THE POISONED ARROWS.
The result of the tapir chase determined Guapo to have himself better
armed. There was one weapon--and a very efficient one too--which he knew
how both to make and use. That weapon was a "gravatána," or blow-gun,
sometimes called "pocuna." He had had an eye to this weapon all along,
and had already provided the materials necessary for making it. These
materials were of a varied character, and had cost him some trouble in
getting them together.
First, then, for the blow-tube itself he had cut stems of a slender
palm-tree, a species of _Iriartea_, but not that sort already described.
It was the _Pashiuba miri_ of the Indians. This little palm grows to the
height of from twelve to twenty feet, and is never thicker than a man's
wrist. Its roots, like the others of its genus, rise above the ground,
but only a few inches. The stems which Guapo had chosen were of
different sizes. One was about the thickness of the handle of a
garden-rake, while the other was not over the diameter of a
walking-cane. Both were hollow in the heart, or rather they contained
pith like the alder-tree, which when forced out left a smooth bore.
Having cut these stems to a length of about ten feet, and pushed out the
pith, Guapo inserted the smaller one into the bore of the larger, which
fitted tightly all the way--for he had chosen it of the proper thickness
to this end. The object of thus using two stems instead of one will not,
at first, be understood. It was for the purpose of making the tube
perfectly straight, as this is a most important consideration in the
gravatána. The outer and stronger stem corrected any bend that there
might be in the inner one, and they were carefully arranged so that the
one should straighten the other.
Had it not been perfectly straight, Guapo would have bound it to a post
and made it so; but it happened to come quite right without further
trouble. The tube of the lesser one was now cleaned out thoroughly, and
polished by a little bunch of the roots of a tree-fern, until it was as
smooth and hard as ebony. A mouthpiece of wood was placed at the smaller
end of the table, and a sight was glued on the outside. This "sight" was
the tooth of an animal,--one of the long curving incisors of a rodent
animal called the "paca," which is found in most parts of tropical
America. To make the instrument look neater, Guapo had procured the
tough shining bark of a creeping plant, which he wound spirally around
the outside from the mouthpiece to the muzzle; and then the gravatána
was finished.
There was yet much to be done before it could be used. Arrows were to be
made, and a quiver in which to carry them, and poison to dip their
points in--for the arrows of the blow-gun do not kill by the wound they
inflict, but by the poison with which they are charged.
The next thing, then, to which Guapo turned his attention was the
manufacture of the arrows. These can be made of cane, reeds, and other
kinds of wood; but the best materials for the purpose are the long
spines of the patawa palm, of which I have already spoken. These spines
grow out from the lower part of the leaf-petioles, and, in young trees
and those much sheltered, remain upon the trunk, giving it a very shaggy
appearance. They are often three feet in length, about as thick as large
wire, rather flattish, and of a black colour. To make the arrows, Guapo
cut them to the length of fifteen or eighteen inches, and then pointed
them sharply at one end. About three inches from the points he notched
them all, so that they would break in the wound rather than drop out
again, in consequence of the struggles of the animal.
About two or three inches from the thick end of the arrow Guapo wrapped
lightly around the shaft some strands of the soft silky cotton, which he
had procured from the pods of the great "ceiba," or silk-cotton tree,
already mentioned. This he fastened on with a fibre of an aloe
plant--one of the _bromelias_; and the cotton, when thus secured,
assumed a conical or spindle shape, having its larger end towards the
butt of the arrow. When inserted into the gravatána, the swell of the
cotton filled the tube exactly,--not so tightly as to impede the
passage of the arrow, nor so loosely as to allow of "windage" when blown
upon through the mouthpiece.
The arrows were now ready, with the exception of the poison for their
tips; and this was the most important of all, for without it both
blow-gun and arrows would have been useless weapons, indeed. But Guapo
was just the man who knew how to make this poison, and that is more than
could be said of every Indian, for it is only the "piaches" (priests, or
"medicine-men") who understand the process. Nay, more, there are even
some tribes where not an individual knows how the arrow-poison is made;
and these have to procure it by barter from others, paying a high price,
and sometimes going a great distance for it.
This celebrated poison is known under different names, but those of
"curare," "ticuna," and "wouraly," are the principal.
It is one of the most deadly poisons yet discovered--as much so as the
_upastiente_ of Java, or the bean of St. Ignatius--but it is perfectly
harmless when swallowed, and, indeed, it is often taken by the Indians
as an excellent stomachic. Should it get into the blood, however, by
means of an arrow-wound, or a sore, no remedy has yet been discovered
that will cure it. Death is certain, and a death similar to that caused
by the bite of a venomous serpent. So say those who have suffered from
it, but recovered on account of their having been only slightly wounded,
or lightly inoculated with it. Let us see, then, how Guapo prepared this
deadly mixture.
He had gone out to the forest, and returned carrying a bundle of slender
rods. They were pieces of a lliana, or creeping plant. It was the
_bejuco de curare_, or "mavacure," as it is sometimes called. The leaves
he had stripped off, and left behind as useless. Had he brought them
with him, they would have been seen to be small leaves of an oblong-oval
shape, sharp at the points, and of a whittish-green colour. Don Pablo
knew the plant to be a species of _Strychnos_.
Guapo with his knife first scraped all the bark, as well as the alburnum
or white coating, from the rods, which last he flung away. The mixture
of bark and alburnum was next placed upon a smooth stone, and mashed
into a fibre of a yellowish colour. This done, it was gathered into a
heap, and placed within a funnel, which had already been made out of a
plantain-leaf. The funnel was a long narrow cone, and to strengthen it,
it was set within another funnel made of the thick leaf of the "bussu"
palm, and then both were supported by a framework of palm fibres.
Underneath the apex was placed a small pan--which could afterwards be
put over the fire--and then cold water was thrown into the funnel along
with the bark. A yellowish liquid soon commenced to filter and drip into
the pan, and this liquid was the _curare_, the arrow poison. It still
required, however, to be concentrated by evaporation; and for this
purpose the pan was transferred to a slow fire, where it was kept until
the liquid became thickened by the heat.
Another process was yet required before the curare was ready for the
arrows. It was sufficiently concentrated and deadly, but still too thin
to adhere properly to their tips, and for this purpose a mixture of some
gummy juice was necessary. This Guapo soon prepared from the large
leaves of a tree called the "kiracaguero," and poured it into the
infusion; and then the curare turned from its yellow colour to black,
and was ready for use. The change of colour was produced by the
decomposition of a hydruret of carbon; the hydrogen was burned, and the
carbon set free.
Guapo now dipped a few of his arrows, and carefully deposited them in a
large joint of bamboo, which served as a quiver. I say _carefully_, for
had one of these arrows dropped with its poisoned point upon his naked
foot, or wounded him elsewhere, he never would have prepared any more
curare. But he handled them with care, and the remainder of the liquid
he poured into a small gourd (similar to that in which he carried his
coca-lime), which he closely corked up with a piece of the pith from a
palm.
Don Pablo, with Doña Isidora and the children, had watched with interest
all this process. At first, they were afraid to go near, believing that
the fumes of the liquid might be injurious. This was long believed to be
the case, in consequence of the absurd tales spread abroad by the old
missionaries, and even at a later period by the traveller La Condamine.
These asserted, that when the Indians wished to make the curare poison,
they selected for this purpose the old women of the tribe, whose lives
were not deemed of any value; and that several of these always fell a
sacrifice while "cooking" the curare!
This silly story is now refuted; and Guapo not only assured his
companions that there was no danger, but even tasted the curare from
time to time while in the pan, in order to judge when it was
sufficiently concentrated. This he could tell by its taste, as it grew
more and more bitter as the evaporation proceeded. The arrow-poisons of
South America are not all made from the creeping plant, the mavacure.
Among some Indian tribes a root is used called "curare de raiz;" and
with others the poison is produced by a mixture of several species of
juices from the plant _Ambihuasca_, tobacco, red pepper, a bark called
"barbasco," from a tree of the genus _Jacquinia_, and a plant of the
name "sarnango." Of all these the juice of the _Ambihuasca_ is the most
powerful ingredient, but the making of this species of poison is a most
complicated process.
Guapo was not long in having an opportunity to test his gravatána, and
this was just what he desired, for the old Indian was not a little vain
of his skill, and he wished to make a show of it in the eyes of his
companions. His vanity, however, was the more pardonable, as he was in
reality a first-rate shot, which he proved to the satisfaction of
everybody within half-an-hour. The instrument had scarcely been finished
and laid aside, when a loud screaming and chattering was heard in the
air, and on looking up a flock of large birds was seen flying over the
heavens. They were still high up, but all of a sudden they darted down
together and alit on a tall tree that stood nearly alone.
Here they continued their chattering, only in a lower and more
confidential tone; and they could be seen, not hopping, but climbing
about, sometimes with their backs and heads turned downward, and, in
short, clinging to the branches in every imaginable way. These birds
were all of one kind, each of them full eighteen inches in length, and
of a uniform colour over the body, which was a purple, or deep
indigo--their beaks only being white. In the sun their plumage glistened
with a metallic lustre. They were, in fact, a rare species,--the _ana_,
or _purple macaw_.
Without saying a word, Guapo seized his gravatána and arrows, and stole
off through the underwood towards the tree upon which the macaws had
perched. In a few minutes he stood under it, screened from the view of
the birds by the broad leaves of a plantain that happened to grow
beneath. This cover was necessary, else the macaws, which are shy birds,
might have uttered one of their wild, choral screams, and flown off.
They did not, however, and Guapo had a fair chance at them. All his
movements could be observed by the party at the house, as he was on that
side of the plantain.
He was seen to adjust an arrow into the tube, and then raise the
gravatána to his lips. Strange to say, he did not hold it as we do a
common gun,--that is, with the left hand advanced along the tube. On the
contrary, both hands were held nearly together, at the lower end, and
close to his mouth. Now, you will wonder how he could hold such a long
tube steady in this way. It is, indeed, a very difficult thing, and much
practice alone can accomplish it. As they watched him narrowly, his
chest was seen to expand, his cheeks rose with a strong "puff," and some
of them thought they could perceive the passage of the little arrow out
of the tube.
However this might be, they soon after saw something sticking in the
side of one of the macaws, and could see the bird pecking at it with its
great beak, and trying to pull it out. In this it appeared to have
succeeded after a short while, for something fell from the tree. It was
the shaft with its cotton "boss" that fell down. The point, broken off
where it had been notched, was still in the body of the bird, and was
infusing the deadly venom into its veins. In about two minutes' time the
wounded bird seemed to grow giddy, and began to stagger. It then fell
over, still clutching the branch with its strong, prehensile claws; but
after hanging a moment, these too relaxed, and the body fell heavily to
the ground. It was quite dead.
Long before it came down Guapo had pushed a fresh arrow into the tube,
and given a fresh puff through it, wounding a second of the macaws. Then
another arrow was chosen, and another victim, until several had been
shot, and the creatures upon the tree could be seen in all stages of
dying. Some, on receiving the wound, uttered a cry and flew off, but the
poison soon brought them down, and they invariably fell at no great
distance from the tree.
At length Guapo was seen to desist, and walk boldly out from his ambush.
To the surprise of all, the remaining macaws, of which there were still
six or seven upon the tree, showed no fear of him, nor did they attempt
to fly away! This was explained, however, by their subsequent conduct;
for in a few seconds more they were seen, one by one, falling to the
ground, until not a single bird was left upon the tree. All of them had
been killed by the arrows of the blow-gun!
Leon now ran out to assist Guapo in gathering his game. There were no
less than eight couple of them in all, and they were all quite
dead--some of them shot in the thigh, some in the neck or wing, and
others through the body. None of them had lived over two minutes after
receiving the wound. Such is the quickness with which the "curare" does
its work!
As a hunting instrument for most species of game the South American
Indian prefers the gravatána to any other; and with good reason. Had
Guapo been armed with a rifle or fowling-piece, he would have shot one
macaw, or perhaps a pair, and then the rest would have uttered a
tantalising scream, and winged their way out of his reach. He might have
missed the whole flock, too, for on a high tree, such as that on which
they had alit, it is no easy matter to kill a macaw with a shot-gun. Now
the gravatána throws its arrow to a height of from thirty to forty
yards, and the least touch is sufficient to do the business. Its
silence, moreover, enables the hunter to repeat the shot, until several
head of game reward his skill. The Indians use it with most effect in a
vertical or upward direction; and they are always surer to kill a bird
with it when perched on a high tree, than when seated on a low shrub or
on the ground.
As we have observed that the curare can be taken inwardly without any
danger, it will be evident to all that game killed by the poisoned
arrows may be eaten with safety. Indeed, there are many epicures in
South America who prefer it in this way; and when a chicken is wanted
for the table, these people require that it should be killed by an arrow
dipped in curare.