The Saint Paul globe., 1902-06-02

In such weapons as do not involve
the use Of explosives savage races
have from ancient days been very in
YentlVe Ever since the time when the
Samoese twin divinities split a great rock
IN two for the giants of those days the
Samoans have been well skilled in the
art of making and using heavy clubs
Long before bayonets came into general
use IN European warfare the idea of a
gun and spear in one was elaborated in
the form of the Dyak's sumptan which
we shall presently describe. 1t is even
probable that before the sword was well
developed as weapon in England the
Polynesian savage had brought his
sharks teeth blades to perfection. Con-
sidering, then, that the weapons of saw
agery are of no mean order, and COM
pare we'll in ingenuity with similar instru-
ments Of offense and defense in the pres
ent day, they may have a fair claim to
consideration.
Most remarkable and perhaps most
deadly of all savage weapons is the
Sumpitan of Borneo, mentioned above. 1t
is extraordinary that the Dyaks, barba-
rous and uncultured as they are, should
have anticipated the idea Of our rifle
and bayonet it is not known how many
centuries before the secret Of gunpoWder
was discovered. The gun is a blow-pipe
of hard light wood, some eight or ten
feet in length, and about an inch in diam
eter; and their bayonet is a kind of
broad, sharp-edged and pointed spear
head. This is bound to the head of the
bloW-gun by means OF strong rattan, or
brass wire, and it is so arranged that it
does not interfere with the flight of the
darts.
This, at frs glance, IS a deadly weapon
at close quarters in the hands Of a dash
ing warrior like the Dyak; but it is even
more effective at a distance, for the lit
tie arrows made from the spicules of tAe
Sago palm are tipped with the poison OF
the upaS tree. The arrows are so small
that they infict only a puncture like that
of pin prick; but, by virtue of the poi
son, many a. man has died five minutes
a pd with
the marvellous delicacy Of construction
and consequent accuracy of the sumpi-
tan in the hands of the experienced Dyak
marksmen, makes it a most formidable
weapon.
In the attack led by Johnson in 1859
against the DyakS of the interior he lost
fire of these weapons, and not one of
them showed any wound more danger
ous-loolSing than mere pin prick of the
skin. The advantage that this weapon
has even over the rifle is that in the
dense foliage Dyak marksman may lie
concealed and pick off his enemy with
out betraying his whereabouts either by
the sound OF report by flash or smoke.
Altogether it requires a very intrepid
soldier to face the silent and deadly
Sump1tan. Warfare by poisoned missile 8
Is nowhere so perfect as in Borneo, but
various savage races do what they can
in the art. The Fans use a small poi
soned arrow, which they discharge with
cross-bow, but, though the poison is
made nor capable of such accuracy Of
aim as the sumpitan of the Dyaks.
Indeed, it is SO blunt that it frequently
hits without penetrating the skin. The
savage tribes of Guiana also use a poi
son known as wOuraH on their arrows,
which are not only multibarbed with the
ningly detachable points. The Maoris Of
New Zealand, and many Polynesian
tribes, having no poison which they can
use for the purpose adopt the next best
thing and Tin their ana
with hard wood from the trunk of the
ponga, or tree fern, the beauty OF this
wood, from the savage warriors point
of view, being that 1t is OF a highly
irritant nature, and sets up fostering in
wounds very quickly.
Next to the blow guns, provided with
bayonetS or otherwise, come those saw
age weapons which are designed to
pierce, saw, lacerate and inflict wounds
almost beyond healing. For these saw
age man is indebted to nature who
has placed within the mouth OF the shark
such a set Of formidable incisors that
the Weaponmaker could scarcely fail to
notice and apply them in his art The
two jaws of a full-grown shark usually
contain about 300 teeth, large and small
so that the. Pacific Islanders who can't
kill shark whenever he happens to want
one, can find ample material for swords
and clubs of all sizes. The KingsmiIl
Islander is particularly apt at the man
ufacture of weapons edged with sharks
teeth.
He Is not content with the somewhat
blunt and heavy ideas OF many Pelynesi-
an peoples, who swing great clubs and
depend upon the knockdown blow He
has the keen sense of the pleasure OF
intiicting pain on the foe, and likes to
put very fine point on the death-dealiug
excellence of his weapon; indeed, one
might say, rather, thousand fine
points, for it is his custom to seTTate
the cutting edges of swords, maces and
spears with rows Of murderous sharks
teeth, each one of which is so sharp as
to make the weapon dangerous even to
handle for the purposes Of examina ton.
1t appears that some Of the swords of
the Kingsmill Islanders are quite works
of art, one of which Rev. j. G. Wood
gives description, having no less than
four blades on one handle-one central
blade and three auxiliary On each blade
there are foTsy 'distinct rows Of sharks
teeth, making in all over 400 formidable
sharp points carefully graduated in re-
gard to size. The shifting and saving
power of the fourfold swords was so
great that they were never used for
tArusting, and from this fact We're bars
of teeth for several inches toward the
point
But these warlike savages had another
weapon which could infiict the most ter
rible thrust-wounds, and that was the
shark 's-tooth spear. This is made OF
light wood is from twelve to fifteen
feet in length, and Is furnished with