The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1873-06-12
The Dominion of the Savage.
BY CHARLES MORRIS.


faithful dogs, their only arms being hsr-
poons pointed with fish bone, or, IN rare
cases, with iron, encounter the formidable
polar bear, and overcome this fierce deni
Zen of the realm of ice With like fear
lessness the Rocky Mountain Indian at
tacks the most. dangerous of the bear
tri' e-the feroeinus grizzly-and proudly
displays around his neck It's captured
claws, as evidence of his valor and sue
cess in The unequal contest In another
continent we behold the South African
savage entering into battle with the
fercest OF animals-the lion, the rhinoce,
res, and other strong and agile BEASTS
and coming off victorious
Adding TO the powers which he holds
in common with the Brute races, the aru
fee and perseverance springng from his
superior mental endowments, man has
thus everywhere gained q superiority
over the otner tenants of the forest and
the desert, and reigns supreme lord OF an
imated nature. .r--
The simple bow and arrow, the lance
and javelIn, the club, the stone hat chet,
and other primitive weapons OF offence,
are the weapons of these tribes, in whose
use they have acquired such skill as
makes them no mean competitors of the
European, despite the great superiority Of
has arms. The Catfre has shown Ghls IN
has wars with the. English. "a Equipped
with his slmRle cFub-like weapons, he
seems insensi6le 10 danger, and has prov
ed himself-in bush fghting-a fair match
for the best English troops
The peculiar missile of the Cairres, call
ed the assagay, Is held between the thumb
and forefnger, its point in front. The
weapon, on being thrown with great force
by rapid movement Of the arm, Is given
a vibratory motion by striking the shaft
against the wrist at the instant of its
leaving the hand; and, still vibrating in
its passage through the air, 1t seldom fails
in striking the Object aimed at.
Another weapon employed by them
the knob-kerr-l is stuck of an inch III
diameter and four feet long, ending in a
large round knot. In using it they lay
hold Of the shaft of the weapon, measure
the distance with the eye, and throw the
stick so that the inner end Of the circling
missile shall strike the ground q few feet
from the point aimed at, and the knob
falls, In the rebound, directly upon the
victim.
The expertness acquired by sayages in
the use OF their weapons Is indeed, If we
may credit the accounts of travellers, tru-
ly wonderful. There is something aston
lshing in the force with which our West
ern Indian sends his arrow At a sur
prising distance he will transfx a horse
or even buffalo, with this simple instru
ment. The Australian natives, who ranl
among the lowest of human beings, dis
play like remarkable skill IN the EN-
ployment of their weapons.
Some natives Of Cape York, in Austria
| liza, who were brought to England in 1858
were able, without taking deliberate aim
to invariably strike with their Javellns, a
a distance Of twenty PAGES, u small OBJ
| Iect fastened TO a stick Captain Ga,
relates-that they are generally secure Q
| killing a bird at that distance, and Star
| bridge informs us that the natives OF Vic
toria dive, spear in hand, into the rive
| Murray, and never return without havlnl
transfxed fish.
There are tribes of Patagonians VIII
live almost solely on fish, which the
sometimes take with the hand by diving
sometimes from the shore with a woode
spear. The South Sea Islanders surpas
even these in dexterity. They are S
much at home in the water that, descend
ing among the coral reefs, they thrust tn
foTefnger into the eye of any fish the
have marked for prey, and thus bring
to land.
Other tribes are as expert as those "
have mentioned IN their use of missiles
A stone in the hands of native of TieI
ra del Fuego IS a perilous weapon OF O
fence, so skIllful Is lie IN throwing. II
Hottentot shows an equal skill in the US
of his rakum stick, an instrument wit
which he dispatches the feebler species
animals, at distance OF forty or tft
yards.
The boomerang of the Australians
another missile exceedingly effective l
the hands of the savage, though danger
Gus only to himself in the hands OF a
European thrower. 1t is simply curve
stick cut IN peculiar fashion and movin
in a strange and battling manner. Th
savage stands with his back TO the objeC
aimed at and hurls the stick as If I
strike the ground IN front. Instead
doing so, however III rises, with a whirlin
motion, vertically In the air. Having a
tanned considerable height, 1t CONNER
ces to retrograde, finally passing over th
head of the thrower and striking the oil
ject behind him. This peculiar propertit
OF this missile were knowR to the ancieI
| ESJ pIlduSy DuL We nave no GNlQcuCC
their discovery by any other nation.
There are other Instruments, howeve
equally odd in their principle and effectiI
in the hands of their users. We may mel
tion the bolas, employed by the PatagC
mans against the puma or American hOl
1t is a simple strap, loaded at each en-
With a stone, and is thrown so as to JwiI
itself round the neck of the animal
Throttled by this tight thong, he Is easil
despatched. The Esquimaux avail then
selves of q similar missile, used in II
capture of birds. A yet more adroit Vi
of the thong Is that of the half barbara
Gauckes Of South America, whose skill
the use of the lasso gives them the ma
terry over countless herds of wild cattle.
When thus we see the North Americs
Indian conquering the huge buffalo wit
his simple weapons, see the polar be-
attacked by a single Esquimaux arm'
only with his lance, see boys of twelve
fourteen years among the Siberian savag
attacking and killing bears with spea
five feet long, and the South African n
tive mastering the most ferocious anima
with like primitive means, We nu
cease to wonder at mans dominion ov
the beasts Of the fields, and attain
striking conception of the remarkab
superiority of human reason to the ment
powers of the brute tribes.-I0-dGy.