The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

The elasticity of this bow is wonderful. I have often tried to string it, but without effect, and indeed I never saw but one man, the late Colonel Hutchinson, of the Indian Army, who could do so. It is strung by passing it under one leg, bending it back sharply over the other leg, at the same time slipping the loop of the string into its notch. A groove passes along the back of the bow, so as to guide the string. When strung it assumes quite a different shape, and looks something like the bow which the ancient sculptors placed in the hands of Cupid. I regret that the bow could not be strung, so as to give two illustrations of the same bow in its different aspects.

The classical reader may perhaps remember that this weapon is exactly similar to the ancient Scythian bow. Reference is made to this shape by Athenæus (book X.) when an unlearned shepherd, trying to describe the letters which formed a name, said that “the third (i. e. c) was like a Scythian bow.” This kind of bow was of horn, as indeed were most of the ancient bows.

The length of the bow above mentioned, measured along the back, is a little more than four feet, whereas the measurement across it as it appears when unbent is only nineteen inches. The reader will see how useful a bow of this description would be to a horseman, its peculiar curvature rendering it easy of carriage. It could even be carried along on the bridle arm, if required, so as to leave the sword hand at liberty, and in a moment could be strung when needed, by passing it under the leg as the rider sits on horseback. Small as this bow seems, almost indeed insignificant in appearance as a weapon, its performances in skilful hands are something marvellous. With one of these bows an arrow has been shot to a distance which was said to be six hundred yards, and was actually not much short of that measurement. And, although so powerful, it is wonderfully manageable. Colonel Hutchinson told me that he once saw an archer shoot an arrow along a corridor, and send the missile through a hole which a bullet had made in a pane of glass at the end of the corridor.

Next comes a form of bow which is much more common than the preceding. In this bow the reflex curvature is strongly marked, though not so strongly as in the case of the weapon just described.

Several of these bows are in my collection, the handsomest of which was presented to me by J. Allen, Esq. This bow, with its case, its quiver, and score of arrows, is shown in Fig. 2 of the [illustration], on page 1394. Measuring along the back, the bow is four feet five inches in length, whereas the space between the two tips is only twenty-eight inches. The color with which the bow is painted is bright scarlet, profusely covered with gilt flowers and arabesques, so that it is a more showy weapon at a distance than the previous specimen, though it is not nearly so handsome when closely examined, the patterns being larger and more roughly executed. The bow-string is made of some vegetable fibre,—I think that of some species of aloe,—and is very thick, being composed of nine strands twisted very closely together.

The case, quiver, and straps by which they are held have been once very splendid, being crimson velvet, so covered with gold embroidery that scarcely any part of the velvet is visible. The arrows are two feet three inches in length, and are very carefully made. The shaft is of reed, and to either end is fixed a piece of hard wood four inches in length. On one end of the shaft is fixed the point, which is a heavy and solid quadrangular piece of steel brought to a sharp point. The hard wood at the end receives the feathers, and is enlarged at the extreme end, so as to allow space for the nock or notch in which the thick bow-string is received. Both the pieces of hard wood are colored, that in which the point is fixed being simply green, but that at the other end being gilt, and covered with patterns in blue and scarlet.

This is the most common kind of arrow, but there are many varieties, of which I possess specimens. Several varieties are in many collections, the chief distinction being in the shape of the point. In most of them it is more or less quadrangular; though in some it is leaf-shaped, like a spear head, in others it is conical, and in others round and blunt. In one of the arrows the place of the lower piece of hard wood is taken by a solid piece of steel nearly four inches in length, and weighing about three ounces, looking something like a rather elongated Whitworth bullet.

The most primitive form of Indian arrow is that which is made by the hill tribes. The shaft is of wood, not of reed, and the head is deeply barbed, and tied to the shaft with fibre, exactly as is done with the flint-headed arrows, which this weapon almost precisely resembles in form, though not in material. Instead of feathers, dry leaves are substituted, cut into the required shape, and passed through slits in the shaft of the arrow, these slits being afterward bound up. In one arrow the nock has been formed in a very strange manner, a piece of wood being lashed to each side of the shaft, and projecting a little beyond it.

Some very beautiful examples of the best kinds of weapons are shown in the [illustration] on page 1406. They belong to General Sir Hope Grant, G.C.B. etc., who kindly allowed them to be drawn for the use of this work. They are splendid instances of Indian art, one or two of them displaying a most elaborate ornamentation.

The first of the illustrations shows a suit of armor and weapons, which is made of steel most elaborately engraved and inlaid with gold, the patterns resembling those on the bow, and looking much as if they had been taken from the bow and sunk into the steel, the freedom and grace of the lines being quite as remarkable as the elaborate minuteness of the pattern.