St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-04-15
HUNTING WITH eLow.ouNs.
0avages 0f Guiana Use These Queer Weap
ons With Poisoned Arrows.

0ovaGes Of Guiana Cse These Queer Weap-
ons With Poisoned Arrows.
The blow pipes used by the savages OF
(; Guiana for shooting poisoned arrows
f: are very wonderful weapons indeed.
The climate of the equatorial region.
being both very hot and very moist,
produces q vegetation Of astonishing
luxuriance. The forests are commonly
ankle deep in water for mile after mile,
and. consequently, the animals found
there mostly inhabit the trees Mon.
keys are exceedingly numerous TO.
killing these tree-dwelling creatures the
blow-gun is the best possible instru-
ment 1t is made from peculiar kind
of reed, and although eleven or twelve
feet in length. its weight is only q
pound and halt. 1t is provided. like a
rife, with fore sight and back sight,
the latter being made Of the teeth Of a
small beast called the acouchi
The natives are most careful respect
ing the straightness of their blow guns,
and never allow them to lean against
anything lest they should be warped
The arrows employed are made from
the leaf ribs of q kind of palm, made to
iit the bore of the gun by q wrapping Of
wild cotton fastened with fiber of silk
grass. Great art is required to put On
the cotton properly. The arrow is
about ten inches long. no thicker than
crow quill, and at one end is brought
to point rs sharp as needle By scrap.
ing it between the keen-edged. saw-lilc
teeth of the pirai fish. One-half of a
pirai jaw is always suspended to the
quiver.
The vegetable poison used for en-.
venoming the arrows is called 'curari." I"
1t is extremely powerful and will kill a
man within few minutes when intro.
duced into the circulation by an arrow
point, though it is harmless when swal-
lowed 1t is very difficult to procure
the strongest ''curari' from the natives,
who are most unwilling to part with il.
The arrow heads are kept carefully
separate from the shafts as q precau-
tion against accidents, the savages
themselves being very much afraid of
the poisons which they employ. The
secret of preparing the poison is handed
down by the medicine men from gener.
alton to generation. and the common
people are not permitted to know il.
First must be sought the curari vine,
which Is closely allied to the tree which
furnishes strychnine. and to the npas
tree, from which the Dyaks of Borneo
get the poison for their arrows When
the poison maker has found the curari
he looks for two bulbous plants, the
stems of which yield glutinous juice.
Another vegetable ingredient is the
bitter root, commonly used BY the sav.
ages IL :sSs.oniag water for the purpose
Of catching fish. To the mixture com
poaed of these elements the medicine
maa adds two kinda Of vsnomous anti
uo4eho .Uo1spa 1anp g deadly species
Of snakes. IT, 49, >1ns~alloueA a
simmer over a fire, the snake 6nGs
and ants being pounded and thrown
into the pot The boiling is continued
until the poison is reduced to thick
brown sirun Finally few arrows are
dipped experimentally in the poison.
and its effect is tried upon some animal
or bird. II satisfactory, the poison is
poured into q spherical earthenwars
pot, in which it is kept carefully COW
cred over with leaves, to exclude air
and moisture. Star.