Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1881-08-18
The sumpitan, or Blow-Tube.

The projectiles used are darts, vary
ing from five to eight or nine inches in
length. The Dyak war dart is the
shortest, and is usually furnished with q
small metal arrowhead. In this case the
shaft is of light wood. The longer
darts, such as those used in Sumatra,
are made from harder and heavier
wood, usually the long spikes taken from
the palms. These are left thicker toward
the point than at the other end, so as to
counterbalance the weight of the conical
piece of pith there affixed. This piece
of pith, the broadest part of which is but
very little less than the bore of the blow
tube, is absolutely necessary for the
forcible propulsion of the dart. As it
does not fit the tube precisely, there is
necessarily some escape Of force. For
this reason when very hard shots are
desired a small pellet of cotton or other
suitable fibrous material is put behind
the dart. The great secret in making
the darts is to insure that they balance
exactly, 4. G., one-haf must be exactly
the same weight as the other. Under
any other conditions tube shooting is
impossible. In Padrang, Sumatra, |
was much astonished to meet a man
using for very small birds darts con-
structed out of cocoanut leaves. He
took spike of the leaf, and cut off
piece about five inches long. The stalk
of this he denuded of all leaf except one
piece an inch and half long on one side,
the result being an article having the
shape of a quill pen. The inch and
half fragment of leaf that remained was
curled around to allow of its admittance
into the blow-tube When we remember
that it was a green leaf, we can form an
idea of the force with which the darts
are propelled to kill. For my particular
amusement the sportsman, who was
laden with a supply of at least 800 darts,
shot one of these palm leaf proiectiles
over some water, and calculated that
the range was well over 80 yards. The
initial velocity was so great that the dart
could not be seen for the first % yards.
The greatest adopts with the sumpitan,
especially at the present day, when its
use is so surely dying out, are undoubt-
edly the Dyaks. From what / have
heard, and from what / know from my
own observation, Dyak would shoot a
dart hundred and fifty yards to a
certainty; and should not care to bet
very much against 200 yards being
accomplished by picked men. This
statement may SAVIOR of the ''trayeler"
order, but I fancy most Bornean travel
is. of course, not suffic1ehtl OF itself t.
take human life, but the Dyaks poison
their projectiles in warfare, when slight
wound anywhere is all that is necessary
Mr.. Paul, who was some years in Borneo
with Sir James Brooke, told me that
he once saw a Dyak who put two darts
into sumpitan, one behind the other,
and by some inexplicable means shot out
the front one first, and followed with the
other after an interval. This man was
doubtless a sort of DIR. Carver among
the Dvaks. Precision with the blow
tube is, as with every other weapon,
mere matter of practice. In shooting
small birds out of trees for collecting
purposes, for which service l recon-
mended the use of the blow-tube, the
range would never be very great. A bird
20 feet high in a tree is pretty high,
considering that it is in the lower, full
leaved trees that the birds congregate,
in preference to the higher ones. AT
this distance a little practice will make
it a certainty that the bird will be hit
If not killed outright, the long dart will
of itself be sufficiently cumbersome to
prevent the bird flying very far. As
rule, the quarry is transtixed, when OF
course it is a case. l give 20 feet be-
cause 1 always like to be on the safe side
in these matters, but /, myself, would
certainly undertake to hit four times out
of six at twice the height. have fire.
quently proved this by bringing down
tiny birds out of the betel-nut palm.
Your readers will notice that speak of
'height," and not distance" " Shooting
up into a tree and shooting at an object
upon the. ground are two different
matters when the projectile is long
dart, likely to be affected by the least
wind. But still, at 80 feet small birds
should not escape very often from hori-
zontal shots. For very tiny birds clay
balls may be used; but from the fact
that they never can fit the barrel proper
", they are not so sure as the dart.