1887] Notes on the Ethnology of the Congo. 691 
Travellers say that there is rivalry among smiths to produce 
different and bizarre forms, and, as a result of this, many weapons 
are made which are of no use, being merely chef d'œuvres of the 
blacksmith. The typical assagai and javelin has a leaf-shaped 
blade, which is double curved; that is, a horizontal section of 
the blade would show a curve like a thin §, or like Hogarth’s 
line of beauty. This feature has no special use, as the assagai 
does not whirl in its flight. At the base of the blade is a socket 
into which sets the long, slender shaft, usually wound with brass, 
copper, or iron tape. At the bottom is an iron spud, though not 
found on those for hurling. It is said that in the act of throw- 
ing the weapon the negro gives it a vibratory motion, so that it 
passes through the air with a whistling sound. Arrows are 
made with uncomfortable-looking barbed, points. Knives are 
merely assagai-heads fitted into handles. The shields are among 
the finest specimens of basket-work in the world. They are 
models of lightness and strength besides. Professor Mason de- 
- scribes the mode of construction, and compares it with the sim- 
ilar work done by the Clallam Indians and the Japanese. He 
calls it the “fish-trap” style of basketry, and states that “the 
oblong oval shields of bamboo made by the Bateke negroes of 
the Lower Congo imitate this structure exactly. The frame of 
the shield is an oblong hoop on which are stretched splints of 
rattan running longitudinally on one side and transversely om 
the other, crossing at right angles except at the plano-convex 
space at the ends.” 1 
Just mentioning the short swords and bill-knives, some of 
them highly decorated with nut-shell fringe and leopard-skin, 
we note the executioner’s sword. Its blade is short, broad, and 
heavy, and it is sharp on both sides. It is really in bad taste to 
describe an execution, but life there is so cheap and the Congo- 
African way of relieving a man of his head so unique that it will- 
bear description. In order to give an éclat suitable to African 
taste, and to render the feat of decapitating with the weapon 
Possible, the*victim is secured to a seat and a strong sapling 
bent down and fastened by means of cords and a collar around 
his neck; then, while his neck is taut the high executioner de- 
pema blow, and the severed head is thrown into the air like 
= ; 
* Aboriginal Basket-Work, Smithsonian Rept., 1884, ii. p- 298.. 
