Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1893-02-24
HUNTING WITH BLOW GUNS.
savagcs Who Use These Queer Weapons
With Poisoned Arrows.

The blow pipes used isy the sl ages of
Guiana for shooting poisoned arrows are
very wonderful weapons indeed The
climate of this equatorial region. being
both very hot and very moist, produces
The forests are commonly ankle deep in
water for mile after mile, and conse-
qucntly the animals found there mostly
inhabit the trees Monkeys are exceed
ingly numerous. For killing these tree
dwelling creatures the blow gun is The
best possible instrument Ii is made from
IL peculiar kind of reed, and although
eleven or twelve feet in length. its
weight is only Il pound and half 1t is
provided, like IL rifle, with fore sight
and u back sight, the latter being made
of the teeth OF II small beast called the
aco,lclli.
The natives are most careful respect.
ing the staightncss of their blow guns,
and never allow them TO lean against
anything lest they should he warped.
The arrows employed are made from the
leaf ribs of Kind of palm. made to fit
the bore of the gun by wrapping of
wild cotton fastened with IA fibre of silk
SItsS. NICstt VtC As ICY lulIcO to IDtlt pH
the cotton properly. Thearrow is about
ten inches long, no thicker than ii crow
quill, and ut one end is brought to Il
point us sharp as Il needle by scraping it
between the keen edged saw-likc teeth of
the pirai fish. Onc-lalf of Il pirli
jaw is always suspended to the quivcr.
The vegetable poison used for cnvcn-
oming the arrows is called '.curari." 1t
is extremely powerful and will killaman
within few minutes when introduced
into the circulation by an arrow point,
though it is harmless when swallowed.
1t is very difficult to procMrc the strong
est ''curari" from the natives, who are
most unwilling to part with it. The ar
row heads are kept carefully separate
from the shafts as 4; prccaution against
acciden s, the savages themselves being
very much afraid OF the poisoEs which
they employ. The secret of preparing
the poison is handed down by the mcdi-
cine men from generation to generation,
and the common people are not per-
mittcd to know it.
First must bc sought the c,,rari vine,
which is closely allied to the tree which
furnishes strychninc, and to tic upon
tree, from which the Dyaks of i,o,neo
get the poison for their arrows. When
the poison maker has found the c,rari he
looks for two dubious plants, the stems
of which yield Il glutinous juice An
other vegetable ingredient is the bitter
root. commonly used by these s:vagcs in
poisoning water for the purpose OF
catching fish. To the mixt.,He composed
of these elements the medicine man adds
two kinds OF vcnemous ants and the po;.,-
cnous iangs of deadly species OF snakes.
The whole is allowed to simmer over 4
fire. the snakes fan.s and ants lun.s
pounded and thrown into the pot. The
boiling is continued until the poison is
reduced to thick brown syrup. Finally
a few arrows are dipped permentlly in
the poison, and ills effect is tried unon
some animal or bird. II satisfactory the
poison is poured into Il aspherical carihcn-
ware pot, in which it is kept, carefully
covered over with lcavcs. to exclude mir
and moisture. Washington Star.