The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-09
SOME CURIOUS WEAPONS.
The boomerang and Its Orfgin-Wnr-
QuOits and Knobkerries.
From the london STANDARD

From the London Standard
Savages all over the world possess wea-
pons which are curious. and generally
more or less effective. These peculiar in
| struments of offense and defense may be
divided into two classes-those which are
merely curious forms of ordinary weapons,
representing the eccentricities of the saw
age mind, and those which are curious
from the fact that they are constructed
principles of which the savages who use
them cannot be expected to know any
thlng' and which, indeed, have only been
discovered by European scientists within
the last couple of centuries. Perhaps the
most curious of these is the boomerang.
we all OF us know about this weapon: in
Iact we mostly know more about its DOW
ers than the aborigines of Australia who
are the only people who use it, Among
otner thlngS which we know about il is
mat 1t may be thrown at an object will
NIT II, ana, after having laid it low, re-
turn TO its owner, like a retriever The
aboriginal Australian is not so advanced
as thls. The poor fellow does not know
mat II ought to return to him after he
mas Killed an emu or kangaroo with the
weapon; he goes and fetches it. In fact
II IS only when the savage has missed
the OBJECT aimed at that the boomerang
VIII return to him-were 1t to touch
leaf, even, it would be sufficient to turn
the course of the weapon. But how came
those saVages by the weapon? Did the
earth-eating aborigines of Australian
race whose idea of numbers does not ex-
tehu beyond three, for they count Zone
TWO, three, many'-inVent il? or is the
boomerang but the remains of an old long
forgotten civilization-a civilization as old
as that of the Chinese? Nobody but the
aboriginal Australian Qan 11sa this woo r,o,,
nowadays, but that it has been known be-
Tore and that by a race which was not
only civilized, but had attained to a con-
siderable degree of scientific knowledge
there is no room TO doubt, for in Egyp-
tan sculpture there are many unm!stak-
able representations of it in hunting
scenes. 1t is the same weapon exactly,
curved TO the same maggie, curved on one
size ana hat on the other, and was used
in the same way. Still it requires a very
imaginative mind to connect Australia
and Egypt, so that the problem of how
the boomerang came to be used by the
Australian savage is one the solution of
which must probably remain a secret for
all time.
weapon which is constructed on the
principle OF centrifugal force has been in
use among the Indian tribes of South
America from time immemorial Denuded
of supertluous aspirates, the name of this
weapon sounds some thing like 'boero,
ana 1t consists merely of a strip of raw
hide, about ten feet long, to each end of
which is attached a heavy leaden or stone
ball. When the thrower wishes to use IT,
he grasps the thong in the middle with his
niger and thumb, whirls the weights
around his head two or three times. and
then, with peculiar twist filings it at its
mark IN such manner that the two balls
travel parallel to each other, with the
thong stretched out between them. In
hi rr~ar = h. slzs.I...
through the air until it reaches the object
I which it is thrown Then the center OF
the strip of rawhide strikes the object
aimed at and the balls, continuing to
move forward, but being stopped by the
thong coil round the legs or neck of the
victim, in the same way as whip lash
viii coil round d stick, on a blow being
made at it-and so hobbies or strsngles
the animal until its pursuer come to re-
lease it.
This form of "bolero" is mostly used
for catching semi-wild animals on the
Pampas; but there is another variety of
the weapon which is used for hunting and
in warfare and which is far more for
midable. 1t is the same a that described
above only il has an addition in the shape
of third ball, which is attached to the
middle of the thong by another shorter
string, about foot in length. When this
is thrown, the short string ball travels
animal at which the missile is aimed on
the head with great force after which
the other balls wind round its neck or
legs, and make assurance doubly sure. {"
On somewhat similar principle is tn
knobkerrie which the Zulus and Kafir,
use. 1t consists of a short stick of light
wood, at the end of which is a very heavy
ball of wood or metal. Still simple as this
weapon may appear, it is not one to be
despised by any means, for in the hands
OF skillful thrower it becomes almost as
formidable as the 'bolero" Zulu il
able to throw it with wonderful accuracy
up to distance of seventy-five yards. and
then woe betide the head with which il
happens to come in contact Should II
belong to human being, he will certainly
make an abrupt exit from this world and
appear in the next without precisely know,
ing what it was that sent him there.
In India, until quite recently. the Sikbs
used a weapon which was fearfully effec-
tive at close quarters-the war quoit II
was the national weapon of that tribe. and
IS almost as old as the sword and spear.
Even to the present day one of the crack
Sink regiments wears the quot i'm the tir
ban as part of the uniform In size and
shape these weapons were precisely similar
to those with which the English game
is played. only they were somewhat
lighter, seldom weighing above twelve or
fourteen ounces. Made of the finest steel
INC east coulu produce, the war quOits had
their peripheries sharpened up.to an edge
as keen as that of razor, and were oc
casionally beautihed by being inlaid with
gold, ivory, and even with precious stones.
When he went into battle the Sikh used TO
carry eight or ten of these missiles upon
his left arm, their sharp outer edges be-
ing protected by a kind OF casing made of
plated grass. To throw it he first took
off the protecting sheath and, whirinls
the quot round his forehnger for a little
while, threw 1t. Legends of the Sikh
war say that men were decaptated by
these flying quoits. This may or may
not be true, but when IL is considered what
a nasty cut an ordinary light razor Wall
make on occasions, 1t must be admitted
that q razor-edeed nroiecfile rvniphinn