124 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The two feathers are not invariable, the writer having both Onon- 

 daga and western arrows feathered with three. Figure 6 shows 

 the spiral twist on one from Onondaga. One side of the quill is 

 taken and partially stripped at each end. Figure 8 shows this. 

 Figure 7 shows the mode of attachment, with one feather ready for 

 use. Sometimes there is no twist. Figure 47 shows the tipping 

 of the arrow with a flint point by an Onondaga. Sharp arrows are 

 called o-yTin-isJy-kuW by them. Two feet is a common length. 



Mr Morgan gives the Seneca word wa-a'-no for bow, and ga'-no 

 for arrow. In Onondaga the former is ah-^en'-nah, and the latter 

 kah-hes' -kah. The other Iroquois dialects vary quite as much. 



Most of the Iroquois long ago abandoned the use of the quiver, 

 but, as it was of leather it falls outside of the present general 

 subject. 



The blowgun, called ga-ga-an'-da by the Senecas, and kah-sah- 

 ken'-tah by the Onondagas, is rare now, though once common. 

 Morgan described it as a wooden tube, 6 feet long and an inch thick. 

 In the half inch bore was placed a slender dart, 2 feet long, sharp 

 pointed, and with a ball of thistle down at the base. The dart was 

 discharged with great accuracy by blowing below it in the tube. 

 The gun used at Onondaga by the writer was a little shorter, but 

 the arrow was quite short, with red flannel at the base. Figure 53 

 shows both arrows, a being loaded with down and b with flannel. 

 Figure 54 shows the blowgun much reduced. John Bartram's 

 words, when he was at Onondaga lake in 1743, suggest these arrows. 

 He said: " Our guides took their arrows, made of reed and down, 

 to shoot small birds." Mr Ketchum quotes Weld's account of their 

 use by the Senecas in 1796. The arrows were pointed with tri- 

 angular bits of tin, the other end being wound with thistle down 

 for about 2 inches. The tube was about 6 feet long and the arrow 

 short and slender. 



The arrow is put into the end of the tube that is held next to 

 the mouth ; the down catches the breath, and with a smart purr" they 

 will fly to the distance of 50 yards. I have followed young Seneca 

 [ndians whilst shooting with blow-guns, for hours together, during 

 which time I have never known them to miss their aim at the dis- 



