WEAPONS IN EAST AFRICA. 



301 



internal feuds perpetuate the necessity of offensive 

 measures, and of the presence of arms, but their agri- 

 cultural state, rendering them independent of the chase, 

 prevents their reliance upon their skill for daily food. 

 In consequence of being ever armed, the African like 

 the Asiatic is nothing without his weapons ; he cannot 

 use his strength, and when he comes to blows he fights 

 like a woman. Thus the habitual show of arms is 

 a mere substitute for courage ; in dangerous countries, 

 as in Ugogo, the Wanyamwezi do not dare to carry them 

 for fear of provocation, whereas at home and in com- 

 parative safety they never appear without spear or 

 knobstick. 



The weapons universally carried are the spear and 

 the assegai. The bow and arrow, the knobkerry, the 

 dagger, and the battle-axe are confined to certain tribes, 

 whilst the musket and the sword are used beyond the 

 coast only by strangers. The shield is seldom seen. 



The lance of the European, Arab, and Indian is un- 

 known to these unequestrian races. The bravest tribes 

 prefer the stabbing-spear, which brings them to close 

 quarters with the enemy. The weapon indeed cannot 

 make the man, but by reaction it greatly modifies his 

 manliness. Thus the use of short weapons generally 

 denotes a gallant nation ; the old Roman gladius, the 

 French briquet, and the Afghan charay would be use- 

 less in the hands of a timid people. Under the im- 

 pression that the further men stand from their enemies 

 the less is to be expected from them, the French knights 

 not inaptly termed the " villanous saltpetre " the 

 M grave of honour," whilst their English rivals called 

 the gun a " hell-born murderer," and an " instrument 

 hateful in the sight of God and man." The Africans 

 have also acted upon this idea. A great Kafir chief did 



