The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-03
THE DEADLY BLOWPIPE.
How They Are Made by the Indians.
From Longman's Magazine.

How They Are Made by the Indians.
From Longmans Magazine.
There are two kinds of blowpipes in
use among the Indians of Guiana. The
first, called the poocoona, is made of
the oorah reed. This remarkable reed
is only found in the Orinoco river. and
there only at certain spots. The oorah
grows to the hight of at least thirty
feet, and the basal joint, of which the
blowpipe is made, is fourteen or fifteen
feet long, straight as an arrow, and
without a knot. The inside of the
reed is as smooth as glass, hence the
facility with which the dart traverses
it. Very little of the reed is cut away
so that the pipe is about twelve feet
long, and so strong that when held
horizontally there is not the least bend
in it. 3..
The reed having been carefully Sc
lected, cut and prepared, is inclosed in
small, thin, palm trunk which is
split open for'the purpose, scraped thin
as a wafer, and then rejoined with the
reed in the center. This palm, for
length, straightness and lightness is as
remarkable as the reed. The whole
pipe, when finished, never weighs more
than a pound and a half or a pound
and three-quarters. Both the mouth
or muzzIe and the breech are bell
mouthed, the bell pieces being fixed on,
There are front and back sights, the
latter formed of the curved teeth of the
Dasyprocta acouchi, a species of rodent
somewhat larger in size than a wild
rabbit. Two of the incisors of this ami
NAL are fixed on the breech of the pipe
by means of wax. The teeth. being
placed parallel to each other, and very
close together the sight is taken be-
tween them Sometimes the foresight
is made in the same way, but it more
often consists of the single sharp tooth
of a fish. 1t is placed about d foot
back from the muzzle, the back sight
being affixed four feet along the tube,
so that it is a considerable distance
from the eye when aiming.
The Missile.
The missile used with this tube is
misnamed an arrow. 1t is really a
dart, scarcely bigger than a large
darning needle, and with a point quite
as fine. The dart is made of the rib
of the coocooreete palm leaf, and is
so heavy that it will sink in water 1t
is about seven inches in length, not
thicker than a large needle, and the
usual number that an Indian carries
with him when shooting is from $50
to 500, ready poisoned, but not pre-
pared with the necessary plugs. These
darts are strung together something
like the reeds on which soft cheeses
are placed, and then rolled on stick,
and carried in a CULVER, points up
most, it being requisite to protect them
from every chance of being broken or
ldulled. To protect the hand when
handling them the top of the stick is
furnished with small, wheellike
shield.
The fine points are given to the
darts by means of the teeth Of the
devilf1sh (Serrasalmus pirava) and
the cotton with which they are
plugged before use is found growing
wild. 1t is bound to the base of the
dart with thread made of silk grass,
this thread, with wax obtained from
several trees, being largely used also
in making the blowpipe. The skill
used in binding the plug of cotton to
the dart must be great, or it will not
fly true and far when shot. The Indian
never carries more than five or six
ready plugged, and when these are lost
he must draw others from the culver
and plug them. He always tries them
repeatedly before use, and perhaps
never succeeds in getting one to fly
perfectly true. But il 1t is only few