MDMD (10) Dutch Rifles

[Michel Ryckx]

"[. . .] White Horsemen, carrying long Rifles styl'd "Sterloops," [. . .]"
(101.33-34)

"Loop" in the first place means "course".  A 'Sterloop' is litteraly: 'The
Star's Arc".  As Otto pointed out, 'White' could be referring to death.  The
Dutch settlers, spreading Death with their guns (bullets having a parabolic
arc), while others observe a Star's Arc in a more scientific way.

It is one of the more elaborate word plays that made me laugh, comprising some
bitterness, when one is aware of the bloody history of the region.

Michel.