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How bow & arrows are
made
Although Bushmen do a fair amount of trapping, the most
esteemed method of hunting is with bow and arrow. 
The bows are from two to
three feet long and about an inch in thickness, tapering
towards both ends. They are made from tough elastic
wood. They select a straight branch or sapling, and
having stripped it of bark, twigs and leaves, tie it
against a pole. It is allowed to partially dry. It's
then shaved down to the required thickness with a stone
or knife. Sometimes the bow is smeared with grease to
prevent it from cracking or splitting.
The arrow was a complex
piece of equipment comprising of four parts. In former
times the point was made of stone or bone, but since
contact with iron-smelting Bantu-speaking farmers they
have also used triangular iron points.
The point is fixed to a
short reed collar which is, in turn, connected to the
main shaft of the arrow by a small torpedo-shaped piece
of wood or bone, the so-called link.
When the arrow strikes an animal, the impact causes
the link to split the shaft so that longer portion falls
away and the point is left embedded in the animal. If
the point doesn't split from the shaft this could result
in the animal dislodging the arrow when running through
the bushes.
The arrows are carried in
quivers that are normally made of the root of an acacia
or quiver tree. When the root is heated, the bark expands,
loosens itself from the pith of the root which is then
removed from the bark. The sides of the quiver are covered
in leather, which shrinks firmly around the quiver when
it dries out. In the quiver there is a repair kit and
fire rod.
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