ABORIGINAL CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS OF NEW YORK 19 



bases; pentagonal and straight sided, double notched, and what is 

 locally known as the shark's tooth form. These might be placed in 

 his classes, although he gives no examples of these forms. Some of 

 them are somewhat local, and beveled arrows may prove to be 

 scrapers. 



The various forms of triangular arrows are often called war arrows, 

 and Catlin makes a distinction between war and hunting arrows of 

 a little different nature. (See North American Indians, 33). He says 

 that the quiver ' generally contains two varieties. The one to be 

 drawn upon an enemy, generally poisoned, and with long flukes or 

 barbs, which are designed to hang the blade in the wound after the 

 shaft is withdrawn, in which they are but slightly glued; the other 

 to be used for their game, with the blade firmly fastened to the shaft, 

 the flukes inverted, that it may be easily drawn from the wound, and 

 used on a future occasion.' If the barbs are the essential distinction, 

 many other forms besides the triangular would be called war arrows. 



The wonderful rapidity with which indians send their arrows has 

 been remarked by both early and recent writers, and this argues a 

 corresponding facility in making them. They were not confined to 

 war and hunting, but were largely employed in shooting fish. Father 

 Rasles mentioned this when he was among the Illinois in 1693. 

 When they wanted fish, ' they embark in a canoe with their bows and 

 arrows, standing upright, for the purpose of more easily seeing the 

 fish ; as soon as they perceive it they pierce it with an arrow.' This 

 method was noticed farther east, and in Johnson's History of New 

 England, 1654, it is said, ' Their Boyes will ordinarily shoot fish with 

 their Arrowes as they swim in the shallow Rivers, they draw the 

 Arrow halfe way, putting the point of it into the water, they let flye 

 and strike the fish through.' Loskiel mentioned the same thing in 

 Pennsylvania, in the last century, ' Little boys are even seen fre- 

 quently wading in shallow brooks, shooting small fishes with bows 

 and arrows.' Lawson (1714) observed the same thing in the Caro- 

 linas, and other early writers refer to it elsewhere. This is one reason 

 for the abundance of arrows along rivers and streams, and this would 

 allow of much larger heads than the usual ' regulation size.' 



Triangular arrows with concave bases are widely distributed, and 

 in New York their chief distinction is in material and breadth. In 



