Some tribes, using a powerful long-bow, shoot birds in the air at a
great distance. The hunter, throwing himself on his back, with his
quiver by his side, places his feet against the bow, raised to the
required elevation, and thus, stretching out his legs, draws the arrow
to his head on the ground. By this means he is enabled to kill wild
fowl and other game at an enormous distance. An amusing writer on
Venezuela mentions an Indian who used to place a piece of money on the
top of a lemon, close to the point of the big toe on his left foot, and
then, leaning backwards, bend his bow with the help of his right one,
and shoot into the air at an angle of 85 degrees,--the arrow never
failing when it turned round to come down and strike the coin. Another
would shoot a bird soaring above his head, without looking at the
bird,--guided only by the shadow cast upon the ground about mid-day.