The Opelousas courier., 1882-12-16

Fol ! Rsssufas
Of feaa Hoe alo viii the seelhe
QUAR- RichgEd heard the Eeea8M8
OF th pow-stfing and bent leW 0terjShA
bow his saddle, but the arrow
him II the shoulder and he died 8. Ne
wound. So, you see, he would hasSR
done better to leave that gold alone
However, his men stormed the castle
and brought Bertram de Jotraah bes
fore him while he lay dying. Richard
was too noble to mistreat a prisoner 30
he gave the eross-bowman. a magnificent
present and ordered him to be set &c
liberty. But one Marcadee, an infamous
brute, who was next in command to
Richard, as soon as the King was dead
ordered DE Jourdan to be f1ayed alive
and hung up for the vultures to eat.
In the year 100, William L., SUR
named Rufus, a famous King of En-
gland, and q son of the conqueror, was
Killed by a cross-bow bolt in the forest
at Cunningham, accidentally, it is said,
by Sir Walter Tyrrel, his ~boW-bearef:
A nephew of King Rufus had been
killed in May of the same year BY a
like mishap. But the deeds done with
the cross-bow were not all so bloody
and terrible. From a very early date
in the history of France companies OF
cross-bowmen have existed, among
which those at Lisle, Roulaix, LennoT
Confines, LIE Guesnoy and Valenciennes
may be mentioned as prominent.
That at Roulaix was instituted by
Pierre de Roulaix in 1491, a year be-
fore America was discovered by Column
bus. The members of these societies
shot at targets and marks of various
kinds, and their meetings were often
the occasion for great pomp and splen.
dor. Many of these companies have
been suppressed by law in comparative
ly recent times.
In England, | have read, as far back
as the reign of William Rufus, laws
were passed %forbidding the use of the
arbalist, excepting by persons having
especial royal permit. This was be.
cause the cross-bow, particularly the
draw the string, was so destructive to
the Kings deer. You will at once see
the great advantage the arbalist gave
to huntsmen who used it instead of the
long-bow; for he could shoot from any
tangled thicket where a long-bowman
could not use his weapon at all. Then,
too, it required years of patient practice
before a ma could shoot well enough
with a long-bow to hit a deer, while
any one, with but a day or two's expe-
rience, could successfully aim a cross
bow.
Once De Soto and his men were pur-
suing some lying savages, when one
suddenly turned his face toward the
Spaniards and halted. He was armed
with a longg-bow and arrows, and was
just across a narrow river from his foes.
He made signs that he challenged any
one Of the Spanish cross-bowmen to
fight a duel with him. The challenge.
was accepted by one Juan de Salinas, a
most expert arbalister, who stepped
forth and faced the Indian. The COM.
rades of Salinas offered to cover him
with their shields, but the brave soldier
to take advantage of a naked
savage. So he refused the cover, and
placing a quarrel IN the nut of his
drawn bow made ready to shoot. The
Indian also was ready by this time, and
both discharged their arrows at the
same moment. But Salinas was cooler
under such stress of danger than the
Indian was, and so took truer aim. His
quarrel pierced the savage warriors
heart, and he fell dead. The bows of
the savages were puny things when
matched against the steel arbalists Of
the trained Spanish soldiers. The In
dams slender reed arrow passed
through the nape of Juan de Salinas
neck, but without seriously hurting
him. A quilted shirt of doubled silk
was sufficient protection against most
of the Indian missiles, and a man Id
steel armor was proof against all.
/ have seen a picture Of Queen Eliza
beth, of England, representing her in
the act of shooting at a deer with an
arbalist.
But she had q strong mar for her bow
bearer, and all she had to do was to
take aim and pull the trigger after the
bow-bearer had made the arbalist all
ready for shooting.
The manner of hunting deer in those
days was to stand in a spot whence you
could see in all directions through the
while a number Of expert woods
drove the game near to You as you
held your arbalist ready to shoot. Hyou
at a running deer you had to aim
far ahead of it in order to hit it.
Hare or rabbit shooting was great
sport for the cross-bowmen. For this
purpose lighter arbalists were used.
The hunter kept carefully trained dogs,
like our pointers and settlers,
whose business it was to find the game.
Twenty-Five yards was about the usual
distance for shooting at rabbits. They
were rarely shot while running-M0urice
THOMPSON. fn 81. Nicholas.
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