The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-04-03

pieces similarly glued and spliced. but
the horns Of the mountain sheep wer,
sometimes cut into long, and slender
rods which were laid together, glued
and backed by sinew.
Another type Of sheep horn bow
was in a single piece, the horn being
cut IN Il spiral from base Of horn to
point, this spiral being steamed or
boiled and then Strengthened and
caused to dry straight. Bows such as
these were unusual, but they were al
so very powerful, and never wore out.
On the other hand, it is said that
bows made of bone or Of antler were
more For show than for use. They
were good to look at and for a time
were effective, hut after a few ear
became dry and brittle.
Next to the hcn, and in fact so
much a part of i; that it cannot be
separated from il, is the arrow, a
complex implement the development
or which We nay imagine to have
been very slow, and which no doub..
waS wei! advanced toward lis present
form before the bow was thought Of.
We may iaTry the arrow to be the
"u'"r"wth Of Il simple >tahbin~ in
strument, which developed into a
dart to be thrown. similar TO certain
toys still in use anon" The children
Of our plains Indians.
The arrow consisted of three essen
tlal parts. the head. the Shaft and the
Feathers. Sometimes the shaft was
compound, consisting of more than
n piece Of wood. The primitive
head was very various. The feather
ing is comparatively a modern inven-
ton, SO much so that today traditions
exist as I" its development and the
various steps toward the improved
1catherln~ nf modern times are given.
Even within the last forty or fiftv
years tn" children among our wilder
tribes have employed very primitive
forms of arrows. using in their hunt
IN" Of little birds arrows without
heads and having merely a sharpan,d,
fire hardened point. arrows without
feathers and again arrows fcathcrcd
after al earlier method. of which,
as practiced by adults, we know only
by tradition.
The bowstrin@ was usually made of
twisted sincw, sometimes put on the
bow green and allowed 10 dry there.
In the southwest, however. the string
was sometimes made Of vegetable fl
brc. In other sections it might be
made Of strips Of rawhide or in:es-
tines Of animals.
The bow and its arrows were al
most always carried on the back in
raScs made Of the skins Of animals.
The bow ease as i long and mar
row bag. just wide enough TO admit
the wstrun@ bow. Immediately be-
meath that and parallel 20 il. both
cases usually being attached to a
''iiI " VI "''N ucflIlN rs long as the
qulvcr. was the shorter. wider bag for
the arr"wS 1t was sli"htly longer
than the arrow. and when arrows
were to be drawn from il they were
%raSprl about the feathers. 50 as Ia
prevent This impnrtan; part of the
dart from being ruffled.
Among the plains tribes in old
times the best quivcrs and bow eases
were made from the skin of the otter.
out the hide of the panther was also
highly valued for this purpose, and
bow cases and quivers were frequent
~ made from the hide of the buffalo
calf. In later times the skins Of cat
tie were used for the same
and ! have an old bow ease am
onc Of the pack train of the seventh
cavalry killed at The time Of the Gus
ter fight.