Chapter 42: 422-435
Page 427
Dutch Rifle
Dutch rifle wheellock, circa 1630: The jaw is normally tightened with the same spanner used to cock the lock. This being a "Dutch" lock.
Page 428
A Polaris of Evil
At the time of Mason & Dixon, iPolaris only literally meant the North Star: "Polaris" comes from Stella Polaris, the Latin form of its common name "Pole Star". The rarely used Greek name Cynosura (Κυνόσουρα) means "tail of the dog".
Polaris was the name of a famous guided missile system in the 20th Century.
Here, North as the place from which death and destruction comes in Pynchon's world is clearly stated and what is another negative allusion to
"man's best friend" may be implied. There is Pugnax in ATD. Arguably, dogs
are symbols of the bourgeoisie in Pynchon, complicit in TRP's view of mankind's History.
