronarum tern- 

 plum Veneri Calvse senatus dicavit. Analogous facts 

 are related by Csesar and Dio. The substance most 

 approved of by the moderns for bow strings is hemp ; 

 for though catgut be tough and strong, it is too 

 liable to be affected by the temperature of the weather. 



The arrow has invariably been made of light reeds, 

 or splits of board pointed with harder wood, bone, 

 or metal, according to the facility with which 

 these substances could be procured by the bowmen ; 

 or barbed in certain countries, so as to inflict a more 

 dangerous wound. The arrow of the ancient Eng- 

 lish archers, as at the battle of Agincourt, was a 

 full yard in length ; that of some modern South Ame- 

 ricans, exceeds five feet. The whistling arrow, whicji 

 produces a sound, from an enlarged hollow head con- 

 taining holes, is said to be used by the Chinese for 

 making signals : and we read of an entertainment 

 given to Henry VIII. in 1515, where " the arrows 

 whistled by craft of their head, so that the noise was 

 strange, and great, and much pleased the king and 

 queen, and all the company." 



Such arc the bow and arrow in their simple state. 

 Their power and effect depend on their peculiar con- 

 struction, and the skill of the archer combined. 

 But in the use of this instrument, the skill of the 

 moderns seems to have declined on the European, 

 continent, and in Britain. The range of an ar- 

 row's flight is here under 200 yards ; but there was 

 lately a Turkish ambassador in London, who, in 

 displaying his strength, shot to the distance of 480 

 yards ; and a recent traveller mentions a ran- 

 dom shot by Hassan Aga, a Turkish governor 

 of Athens, which, on measurement, he found to be 

 58-t yards. In accounts of the ancient English bow- 

 men, we read of arrows reaching a mile at three 

 flights. Much depends on early education and con- 

 tinued practice ; and it has always been a received 

 opinion, that in youth alone the rudiments of archery 

 can be learned. 



The bow and arrow are extensively used at the pre- 

 sent day, and this weapon anciently held a distinguished 

 place in warlike operations. But now the only civil- 

 zed nation having numerous and regular troops armed 



