The morning news., 1889-05-17
WILES OF SAvAGEs.
The Ruses of Concealment Employed
by Abori4inals in Warfare.

4 ~
by Aboriginsls in Warfare.
From the ChGutaiSQuIn.
An experienced savage warrior, in an
emergency, can conceal his dusky limbs in
tiny bush that hardly seems large enough
to hide a rabbit. aud if no bush should be
at hand a few stones will serve the same
purpose Ia suca warfare a rife which
will kill at a range OF 1900 va ds is useless
ag aInst foe who may be near enough to
be touched bat persistentlY keeps out Of
sight. Moreover, at the distance of a few
yards, the assagai is the most dea iy Of
weapons. Even when lying on the ground
kafr, with a sort of underhand jerk, can
propel his weapon With a certain aim and
with deadly force. There is no report, and no
smoke betrays the position of the thrower,
who, as soon as lie has struck his foe, glides
off like snake and seeks a new ambush.
In the late Ashantee war the chief difficulty
lay in the fact that it was scarcely ever
possible to obtain more than passing
glmpses of the black-skinued enemy who
was firing at the English soldiers from the
dark shadows Of the bush. The Ashanlee
warriors Knew better than to venture into
open grouni They hung on the fanks of
tue advancing army and kept up a close
and CALLING fire from a distance Of only
few feet, their dark b3dieS being quite in-
visible in the bush.
Even when surprised in the open country
the dark savage IS at no loss for modes of
cOnc,alment. For example, the Australian
BLACK fellow will suddenly squat on the
ground, cover his crouching body with his
mat, and hold one Of his long spears up
night In this position he looks so exactly
like the 'black boy" bush that the enemy
when 10 pursuit might pass lthil a few
wards without detecting the impostIre. In
4 fna.N Il Id f@T- ArakNr
which employ a still more ingenious mode
of concealment or, rather u decep ion,
their dark color being an iadisyensable
adjunct to the Stratagem. When they 60
on their maraudlng expeditions they dis
pense entirely with clothing and carry 10th
ing but their simple weapons.
Mansfield Parkyns, VINO lived for long
time in Abysslnia, was on On9 occasion
completely deceived by some marauding
Barea. tribe which is a very thorn in the
side OF the more civilized AbyssinIans. He
was travelling over plain which had
shortly before been devastated by a bush
fire, when his guide suddenly warned him
of the presence Of the Barea. "All | saw
was the charred stump of tree aud few
blackened stones lying at its foot The
hunter declared that neitaer the tree nor
the stones we're there t e last time that ne
passed, and that they were simply naked
Barea who had placed themselves in that
position to observe US, having, no douoJ.
seen US for some time and pre-
pared themselves" Not believing the
guide, Mr.. Parkyns ordered his
party to move on slowly while he dropped
in'o the long grass with his rifle ani crept
towari them. When he was within 10
rasgs he fired shot at the disputed object
AMI was considerably startled at the result
TIE tree came 10 pieces AMI ran away,
while the logs and stones jumped up, took
to themselves legs and made after their
my life. for so complete was the decep ion
that even up to tie time that | fired could
have declared that the objects before me
were vegetable or mineral anything but
animal. The fact was that the cunning
rascals who represented stones were lying
fat, with their little round shields placed
before them as screens"
A still more ludicrous instance of decep-
ton took place in India. An officer was
surveying the country, and finding nis hel-
met uncomfortably heavy, be hung it on a
branch OF a tree stump close to where he
was standing. To his unuttarable surprise
the tree turned a somersaulb. and shrieking
with laughter went off with the helmet
The fact was that the seeming branch was
he leg of a savage ma auder. The man
was standing on his head d had dispo sd
his legs in such manner that, aided by his
spears, which did duty for the smaller
boughs, he had com pleuely metamorp Iosei
his dusky body and limbs iato tae Semblance
Of fra