Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-03-22

of the feather Is fastened near the notch of
the shaft and laid ak or eight inches
straight along the wood. The feathers are
glued to the shaft and wrapped at each
end with fine sinew. Tie arrow Is next
painted, marked, dried, and is ready for
use. 1t takes warrior a whole day to
mako an arrow, for which the trader allows
him ten cents.
ITO make war arrows the Indians man
ufaoture the shafts the same as for game
arrows. The head is then fastened loosely
In the wood, and when 1t is fired into the
body It cannot be got out. If you pull at
the shaft the bsrbs catch and the shaft
pulls out, leaving the arrowhead in the
wound. Some war arrows have but one
barb, and when this arrow Is fred into the
body, If the shaft be pulled, the barb
catches In the flesh and the steel turns
crosswise in the wound, rendering 1t i'm
possible to extract 1t. Fortunately but
few Indian tribes now use the poisoned
arrow. Each tribe had its own way of
poisoning. Some did It by pounding up
ants with mortar. mixing them with the
spleen of an animal, and then letting Ii
decay, after which they tipped their bArbs
with 1t.
CATIONS are frst smoothed by being
rubbed between two grooyed stones held
firmly together in ono hand las Pedro spoke
he slid an arrow between two grooved
stones) till the bark flies off. Disputes
sometimes used to arise as to whom some
particular CARCASS belonged to alter the
slaughter of herd of buffalo. If the ar
row still remained In the body the question
was easily decided By drawing It out and
examining the make of It, The Pswnees
took good care of their arrows and never
made them detachable at the barb, Some
winged their arrows with two feathers, as
haN nta. -.
Navajoes aud Utes, and some with four,
like the Tonlo-Apsches."
Here Pedro stopped and bsckoned to his
beautiful little wife. She handed him
cigarette, and having Lit ii be continued
his story:
"Now, to make a good bow. Well, every
tepss has Its bow wood hung up with the
arrows In the smoke of the Ere, well out of
reach of the flames a warrior with
sharp knife snd a sandstone or file can
make bow in three days if he works
hard, but it most generally takes a week,
and sometimes month, to fnish fancy
bow. When done 1t is worth So in trade.
See, the bows differ in length and strength,
being gsuged for the arms Of those who are
to use them. A white man would, until
be learned the sleight of 1t, find himself
unable to bend even the weakest war bow.
The force of such an arrow may be imsg-
ined when it is remembered that while
Colts revolver will not send ball through
buffalo, an srrow will go through buf- |
falo and come out on the other side. A
mans skull has been found tFsnsfxsd to
tree by en- arrow which had gone COM
pletely through the bones and imbedded IT. |
self so deep in the wood ss to sustain the
weight of the head. He had been tied up
to the tree and shot
'I once saw" sa!d Pedro, "a Plains Iu-
dian ride alongside Of large buffalo COW,
going at such speed that Ii required feet
pony to overtske and keep up with her
Leaning forward, the Indian drew his al
row to the hesd and sent 1t clean through
the body of the buffalo, so that 1t fell on
the other side.
"Bows are made Of all kinds of wood.
The best are made OF 0ssge orange, hick-
ory, oak, ash, elm, cedar, willow, plum,
cherry, bullberry, and from the horns of
elk and mountain sheep. No Indian who
cannot handle the strong bow is deemed
fit for war. There are three bows, the
baby bow used by the children, the long
bow, and last Of all, the strong bow. The
Sioux and Crows make the bsst bows.
The Sioux bow lie generally four feet long.
When unstrung 1t Is perfectly straight.
Some bows are covered and strengthened
and msde more vitality elastic on the back
Df III EuCu
stances the back of the bow is
fRttened, then roughened with q file or
stone, the sinew being sfterwsrd glued on.
The sinew is then lsppsd at the middle
or grasp of the bow at the ends. The string
Is attached while green, twisted and left to
dry on the bow. The whole outside of the
sinew is now covered with new solution
of glue and the bow is done. These bows
are painted, beaded, veiveted and leath
cred.
"The Crows make iointed bows out of
elk horn. To do this they take a large
horn or prong and saw sl!cs off each side
of 1t. These flicsa are then filed and rub
bed down till the fat sides fit nicely to-
gether, when they are glued and wrapped
on the ends. Four slices make a bow, such
fourfold bow being jointed. Another
piece OF horn is laid on the center of the
bow, at the grasp, where 1t is glued fast.
The whole is then filed down until 1t lie
perfectly proportioned, when the white
bone is ornsmented, carved and painted.
Nothing can exceed the beauty of these
bows 1t takes an Indian about three
months to make one. They are very ex
pensive. The Indians, as a rule, do not
cell them.
''In travelling the arrows are sheathed in
aquiver made generally of the skin of the
puma or mountain lion. The bow sheath
is generally of the came stuff"