. Bulletin. Ethnology. Vol. 4] CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBES—JOHNSON 243 Weapons.—Bows are 4 to 5 feet ( to m.) long, less than 1 inch ( cm.) wide, and about half an inch ( cm.) thick. The best bow- strings are made of pita fiber. Arrows are made of cane and are 4 to 5 feet ( to m.) long. Stunning arrows, used for small game, have blunt, knobbed heads made of deer antler, hardwood, or cow horn (Skinner, 1920) set into the larger end of the cane, bound with cord, and sometimes covered with pitch. Killing arrows are tipped with a piece of hardwood which has a rudimentary tang and
. Bulletin. Ethnology. Vol. 4] CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBES—JOHNSON 243 Weapons.—Bows are 4 to 5 feet ( to m.) long, less than 1 inch ( cm.) wide, and about half an inch ( cm.) thick. The best bow- strings are made of pita fiber. Arrows are made of cane and are 4 to 5 feet ( to m.) long. Stunning arrows, used for small game, have blunt, knobbed heads made of deer antler, hardwood, or cow horn (Skinner, 1920) set into the larger end of the cane, bound with cord, and sometimes covered with pitch. Killing arrows are tipped with a piece of hardwood which has a rudimentary tang and is set in a deep notch of a wooden foreshaft. Only one reference to poisoned arrows has come to light. These were said to have been used in battle by the Boruca. Gabb (1875, p. 516) describes a blowgun, or pellet gun, bored from one piece of wood, fitted with a double sight, and covered with pitch. "The missies are clay balls. These . . are carried in a little net, with them are two bone implements. One, simply a straight, heavy piece of bone used to drive a ball out of the tube by its weight, in case of sticking. The other is similar in appearance, but the end is worked into a round pit with sharp edges, for trimming the balls to the proper size and ; Woodworking.—Woodworking is confined to hewing with machetes and small adzes and finishing with smaller tools and with certain kinds of leaves which are used as sandpaper. Guaymi wooden articles are illus- trated in figure 52. Bribri articles are illustrated by Skinner (1920). Stone industry.—No cutting tools are made of stone at the present time. The grinding surfaces of manos and metates are flattened and pre- pared by pecking with another stone. Whetstones are cut from deposits of soft sandstone or volcanic rock. The Guaymi possess some stone tobacco pipes, which they highly prize. These are said to be made by the people living in a locality where a special kind of rock is obtainable. These pipes vary f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1901