Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1893-03-18
HUNTING WITH 6LOWGuNS.
savases ct Guiana Who Use laeer Weapons
With Poisoned ArroMS.

savases ct Guiana Nsle, Use uaeer Weapons
With Poisoned Arrows.
The blowpipes u.:e;i by the sayages
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 q vegetation of
astonishing !11xi'riance The forests
ire commonly anAlo deep i'll water
for n1lia after mile, and consequently
the animals found there mostly in
habit the trees. Monkeys are exceed
mgly HUMOROUS. For killing these
tree dwelling creatures the blow
gun is the best possible instrument
1t is made from peculiar kind Of
reed, and although / or IL feet in
length its weight is only ] pounds.
It is provided, Ike IA rifle. with a
fore sight and back sight, the latter
being made Of the teeth of small
beast called the acouclli.
The natives are most careful re-
specting the str;.ightness of their
blowgl3ns and never allow them to
lean against anything lest they
should be warped. The arrows are
made from the leaf ribs OF q kind CT
palm, made to fit the bore of the gun
by a wrapping OF wild cotton fas-
tened with fiber of silk grass
Great art is required to put on the
cotton properly The arrow is about
10 inches long, no thicker than q
crow quill, and at one end is brought
to q point as sharp as a needle b.;
scraping it between the keen edged.
sawlike teeth Of the pirai fish. One
half of a parai jaw is always sus'
pended to q culver.
TIE vegetable poison used for en-
yenolning the arrows is called ''cu
ra1ii . It is extremely powerful and
will Kill a man within a few minutes
when introduced into the circulation
by an arrow point, though it is harm
less when swallowed 1t is very dif.
ficrlt to procure tie strongest ecu.
rari'' from the natives, who are most
unwilling to part with it. The arrow
heads are kept carefully separate
from the shafts as q lrecaution
against accidents, the sayages them
selves being very much AFRAID of the
poisons which they employ. The Sc
cret Of preparing the poison is handed
down by the medicine men from gen
Grafton to generation, and tho com
mon people are not permitted to
know it.
First mast be sought the curari
vine, which is closely allied to the
tree which furnishes stryci1 nine and
to tho upas tree, from which the
Dyals of Boineo get the poison for
their arrows. When the poison max
er has found the curari, he looks for
two dubious plants, the stems or
which yield a glatil1s,11s juice. An
other vegetable ingredient is the bit
ter root, commonly used by these
savages III poisoning water fer the
purpose of catching fish
10 the mixture composed of these
elements tie medicine man adds two
kinds Of venono,1s ants and the poi
son fangs cf deadly species Of snakes.
The whole is allowed to simmer over
a fire, the snakes fargs and the ants
being pounded and thrown into the
pot. The boiling is continued until
the poison is reduced to a thick
brown si1'up. Finally few arrows
are dipped expe1iln e7ltally in the poi
son, and it's effect is tried upon some
animal or bird Il satisfactory, the
poison is poured into a spherical
earthenwa1e pot, i'll which it is kept
carefully covered with leaves, to ex
clude air and moisture. Washing,
ton Star