THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

How Spears were Changed into Harpoons

None of the clans could make better weapons than the men of the Bison clan. Since boyhood, Greybeard had been known for his delicate spear points and knives. No workshop in all the valley was better known than his. But even Greybeard’s weapons sometimes were known to fail. Even his spear points sometimes were lost in the chase.

For several days the men were at home making new weapons. They never made spears and javelins with sharper and finer points. They never made straighter and smoother shafts. When they started out to hunt, they were proud of their new weapons. All the Cave-men expected that before the day passed, they would have new trophies and fresh meat.

The women, trapping birds on the hillsides, listened from time to time. They expected to hear Bighorn’s whistle when the animals were ready to be skinned. But the day passed, and no signal came.

At sunset the men returned, but they were gloomy and silent. They brought no trophies, and they spoke not a word of the chase.

No wonder the men were gloomy and silent. Their precious spears and javelins had been lost in the chase. It was not because the men were careless. It was not because they were not skillful in making spears and javelins. It was because these weapons, when thrown from the hand, could not strike deadly blows. The Cave-men had thrown at the wild horses with a sure aim. Their javelins and spears went right to the mark. When the horses ran, the Cave-men followed. But in spite of all they could do, the wild horses were soon out of sight.

Some of the horses received ugly wounds and carried the weapons far away. Others received slight wounds; they brushed off the spears and javelins, which fell and were lost in the tall grass.

Time and again, hunted animals had escaped with only a wound. Wounded animals had often escaped with a spear or javelin. But never before had so many animals escaped with so many precious weapons.

Of course there was nothing for the Cave-men to do but to make new weapons. But it took a long time to season the sticks for straight and smooth shafts. It took patience and skill for the Cave-men to make delicate flint points. Perhaps this was why the Cave-men learned to retrieve the weapons they threw.

Ever since the Cave-men had learned to make spears, they had lashed the head to the shaft. They thought that this was the only way to make a good spear. Chipper was the first Cave-man who invented a new way.

Chipper was all alone in the workshop. He had finished a spear point which he held in his hand. Without thinking what he was doing, he slipped the tang into a hollow reed which he picked up from the ground. If it had not been for a hungry wolf, he might have thought no more about it.

But the wolf had smelled the meat which was on the ground close to the workshop. Hearing a sound, Chipper looked just in time to see the wolf spring toward the meat.

The spear flew from Chipper’s hand before he stopped to think. And Chipper sprang upon the wolf and engaged in a hand-to-hand fight.

At the first sound of the combat the Cave-men rushed to the spot. There they found that Chipper had already secured his prize.

While the Cave-men looked at the wolf, Chipper told them what had happened. He showed them the reed which he had used in hurling his new spear point. The men looked at the hollow reed and tried it to see how it worked. Other reeds were on the ground. So the men fitted spearheads into the reeds and practiced throwing that way. They played with the reeds the rest of the day.

When they worked at their weapons again, Chipper, alone, tried a new way. He made a loose shaft with a socket in the end. During the next chase they lost many weapons. Chipper lost many spearheads; but he always found his loose shaft.

When the Cave-men noticed that Chipper never lost his shaft they began to make loose shafts. And they got the idea of a barbed spearhead from a wound which was made by a broken point. They found such a point deep down in the wound of a bison. The sharp edge had caught in the bison’s flesh. And every movement of the bison had driven the spearhead deeper.

It was by paying attention to such little things that the Cave-men learned to make barbed spears. When the Cave-men learned that barbed spearheads made very dangerous wounds, they were willing to take the trouble of making the barbed points.

But no Cave-man was willing to lose one of his barbed spear points. Perhaps that is why the men began to tie the barbed heads to the loose shaft. When they first did this, they did not know that their spears had become harpoons.

THINGS TO DO

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