56/80
[ stop the slideshow ]

An officer of the Corps of Bowmen

An officer of the Corps of Bowmen.jpg Roman GeneralThumbnailsA Tartar DragoonRoman GeneralThumbnailsA Tartar DragoonRoman GeneralThumbnailsA Tartar DragoonRoman GeneralThumbnailsA Tartar DragoonRoman GeneralThumbnailsA Tartar DragoonRoman GeneralThumbnailsA Tartar DragoonRoman GeneralThumbnailsA Tartar Dragoon

The original weapon of the Chinese, which by the way seems to be the offensive arms of most savages, is the bow. It is still preferred by them to the matchlock; and the Tartars are so fond of it, that it forms an essential part of the education of the young princes of the blood. Their bows are large, and require a considerable degree of strength, as well as a peculiar knack to string them. Even the Emperor wears a ring of agate on the right thumb for the string to press against in drawing the bow, which is the weapon he uses every summer in hunting tigers and other wild beasts in the forests of Tartary.