THE FIRST BOW AND ARROW
AMONG a people whose whole life was spent in fighting, and in killing
animals for food, weapons were the most important things. We have
seen how the cave men used clubs and spears, and later stone axes and
knives. But as the tribe increased in numbers, so that the whole valley
was filled with them, it became harder and harder to get enough food.
The cave men were very swift runners, and often pursued and overtook
the smaller beasts, but there were many that they could not overtake.
There were also great flocks of waterfowl that flew over the marshes.
The hunters tried in every way to kill these, but it was hard work.
Sometimes they would manage to hit one with a well-aimed pebble or
stone, but even though they became skilful throwers, it was not easy to
throw a stone far enough, or with enough force, to kill an animal or
a large bird. So they all tried to think of some way to kill birds and
animals at a distance.
One of the first things they did was to invent the sling. Some early
hunter found out, that by placing a smooth round pebble in a leather
thong, and whirling it about his head, he could throw the pebble much
further and harder than he could by hand. It was not long before the
cave men became very skilful in the use of the sling. They found out
just the right moment to let go one end of the thong, so that the
pebble would fly straight and hard toward the mark, and soon they were
able to hit and kill the marsh birds, something like our ducks, or
geese, without much trouble. But the sling, although useful against
such small game, did very little harm to animals of larger size. A wolf
or a bear paid no attention to the pebbles that hit him, and either ran
away, or turned against the hunters and attacked them.
Of course the cave men soon learned how to throw their spears, hurling
them at the enemy with great force and skill. But they could not throw
them very far, because they were so heavy, so they made smaller,
lighter ones called javelins, which they could fling a great distance.
The further they threw them, however, the less certain was their aim,
so they often missed.
On this account the early people tried in many ways to find out how to
throw their sharp-pointed javelins a long distance, and at the same
time with correct aim. One way was to use a throwing stick—a short
piece of wood with a handle to it, and a groove along the top in which
they laid the javelin or spear. With these throwing sticks they could
hurl a spear a greater distance, than they could in the ordinary way.
Some of these early peoples may have used the blow-gun, such as is used
to-day by the savages of the forests in South America. These blow-guns
are made of long, hollow tubes of wood, such as bamboo, and little
poisoned darts are shot from them with great force by blowing through
one end of the tube, just as boys to-day blow beans or bits of putty
from a bean shooter. But it was not until man invented the bow and
arrow that he found a really serviceable weapon for killing things at a
distance.
Just how the bow and arrow came to be invented we shall of course never
know. Some people think it came from the use of bent saplings in making
snares or traps. Such a sapling, springing back when released, would
throw a small object a considerable distance. Some think the bow may
have developed from the bow-drill. One of the first ways of making
fire, as we have said, was by rubbing two sticks together. A simple
way to do this was to twirl one stick between the palms of the hands,
like a drill, while pressing it against a piece of softer wood. Later
on, men found that by twisting a double cord between the ends of a bent
stick, they could twirl the drill by moving the bent stick from side to
side, and they used these bow-drills, as they are called, not only to
make fire, but to drill holes in bone, or bits of wood, or even stone.
But it is very likely that man discovered the bow for shooting with
first, and later used the idea of the bent stick to make the bow-drill.
[Illustration:
BOWS AND ARROWS AND SLINGS
With the bow and arrow, early man could kill his enemies at a
distance.]
Sometimes, when making and seasoning the long handles of their spears,
the early men may have found that, if a spear shaft was crooked,
it could be straightened by bending it like a bow in the opposite
direction and tying the two ends together with a cord. This would have
made a sort of bow, and it may be that in some such way as this man
found that a string tied between the two ends of a bent piece of wood
could be used to shoot a javelin or arrow a greater distance than it
could be thrown by hand.
But however the invention of the bow and arrow came about, it was one
of the most important steps taken by early man. He was now able to kill
his enemies, his game, at a distance. As he learned to use his new
weapon, he slowly found out the best kinds of wood to make it from,
picking out those which were tough, strong and elastic. Not being able
to cut down large trees and saw them into strips, he was forced to make
use of small saplings, cut in the forests. He soon found out that these
saplings, when green, were not hard and elastic; he had learned this
in making his spear shafts. But when such saplings had been dried for
many days before the fire, they became fit to use. Then he would scrape
off the bark with a stone knife, make notches at each end, to hold the
bow-string in place, and cut down the thicker end of the sapling until
both ends of his bow were of the same size. For his arrows he used thin
strong reeds at first, but later on made them of seasoned saplings too,
using a smaller size. He knew, from making spears and javelins, how to
fix at the end of the arrow a stone point, or a head of sharp bone, but
he found out very soon that the arrows would not fly straight unless
they had a bit of feather, or a tuft of grass fastened to their ends.
It may be that these feathers were first fastened to the ends of the
arrows as ornaments, just as they had been fastened to the shafts of
spears, but when the cave men found that they would make their arrows
fly straighter, they used them for that purpose.
The bow and arrow made it much easier for the cave dwellers to get
food, and in those days, the getting of food was the chief object of
their lives. Always there stood before them the fear of hunger. They
had not felt this fear, when the days were all pleasant and warm, and
there was plenty of fruit and nuts and game, but when the cold came,
and food was scarce, the hunter who could bring back the most food
became a very important man in his tribe. So the cave men tried very
hard to become skilful in the use of their new weapon. With fire to
keep them warm, caves to keep out the cold and rain, and the bow and
arrow to help them get food, they became stronger and more fearless all
the time. But the tribe in the valley had grown so large that there was
no longer food enough for all near at hand, and soon parties in search
of game began to wander farther and farther away from the valley,
building huts of brush in the forests beyond the hills, or digging
caves in the earth to protect them from the storms.
Mother Nature, who was watching the doings of her children very
carefully, saw that the valley was getting too full, and began to make
plans to find a new home for some of her people.
"How will you do it?" asked the Sun, to whom she had spoken of her plan.
"Watch carefully," Mother Nature replied, "and you will see."