quiver (Fig. 13 s) made of hollow bamboo, and are only inserted in the shaft the moment before the arrow is to be used; or, if they are carried in the shaft they are covered with a sheath of hollow bamboo (Fig. 12 d). In either case,

whether the points are carried separately or whether they are protected by a sheath, the object of the precaution is to protect the hand of the Indian from any chance of contact with

the deadly poison with which the points are smeared. In another place I shall have occasion to speak of the making of this ourali poison, which is used both for these arrows and for the darts of the blow-pipe; for the present it is sufficient to say that it is a vegetable substance prepared by the Indians themselves, and especially by the Macusis; and that its effect is gradually to diminish, and finally to stop, the action of the heart of any animal into the blood of which it enters.

The points of these arrows are of two forms: the stouter (Fig. 13 pp, p. 243), with only one or two notches, is used especially for baboons'-i.e. red howling monkeys (Mycetes seniculus), and for other monkeys; the more slender (Fig. 13 ppp, p. 243), with many notches, is used for birds. A very slender variety of the latter kind, smeared with but little poison, is also used for such birds and small animals as are not to be eaten, but to be tamed. Whether in such cases any antidote is used to counteract the effects of the poison, I was never able to learn; but I am inclined to think that the real reason of recovery (for though many animals treated in this way doubtless die, a few live) is that there is only a very minute quantity of poison on the arrow used in shooting for this purpose.

Four varieties of unpoisoned arrows are also used for birds. These may be conveniently described in pairs. The first pair are those used chiefly by the savannah Indians. Of these, one has a round tapering wooden point, often five or six inches in length, armed with several notches (Fig. 14 n, p. 243); this, when shot with force, will penetrate through even the largest bird found in the forests of Guiana. The second, used for smaller birds, differs only in that four small slips of wood are fastened, cross-wise, round the point, at a distance of about a quarter of an inch from the sharp end (Fig. 14 0, p. 243); these prevent the arrow from entering too far into the bird.

The second pair differ from each other but slightly, and are used respectively by the Arawaks and the True Caribs (Fig. 14 l, m, p. 243). Both end not in a point of any sort, but in a large wooden knob. The creole children on the coast

imitate these arrows by fixing an empty cotton-reel at the end of the shaft of an ordinary arrow, and the imitation is very close. These arrows are intended to knock birds down, not by entering and wounding them, but by stunning them. The slight difference between the two forms used by the Arawaks and True Caribs respectively is merely in the form of the fore-shaft and the blunt head.1

The blow-pipe is, I believe, peculiar among the Indians of Guiana to the savannah tribes, and on the rare occasions in which it is found in the possession of the forest tribes, the fact is probably only due to the chance acquisition of the weapon by some idiosyncratic Indian. It is, however, common to many other tribes of South America. The Macusis, Arecunas, and other savannah tribes of the Carib family probably found the weapon in use among the tribes formerly inhabiting the territory now occupied by them, and themselves adopted it; while the True Caribs and Ackawoi, the coast tribes of the Carib family, with the Warraus and Arawaks, having been but little in the interior, were not brought in contact with the original users of this weapon, and so never adopted it.

The following list of the various arrows-some of which occur in several slight varieties-which are used in so small a district as British Guiana, may not be without interest to the ethnologist.

I am inclined to think that distinct varieties of this arrow exist under different names; e.g. the tefoking and the sebrali are not quite the same.

These blow-pipes (Fig. 16) are tubes of very great length, often from 12 to 16 feet or more, through which a small dart (Fig. 25, p. 302) is blown. The manner of manufacture of both tube and dart will be afterwards explained. When setting out to shoot with this weapon, the Indian takes not only the tube, but also a quiver (Fig. 15 4) containing a large number of darts-sharply pointed splinters of wood, five or six inches in length, each tipped with ourali—and the jaw

bone of a perai-fish (Fig. 15 c) (Serasalmo nigra), and also a small basket (Fig. 15 B) filled with the natural fibre of cotton or of some other plant. The fibre of the silk-cotton tree (Eriodendron) is often used for this purpose. When game is seen, one of the darts is placed between two of the sharp teeth of the perai, and is twisted sharply round in such a way that a very small portion of the point is almost, but not quite severed from the main part; this is in order that the point may break off in the body of the animal, that the dart may again be used. A little of the fibre is then wound round the other end of the dart-i.e. the dart is feathered-care being taken not to destroy the balance. The dart is then inserted in the blow-pipe,

THE BLOW-PIPE.

aim is taken, the dart is blown, and the bird almost invariably falls. The certainty with which an Indian can take aim with these hugely long weapons, even when supported by only one hand, is really wonderful. The range of the weapon is as much as from forty to fifty feet.

For its special purpose the blow-pipe is much superior to the gun. The best way of getting a heavy bag of birds with it is to find some tree the fruit of which is attracting large numbers of birds to feed. If the birds sought are parrots, it is especially easy for an Indian with a practised ear to discover such a tree. As he walks through the forest he hears a sound like the fall of heavy rain-drops. Parrots feed in a very wasteful way; the flock flies screaming to a tree, and then each bird silently begins to pick the fruit, and after once biting each fruit lets it fall. Thus a constant shower of the fruit falls from the tree on to the dry leaves on the ground. In this way, though they do not scream while actually feeding, parrots betray their presence. The Indian, as soon as he hears this sound, creeps stealthily up to the tree, and aims his blow-pipe at the bird lowest on the tree. When this falls the rest of the flock are not much alarmed; seeing one of their number suddenly disappear, they perhaps cease feeding for an instant and chatter, but, hearing no noise, they turn again to the fruit. the Indian can bring down a very large number of birds before the flock is really alarmed, and, rising, flies screaming away; whereas with bow and arrow he could, owing to the twang of the bowstring, get but few shots, and with a gun he could get but one.

In this way

Much of the Indians' success in killing both birds and beasts is due to their wonderful skill in