﻿40 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  first 
  attracted 
  attention 
  by 
  their 
  size 
  — 
  the 
  disproportion 
  will 
  appear 
  

   still 
  greater. 
  At 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  colonization 
  and 
  earlier, 
  the 
  indian's 
  

   bow 
  and 
  arrows 
  almost 
  alone 
  attracted 
  attention. 
  If 
  the 
  larger 
  points 
  

   are 
  all 
  spear-heads, 
  his 
  predecessors 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  as 
  conspicuous 
  

   for 
  these. 
  The 
  difficulty 
  might 
  be 
  solved 
  by 
  supposing 
  the 
  bow 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  a 
  very 
  recent 
  invention 
  in 
  America. 
  It 
  is 
  rather 
  probable, 
  

   as 
  said 
  before, 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  placed 
  too 
  low 
  a 
  limit 
  on 
  arrows, 
  while 
  

   forgetting 
  how 
  much 
  of 
  forest 
  and 
  river 
  archery 
  was 
  at 
  very 
  short 
  

   range. 
  • 
  

  

  This 
  significant 
  disproportion 
  will 
  appear 
  in 
  almost 
  any 
  good 
  

   collection. 
  In 
  the 
  classified 
  Hst 
  prepared 
  by 
  Mr 
  A. 
  E. 
  Douglass, 
  he 
  

   has 
  261 
  New 
  York 
  spears 
  and 
  963 
  arrows; 
  from 
  the 
  country 
  at 
  large 
  

   2172 
  spears 
  and 
  8396 
  arrows, 
  or 
  less 
  than 
  one 
  fourth, 
  and 
  this 
  would 
  

   be 
  a 
  fair 
  proportion 
  elsewhere. 
  Now 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  no 
  spear-heads 
  

   appear 
  on 
  Iroquoian 
  sites, 
  which 
  supply 
  many 
  small 
  stone 
  arrow- 
  

   heads, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  proportion 
  of 
  early 
  spears 
  and 
  arrows 
  

   will 
  be 
  yet 
  more 
  equal. 
  Supposing 
  the 
  bow 
  and 
  spear 
  were 
  at 
  first 
  

   used 
  together, 
  we 
  would 
  conclude 
  that 
  the 
  arrow-heads 
  should 
  vastly 
  

   exceed 
  the 
  spears; 
  but 
  under 
  the 
  present 
  classification 
  they 
  do 
  not. 
  

   It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  this 
  subject 
  needs 
  reconsideration. 
  

  

  While 
  speaking 
  of 
  this 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  well 
  to 
  say 
  a 
  few 
  words 
  farther 
  

   upon 
  indian 
  arms, 
  which 
  here 
  included 
  both 
  less 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  is 
  

   popularly 
  known. 
  

  

  As 
  has 
  been 
  said, 
  early 
  accounts 
  make 
  no 
  direct 
  mention 
  of 
  the 
  

   spear, 
  although 
  there 
  seem 
  allusions 
  to 
  it. 
  That 
  used 
  in 
  fishing 
  was 
  

   altogether 
  of 
  a 
  different 
  kind. 
  The 
  bow 
  was 
  not 
  the 
  short 
  one, 
  so 
  

   efficient 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  horsemen, 
  but 
  rivaled 
  the 
  long 
  bows 
  of 
  

   England, 
  while 
  the 
  arrows 
  often 
  exceeded 
  the 
  cloth 
  yard 
  shaft. 
  Capt. 
  

   John 
  Smith 
  said 
  of 
  the 
  Sasquehanocks, 
  that 
  such 
  great 
  and 
  well 
  pro- 
  

   portioned 
  men 
  were 
  seldom 
  seen, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  bows, 
  arrows 
  

   and 
  clubs 
  in 
  proportion. 
  Their 
  arrows 
  were 
  fxve 
  quarters 
  of 
  a 
  yard 
  

   in 
  length, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  picture 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  their 
  chiefs, 
  his 
  bow 
  reaches 
  

   above 
  his 
  head. 
  These 
  were 
  of 
  the 
  Iroquoian 
  family, 
  and 
  in 
  Cham- 
  

   plain's 
  pictures 
  of 
  encounters 
  with 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  proper, 
  the 
  long 
  bow 
  

   is 
  everywhere 
  seen. 
  We 
  may, 
  therefore, 
  conclude 
  that 
  this 
  bow, 
  still 
  

   made 
  by 
  their 
  descendants, 
  was 
  that 
  commonly 
  used 
  in 
  our 
  forests 
  

   in 
  early 
  days. 
  

  

  