Negrito Bow

Mr. R. F. Barton gave me an opportunity to shoot a Negrito bow (pl. 8), a specimen from his Philippine collection. It was a well made weapon of palma brava, 6 feet 4 inches in length, excellently finished, having a rounded back and a concave belly, making a most unusual cross-section. At the center it is 1 by ¾ inches, circum­ference, 3⅛ inches; at the mid-limb, ⅞ by⅝, circumfer­ence, 2¾ inches; at the nock, ½ by ⅜, circumference, 1¾ inches. It has short conical nocks with slight shoulders. The string is twisted and highly polished vegetable fiber, having no well formed loop. This string broke during the tests, and a linen string was substituted. When drawn 28 inches it weighed 56 pounds. It cast its own arrow, a long bamboo shaft, a distance of 124 yards. The Ishi flight arrow was shot 176 yards. It is of fairly good wood but follows the string badly, is heavy in the hand, and kicks. Palma brava is very much inferior to yew, cedar, or hickory.