On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 6:14 PM, John Sessoms <jsessoms...@nc.rr.com>
wrote:
> I took it as a reference to early match-lock muskets that were fired
> with
> the barrel supported by a cleft stick.
I don't think so.
From some of the other responses, I don't think that's what they were
referring to.
I now think it's literary reference to a character in the book being sent
off on a snipe hunt.
A cleft stick is required to hold a bundle of messages in its cleavage. The
messengers run from sender to recipient holding the stick aloft in their
hand. The barrel-supporting sticks could not be used for this, certainly not
over the rough terrain of the Abyssinian highlands - the messages would
simply fall out and risk being eaten by hyenas.
No, I think the matchlock sticks are cut from a forking branch.
A cleft stick must be explicitly cloven. The Imperial Abyssinian Post Office
probably has a Department of Stick Cleaving for the purpose. In fact (drum
roll...) they have one in every branch (cue side-splitting laughter).
Bob
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