Where there were cartridges there were likely to be weapons, and Bomba scanned the surrounding spaces carefully. But neither rifle nor revolver was to be seen. Bomba conjectured that natives, passing, might have found and appropriated these as curiosities, though they did not know how to use them. The fact that the cartridge belt had not been disturbed was probably due to a superstitious repugnance to touch a dead body for fear it would bring evil fortune.