Plate XI.
Plate XI.
Plate XI.
Perhaps the nearest approach in the animal kingdom to an edged weapon is the fore-arm of the mantis, a kind of cricket, used by the Chinese and others in the East for their amusement. Their combats have been compared to that of two soldiers fighting with sabres. They cut and parry with their fore-arms, and, sometimes, a single stroke with these is sufficient to decapitate, or cut in two the body of an antagonist. But on closer inspection, these fore-arms are found to be set with a row of strong and sharp spines, similar to those of all other animals that are provided with this class of weapon. The snout of the saw-fish is another example of the serrated weapon. Its mode of attacking the whale is by jumping up high in the air, and falling on the animal, not with the point, but with the sides of its formidable weapon, both edges of which are armed with a row of sharp horns, set like teeth, by means of which it rasps a severe cut in the flesh of the whale. The design in this case is precisely analogous to that of the Australian savage, who throws his similarly constructed spear so as to strike, not with the bone point, but with its more formidable edges, which are thick set with a row of sharp-pointed pieces of obsidian, or rock-crystal. The saw-fish is amongst the most widely distributed of fishes, belonging to the arctic, antarctic, and tropical seas. It may, therefore, very possibly have served as a model in many of the numerous localities in which this character of weapon is found in the hands of savages. The snout itself is used as a weapon by the inhabitants of New Guinea, the base being cut and bound round so as to form a handle. Plate XI, fig. 70, is a specimen from the Museum of the Institution. The weapon of the sting-ray, though used by savages for spear-points, more properly belongs to this class, as the mode of its employment by the animal itself consists in twisting its long, slender tail round the object of attack, and cutting the surface with its serrated edge.[106]The teeth of all animals, including those of man himself, also furnish examples of serrated weapons.
When we find models of this class of weapon so widely distributed in the lower creation, it is not surprising that the first efforts of mankind in the construction of trenchant implements, should so universally consist of teeth or flint flakes, arranged along the edges of staves or clubs, in exact imitation of the examples which he finds ready to his hand, in the mouths of the animals which he captures, and on which he is dependent for his food. Several specimens of implements, edged in this manner with sharks’ teeth, from the Museum of the Institution, are represented in Plate XI, figs. 71, 72, 73, 74. They are found chiefly in the Marquesas, in Tahiti, Depeyster’s Island, Byron’s Isles, the Kingsmill Group, Radak Island[107], and the Sandwich Islands[108], also in New Zealand (Fig. 75). They are of various shapes, and are used for various cutting purposes, as knives, swords, and glaives. Two distinct methods of fastening the teeth to the wood prevail in the Polynesian Islands; firstly, by inserting them in a groove cut in the sides of the stick or weapon; and secondly, by arranging the teeth in a row, along the sides of the stick, between two small strips of wood on either side of the teeth, lashed on to the staff, in all cases, with small strings, composed of plant fibre. The points of the teeth are usually arranged in two opposite directions on the same staff, so that a severe cut may be given either in thrusting or withdrawing the weapon.[109]
A similarly constructed implement, also edged with sharks’ teeth, was found by Captain Graah on the east coast of Greenland, and is mentioned in Dr. King’s paper on the industrial arts of the Esquimaux, in theJournal of the Ethnological Society.[110]The teeth in this implement were secured by small nails, or pegs of bone; it was also used formerly on the West Coast. A precisely similar implement (Fig. 76), but showing an advance in art by being set with a row of chips of meteoric iron,was found amongst the Esquimaux of Davis Strait, and is now in the department of meteorolites in the British Museum. Others, of the same nature, from Greenland, are in the Christy collection (Fig. 77). The ‘pacho’ of the South Sea Islands appears to have been a sort of club, armed on the inner side with sharks’ teeth, set in the same manner.[111]The Tapoyers, of Brazil, used a kind of club, which was broad at the end, and set with teeth and bones, sharpened at the point.[112]
Hernandez gives an account of the construction of the Mexican ‘maquahuilt’ or Aztec war-club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian flakes, stuck into holes, and fastened with a kind of gum (Fig. 78).[113]Herrera, the Spanish historian, also mentions these as swords of wood, having a groove in the fore part, in which the flints were strongly fixed with bitumen and thread.[114]In 1530, according to the Spanish historians, Copan was defended by 30,000 men, armed with these weapons, amongst others[115]; and similar weapons have been represented in the sculptures of Yucatan.[116]They are also represented in Lord Kingsborough’s important work on Mexican antiquities, from which the accompanying representations are taken (Figs. 78, 79, 80). One of these swords, having six pieces of obsidian on each side of the blade, is to be seen in a Museum in Mexico.
In the burial mounds of Western North America, Mr. Lewis Morgan, the historian of the Iroquois,[117]mentions that rows of flint flakes have been found lying, side by side, in order, and suggesting the idea that they must have been fastened into sticks in the same manner as those of Mexico and Yucatan.
Throughout the entire continent of Australia the natives arm their spears with small sharp pieces of obsidian, or crystal, and recently of glass, arranged in rows along the sides near the point, and fastened with a cement of their own preparation, thereby producing a weapon which, though thinner in the shaft,is precisely similar in character to those already described (Figs. 81 and 82). Turning again to the northern hemisphere, we find in the Museum of Professor Nilsson, at Lund, in Sweden, a smooth, sharp-pointed piece of bone, found in that country, about six inches long, grooved on each side to the depth of about a quarter of an inch, into each of which grooves a row of fine, sharp-edged, and slightly-curved flints were inserted, and fixed with cement. The instrument thus armed was fastened to the end of a shaft of wood, and might either have been thrown by the hand or projected from a bow (Fig. 83). Another precisely similar implement (Fig. 84) is represented in the illustrated Catalogue of the Museum at Copenhagen, showing that in both these countries this system of constructing trenchant implements was employed. In Ireland, although there is no actual evidence of flints having been set in this manner, yet from the numerous examples of this class of weapon that are found elsewhere, and the frequent occurrence of flint implements of a form that would well adapt them to such a purpose, the author of the Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy expresses his opinion that the same arrangement may very possibly have existed in that country, and that the wood in which they were inserted may, like that which, as I have already said, is supposed to have held the flints found in the graves of the Iroquois, have perished by decay.
Poisoned Weapons.It is unnecessary to enter here into a detailed account of the use of poison by man and animals. Its use by man as a weapon of offence is chiefly confined to those tropical regions in which poisonous herbs and reptiles are most abundant. It is used by the Negroes, Bushmen, and Hottentots of Africa; in the Indian Archipelago, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. It appears formerly to have been used in the South Seas. It is employed in Bootan; in Assam; by the Stiens of Cambodia; and formerly by the Moors of Mogadore. The Parthians and Scythians used it in ancient times; and it appears always to have been regarded by ancient writers as the especial attribute of barbarism. The Italian bravoes of modern Europe also used it. In America it is employed by the Darian Indians, in Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and on the Orinoco. The composition of the poison varies in the different races, the Bushmen and Hottentots using the venomous secretions of serpents and caterpillars,[118]whilst most other nations of the world employ the poisonous herbs of the different countries they inhabit, showing that in all probability this must have been one of those arts which, though of very early origin, arose spontaneously and separately in the various quarters of the globe, after the human family had separated. This subject, however, is deserving of a separate treatment, and will be alluded to elsewhere.
In drawing a parallel between the weapons of men and animals used in the application of poison for offensive purposes, two points of similitude deserve attention.
Firstly, the poison gland of many serpents is situated on the upper jaw, behind and below the eyes. A long excretory duct extends from this gland to the outer surface of the upper jaw, and opens above and before the poison teeth, by which means the poison flows along the sheath into the upper opening of the tooth in such a manner as to secure its insertion into the wound. The hollow interior of the bones with which the South American and other Indians arm the poisoned arrows secures the same object (Fig. 85); it contains the poisonous liquid, and provides a channel for its insertion into the wound. In the bravo’s dagger of Italy, a specimen of which from my collection is shown in Fig. 86, a similar provision for the insertion of the poison is effected by means of a groove on either side of the blade, communicating with two rows of small holes, into which the poison flows, and is retained in that part of the blade which enters the wound. Nearly similar blades, with holes, have been found in Ireland, of which a specimen is in the Academy’s Museum, and they have been compared with others of the same kind from India, but I am not aware that there is any evidence to show that they were used for poison. Some of the Indian daggers, however, are constructed in close analogy with the poison apparatus of the serpent’s tooth, having an enclosed tube running down the middle of the blade, communicating with a reservoir for poison in the handle, and having lateral openings in the blade for the diffusion of the poison in the wound. Similar holes, but without any enclosed tube, and having only a groove on the surface ofthe blade to communicate with the holes, are found in some of the Scotch dirks, and in several forms ofcouteau de chasse, in which they appear to have been used merely with a view of letting air into the wound, and accelerating death (Figs. 87aandb). The Scotch dirk, here represented, has a groove running from the handle along the back of the blade to within three and a half inches of the point. In the bottom of this groove ten holes are pierced, which communicate with other lateral holes at right angles, opening on to the sides of the blade. Daggers are still made at Sheffield for the South American market, with a small hole drilled through the blade, near the point, to contain the poison; and in my collection there is an iron arrow-point (Fig. 88), evidently formed of the point of one of these daggers, having the hole near the point.
It often happens that forms which, in the early history of an art, have served some specific object, are in later times applied to other uses, and are ultimately retained only in the forms of ornamentation. This seems to have been the case with the pierced work upon the blades of weapons which, intended originally for poison, was afterwards used as air-holes, and ultimately for ornament only, as appears by a plug bayonet of the commencement of the eighteenth century in the Tower Armoury, No. 390 of the official Catalogue, for a drawing of which, as well as that of the Scotch dirk, I am indebted to Captain A. Tupper, a member of the Council of this Institution.
The second point of analogy to which I would draw attention is that of the multi-barbed arrows of most savages to the multi-barbed stings of insects, especially that of the bee (Fig. 89), which is so constructed that it cannot usually be withdrawn, but breaks off with its poisonous appendage into the wound. An exact parallel to this is found in the poisoned arrows of savages of various races, which, as already mentioned, are frequently armed with the point of the sting-ray, for the express purpose of breaking in the wound. In the arrows of the Bushmen, the shaft is often partly cut through, so as to break when it comes in contact with a bone, and the barb is constructed to remain in the wound when the arrow is withdrawn (Fig. 90). The same applies to the barbed arrows used with the Malay blowpipe (Fig. 91), and those of the wild tribes of Assam (Fig. 92), which are also poisoned. The arrow-points of the Shoshones of NorthAmerica (Fig. 93), said to be poisoned, are tied on, purposely, with gut in such a manner as to remain when the arrow is withdrawn. The arrows of the Macoushie tribe of Guiana (Fig. 94) are made with a small barbed and poisoned head, which is inserted in a socket in the shaft, in which it fits loosely, so as to detach in the wound. This weapon appears to form the link between the poisoned arrow and the fishing arrow or harpoon, which is widely distributed, and which I propose to describe on a subsequent occasion. Mr. Latham, of Wilkinson’s, Pall Mall, has been kind enough to describe to me a Venetian dagger of glass, formerly in his possession; it had a tube in the centre for the poison, and the blade was constructed with three edges. By a sharp wrench from the assassin, the blade was broken off, and remained in the wound.
It has also been supposed that from their peculiar construction most of the triangular and concave-based arrow-heads of flint that are found in this country, and in Ireland, were constructed for a similar purpose (Fig. 95).
The serrated edges of weapons, like those of the bee and the sting-ray, when used as arrow-points, were likewise instrumental in retaining the poison and introducing it into the wound, and this form was copied with a similar object in some of the Florentine daggers above mentioned, a portion of the blade of one of which, taken from Meyrick’sAncient Arms and Armour, is shown in Fig. 96.[119]
Although the use of poison would in these days be scouted by all civilized nations as an instrument of war, we find it still applied to useful purposes in the destruction of the larger animals. The operation of whaling, which is attended with so much danger and difficulty, has of late been greatly facilitated by the use of a mixture of strychnine and ‘woorali’, the well-known poison of the Indians of South America. An ounce of this mixture, attached to a small explosive shell fired from a carbine, has been found to destroy a whale in less than eighteen minutes, without risk to the whaler.[120]
When we consider how impotent a creature the aboriginal and uninstructed man must have been, when contending withthe large and powerful animals with which he was surrounded, we cannot too much admire that provision of nature which appears to have directed his attention, during the very earliest stages of his existence, to the acquirement of the subtile art of poisoning. In the forests of Guiana there are tribes, such as the Otomacs, apparently weaponless, but which, by simply poisoning the thumb-nail with ‘curare’ or ‘woorali’, at once become formidable antagonists.[121]Poison is available for hunting as well as for warlike purposes: the South American Indians eat the monkeys killed by this means, merely cutting out the part struck,[122]and the wild tribes of the Malay peninsula do not even trouble themselves to cut out the part before eating.[123]The Bushmen, and the Stiens of Cambodia, use their poisoned weapons chiefly against wild beasts and elephants.
Thus we see that the most noxious of herbs and the most repulsive of reptiles have been the means ordained to instruct mankind in what, during the first ages of his existence, must have been the most useful of arts. We cannot now determine how far this agent may have been influential in exterminating those huge animals, theElephas primigeniusandRhinoceros tichorhinus, with the remains of which the earliest races of man have been so frequently associated, and which, in those primaeval days, before he began to turn his hand to the destruction of his own species, must have constituted his most formidable enemies.
Missiles.Amongst the offensive weapons of animals, the use of missiles cannot be altogether excluded, although the examples of their use by the lower creation are extremely rare. Some species of cuttle-fish have the power of ejecting water with a good aim.[124]The Toxotes, or archer-fish, obtains its name from its faculty of projecting drops of water at insects some three or four feet from the surface of the water; which it seldom fails to bring down. The llama has a habit of ejecting its saliva, but I am not aware of the object of this singular practice. I only know from experience that its mannersare offensive, and that it has the power of spitting with a good aim and for some distance. The porcupine has the power of throwing its quills, and is said to do so with effect, although it is not now believed to dart them with any hostile intention. The Polar bear is described in Captain Hall’s recent publication as an animal capable of capturing the walrus by missile force.[125]It is said that the bear will take advantage of an overhanging cliff, under which its prey is seen asleep upon the ice, to throw down, with its paws, large stones, and with such good aim as to hit the walrus on the head, after which, running down to the place where the animal lays stunned, it will take the stone to beat out its brains. That animals are instinctively acquainted with the force of gravitation is evident by their avoiding precipices that would endanger them, and it certainly requires a slight (but at the same time most important) advance upon this knowledge, to avail themselves of large stones for such purposes as are here attributed to the bear; but as the story only rests on the authority of the Esquimaux, it must, I think—although they certainly are careful observers of the habits of animals—be rejected, until confirmed by the direct testimony of white men. It has even been doubted whether the alleged habit of monkeys, in throwing coco-nuts at their pursuers, has not arisen from the mistake of the hunter in supposing that fruit accidentally detached from their stalks by the gambols of these animals in the trees, may have been intended as missiles; but it appears now to be clearly established that monkeys have the intelligence, not only to throw stones, but even to use them in breaking the shells of nuts. Major Denham, in his account of his travels in Central Africa, near Lake Tshad, says: ‘The monkeys, or as the Arabs say, men enchanted, “Beny Adam meshood,” were so numerous, that I saw upwards of 150 assembled in one place in the evening. They did not at all appear inclined to give up their ground, but perched on the top of a bank, some 20 feet high, made a terrible noise, and rather gently than otherwise, pelted us as we approached within a certain distance.’ This, I think, is clear evidence of a combined pelting on the part of these untutored animals.
The monkey thus furnishes us with the only example of theuse of any external substance for offensive purposes, by any member of the animal kingdom. All others, except, perhaps, the missile fishes above described, use, for offence and defence, the weapons with which nature has furnished them, and which are integral parts of their persons. It is this which so essentially distinguishes man from the lower creation. Man is the tool-using animal. We have no knowledge of man, in any state of existence, who is not so; nor have we (with the exception of the ape, the link indirectly connecting him with the lower creation, in the same manner that the savage connects the civilized with the aboriginal man, both being branches from the same stem) any knowledge of animals that employ tools or weapons. Herein lies the point of separation, which, in so far as the material universe is concerned, marks the dawn of a new dispensation. Hitherto Providence operates directly on the work to be performed, by means of the living, animated tool. Henceforth, it operates indirectly on the progress and development of creation, first, through the agency of the instinctively tool-using savage, and by degrees, of the intelligent and reasoning man.
[Revised and abridged from the ‘Description’ appended to the original text. The roman numeral refers to the Plate on which the figure is printed.]
1.a.Adze of iron, constructed by Captain Cook’s armourer for the use of the natives of Tahiti,b.Adze of stone, Tahitian, used as model in making the above. Meyrick (Skelton),Engraved Illustrations of Ancient Arms and Armour(1830), vol. ii. pl. cxlix.PlateVI.2.a.Pipe-handled Tomahawk, of European manufacture, constructed for the use of North American Indians. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxlix.b.Pipe and Tomahawk of pipe-stone, used by the Dacotas of N. America. Schoolcraft,Information concerning the History, &c., of the Indian Tribes of the United States, vol. ii. pl. lxix.VI.3. Maeotian, or Scythian Bow, from a vase-painting. Hamilton,Etruscan Antiquities, vol. iv. pl. cxvi; Meyrick,Critical Enquiry into Ancient Armour(1824) vol. i. pl. ii. 14; Rawlinson,Herodotus(1862), vol. iii. pp. 3, 35.VI.4. Bow of the Tartar tribes on the borders of Persia. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxliv.VI.5. Iron Sword (minusthe wooden handle) and War-Axe of native manufacture, constructed by the Fans of the Gaboon country, West Africa. (Author’s Collection; similar spec. in Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) The patterns of ornamentation are taken partly from the Fan War-Axe, and partly from iron knives brought from Central Africa by Mr. Petherick. (Author’s Coll.)VI.6. Leaf-shaped Bronze Sword (minusthe handle), from Ireland (Author’s Coll.); and a Bronze Celt (Mainz Mus.), Lindenschmit,Die Alterthümer unserer heidnischen Vorzeit(1864 ff.). The patterns of ornamentation are taken partly from Lindenschmit, l. c., pl. iii.; partly from Irish bronze-work in Sir W. Wilde,Catalogue of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy(1863), Bronze, pp. 389-90.VI.7. ‘Manilla,’ or ring-money of copper and iron, used in the Eboe country, W. Africa. (Author’s Coll.) In 1836, a ship laden with a quantity of these ‘manillas’, made in Birmingham, after the pattern in use in Africa (the spec. here figured forming part of the cargo), was wrecked on the coast of co. Cork. By this means their exact resemblance to the gold and bronze ‘penannular rings’ found in Ireland (Fig. 8) attracted the attention of Mr. Sainthill, of Cork, by whom the subject was communicated to theUlster Journal of Archaeology, No. 19 (July, 1857).VI.8. ‘Penannular Ring,’ found in Ireland. Wilde, l. c., Bronze, p. 570, Gold, p. 53. Similar forms are found in England and on the Continent. Lindenschmit, pl. iv; Keller,Lake Dwellings of Switzerland(tr. Lee, 1866), pl. liia, fig. 9.VI.9. Kaffir Assegai-head of iron, of native manufacture, with section of blade. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)VI.10. Saxon Spear-head of iron, having the same section as fig. 9; from a Saxon grave. Neville,Saxon Obsequies(London, 1852), pl. xxxv; Akerman,Saxon Pagandom(London, 1855), Introd., p. x.VI.11. War-dress of a Patagonian Chief, composed of seven thicknesses of hide on the body part, and three on the sleeves. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)VII.12. Section of the above, upon the breast, showing how the seven thicknesses are united at the top.VII.13. Kayan Cuirass of untanned hide, with the hair outside; and Helmet of cane wickerwork. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; pres. by Capt. D. Bethune, R.N.)VII.14. Egyptian Breast-plate, made of a crocodile’s back. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxlviii.VII.15. Suit of Armour, supposed to have formerly belonged to the Rajah of Guzerat. The four breast- and back-pieces are of rhinoceros hide, having an inscription upon them, beginning with an invocation to Ali. The remaining portions are of black velvet, ornamented with brass studs, and padded. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxli.VIII.16. Four Plates of steel (Sikh), of similar form to those of rhinoceros hide in fig. 15, ornamented with patterns of inlaid gold. They are fastened with straps over a coat of chain-armour, and are called in Persian ‘char aineh,’ i.e. ‘the four mirrors.’ (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)VIII.17. Helmet of basket-work, from the Sandwich Islands, resembling the Grecian in form. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by H. Shelley, Esq.)VIII.18. Suit of Armour of coco-nut fibre, from Pleasant Island, in the Pacific. It is probable that the under tippet, which is now attached to the back- and breast-piece at the top, may originally have been intended to be worn round the loins, like a kilt. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)VII.19.a.Quilted Pectoral of the Egyptians. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. i.b.shows the manner in which it was worn. Rawlinson,Herodotus(1862), vol. iv. p. 47, No. iii. 3 (but this figure is Kheta, not Egyptian.—Ed.).VII.20. Quilted Head-dress of the Egyptian soldiers. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. i.VIII.21. Quilted Helmet of nearly the same form as fig. 20, from India. (Author’s Coll.)VIII.22. Head-dress of nearly the same form as figs. 20, 21, from the Nouaer tribe of Negroes, inhabiting both banks of the Nile from 8° to 10° N. latitude; brought to England by Mr. Petherick. It resembles the Egyptian very closely, and is composed of cylindrical white beads of European manufacture, fastened together with a kind of string. (Author’s Coll.)VIII.23. Helmet of the same form as fig. 21, composed of united mail and plate, formerly belonging to the Body-guard of the Moguls. (Author’s Coll.)VIII.24. Suit of Quilted Armour, taken in action from Koer Singh, the famous Rajpoot Chief, of Jugdespore in Behar, on August 12, 1857, by Major Vincent Eyre, commanding the field force that relieved Arrah. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by the captor.)VII.25.a.Suit of Quilted Armour, found upon the body of Tippoo Sahib at his death, in the breach of Seringapatam. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)IX.b.Portion of one of the nine thicknesses of quilting, of the above, showing construction (see p. 62): reduced to 1/6.IX.c.Helmet of the above suit. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)IX.26. Quilted Armour of the Bornouese Cavalry. Denham and Clapperton,Travels in Northern and Central Africa(1826), p. 328 (Denham).VIII.27. Suit of Armour from the Navigator Islands, composed of coco-nut fibre, coarsely netted. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Sir W. Burnett, M.D.) Similar armour is used in the Kingsmill Group.VII.28. Part of a Chinese ‘Brigandine Jacket’ of cotton, quilted, with enclosed plates of metal. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)VII.29. Head-dress of Hercules wearing the Lion’s Skin, from a Bronze in the Blacas Collection. (British Museum.)VIII.30. Head-dress of a North American Chief. Schoolcraft, l. c., vol. iii. p. 68. pl. x. 2.VIII.31. Thracian Helmet of brass [?], with horns of the same. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iii.VIII.32. Ancient British Helmet of bronze, with straight horns of the same, found in the Thames. (British Museum.)VIII.33. Greek Helmet, having horns of brass [?]. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iv.VIII.34. Back-plate and Breast-plate of the Bugo Dyaks, armed with the scales of the Pangolin. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)IX.35. Piece of Bark from Tahiti, studded with pieces of coco-nut shell. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)VIII.36. Fragment of Scale-Armour of horn found at Pompeii. [Pictorial Gallery of Arts, vol. i. figs. 10, 61.]VIII.37. Piece of Scale-Armour, made of the hoofs of some animal, from some part of Asia; said to be from Japan. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iii.VIII.38. An ancient Stone Figure in Scale Armour. Cuming,Journ. Archaeol. Assoc., vol. iii. p. 31.IX.39. Back-piece and Breast-piece of Armour from the Sandwich Islands, composed of seals’ teeth. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; pres. by H. Shelley, Esq.)VIII.40. Egyptian Suit of Scale-Armour. Rawlinson,Herodotus(1862), vol. ii. p. 65, fig. iii; Wilkinson (Birch),Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians(1878), fig. 53a.IX.41. Two Scales of Egyptian Armour, enlarged. Rawlinson, l. c., fig. iv.IX.42. Japanese Armour, composed of chain, plate, and enclosed quilted plates. (a) Left arm; (b) Greaves. (Author’s Coll.)IX.43.a.Chinese Suit of Armour, of cotton, having iron scales attached to the inside,b.Iron Helmet of the same suit (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Capt. Sir E. Belcher. R.N.)IX.44. A portion of the iron scales attached to the inner side of the above suit.IX.45. Breast-piece of ‘Jazerine’ Armour of iron scales, xv-xvi cent.; inner side. (Author’s Coll.) Cf. Grose,Treatise on Ancient Armour(London, 1786), p. 15, ‘Jazerant’: cf. pl. xxxiii. 3; Meyrick. vol. ii. pl. lvi.IX.46. ‘Brigandine’ composed of large iron scales on the outside, probably of the same date as the above; left by the Venetians in the armoury of Candia on the surrender of the island to the Turks in 1715. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Lt.-Col. Patrick Campbell, R.A.)IX.47. Horn of the Rhinoceros. (Author’s Coll.)X.48. Skull and Tusks of the Walrus. (Author’s Coll.)X.49. Weapon of the Sword-Fish; scale ½ inch to a foot. (Author’s Coll.)X.50. Spear of the Narwhal; scale ½ inch to a foot. (Author’s Coll.)X.51. Section, showing part of the timber of the shipFame, where it was pierced by the narwhal in the South Seas, through 2½-inch oak. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Lt. A. T. Tulloch, R.A.)X.52. Esquimaux Spear, from Greenland, armed with the spear of the narwhal. 1/50. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)X.53. Esquimaux Spear in the form of a fish, having fore-shaft composed of a narwhal-tusk, inserted so as to represent the tusk of the animal; scale ½ inch to a foot. (Author’s Coll.)X.54. Esquimaux Lance, pointed with a walrus-tooth. 1/20. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)X.55. Esquimaux Tomahawk or Pickaxe, headed with a walrus-tooth. 1/20. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)X.56. Arrow-head, probably from South America, headed with the point of a deer’s horn. (British Museum, Christy Collection.)X.57. War-club of the Iroquois, calledGa-ne-ú-ga-o-dus-haor ‘Deer-horn War-Club.’ Lewis Morgan,League of the Iroquois(Rochester, N.Y., 1851), p. 363.X.58. Club of the North American Indians, with a point of iron. 1/20. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by T. Hoblyn, Esq.)X.59. Arrow, from S. America, armed with the weapon of the ray, probablyTrygon hystrix. ½. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)X.60.a.Spine ofBalistes capriscus, Cuv., erect. Yarrell,British Fishes(2nd ed., London, 1841), vol. ii, p. 472.b.Horn ofCottus diceraus, Pall. Cuvier,Animal Kingdom(1827), s. v.c.Horn ofNaseus fronticornis, Lac.Cuvier, l. c.X.61. Spear of theLimulusor ‘King Crab.’X.62. Arrow, armed with the spine of theDiodon. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)X.63. ‘Khandjar’ or Indian Dagger, composed of the horn of the buffalo, having the natural form and point. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)X.64. ‘Khandjar’ of the same form, with metal blade and ivory handle. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)X.65. ‘Khandjar’ of the same form, having both blade and handle of iron. The handle is ornamented with the figures of a bird and some small quadruped. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)X.66. Dagger formed of the horn of the ‘sasin,’ or common antelope. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)X.67. Dagger like fig. 66, but with the points armed with metal. 1/10 (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)X.68. Dagger like figs. 66, 67, but composed entirely of metal, with a shield for the hand. Similar shields are sometimes attached to daggers like those in figs. 66, 67. 1/12. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)X.69. Weapon composed of the horn of the antelope; steel-pointed; supposed to be that used by the Fakirs in India. (Author’s Coll.)X.70. Sword formed of the serrated blade of the saw-fish from New Guinea. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)XI.71-74. Weapons from the Pacific, edged with sharks’ teeth. The teeth near the point are placed points forward; the remainder with the points towards the handle. Two methods of fastening the teeth are shown:a.in grooves;b.lashed between two strips of wood. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)XI.75. Implement from New Zealand, armed with sharks’ teeth. (British Museum.)XI.76. Esquimaux Knife, from Davis Strait, armed with pieces of meteoric iron, (British Museum.)XI.77. Knife, from Greenland, armed with pieces of iron along the edge. (British Museum, Christy Collection.)XI.78-80. Mexican ‘Maquahuitl.’ Lord Kingsborough,Antiquities of Mexico(1830-48), vol. i (numerous examples on pl. x-xv: fig. 79 = No. 1478).XI.81-82. Spear and Knife, from Australia, armed with pieces of obsidian, or rock-crystal. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)XI.83. Arrow-point of bone, armed with a row of sharp flint flakes on each side. (Museum of Prof. Nilsson, at Lund, in Sweden.) Reduced to ½ from the figure in Wilde, l. c., ‘Animal Materials,’ p. 254.XI.84. Arrow-point like fig. 83. (Copenhagen Museum.)Illustr. Cat. of the Copenhagen Museum.XI.85. Arrow-point of hollow bone, from S. America, the hollow of the bone being filled with poison. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; Author’s Coll.)XI.86. Dagger of an Italian Bravo, with grooves and holes to contain poison; the handle represents a monk in the act of supplication. (Author’s Coll.)XI.87a.Scottish Dirk, pierced with holes along the back and sides. Along the back of the blade runs a groove eight inches long, in which holes are pierced that communicate with lateral holes on the side of the blade. (Author’s Coll.)XI.87b.‘Couteau-de-Chasse,’ with two grooves on each side near the back of the blade, which is pierced through with holes. (Author’s Coll.)XI.88. Arrow-head, of iron, with a hole near the point for poison; from S. America. (Author’s Coll.)XI.89. Sting of the Bee, serrated or multi-barbed: after F. Huber inJardine’s Naturalist’s Library, Entomology vi.Bees(Edinb., 1840), p. 40.XI.90. Point of Bushman’s Arrow, barbed with an iron head, which is constructed to come off in the wound. (Author’s Coll.)XI.91. Malay Blowpipe-arrow, iron-headed; similarly constructed. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)XI.92. Arrow of the wild tribes of Assam, copper-headed, and similarly constructed. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)XI.93. Arrow-head of the Shoshones of North America, of flint; constructed to come off in the wound. Schoolcraft, l. c., vol. i. pp. 212-3, pl. lxxvi. 5.XI.94. Arrow-point of the Macoushie Indians of S. America; similarly constructed. ¼. (Author’s Coll.; pres. by Rev. J. G. Wood.)XI.95. Arrow-heads of flint, from the north of Ireland. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)XI.96. Part of the Blade of an Italian Dagger, serrated and pierced. Full size. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxiii. 14.XI.
1.a.Adze of iron, constructed by Captain Cook’s armourer for the use of the natives of Tahiti,b.Adze of stone, Tahitian, used as model in making the above. Meyrick (Skelton),Engraved Illustrations of Ancient Arms and Armour(1830), vol. ii. pl. cxlix.
PlateVI.
2.a.Pipe-handled Tomahawk, of European manufacture, constructed for the use of North American Indians. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxlix.b.Pipe and Tomahawk of pipe-stone, used by the Dacotas of N. America. Schoolcraft,Information concerning the History, &c., of the Indian Tribes of the United States, vol. ii. pl. lxix.
VI.
3. Maeotian, or Scythian Bow, from a vase-painting. Hamilton,Etruscan Antiquities, vol. iv. pl. cxvi; Meyrick,Critical Enquiry into Ancient Armour(1824) vol. i. pl. ii. 14; Rawlinson,Herodotus(1862), vol. iii. pp. 3, 35.
VI.
4. Bow of the Tartar tribes on the borders of Persia. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxliv.
VI.
5. Iron Sword (minusthe wooden handle) and War-Axe of native manufacture, constructed by the Fans of the Gaboon country, West Africa. (Author’s Collection; similar spec. in Mus. R. U. S. Inst.) The patterns of ornamentation are taken partly from the Fan War-Axe, and partly from iron knives brought from Central Africa by Mr. Petherick. (Author’s Coll.)
VI.
6. Leaf-shaped Bronze Sword (minusthe handle), from Ireland (Author’s Coll.); and a Bronze Celt (Mainz Mus.), Lindenschmit,Die Alterthümer unserer heidnischen Vorzeit(1864 ff.). The patterns of ornamentation are taken partly from Lindenschmit, l. c., pl. iii.; partly from Irish bronze-work in Sir W. Wilde,Catalogue of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy(1863), Bronze, pp. 389-90.
VI.
7. ‘Manilla,’ or ring-money of copper and iron, used in the Eboe country, W. Africa. (Author’s Coll.) In 1836, a ship laden with a quantity of these ‘manillas’, made in Birmingham, after the pattern in use in Africa (the spec. here figured forming part of the cargo), was wrecked on the coast of co. Cork. By this means their exact resemblance to the gold and bronze ‘penannular rings’ found in Ireland (Fig. 8) attracted the attention of Mr. Sainthill, of Cork, by whom the subject was communicated to theUlster Journal of Archaeology, No. 19 (July, 1857).
VI.
8. ‘Penannular Ring,’ found in Ireland. Wilde, l. c., Bronze, p. 570, Gold, p. 53. Similar forms are found in England and on the Continent. Lindenschmit, pl. iv; Keller,Lake Dwellings of Switzerland(tr. Lee, 1866), pl. liia, fig. 9.
VI.
9. Kaffir Assegai-head of iron, of native manufacture, with section of blade. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
VI.
10. Saxon Spear-head of iron, having the same section as fig. 9; from a Saxon grave. Neville,Saxon Obsequies(London, 1852), pl. xxxv; Akerman,Saxon Pagandom(London, 1855), Introd., p. x.
VI.
11. War-dress of a Patagonian Chief, composed of seven thicknesses of hide on the body part, and three on the sleeves. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
VII.
12. Section of the above, upon the breast, showing how the seven thicknesses are united at the top.
VII.
13. Kayan Cuirass of untanned hide, with the hair outside; and Helmet of cane wickerwork. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; pres. by Capt. D. Bethune, R.N.)
VII.
14. Egyptian Breast-plate, made of a crocodile’s back. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxlviii.
VII.
15. Suit of Armour, supposed to have formerly belonged to the Rajah of Guzerat. The four breast- and back-pieces are of rhinoceros hide, having an inscription upon them, beginning with an invocation to Ali. The remaining portions are of black velvet, ornamented with brass studs, and padded. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxli.
VIII.
16. Four Plates of steel (Sikh), of similar form to those of rhinoceros hide in fig. 15, ornamented with patterns of inlaid gold. They are fastened with straps over a coat of chain-armour, and are called in Persian ‘char aineh,’ i.e. ‘the four mirrors.’ (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
VIII.
17. Helmet of basket-work, from the Sandwich Islands, resembling the Grecian in form. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by H. Shelley, Esq.)
VIII.
18. Suit of Armour of coco-nut fibre, from Pleasant Island, in the Pacific. It is probable that the under tippet, which is now attached to the back- and breast-piece at the top, may originally have been intended to be worn round the loins, like a kilt. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
VII.
19.a.Quilted Pectoral of the Egyptians. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. i.b.shows the manner in which it was worn. Rawlinson,Herodotus(1862), vol. iv. p. 47, No. iii. 3 (but this figure is Kheta, not Egyptian.—Ed.).
VII.
20. Quilted Head-dress of the Egyptian soldiers. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. i.
VIII.
21. Quilted Helmet of nearly the same form as fig. 20, from India. (Author’s Coll.)
VIII.
22. Head-dress of nearly the same form as figs. 20, 21, from the Nouaer tribe of Negroes, inhabiting both banks of the Nile from 8° to 10° N. latitude; brought to England by Mr. Petherick. It resembles the Egyptian very closely, and is composed of cylindrical white beads of European manufacture, fastened together with a kind of string. (Author’s Coll.)
VIII.
23. Helmet of the same form as fig. 21, composed of united mail and plate, formerly belonging to the Body-guard of the Moguls. (Author’s Coll.)
VIII.
24. Suit of Quilted Armour, taken in action from Koer Singh, the famous Rajpoot Chief, of Jugdespore in Behar, on August 12, 1857, by Major Vincent Eyre, commanding the field force that relieved Arrah. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by the captor.)
VII.
25.a.Suit of Quilted Armour, found upon the body of Tippoo Sahib at his death, in the breach of Seringapatam. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
IX.
b.Portion of one of the nine thicknesses of quilting, of the above, showing construction (see p. 62): reduced to 1/6.
IX.
c.Helmet of the above suit. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
IX.
26. Quilted Armour of the Bornouese Cavalry. Denham and Clapperton,Travels in Northern and Central Africa(1826), p. 328 (Denham).
VIII.
27. Suit of Armour from the Navigator Islands, composed of coco-nut fibre, coarsely netted. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Sir W. Burnett, M.D.) Similar armour is used in the Kingsmill Group.
VII.
28. Part of a Chinese ‘Brigandine Jacket’ of cotton, quilted, with enclosed plates of metal. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
VII.
29. Head-dress of Hercules wearing the Lion’s Skin, from a Bronze in the Blacas Collection. (British Museum.)
VIII.
30. Head-dress of a North American Chief. Schoolcraft, l. c., vol. iii. p. 68. pl. x. 2.
VIII.
31. Thracian Helmet of brass [?], with horns of the same. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iii.
VIII.
32. Ancient British Helmet of bronze, with straight horns of the same, found in the Thames. (British Museum.)
VIII.
33. Greek Helmet, having horns of brass [?]. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iv.
VIII.
34. Back-plate and Breast-plate of the Bugo Dyaks, armed with the scales of the Pangolin. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
IX.
35. Piece of Bark from Tahiti, studded with pieces of coco-nut shell. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
VIII.
36. Fragment of Scale-Armour of horn found at Pompeii. [Pictorial Gallery of Arts, vol. i. figs. 10, 61.]
VIII.
37. Piece of Scale-Armour, made of the hoofs of some animal, from some part of Asia; said to be from Japan. Meyrick, l. c., vol. i. pl. iii.
VIII.
38. An ancient Stone Figure in Scale Armour. Cuming,Journ. Archaeol. Assoc., vol. iii. p. 31.
IX.
39. Back-piece and Breast-piece of Armour from the Sandwich Islands, composed of seals’ teeth. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; pres. by H. Shelley, Esq.)
VIII.
40. Egyptian Suit of Scale-Armour. Rawlinson,Herodotus(1862), vol. ii. p. 65, fig. iii; Wilkinson (Birch),Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians(1878), fig. 53a.
IX.
41. Two Scales of Egyptian Armour, enlarged. Rawlinson, l. c., fig. iv.
IX.
42. Japanese Armour, composed of chain, plate, and enclosed quilted plates. (a) Left arm; (b) Greaves. (Author’s Coll.)
IX.
43.a.Chinese Suit of Armour, of cotton, having iron scales attached to the inside,b.Iron Helmet of the same suit (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Capt. Sir E. Belcher. R.N.)
IX.
44. A portion of the iron scales attached to the inner side of the above suit.
IX.
45. Breast-piece of ‘Jazerine’ Armour of iron scales, xv-xvi cent.; inner side. (Author’s Coll.) Cf. Grose,Treatise on Ancient Armour(London, 1786), p. 15, ‘Jazerant’: cf. pl. xxxiii. 3; Meyrick. vol. ii. pl. lvi.
IX.
46. ‘Brigandine’ composed of large iron scales on the outside, probably of the same date as the above; left by the Venetians in the armoury of Candia on the surrender of the island to the Turks in 1715. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Lt.-Col. Patrick Campbell, R.A.)
IX.
47. Horn of the Rhinoceros. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
48. Skull and Tusks of the Walrus. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
49. Weapon of the Sword-Fish; scale ½ inch to a foot. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
50. Spear of the Narwhal; scale ½ inch to a foot. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
51. Section, showing part of the timber of the shipFame, where it was pierced by the narwhal in the South Seas, through 2½-inch oak. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by Lt. A. T. Tulloch, R.A.)
X.
52. Esquimaux Spear, from Greenland, armed with the spear of the narwhal. 1/50. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
X.
53. Esquimaux Spear in the form of a fish, having fore-shaft composed of a narwhal-tusk, inserted so as to represent the tusk of the animal; scale ½ inch to a foot. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
54. Esquimaux Lance, pointed with a walrus-tooth. 1/20. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
X.
55. Esquimaux Tomahawk or Pickaxe, headed with a walrus-tooth. 1/20. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
X.
56. Arrow-head, probably from South America, headed with the point of a deer’s horn. (British Museum, Christy Collection.)
X.
57. War-club of the Iroquois, calledGa-ne-ú-ga-o-dus-haor ‘Deer-horn War-Club.’ Lewis Morgan,League of the Iroquois(Rochester, N.Y., 1851), p. 363.
X.
58. Club of the North American Indians, with a point of iron. 1/20. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; presented by T. Hoblyn, Esq.)
X.
59. Arrow, from S. America, armed with the weapon of the ray, probablyTrygon hystrix. ½. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
X.
60.a.Spine ofBalistes capriscus, Cuv., erect. Yarrell,British Fishes(2nd ed., London, 1841), vol. ii, p. 472.b.Horn ofCottus diceraus, Pall. Cuvier,Animal Kingdom(1827), s. v.c.Horn ofNaseus fronticornis, Lac.Cuvier, l. c.
X.
61. Spear of theLimulusor ‘King Crab.’
X.
62. Arrow, armed with the spine of theDiodon. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
63. ‘Khandjar’ or Indian Dagger, composed of the horn of the buffalo, having the natural form and point. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
64. ‘Khandjar’ of the same form, with metal blade and ivory handle. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
65. ‘Khandjar’ of the same form, having both blade and handle of iron. The handle is ornamented with the figures of a bird and some small quadruped. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
66. Dagger formed of the horn of the ‘sasin,’ or common antelope. 1/10. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
67. Dagger like fig. 66, but with the points armed with metal. 1/10 (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
X.
68. Dagger like figs. 66, 67, but composed entirely of metal, with a shield for the hand. Similar shields are sometimes attached to daggers like those in figs. 66, 67. 1/12. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
X.
69. Weapon composed of the horn of the antelope; steel-pointed; supposed to be that used by the Fakirs in India. (Author’s Coll.)
X.
70. Sword formed of the serrated blade of the saw-fish from New Guinea. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
XI.
71-74. Weapons from the Pacific, edged with sharks’ teeth. The teeth near the point are placed points forward; the remainder with the points towards the handle. Two methods of fastening the teeth are shown:a.in grooves;b.lashed between two strips of wood. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
XI.
75. Implement from New Zealand, armed with sharks’ teeth. (British Museum.)
XI.
76. Esquimaux Knife, from Davis Strait, armed with pieces of meteoric iron, (British Museum.)
XI.
77. Knife, from Greenland, armed with pieces of iron along the edge. (British Museum, Christy Collection.)
XI.
78-80. Mexican ‘Maquahuitl.’ Lord Kingsborough,Antiquities of Mexico(1830-48), vol. i (numerous examples on pl. x-xv: fig. 79 = No. 1478).
XI.
81-82. Spear and Knife, from Australia, armed with pieces of obsidian, or rock-crystal. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.)
XI.
83. Arrow-point of bone, armed with a row of sharp flint flakes on each side. (Museum of Prof. Nilsson, at Lund, in Sweden.) Reduced to ½ from the figure in Wilde, l. c., ‘Animal Materials,’ p. 254.
XI.
84. Arrow-point like fig. 83. (Copenhagen Museum.)Illustr. Cat. of the Copenhagen Museum.
XI.
85. Arrow-point of hollow bone, from S. America, the hollow of the bone being filled with poison. (Mus. R. U. S. Inst.; Author’s Coll.)
XI.
86. Dagger of an Italian Bravo, with grooves and holes to contain poison; the handle represents a monk in the act of supplication. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
87a.Scottish Dirk, pierced with holes along the back and sides. Along the back of the blade runs a groove eight inches long, in which holes are pierced that communicate with lateral holes on the side of the blade. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
87b.‘Couteau-de-Chasse,’ with two grooves on each side near the back of the blade, which is pierced through with holes. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
88. Arrow-head, of iron, with a hole near the point for poison; from S. America. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
89. Sting of the Bee, serrated or multi-barbed: after F. Huber inJardine’s Naturalist’s Library, Entomology vi.Bees(Edinb., 1840), p. 40.
XI.
90. Point of Bushman’s Arrow, barbed with an iron head, which is constructed to come off in the wound. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
91. Malay Blowpipe-arrow, iron-headed; similarly constructed. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
92. Arrow of the wild tribes of Assam, copper-headed, and similarly constructed. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
93. Arrow-head of the Shoshones of North America, of flint; constructed to come off in the wound. Schoolcraft, l. c., vol. i. pp. 212-3, pl. lxxvi. 5.
XI.
94. Arrow-point of the Macoushie Indians of S. America; similarly constructed. ¼. (Author’s Coll.; pres. by Rev. J. G. Wood.)
XI.
95. Arrow-heads of flint, from the north of Ireland. ¼. (Author’s Coll.)
XI.
96. Part of the Blade of an Italian Dagger, serrated and pierced. Full size. Meyrick (Skelton), l. c., vol. ii. pl. cxiii. 14.
XI.
In June, 1867, I had the honour of reading a paper at this Institution, which has since been published in theJournal, the object of which was to point out the resemblance which exists between the weapons of savages and early races and the weapons with which nature has furnished animals for their defence.
In continuation of the same subject, my present communication will relate to the resemblance to each other of the weapons of races sometimes widely separated, and of which the connexion, if it ever existed, has long since been consigned to obscurity. I shall endeavour to show, how in these several localities, which are so remote from one another, the progress of form has been developed upon a similar plan, and, though to all appearance independently, yet that under like conditions like results have been produced; and that the weapons and implements of these races will sometimes be found to bear so close a resemblance to each other, as often to suggest a community of origin, where no such common origin can have existed, unless at the very remotest period.
We shall thus be brought to the consideration of the great problem of our day, viz. the origin of mankind, or rather the origin of the human arts; for the question of man’s origin, whether he was himself created or developed from some prior form, whether since the period of his first appearance he has by variation separated into distinct races, or whether the several races of mankind were separately created, are questions which, however closely allied, do not of necessity form part of our present subject. It has to deal solely with the origin of the arts, and more particularly with the art of war, which in theinfancy of society belonged to a condition of life so constant and universal as to embrace within its sphere all other arts, or at least to be so intimately connected with them as to require the same treatment; the tool and the weapon being, as I shall presently show, often identical in the hands of the primaeval savage.
These prefatory remarks are necessary because it will be seen that the general observations I am about to offer on the subject are fully as applicable to the whole range of the industrial arts of mankind as to the art of war. My illustrations, however, will be taken exclusively from weapons of war.
Is not the world at the present time, and has it not always been, the scene of a continuous progress? Have not the arts grown up from an obscure origin, and is not this growth continuing to the present day?
This is the question which lies at the very threshold of our subject, and we must endeavour to treat it by the light of evidence alone, apart from all considerations of a traditional or poetic character.
I do not propose here to enter into a disquisition upon the functions of the human mind. But it must I think be admitted, that if man possessed from the first the same nature that belongs to him at the present time, he must at the commencement of his career in this world have been destitute of all creative power. The mind has never been endowed with any creative faculty. The only powers we possess are those of digesting, adapting, and applying, by the intellectual faculties, the experience acquired through the medium of the senses. We come into the world helpless and speechless, possessing only in common with the brutes such instincts as are necessary for the bare sustenance of life under the most facile conditions; all that follows afterwards is dependent purely on experience.
Whether we afterwards become barbarous or civilized, whether we follow a hunting, nomadic, or agricultural life, whether we embrace this religion or that, or attain proficiency in any of the arts, all this is dependent purely on the accident of our birth, which places us in a position to build upon the experience of our ancestors, adding to it the experience acquired by ourselves. For although it is doubtless true that the breeds of mankind, like the breeds of our domestic animals, by continual cultivation during many generations, have improved, and that by this means raceshave been produced capable of being educated to a higher degree than those which have remained uncivilized, this does not alter the fact that it is by experience alone, conscious or unconscious, self-imposed or compulsory, and by a process of slow and laborious induction, that we arrive at the degree of perfection to which, according to our opportunities and our relative endowments, we ultimately attain.
The amount, therefore, which any one individual or any one generation is capable of adding to the civilization of their age must be immeasurably small, in comparison with what they derive from it.
I could not perhaps appeal to an audience more capable of appreciating the truth of these remarks than to the members of an Institution, the object of which is to examine into the improvements and so-called inventions which are from time to time effected in the machinery and implements of war.
How often does any proposal or improvement come before this Institution which after investigating its antecedents is found to possess originality of design? Is it not a fact that even the most ingenious and successful inventions turn out on inquiry to be mere adaptations of contrivances already existing, or that they are produced by applying to one branch of industry the principles or the contrivances which have been evolved in another. I think that no one can have constantly attended the lectures of this or any similar Institution, without becoming impressed, above all things, with the want of originality observable amongst men, and with the great calls which, even in this age of cultivated intellects and abundant materials to work upon, all inventors are obliged to make upon those who have preceded them.
Since, then, we ourselves are so entirely creatures of education, and derive so little from our own unaided resources, it follows that the first created man, if similarly constituted, having no antecedents from which to derive instruction, could not, without external aid, have made any material or rapid advance towards the initiation of the arts.
So fully has the truth of this been recognized by those who are not themselves advocates for the theory of development, that in order to account for the very first stages of human progress they have found it necessary to assume the hypothesis of supernaturalagency: such we know was the belief of the classical pagan nations, who attributed the origin of many of the arts to their gods; such we know to be the tradition of many savage and semi-civilized nations of modern times that have attained to the first stages of culture. But we have already disposed of this hypothesis at the commencement of these remarks, by deciding that our arguments should be based solely upon evidence. We are, therefore, under the necessity of assuming, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, that none but the agencies which help us now were at the disposal of our first ancestors, and the alternative to which we must have recourse is that of supposing that the progress of those days was immeasurably slower than it is at present, and that vast ages must have elapsed after the first appearance of man before he began to show even the first indications of a settled advance.
Yet the complex civilization of our own time has been built on the foundations that were laid by these aborigines of our species, while the brute creation may be said to have produced little more than was necessary to their own wants or those of their immediate offspring. Man has been the agent employed in a work of continuous progression. Generation has succeeded generation, and race has succeeded race, each contributing its quota to the fabrication of the edifice, and then giving place to other workmen. But the progress of the edifice itself has never ceased; it has gone on, I maintain (contrary to the opinion of some writers of our day), always in fulfilment of one vast design. It is a work of all time.
To study it comprehensively, we must devote ourselves to the contemplation of the edifice itself, and set aside the study of mankind for separate treatment, for it is evident that man has been fashioned, not as the designer, but simply as the unconscious instrument of its erection. Each individual has been impelled by what—viewed in this light—may be regarded as instincts sufficient to stimulate him to labour, but falling immeasurably short of a comprehensive knowledge of the great scheme, towards which he is an unconscious contributor. Of this he knows no more than the earthworm knows it to be its function to cover the crust of the earth with mould, or the small coral polypus knows that it is engaged in the erectionof a barrier reef. No comprehensive scheme of progress need be searched for in the pigmy intellect of man, and if we are ever destined to acquire any knowledge of the laws which influence the growth of civilization, we must look for them in an investigation of the phenomenon itself, by studying its phases and the sequence of its mutations. In short we must apply to the whole range of human culture, to the arts, whether of peace or war, the same method which has already been applied with some success to the history of language.
It has been shown that the speech of our own day has been the work of many generations and of innumerable distinct races; its roots are traceable in the utterances of the untutored savage. No nation ever consciously invented a grammar, and yet language has been shown to be capable of being treated as a science of natural growth, having its laws of mutation and development, never dreamt of by any of the many myriads of individuals that have unconsciously contributed to the formation of it. May not all the products of human intellects in the aggregate be made amenable to the same treatment, and, like language, be found to be influenced by laws of evolution and progress?
That these remarks are not merely speculative, that the progress of civilization has been continuous and connected, while the races which have been engaged in the formation of it, like individuals, have had their periods of birth, maturity, and decay, is sufficiently proved by history.
In Egypt and in Assyria, we see the remains of ancient and formerly populous cities, where now the nomadic Arab pitches his tent or wanders with his flocks, thus showing that relapses of civilization must have occurred in those particular localities where such phenomena are observed. But we know also from history that the civilization which once flourished in those countries did not expire there, but was transferred thence to other places; that the culture of Assyria and of Egypt passed into Greece and developed there; that from Greece it extended to Rome, and in the hands of a new people passed through fresh phases; that after the destruction of the Roman Empire it lay dormant for many ages, only to rise again on its original basis, extended and fertilized by the introduction of fresh blood; that we ourselves are the inheritors of the same arts, customs, andinstitutions, modified and improved; and finally, that civilization, expanding in all directions, as it continues to move westward, is now in process of being received back by those ancient countries in which it originated, in a condition far more varied and diversified than it could ever have become, had it been confined to a single people or country.
Passing now from the known to the unknown, we come to the study of prehistoric times, prepared to find that every fresh discovery helps us to trace backwards the arts of mankind in unbroken continuity towards their source.
Commencing with the Saxon and the Celt, and passing from these to the lake dwellers, and on to the inhabitants of caves, races whose successive periods of existence are determined chiefly by the animals with which their remains are associated, we find that, according to their antiquity, they appear to have lived in a lower and lower condition of culture, until in the drift period, coeval with the extinct mammoth and the woolly haired rhinoceros, we find the earliest traces of man, scanty and unsatisfactory though they be, yet sufficient to show that he must have existed in a state so rude, as to have devised no better implements than flints pointed at one end, and held in the hand.
These successive prehistoric stages of civilization have been divided into the stone, the bronze, and the iron ages of mankind. The evidence upon which this classification is based, has been so ably set forth in the works of Sir John Lubbock and others, that I need not refer to it further than to state that, in my treatment of the origin and development of the weapons of war, I shall in a great measure follow the same arrangement. But I shall endeavour to trace the development offormrather than thematerialof weapons, and to show by examples taken from various distinct periods, and especially by illustrations taken from existing savages, the various agencies which appear to have operated in causing progression during the earliest ages of mankind.
Of these, the first to be considered is undoubtedly the utilization and imitation of natural forms. Nature was the only instructor of primaeval man.
In my previous paper, I discussed this subject at some length, giving many examples in which the weapons of animalshave been employed by man. But besides these weapons derived from animals, primaeval man must no doubt at first have employed the natural forms of wood and bone, and of stones either fractured by the frost, or rolled into convenient forms upon the seashore.
This principle of the utilization and imitation of natural forms appears to bear precisely the same relationship to the development of the arts, that, in the science of language, onomatopoeia has been shown to bear to the growth and development of articulate speech. In the attempt to trace language to its origin, onomatopoeia, or the imitation of the sounds of animals and of nature, appears not only to have been the chief agent ininitiatingthe growth of language, but it has also served to enrich it from time to time, so that even to this day, poetry and eloquence in a great measure depend on the employment of it. But apart from this, language has had an independent and systematic growth of its own.
So, in like manner, men not only drew upon nature for their ideas in the infancy of the arts, but we continue to copy the forms and contrivances of nature with advantage to this day. But apart from this, we must look for an independent origin and growth, in which form succeeded form in regular continuity. Many a lesson has still to be learnt from the book of nature, the pages of which are sealed to us until, by the natural growth of knowledge, we acquire the power of reading and applying them. Imitation therefore, though an important element in the initiation of the arts, would not alone be sufficient to account for the phenomenon of progress.
The next principle which we shall have to consider, is that of variation. Amongst all the products of the most primitive races of man, we find endless variations in the forms of their implements, all of the most trivial character. A Sheffield manufacturer informed me, that he had lately received a wooden model of a dagger-blade from Mogadore, made by an Arab, who desired to have one of steel made exactly like it. Accordingly my informant, thinking that he had found a convenient market for the sale of such weapons, constructed some hundreds of blades of exactly the same pattern. On arriving at their destination, however, they were found to be unsaleable.Although precisely of the type in general use about Mogadore, all of which to the European eye would be considered alike, their uniformity rendered them unsuited to the requirements of the inhabitants, each of whom piqued himself upon possessing his own particular pattern, the peculiarity of which consisted in having some almost imperceptible difference in the curve or breadth of the blade.
In the earliest stages of art, men would of necessity be led to the adoption of such varieties by the constantly differing forms of the materials in which they worked. The uncertain fractures of flint, the various curves of the trees out of which they constructed their clubs, and the different forms of bones, would lead them imperceptibly towards the adoption of fresh tools. Occasionally some form would be hit upon, which in the hands of its employer would be found more convenient for use, and which, by giving the possessor of it some advantage over his neighbours, would commend itself to general adoption. Thus by a process, resembling what Mr. Darwin, in his late work, has termed ‘unconscious selection’, rather than by premeditation or design, men would be led on to improvement. By degrees some forms would be found best adapted to one pursuit, and some to another; one would be used for grubbing up roots, another for breaking shells, another for breaking heads; modes of procedure, accidentally hit upon in one class of occupation, would suggest improvements in another, and thus analogy, coming to the aid of accidental variation, would give an impulse to progress. Thus would commence that ramification of the arts, occupations, and sciences which, developing simultaneously and assisting each other, has borne fruit in the civilization of our own times.
I am aware that it will be found extremely difficult to realize a condition of human existence so low as that which I am supposing, and that many persons will deny the possibility of mankind having ever existed in a condition so helpless as to have been incapable of designing the simple weapons which we find in the hands of savages at the present day. It is as difficult to place one’s self in the position of a being infinitely one’s inferior, as of a being greatly one’s superior in intellect. ‘Few persons,’ says Professor Max Müller, ‘understand children, still fewer antiquity.’ Our own experience cannot save us in estimating the powers of either, for, long before the period of which we have the earliest recollection, we had ourselves undergone a course of unconscious education in the arts of a civilized community; our very first utterances were in a language which was in itself the complex growth of ages, and the improvement of our natural faculties, resulting from the continued cultivation of our race, enhances the difficulty we find in appreciating the condition of our first parents.
Another fertile source of variation arises from errors in successive copies. At a time when men had no measures or other appliances to assist them in copying correctly, and were guided only by the eye, an implement would soon be made to assume a very different appearance. Mr. Evans has shown in his work on the ‘Coins of the Ancient Britons’ (p. 167) how the head of Medusa, copied originally from a Greek coin, was made to pass through a series of apparently meaningless hieroglyphics, in which the original head was quite lost, and was ultimately converted into a chariot and four. We must not, however, attribute all variation to this cause, for I quite agree with a remark made by Mr. Rawlinson in his ‘Five Great Monarchies’, that such varieties are more frequently noticed in cases where the contrivance is of home growth, than in those which are derived from strangers.
The third point which we shall have to consider in relation to continuity, is the retarding element. Under this head, incapacity must at all times, and especially in the infancy of society, have played the chief part. But as civilization progressed, other agencies would come in to influence the same result; prejudice, force of habit, principles of conservatism in which we have been told by Mr. Mill that all the dull intellects of the world habitually ensconce themselves, a thousand interests of a retarding tendency, rise up at the same time as those having a progressive influence, and prevent our advancing by other than well-measured paces.
The resultant of these contending forces is continuity. If we could but put together the missing links; if we could revive contrivances that have died at their birth, and expose piracies; if we could penetrate the haze that is so often thrown over continuity by great names, absorbing to themselves the credit of contrivances that belong to others, and thereby causing it toappear that progress has advanced with great strides, where creeping was in reality the order of the day; we should find that there is not a single work of man’s hand which has not its history of slow and continuous development, capable of being traced back, like branches of a tree, to its junction with others, and so on until the roots of all are found to lie in the simplest contrivances of primaeval man.
But we must not expect that we shall be able, in the existing state of knowledge, to trace this continuity from first to last, for the links that are lost far exceed in number those which remain. The task may be compared to that of putting together the fragments of a tree that has been cut up for firewood, and of which the greater part has been burnt. It is only here and there, after diligent search, that we may expect to find a few pieces fitting in such a manner as to prove that they belonged to the same branch. We do not, on that account, abandon our conviction that the tree once grew, that every large branch was once a small twig, and that every limb developed by a natural process into the form in which we find it. The difficulty we have to contend with is precisely that which the geologist experiences in tracing his palaeontological sequence. But it is far greater, for natural history has been long studied, and the materials upon which Mr. Darwin founds his celebrated hypothesis have been in process of collection for many generations. But continuity, in relation to the arts, can scarcely yet be said to be established as a science. The materials for the science have not yet been even classified, and classification is a process which must always precede continuity in the study of nature. Classification defines the margin of our ignorance; continuity results from the extension of knowledge, by bridging over the distinction of classes. Travellers, for the most part, have been in the habit of bringing home, as curiosities, the most remarkable specimens of weapons and implements, without much regard to their history or the evidence they convey; and their descriptions of them, as a general rule, have been extremely meagre. Until quite recently, the curators of our ethnographical museums have aimed more at the collection of unique specimens, serving to exhibit well-marked differences of form, than such as by their resemblance enable us to trace out community of origin. The arrangementof them has been almost universally bad, and has been calculated rather to display the several articles to advantage, on the principle of shop windows, than to facilitate the deductions of science. The antiquities of savage races, moreover, have as yet been almost wholly unstudied.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, we are able to catch glimpses of evidence, here and there, which, when put together systematically, and when the vestiges of antiquity are illustrated by the implements of existing savages, will, I trust, be found sufficient to warrant the principles for which I contend.
In the earliest ages of mankind, when all men were warriors, and before the division of labour, consequent on civilization, had separated the arts of peace and war into distinct professions, we must expect to find the same implement frequently employed in the capacity of both tool and weapon. Even long after the very earliest ages of which we have any historical or archaeological record, we often find a combination of tool and weapon in the same forms, especially amongst those semi-civilized and savage races of our own times, whom we regard as the representatives of antiquity. The battles of liberty, from the age of the Jews and Philistines down to the time of the last Hungarian revolution, have always been fought by the subject people with weapons made out of the implements of husbandry. We read in the first of Samuel, chapter xiii, ‘Now there was no smith found in all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share’ (the blade of the ploughshare), ‘and his coulter’ (a kind of knife), ‘and his ax, and his mattock’ (a kind of pickaxe).... ‘So it came to pass, in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan.’ In the revolts of the German peasantry, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the bands of insurgents armed themselves with threshing flails and scythe blades. In 1794 and 1831, the Polish peasantry were similarly armed[127]; and it was from such implements of husbandry that weaponslike the military flail, the bill, and the yataghan, derived their origin. In the recent outbreak in Jamaica (which, had it not been ably and powerfully put down, would have led to the destruction of the whole white population) the negroes armed themselves with weapons of husbandry. In the proclamation of Paul Bogle, he says: ‘Every one of you must leave your house, take your guns; who don’t have guns, take cutlasses.’ The cutlasses here referred to were the implements used for cutting the sugar-cane, sharp on the concave edge, and are the same which, having been used as weapons by the negroes in their own country, have continued to be employed by them ever since. In like manner, we learn from Symes’s ‘Embassy to Ava in 1795’,[128]that the Burmese use the sabre both for warlike purposes, as well as for cutting bamboos, felling timber, &c.; it is the constant companion of the inhabitants for all purposes, and they never travel without it. In Borneo, the peculiar sword-like weapon, called the ‘parangilang’, is used both as a weapon, and also for felling trees, and the axe of this country is constructed so that, by turning it on the helve, it can be used either as a weapon or as a carpenter’s axe. In like manner, the Kaffir axe-blade, by simply altering its position in the handle, is used either as a weapon, or for tilling the ground. The North American Indian tomahawk, like the Kaffir axe, is used for many different purposes; the spear-head of the Kaffir assegai is the knife that is used for all purposes of manufacture, and Captain Grant says that the Watusi of East Central Africa make all their baskets with their spear-heads.[129]The weapons edged with sharks’ teeth, to which I referred in my former paper, are used in the Marquesas and other of the South Sea Islands, as much for cutting up fish and carcasses as for warlike purposes.[130]Dr. Klemm, in his valuable work on savage and early weapons, describes the wooden pick used by the inhabitants of New Caledonia both as a weapon, and also for tilling the ground,[131]and he gives reasons for supposing[132]that in Egypt and many other parts of the world, the form of the plough was originally derived from that of the hatchet or hoe, used for tilling purposes. The hoe used in East Central Africa, whichalso, like the Kaffir axe, serves as a medium of exchange in lieu of money, evidently derived its form from that of a spear or arrow head. The spade, formerly used in this country, and represented in old pictures, which is still used as a shovel in Ireland, is a pointed spear-like instrument, and the ‘loy’ or spade still used in all parts of Ireland is hafted exactly in the same manner as the bronze celt of prehistoric times. Dr. Klemm (l. c., p. 119) gives an illustration of an axe used by the Norwegian peasants both as a tool and weapon. Speke describes the Usoga tribe[133]as being armed with huge short-handed spears, adapted rather for digging than for war; and Barth describes the Bornouese troops in Central Africa digging holes with their spears, and employing them in searching for water.[134]The Australian ‘dowak’, a kind of club with a flint attached, combines the purposes of a tool and weapon. We know from the short sticks upon which the small arrow-heads of quartz found in the Peruvian tombs are mounted, that they must have been used as knives as well as for missile purposes. Professor Nilsson says that flint-barbed arrow-heads, of precisely the same form, are used by the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego as knives,[135]and Mr. Stephens, in his travels in Central America, shows reason for supposing that the large stone idols in Copan were carved with similar arrow-points,[136]no other instrument capable of being used for such a purpose having been found in the neighbourhood.
Examples of this class of evidence might be multipliedad infinitum; but enough has already been said to afford good grounds for believing that many of the implements of stone and bronze which are found in the soil, may have been used for a great variety of purposes, and that, especially in the earliest stages of culture, we must be careful how we attribute especial purposes to tools and weapons because they appear to differ from each other slightly in form. This is more especially so when, as is almost invariably the case, the several distinct types are found—when a sufficient number of them are collected and arranged—to pass almost imperceptibly into each other byconnecting links; showing that the differences observable between any two implements of the same class, when brought together and contrasted, are rather due to the operation of a law of variation and development in the fabrication of the tool itself, than to an intention on the part of the constructor to adapt it to particular purposes, and that its application to such especial purposes must have followed, rather than itself have influenced, the development of the tool.