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Where the Bow Is Better Than the Gun.
Of all popular errors about the Indians, the hardest to down is the idea that their women do all the work.

They do the housework, it is true, but all the heavy labour beyond their strength is done by the men.

Examples of this are seen in the frightful toil of hunting, canoeing, and portaging, besides a multitude of kindred small tasks, such as making snowshoes, bows, arrows, and canoes.
Each warrior usually makes his own bow and arrows, and if, as often happens, one of them proves more skilful and turns out better weapons, it is a common thing for others to offer their own specialty in exchange.
The advantages of the bow over the gun are chiefly its noiselessness, its cheapness, and the fact that one can make its ammunition anywhere.
As the gun chiefly used in Quonab's time was the old-fashioned, smooth-bore flint-lock, there was not much difference in the accuracy of the two weapons.

Quonab had always made a highclass bow, as well as high-class arrows, and was a high-class shot.