Part 10

Hernandez gives an account of the construction of the Mexican ‘maquahuilt’ or Aztec war-club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian flakes, stuck into holes, and fastened with a kind of gum (Fig. 78).[113] Herrera, the Spanish historian, also mentions these as swords of wood, having a groove in the fore part, in which the flints were strongly fixed with bitumen and thread.[114] In 1530, according to the Spanish historians, Copan was defended by 30,000 men, armed with these weapons, amongst others[115]; and similar weapons have been represented in the sculptures of Yucatan.[116] They are also represented in Lord Kingsborough’s important work on Mexican antiquities, from which the accompanying representations are taken (Figs. 78, 79, 80). One of these swords, having six pieces of obsidian on each side of the blade, is to be seen in a Museum in Mexico.

In the burial mounds of Western North America, Mr. Lewis Morgan, the historian of the Iroquois,[117] mentions that rows of flint flakes have been found lying, side by side, in order, and suggesting the idea that they must have been fastened into sticks in the same manner as those of Mexico and Yucatan.

Throughout the entire continent of Australia the natives arm their spears with small sharp pieces of obsidian, or crystal, and recently of glass, arranged in rows along the sides near the point, and fastened with a cement of their own preparation, thereby producing a weapon which, though thinner in the shaft, is precisely similar in character to those already described (Figs. 81 and 82). Turning again to the northern hemisphere, we find in the Museum of Professor Nilsson, at Lund, in Sweden, a smooth, sharp-pointed piece of bone, found in that country, about six inches long, grooved on each side to the depth of about a quarter of an inch, into each of which grooves a row of fine, sharp-edged, and slightly-curved flints were inserted, and fixed with cement. The instrument thus armed was fastened to the end of a shaft of wood, and might either have been thrown by the hand or projected from a bow (Fig. 83). Another precisely similar implement (Fig. 84) is represented in the illustrated Catalogue of the Museum at Copenhagen, showing that in both these countries this system of constructing trenchant implements was employed. In Ireland, although there is no actual evidence of flints having been set in this manner, yet from the numerous examples of this class of weapon that are found elsewhere, and the frequent occurrence of flint implements of a form that would well adapt them to such a purpose, the author of the Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy expresses his opinion that the same arrangement may very possibly have existed in that country, and that the wood in which they were inserted may, like that which, as I have already said, is supposed to have held the flints found in the graves of the Iroquois, have perished by decay.

_Poisoned Weapons._ It is unnecessary to enter here into a detailed account of the use of poison by man and animals. Its use by man as a weapon of offence is chiefly confined to those tropical regions in which poisonous herbs and reptiles are most abundant. It is used by the Negroes, Bushmen, and Hottentots of Africa; in the Indian Archipelago, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. It appears formerly to have been used in the South Seas. It is employed in Bootan; in Assam; by the Stiens of Cambodia; and formerly by the Moors of Mogadore. The Parthians and Scythians used it in ancient times; and it appears always to have been regarded by ancient writers as the especial attribute of barbarism. The Italian bravoes of modern Europe also used it. In America it is employed by the Darian Indians, in Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and on the Orinoco. The composition of the poison varies in the different races, the Bushmen and Hottentots using the venomous secretions of serpents and caterpillars,[118] whilst most other nations of the world employ the poisonous herbs of the different countries they inhabit, showing that in all probability this must have been one of those arts which, though of very early origin, arose spontaneously and separately in the various quarters of the globe, after the human family had separated. This subject, however, is deserving of a separate treatment, and will be alluded to elsewhere.

In drawing a parallel between the weapons of men and animals used in the application of poison for offensive purposes, two points of similitude deserve attention.

Firstly, the poison gland of many serpents is situated on the upper jaw, behind and below the eyes. A long excretory duct extends from this gland to the outer surface of the upper jaw, and opens above and before the poison teeth, by which means the poison flows along the sheath into the upper opening of the tooth in such a manner as to secure its insertion into the wound. The hollow interior of the bones with which the South American and other Indians arm the poisoned arrows secures the same object (Fig. 85); it contains the poisonous liquid, and provides a channel for its insertion into the wound. In the bravo’s dagger of Italy, a specimen of which from my collection is shown in Fig. 86, a similar provision for the insertion of the poison is effected by means of a groove on either side of the blade, communicating with two rows of small holes, into which the poison flows, and is retained in that part of the blade which enters the wound. Nearly similar blades, with holes, have been found in Ireland, of which a specimen is in the Academy’s Museum, and they have been compared with others of the same kind from India, but I am not aware that there is any evidence to show that they were used for poison. Some of the Indian daggers, however, are constructed in close analogy with the poison apparatus of the serpent’s tooth, having an enclosed tube running down the middle of the blade, communicating with a reservoir for poison in the handle, and having lateral openings in the blade for the diffusion of the poison in the wound. Similar holes, but without any enclosed tube, and having only a groove on the surface of the blade to communicate with the holes, are found in some of the Scotch dirks, and in several forms of _couteau de chasse_, in which they appear to have been used merely with a view of letting air into the wound, and accelerating death (Figs. 87 _a_ and _b_). The Scotch dirk, here represented, has a groove running from the handle along the back of the blade to within three and a half inches of the point. In the bottom of this groove ten holes are pierced, which communicate with other lateral holes at right angles, opening on to the sides of the blade. Daggers are still made at Sheffield for the South American market, with a small hole drilled through the blade, near the point, to contain the poison; and in my collection there is an iron arrow-point (Fig. 88), evidently formed of the point of one of these daggers, having the hole near the point.

It often happens that forms which, in the early history of an art, have served some specific object, are in later times applied to other uses, and are ultimately retained only in the forms of ornamentation. This seems to have been the case with the pierced work upon the blades of weapons which, intended originally for poison, was afterwards used as air-holes, and ultimately for ornament only, as appears by a plug bayonet of the commencement of the eighteenth century in the Tower Armoury, No. 390 of the official Catalogue, for a drawing of which, as well as that of the Scotch dirk, I am indebted to Captain A. Tupper, a member of the Council of this Institution.

The second point of analogy to which I would draw attention is that of the multi-barbed arrows of most savages to the multi-barbed stings of insects, especially that of the bee (Fig. 89), which is so constructed that it cannot usually be withdrawn, but breaks off with its poisonous appendage into the wound. An exact parallel to this is found in the poisoned arrows of savages of various races, which, as already mentioned, are frequently armed with the point of the sting-ray, for the express purpose of breaking in the wound. In the arrows of the Bushmen, the shaft is often partly cut through, so as to break when it comes in contact with a bone, and the barb is constructed to remain in the wound when the arrow is withdrawn (Fig. 90). The same applies to the barbed arrows used with the Malay blowpipe (Fig. 91), and those of the wild tribes of Assam (Fig. 92), which are also poisoned. The arrow-points of the Shoshones of North America (Fig. 93), said to be poisoned, are tied on, purposely, with gut in such a manner as to remain when the arrow is withdrawn. The arrows of the Macoushie tribe of Guiana (Fig. 94) are made with a small barbed and poisoned head, which is inserted in a socket in the shaft, in which it fits loosely, so as to detach in the wound. This weapon appears to form the link between the poisoned arrow and the fishing arrow or harpoon, which is widely distributed, and which I propose to describe on a subsequent occasion. Mr. Latham, of Wilkinson’s, Pall Mall, has been kind enough to describe to me a Venetian dagger of glass, formerly in his possession; it had a tube in the centre for the poison, and the blade was constructed with three edges. By a sharp wrench from the assassin, the blade was broken off, and remained in the wound.

It has also been supposed that from their peculiar construction most of the triangular and concave-based arrow-heads of flint that are found in this country, and in Ireland, were constructed for a similar purpose (Fig. 95).

The serrated edges of weapons, like those of the bee and the sting-ray, when used as arrow-points, were likewise instrumental in retaining the poison and introducing it into the wound, and this form was copied with a similar object in some of the Florentine daggers above mentioned, a portion of the blade of one of which, taken from Meyrick’s _Ancient Arms and Armour_, is shown in Fig. 96.[119]

Although the use of poison would in these days be scouted by all civilized nations as an instrument of war, we find it still applied to useful purposes in the destruction of the larger animals. The operation of whaling, which is attended with so much danger and difficulty, has of late been greatly facilitated by the use of a mixture of strychnine and ‘woorali’, the well-known poison of the Indians of South America. An ounce of this mixture, attached to a small explosive shell fired from a carbine, has been found to destroy a whale in less than eighteen minutes, without risk to the whaler.[120]

When we consider how impotent a creature the aboriginal and uninstructed man must have been, when contending with the large and powerful animals with which he was surrounded, we cannot too much admire that provision of nature which appears to have directed his attention, during the very earliest stages of his existence, to the acquirement of the subtile art of poisoning. In the forests of Guiana there are tribes, such as the Otomacs, apparently weaponless, but which, by simply poisoning the thumb-nail with ‘curare’ or ‘woorali’, at once become formidable antagonists.[121] Poison is available for hunting as well as for warlike purposes: the South American Indians eat the monkeys killed by this means, merely cutting out the part struck,[122] and the wild tribes of the Malay peninsula do not even trouble themselves to cut out the part before eating.[123] The Bushmen, and the Stiens of Cambodia, use their poisoned weapons chiefly against wild beasts and elephants.

Thus we see that the most noxious of herbs and the most repulsive of reptiles have been the means ordained to instruct mankind in what, during the first ages of his existence, must have been the most useful of arts. We cannot now determine how far this agent may have been influential in exterminating those huge animals, the _Elephas primigenius_ and _Rhinoceros tichorhinus_, with the remains of which the earliest races of man have been so frequently associated, and which, in those primaeval days, before he began to turn his hand to the destruction of his own species, must have constituted his most formidable enemies.

_Missiles._ Amongst the offensive weapons of animals, the use of missiles cannot be altogether excluded, although the examples of their use by the lower creation are extremely rare. Some species of cuttle-fish have the power of ejecting water with a good aim.[124] The Toxotes, or archer-fish, obtains its name from its faculty of projecting drops of water at insects some three or four feet from the surface of the water; which it seldom fails to bring down. The llama has a habit of ejecting its saliva, but I am not aware of the object of this singular practice. I only know from experience that its manners are offensive, and that it has the power of spitting with a good aim and for some distance. The porcupine has the power of throwing its quills, and is said to do so with effect, although it is not now believed to dart them with any hostile intention. The Polar bear is described in Captain Hall’s recent publication as an animal capable of capturing the walrus by missile force.[125] It is said that the bear will take advantage of an overhanging cliff, under which its prey is seen asleep upon the ice, to throw down, with its paws, large stones, and with such good aim as to hit the walrus on the head, after which, running down to the place where the animal lays stunned, it will take the stone to beat out its brains. That animals are instinctively acquainted with the force of gravitation is evident by their avoiding precipices that would endanger them, and it certainly requires a slight (but at the same time most important) advance upon this knowledge, to avail themselves of large stones for such purposes as are here attributed to the bear; but as the story only rests on the authority of the Esquimaux, it must, I think--although they certainly are careful observers of the habits of animals--be rejected, until confirmed by the direct testimony of white men. It has even been doubted whether the alleged habit of monkeys, in throwing coco-nuts at their pursuers, has not arisen from the mistake of the hunter in supposing that fruit accidentally detached from their stalks by the gambols of these animals in the trees, may have been intended as missiles; but it appears now to be clearly established that monkeys have the intelligence, not only to throw stones, but even to use them in breaking the shells of nuts. Major Denham, in his account of his travels in Central Africa, near Lake Tshad, says: ‘The monkeys, or as the Arabs say, men enchanted, “Beny Adam meshood,” were so numerous, that I saw upwards of 150 assembled in one place in the evening. They did not at all appear inclined to give up their ground, but perched on the top of a bank, some 20 feet high, made a terrible noise, and rather gently than otherwise, pelted us as we approached within a certain distance.’ This, I think, is clear evidence of a combined pelting on the part of these untutored animals.

The monkey thus furnishes us with the only example of the use of any external substance for offensive purposes, by any member of the animal kingdom. All others, except, perhaps, the missile fishes above described, use, for offence and defence, the weapons with which nature has furnished them, and which are integral parts of their persons. It is this which so essentially distinguishes man from the lower creation. Man is the tool-using animal. We have no knowledge of man, in any state of existence, who is not so; nor have we (with the exception of the ape, the link indirectly connecting him with the lower creation, in the same manner that the savage connects the civilized with the aboriginal man, both being branches from the same stem) any knowledge of animals that employ tools or weapons. Herein lies the point of separation, which, in so far as the material universe is concerned, marks the dawn of a new dispensation. Hitherto Providence operates directly on the work to be performed, by means of the living, animated tool. Henceforth, it operates indirectly on the progress and development of creation, first, through the agency of the instinctively tool-using savage, and by degrees, of the intelligent and reasoning man.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES VI-XI

[_Revised and abridged from the ‘Description’ appended to the original text. The roman numeral refers to the Plate on which the figure is printed._]

1. _a._ Adze of iron, constructed by Captain Cook’s armourer for the use of the natives of Tahiti, _b._ Adze of stone, Tahitian, used as model in making the above. Meyrick (Skelton), _Engraved Illustrations of Ancient Arms and Armour_ (1830), vol. ii. pl. cxlix.

PLATE VI.

2. _a._ Pipe-handled Tomahawk, of European manufacture, constructed for the use of North American Indians. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxlix. _b._ Pipe and Tomahawk of pipe-stone, used by the Dacotas of N. America. Schoolcraft, _Information concerning the History, &c., of the Indian Tribes of the United States_, vol. ii. pl. lxix.

VI.

3. Maeotian, or Scythian Bow, from a vase-painting. Hamilton, _Etruscan Antiquities_, vol. iv. pl. cxvi; Meyrick, _Critical Enquiry into Ancient Armour_ (1824) vol. i. pl. ii. 14; Rawlinson, _Herodotus_ (1862), vol. iii. pp. 3, 35.

VI.

4. Bow of the Tartar tribes on the borders of Persia. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxliv.

VI.

5. Iron Sword (_minus_ the wooden handle) and War-Axe of native manufacture, constructed by the Fans of the Gaboon country, West Africa. (Author’s Collection; similar spec. in Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) The patterns of ornamentation are taken partly from the Fan War-Axe, and partly from iron knives brought from Central Africa by Mr. Petherick. (Author’s Coll.)

VI.

6. Leaf-shaped Bronze Sword (_minus_ the handle), from Ireland (Author’s Coll.); and a Bronze Celt (Mainz Mus.), Lindenschmit, _Die Alterthümer unserer heidnischen Vorzeit_ (1864 ff.). The patterns of ornamentation are taken partly from Lindenschmit, l. c., pl. iii.; partly from Irish bronze-work in Sir W. Wilde, _Catalogue of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy_ (1863), Bronze, pp. 389-90.

VI.

7. ‘Manilla,’ or ring-money of copper and iron, used in the Eboe country, W. Africa. (Author’s Coll.) In 1836, a ship laden with a quantity of these ‘manillas’, made in Birmingham, after the pattern in use in Africa (the spec. here figured forming part of the cargo), was wrecked on the coast of co. Cork. By this means their exact resemblance to the gold and bronze ‘penannular rings’ found in Ireland (Fig. 8) attracted the attention of Mr. Sainthill, of Cork, by whom the subject was communicated to the _Ulster Journal of Archaeology_, No. 19 (July, 1857).

VI.

8. ‘Penannular Ring,’ found in Ireland. Wilde, l. c., Bronze, p. 570, Gold, p. 53. Similar forms are found in England and on the Continent. Lindenschmit, pl. iv; Keller, _Lake Dwellings of Switzerland_ (tr. Lee, 1866), pl. lii _a_, fig. 9.

VI.

9. Kaffir Assegai-head of iron, of native manufacture, with section of blade. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)

VI.

10. Saxon Spear-head of iron, having the same section as fig. 9; from a Saxon grave. Neville, _Saxon Obsequies_ (London, 1852), pl. xxxv; Akerman, _Saxon Pagandom_ (London, 1855), Introd., p. x.

VI.

11. War-dress of a Patagonian Chief, composed of seven thicknesses of hide on the body part, and three on the sleeves. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)

VII.

12. Section of the above, upon the breast, showing how the seven thicknesses are united at the top.

VII.

13. Kayan Cuirass of untanned hide, with the hair outside; and Helmet of cane wickerwork. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; pres. by Capt. D. Bethune, R.N.)

VII.

14. Egyptian Breast-plate, made of a crocodile’s back. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxlviii.

VII.

15. Suit of Armour, supposed to have formerly belonged to the Rajah of Guzerat. The four breast- and back-pieces are of rhinoceros hide, having an inscription upon them, beginning with an invocation to Ali. The remaining portions are of black velvet, ornamented with brass studs, and padded. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxli.

VIII.

16. Four Plates of steel (Sikh), of similar form to those of rhinoceros hide in fig. 15, ornamented with patterns of inlaid gold. They are fastened with straps over a coat of chain-armour, and are called in Persian ‘char aineh,’ i.e. ‘the four mirrors.’ (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)

VIII.

17. Helmet of basket-work, from the Sandwich Islands, resembling the Grecian in form. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by H. Shelley, Esq.)

VIII.

18. Suit of Armour of coco-nut fibre, from Pleasant Island, in the Pacific. It is probable that the under tippet, which is now attached to the back- and breast-piece at the top, may originally have been intended to be worn round the loins, like a kilt. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)

VII.

19. _a._ Quilted Pectoral of the Egyptians. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. i. _b._ shows the manner in which it was worn. Rawlinson, _Herodotus_ (1862), vol. iv. p. 47, No. iii. 3 (but this figure is Kheta, not Egyptian.--ED.).

VII.

20. Quilted Head-dress of the Egyptian soldiers. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. i.

VIII.

21. Quilted Helmet of nearly the same form as fig. 20, from India. (Author’s Coll.)

VIII.

22. Head-dress of nearly the same form as figs. 20, 21, from the Nouaer tribe of Negroes, inhabiting both banks of the Nile from 8° to 10° N. latitude; brought to England by Mr. Petherick. It resembles the Egyptian very closely, and is composed of cylindrical white beads of European manufacture, fastened together with a kind of string. (Author’s Coll.)

VIII.

23. Helmet of the same form as fig. 21, composed of united mail and plate, formerly belonging to the Body-guard of the Moguls. (Author’s Coll.)

VIII.

24. Suit of Quilted Armour, taken in action from Koer Singh, the famous Rajpoot Chief, of Jugdespore in Behar, on August 12, 1857, by Major Vincent Eyre, commanding the field force that relieved Arrah. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by the captor.)

VII.

25. _a._ Suit of Quilted Armour, found upon the body of Tippoo Sahib at his death, in the breach of Seringapatam. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)

IX.

_b._ Portion of one of the nine thicknesses of quilting, of the above, showing construction (see p. 62): reduced to 1/6.

IX.

_c._ Helmet of the above suit. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)

IX.

26. Quilted Armour of the Bornouese Cavalry. Denham and Clapperton, _Travels in Northern and Central Africa_ (1826), p. 328 (Denham).

VIII.

27. Suit of Armour from the Navigator Islands, composed of coco-nut fibre, coarsely netted. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Sir W. Burnett, M.D.) Similar armour is used in the Kingsmill Group.

VII.

28. Part of a Chinese ‘Brigandine Jacket’ of cotton, quilted, with enclosed plates of metal. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)

VII.

29. Head-dress of Hercules wearing the Lion’s Skin, from a Bronze in the Blacas Collection. (British Museum.)

VIII.

30. Head-dress of a North American Chief. Schoolcraft, l. c., vol. iii. p. 68. pl. x. 2.

VIII.

31. Thracian Helmet of brass [?], with horns of the same. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iii.

VIII.

32. Ancient British Helmet of bronze, with straight horns of the same, found in the Thames. (British Museum.)

VIII.

33. Greek Helmet, having horns of brass [?]. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iv.

VIII.