Nonlethal weapon used both to capture human and hunt game for domestication.
Cord or leather thong with stones attached to each end; second cord with stone is attached to the center of the first to create a three-pronged weapon; weapon is spun around the head and then thrown at the target's legs

Bo"las (?), n. sing. & pl. [Sp.]

A kind of missile weapon consisting of one, two, or more balls of stone, iron, or other material, attached to the ends of a leather cord; -- used by the Gauchos of South America, and others, for hurling at and entangling an animal.

 

© Webster 1913.