642 THE ORIGIN OF AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS. 



wood, to hold the bowstring in place at the two ends. It is ornamented 

 with rattan rings. This bow prevails within the domain of West Afri- 

 can civilization. The East Indian mongrel type, on the other hand, 

 characterized by the down and inward bending of the bow ends, is 

 found in the north (in the gaps of the territory covered by the Asiatic 

 bow), the east, and the south of the continent. Again we see the 

 Malayo-Negrito implement of the West Africans, with its rattan bow- 

 string, its rattan buttons, and its rattan ornaments, distinguished by 

 vegetable material. 



The shields of the Africans reveal three points of departure. The 

 first is the West Asiatic round buckler with a protuberance. It is most 

 frequently made of the skins of the pachydermata. Abyssinian bucklers 

 can with difficulty be distinguished from those of West Africa, even the 

 iron mountings of the two being the same. The smaller Somali shield is 

 pressed. To this class belongs one of the Lango shields, the one with 

 the convex form and of the size of a man's head. On the other side of 

 Africa modifications from the type were made in favor of greater, as on 

 this side in favor of smaller size. The shields of the western Sudan, 

 made of elephant's skin, cover horse and rider. The defensive armor 

 of the Baghirmi, and especially of the Nubians, falls under the same 

 group. The second primary form is represented by the Negrito staff- 

 shield, the kuerr of the Dinka and the kirvi of the Hottentots. These 

 are staffs, sometimes with, but usually without, handholds, used in 

 Africa as parrying weapons. Negrito civilization among the Australa- 

 sians, as, for instance, in Marsa, etc., furnishes much better specimens 

 of the same. Here the thickening of the staff toward the middle is 

 accompanied by a hollowing out into a handhold. These characteristics 

 recur among the African Negrito forms only in the kuerr of the Dinka. 

 In all others the handhold is replaced by a strip of hide around the 

 hand and the staff. The widening of the strip has led to the form 

 familiarly known under the name of Zulu shields. On the borders of 

 the territory of the round Asiatic bucklers, a mongrel type is found in 

 the Massai shields. The staff in the middle, being the chief defense 

 and serving as the handhold, has been preserved. Hide is replaced by 

 skin, which is kept stretched by means of a pad around the edge. A 

 slight protuberance, probably to increase the space between the hand 

 and the staff, is noticeable. The third place is filled by the reed-covered 

 wooden shield of the Baluba, as Livingstone became acquainted with 

 it near Shinto, Gamietto along theKazembe, and Wissmann and Pogge 

 to the north of tbe line connecting these two points. The shield of 

 Bukoba, near Lake Victoria, is essentially the same. That of the 

 Wanyoro, Waganda, Wakavirondo, on the other hand, is of finer work- 

 manship. The well-known Ambatsh shield of the Wakarra lacks the 

 rattan covering, while that of the Kongo and Sande races consists of 

 reed plaiting alone, without the wooden foundation. We can easily 

 understand how this change takes place, that is, how the wooden frame- 



