The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-10-20
ARE DEAD SHOTS
With BLOWP|PE
Remarkable Weapon Of IL.
indian Sharpshooters Of
Guiana.
SkILFUL W~oRkMANsHlp
Of the Two Kinds in Use the Poocoon,.
Which Is Made by the Oorab
Reed Is the Favorite of the
Red Men.
SkILFUL WORKMANSHIP

Longman's Magazine: There are tw,
kinds OF blowpipes in use among tina
Indians of Guiana. The first, called tha
poocoona, Is made Of the oorah raea
This remarkable reed Is found onlv j
certain spots. The oorah grows ia tba
height of at least thirty feet, and ta
basal joint, of which the owpine ~
made, is fourteen or fifteen feet long
straight as an arrow and without .
knot.
The inside of the reed is as smooth
as glass. hence the facility with which
the dart traverses it. Very little of iba
reed is cut away, SO hat the pine 10
about twelve feet long, and is so stronr
that when held horizontally, there 10
not the least bend in it.
The reed, having been carefully So.
lected, cut and prepared, is inclosed in
a small, thin palm trunk, which is snlit
open for the purpose, scraped thin as
a wafer and then rejoined with the reed
in the center. This palm, for length,
straigtness and iiShtness. is as remark.
able 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 muzzle,
and the breech are mouthed, the bell
pieces being fixed on.
Itao q w Sl9nlS. ~.
There are front and back sights, thu
latter formed of the curved teeth Of
the dasyprocta acouchi, a species of ro-
dent somewhat larger In size than a
wild rabbit. Two of the inciSors OF
this animal are fixed on the breech of
the pipe by mean of wax. The teeth
being placed parallel to each other and
very close together, the sight is taken
between them. Sometimes the fore
cferht 10 mo de ~, ttNn Ga1,a yXpaNr hut =.
more often consists of the single sharp
tooth of a fish. 1t is placed about a
foo from the muZzle. the back sight
being affixed four feet along the tube,
so that 1t is a considerable distance
from the eye when aiming.
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 COO
cooreete palm leaf, and is so heavy that
1t will sink In water. II is about seven
inches in length, not thicker than u
large needle, and the usual number
that an Indian carries With him when
shooting is from $50 to 500, ready poi
soned, but not prepared with the nee
essary cotton plugs.
These darts are strung together
something like the reeds on which soft
cheeses are placed, and then rolled on
a stick and carried in a culver, points
uppermost, 1t being requisite to protect
them from every chance of being bro
ken or dulled. To protect the hand
when handling them, the top Of the
stick is furnished with a small, wheel
like shield.
The fine points are given to the darts
by e of the teeth of the d~evilfsh
(serrasalmus ~pirava)' and the cotton is
found growing wild. It is bound to the
base of the dart with thread made OF
silk grass; this thread, with wax OBJ
tanned from several trees, being largely
used also in making the bIowpipe.