406 



{hooting with the long arrow, and in blowing 

 the fhort poifoned one, was defcribed to us as 

 being minute to a wonder, The common, 

 arrow ufed ia their wars, or for the purpofe 

 of killing game, is nearly fix feet long, made 

 of a peculiarly ftraight and fine reed, without 

 a knot or inequality in its whole length, and 

 armed at the point with a piece of fliarpened 

 bone, having a barb at one fide. At the fhaft 

 it is furniflied at each fide with a piece of cut 

 feather, in order to fteady it in its flight. 

 Sometimes a thin piece of hard wood, fliarpen- 

 ed at the point, and barbed with many notches a 

 is fattened to the reed, and forms the end of 

 the arrow :— but thole who have mixed with 

 the colooifts, for the mo ft part arm the arrow 

 with a fharp point of fteel. The arrows ufed 

 for ftriking fifli are forked, having three fteel 

 points, with a barb near the end of each, the 

 middle point being confiderably longer than 

 the others. The bow is ufually two or three 

 inches longer than the arrow, and when ftrung 8 

 is not, at its greateft curvature, bent more 

 than an inch and half from the cord. Various 

 kinds of wood are ufed for the bows, the 

 mod beautiful of which is called letter-wood, 

 a name which it has obtained from its pecu!i<* 



