The Mena weekly star., 1909-02-25
EXPERT WITH BOWS
WEAPONS OF Ilssoo NATIVES ON cHINA-BuRMEsE BORDER.
Are Splendid Marksmen and Although cowardIy Their Use of Poisoned Arrows Makes Them For
 fnidabe as Foes.

On the wild frontier between China and British Burma is a barbarous tribe which has no civilized supervi sion. George Forrest, an English traveller. thus describes the chief weapon of these people:
 'If I had to suggest title for book on the upper Salwin l should call it The Land of the Crossbow, which is the characteristic weapon of the country and the Lissoo tribe.
 Every Lissoo with any pretensions to chic possesses at least two of these weapons-one for everyday use in hunting and the other for war. The little children play. with miniature crossbows. The men never leave their huts for any purpose whatever with. out their crossbows when they go to sleep the 'nukung' is hung over their heads. and when they die 1t is hung over their graves.
 The largest crossbows have a span of fully five feet. and require pull of fully 35 pounds to string them The bow is made of a species of wild mul. berry of great toughness and fexi. ! bility; the stock, some four feet long in the war bows, is usually of wild 1 plum wood. the string is of plaited hemp and the trigger of bone.
 | The arrow, of 16 to IS inches, is of 1 split bamboo, about four times the thickness of an ordinary knitting nee de, hardened and pointed; the actual | point is bare for quarter 10 one-third of an inch, then for fully an inch the arrow is stripped to half it's thickness and on that portion poison is placed
 This poison is invariably a decoc tion expressed from the tubers of a species of acontum, which grows or those ranges at an altitude of 5000 tC 10000 feet The poison is mixed witt resin, or some vegetable gum. to ths consistency of putty, and is ther smeared on the notched point.
 The feather is supplied by striT of bamboo leaf folded into a triangular form and ted in a notch at the end of the arrow. with the point of ths angle outward
 The reduction in thickness of the arrow where the poison Is placed causes tho point to break off in the body of any one whom 1t strikes, and as each carries enough poison to Xii a horse wound is invariably fatal Free and immediate incision Is the usual remedy when wounded on a limb or fieshy part of the body: but at Cheng ka the uncle of the Lao wC 1 chief showed us a preparation which | resembles opium dross. and which he said was an effective antidote.
 With few exceptions the LissoC seemed 10 LIS to be arrant towards ! but the crossbow and poisoned arrow l is certainly a most diabolical weapon An arrow from war bow will pierce deal board an inch thick at 70 ol so yards Some of the Tsekou natives were so expert that they could hit mark four inches In diameter repeat edly at 60 to so yards,
 As no one goes anywhere withou his crossbow and bearskin culver full Of poisoned arrows. and as every vii lage Is at feud with every other vii lage, mutual suspicion is inevitable.
 Tn open fight the Lissoo are usual ly careful to keep at a respectful dis tance from each other and behind OK hide shields which protect the who'll body But if battle is rare, murde and sudden death by ambush in tn, jungle are common"