Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

278 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii
" wing " of the feather pointed backwards, it would
be " compressed " (?) when in actual use. Vaughan-
Stevens further remarks, somewhat naively, that, " at
all events, as a tiger is always attacked at a distance
of a few yards only, an exact aim is of little con-
seque?ice " !
^
The feathers are of five types, which are con-
sidered to be of varying values. In one the full
breadth of the wing is cut down whenever it is
required for use. The least valuable kind is only
used if the better sorts are rare or unobtainable. In
one sort the feather is split with a chopper (" parang "),
an operation which requires the greatest care and
precision.
-
In order to make the feathers more effective, the
Putto is said in ancient times to have pronounced a
charm over them, but nobody now knows this charm,
for the Puttos are long ago dead and gone.^
The illustrations which accompany the foregoing
account represent the following objects :
—
[a) quiver as
used by the Semang, not for hunting but on his
travels through the jungle. It does not contain more
than ten arrows, which are, however, of different
sorts, two being tiger-arrows ;
[d) quiver with magic
rings ; {c) obsolete tiger-arrow, headed with bamboo ;
[d) and [e) other types of arrows.^
The decorated bamboo quiver, which holds only
three or four arrows, terminates in a point which
enables it to be planted in the ground, and is either
simply carried in the hand, or passed through the
back of the wearer's belt.''
^ Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 135.
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