Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/172

161 NOISELESS KILLING ARROW. . 161 •introduction of firearms, as the former could be suc- cessfully used in hunting game and shooting down sentinels without revealing the presence of an enemy. "It is well known to those familiar with the sub- ject, that as late as fifteen or twenty years ago, when hostile Indians were still thoroughly in practice with the bow and arrow, that it were safer to stand before an Indian's rifle at eighty yards than at the same dis- tance when he was armed with a bow and arrow. Since these more primitive weapons have been discarded, however, the Indians have become more expert wiuh the rifle, as has many times been shown." Ask a sportsman at what distance his breech, seli- loading shot-gun wUl kill, and invariably his reply will be sixty yards; and for a good hunter to bring down a rabbit on the run at 180 feet is above the average shot. ; A.gain, observe what Uncle Sam in substance says relative to the Indian not taking kindly to fire- arms: These children of nature are not stupid. They know that the foolish (?) wild animals will very readily "catch on" at the first crack of a rifle that there is danger, whereas a bolt from a bow would be sUenfr and yet death-dealing, and would not this weapon be much more effective where an opportunity was sought „to shoot a man without giving a general alarm? Is it not a fact, that under favorable atmospheric con- ditions the report of a rifle could be heard several mUes? So these subtle natives must be given credit for having a good deal of mother wit. Until the Spanish-American War, whenever sharp- shooters or a deploying party thrown out before an engagement, commenced firing, not only was the