If the thieves think that they cannot pass the plain without being observed, they put in practice a ruse which they may have borrowed from the habits of many insects. They strip off all their clothes, place them and their weapons under their little round shields, which they disperse so as to look like stones, and then dispose themselves in such strange attitudes that their slender and nearly fleshless limbs bear the most exact resemblance to the blackened branches of which their bodies represent the trunks. In these attitudes they will remain fixed until the enemy has passed them, when they slip off as fast as they can to the nearest jungle. An [illustration] on page 1397 shows with what rare ingenuity, even artistic verisimilitude these rascals simulate the charred trunks and branches of the trees.
Before the English had become used to these manœuvres, a very ludicrous incident occurred. An officer, with a party of horse, was chasing a small body of Bheel robbers, and was fast overtaking them. Suddenly the robbers ran behind a rock or some such obstacle, which hid them for a moment, and, when the soldiers came up, the men had mysteriously disappeared. After an unavailing search, the officer ordered his men to dismount beside a clump of scorched and withered trees, and, the day being very hot, he took off his helmet and hung it on a branch by which he was standing. The branch in question turned out to be the leg of a Bheel, who burst into a scream of laughter, and flung the astonished officer to the ground. The clump of scorched trees suddenly became metamorphosed into men, and the whole party dispersed in different directions before the soldiers could recover from their surprise, carrying with them the officer’s helmet by way of a trophy.
This stratagem is not confined to one tribe, or even one race, but is practised in many parts of the world where the country is cleared by means of fire.
We will now examine some of the weapons used by the Indians. I intentionally omit any description of their fire-arms, as such weapons are of a modern date, and the use of gunpowder has been imported from other countries. In the following pages will be described some of the most characteristic weapons of India.
The reader will probably notice that whatever may be their form, there is a nameless something which designates the country in which they were produced. No matter whether the weapon has belonged to a rich or a poor man, whether it be plain wood and iron, or studded with jewels and inlaid with gold, the form remains the same, and there is about that form a graceful elegance which is peculiar to India. Take, for example, that simplest of weapons, the kookery, and see how beautiful are the curves of the blade and handle, and how completely they satisfy the eye. In the same manner we shall find that, with all the weapons that will be figured, there is always a graceful curve or a well-balanced arrangement of lines.
We will begin with the bow and arrows.
Many kinds of bows are used by the Hindoos, the most simple of which is made from a piece of male bamboo. Even this simple weapon is not complete in the eyes of an Indian without some ornament, and accordingly it is bound at intervals by belts of split reed drawn tightly round it, and tied up at the back of the bow in a sort of rosette form. This kind of bow is often used for shooting bullets or stones. For this purpose two strings are placed side by side, and kept apart by a little piece of wood near one end, so that in the middle there is an interval of a couple of inches between the strings. A strip of leather rather more than an inch in width is then sewed to the strings, so that when the bow is bent the leather is stretched tightly between them.
The bow is used in the following manner. A bullet or stone is placed on the leather, and the two strings are grasped by the forefinger and thumb of the right hand, so as to enclose the bullet in the leather. The bow is then drawn and aimed, and when the strings are released from the pressure of the fingers, they fly asunder and permit the bullet to escape. The precision that may be obtained by this weapon is really wonderful, and even Europeans soon learn to pride themselves on their skill with the “pellet-bow.” Squirrel shooting with this bow is a favorite amusement with many persons, and some of the natives of rank occasionally amuse themselves with shooting at the earthenware jars carried on the heads of the women, a successful shot smashing the jar to pieces, and deluging the women with the water which had been contained in it.
There is another kind of bow which is much used in different parts of Asia, varying somewhat in form and material, but smaller in principle. The bow is so formed that when it is unstrung it curves in exactly the opposite direction to the string. The amount of curvature varies considerably in different bows, the most perfect being that in which the two ends almost touch each other. The specimen which is shown in Fig. 1 of the [illustration] on page 1394, and which is drawn from a bow in my collection, is a singularly perfect example of this kind of weapon. It is made in the following manner:—
A horn of the buffalo is sawn longitudinally, so as to produce two tapering pieces of exactly the same size. These are then flattened by heat and pressure, and are trimmed until when bent they give exactly the same amount of curvature. The handle and the tips are made of very hard wood, and are fitted to the horn with the greatest care, the wood which forms the tips running for some distance along the under side of the horn. After the handle and tips are fitted in their places, a great number of sinews are laid wet over the back of the bow, and kneaded so carefully that the wood, the sinews, and the horn seem to be altogether one substance. After this part of the work is finished, the whole of the bow is covered with repeated layers of a kind of glue, which is very carefully smoothed and polished. The bow is practically complete, but the maker is not satisfied unless he adds plenty of ornament. This is always a sort of conventional flower pattern, gilt on a brilliantly colored background. I possess several such bows, in each of which there is a dissimilarity of color and pattern. In the bow now before us, the groundwork is vivid green and scarlet, on which are drawn the most elaborate patterns of flowers, leaves, and arabesques in gold. It is impossible, on looking at the surface, not to admire both the beauty of the patterns and the excellence of the paint and varnish, which can be subjected to such violent treatment as is caused by the bending of the bow and shooting the arrow, and yet not be cracked to pieces.