The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.371

v1.c10.371

**Pellet-bow and sling :** In the *Rāmāyaṇa* mention is made of the bow as an instrument for casting pellets of stone ; but its use was most probably limited to shooting birds, for it is now here named in connexion with warfare. The sling too was well known, and Bharata, in the *Rāmāyaṇa* is described as highly proficient in its use. Wilkinson says : "The Acarnanians were proud of their skill in managing it, and were surpassed by the Achaeans alone, of all the Greeks, who even vied with the natives of the Balearic Islands ; and so expert were these last, and of such importance did they consider the sling, that the principal care of a parent was to instruct a boy in its use".¹⁹³ Homer admits the sling (*sphendoni*) as an instrument of war, and the "plaited wool", of which it was made, serves in one place as a bandage for tying a wound. The Hindus, however, never gave it any prominence, and deservedly treated it with contempt. Neither the pellet-bow nor the sling occurs in sculpture.