THE TRIBES OF GUIANA.
WEAPONS.
CHANGES OF LANGUAGE -- INVERSION OF WORDS AND SENTENCES -- THE
TALKING PARROT -- THE FIVE CHIEF TRIBES OF GUIANA -- PECULIARITY
OF CLIMATE, AND CONSEQUENT EFFECT ON VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFE --
THE HAMMOCK OF GUIANA -- THE WEAPONS PECULIAR TO THE COUNTRY -- THE
TWO KINDS OF BLOW GUN -- THE ZARABATANA, AND MODE OF CONSTRUCTION
-- WEIGHT OF THE WEAPON -- THE PUCUNA -- ITS DOUBLE TUBE -- THE
OURAH AND SAMOURAH -- THE KURUMANNI WAX -- THE INGENIOUS FORE AND
BACK SIGHTS -- THE BLOW GUN ARROWS -- THEIR CONSTRUCTION -- MODE OF
SHARPENING -- THE PIRAI FISH -- INGENIOUS MODE OF PACKING THE ARROWS
-- MODE OF PROPELLING THE ARROWS -- THE WINGED ARROW -- THE QUIVER
AND COTTON BASKET.
It is evident that the innumerable tribes which inhabit the
neighborhood of the great Amazon River are members of the same family,
differing more in language than in appearance or habits. It is natural
that families when they become large should separate themselves, and
so become founders of fresh tribes, which spread themselves over the
country, settling down in those spots which suit them best. They retain
the general character of their manners and customs, but, owing to the
total want of a literature, their language is continually changing.
This alteration in their language is also due to the native fondness
for inverting words and sentences during their conversation with each
other, a custom which bears some resemblance to that of punning among
ourselves. When these inverted words happen to please the people’s
fancy, they are retained in the language, so that in a few years after
a family has separated itself from the parent tribe the two dialects
will have receded so far from each other that the people can hardly
understand each other.
To the philologist this fluctuation of language would be exceedingly
interesting, but, as we are concerned with manners and customs rather
than with language, we will pass northward and eastward to Guiana.
Sir R. Schomburgk mentions a fact which is a singular corroboration
of the rapidity with which language changes among these tribes. There
was a parrot living in 1800, which spoke well, but many of whose words
could not be understood, because it spoke the language of the Atures, a
tribe which had passed entirely out of recollection after it had been
mastered by the warlike Caribs.
This comparatively small country is especially interesting to
ethnologists, in consequence of the perfect manner in which the natives
have guarded their individuality. Evidently sprung from one source,
they have settled down in different districts and, though alike in
color and general conformation, are as widely different in language,
and often in manners, as if they belonged to separate quarters of the
world.
Five principal nations inhabit Guiana, and are subdivided into a vast
number of small tribes. These are the Macoushies, the Arawâks, the
Accawaios, the Caribs, and the Waraus. The two first of these will be
taken as representatives of the tribes in Guiana, though the others
will be mentioned in cases where they present any marks of difference.
Taking broadly the chief points of distinction between these tribes, we
may simply define them as follows.
The Macoushies are the largest and most ingenious tribe. They excel in
the manufacture of the terrible wourali poison, which they exchange
for canoes and other necessaries from other tribes. They also make the
best blow guns. Their huts are closed, and conical like sugar loaves.
Their number is somewhere about three thousand.
The Arawâks are rather taller than the Macoushies, being, on an
average, five feet six inches in height. Their faces are marked with
the tattoo, and, as they are much brought into contact with white men,
they approach civilization nearer than do the other tribes.
The Accawaios and Caribs wear no clothing except on occasions of
ceremony. The former are distinguished by a wooden ornament in the
cartilage of the nose, and the latter by wearing ornaments in the under
lip, and by a lump of annatto fastened to the hair of the forehead.
The Waraus are darker than the others, and are acknowledged to be the
best canoe makers in Guiana. Some of their vessels will carry ninety
or a hundred men, and they sell these canoes to the Macoushies for the
excellent wourali poison for which that tribe is celebrated.
* * * * *
Owing to the peculiarities of the climate, all these tribes have
many customs in common. The climate is a very remarkable one, being
exceedingly hot and exceedingly wet. The heat is owing to the
geographical position of Guiana, which is close to the equator, and the
wet is due to the trade winds and the configuration of the country.
Blowing across the Atlantic they absorb a vast quantity of moisture
from the ocean, and discharge the greater portion of it before they
can reach any distance inland, the moisture being condensed by the
secondary mountain chains, which are from five to seven thousand feet
in height.
In consequence of this perpetual heat acting on perpetual moisture,
vegetation flourishes with a luxuriousness scarcely to be seen in any
other part of the world; and so completely is the ground covered with
tree and bush, that many trees are unable to find a habitation upon
the ground, and are forced to live upon each other. Thus, upon a lofty
mora tree a fig tree will grow, and upon the fig an enormous creeper
will fasten itself, its long shoots dangling loosely from the enormous
height at which they grow, or drooping in graceful and flower-clad
festoons from one tree to another. Such a forest as this is often
ankle-deep in water for miles together, and the vegetation is so thick
that the only way of passing through the tangled mass of vegetation
is to cut a path with the axe. And even then, after a week or two
has elapsed, the path will have vanished, so rapid is the growth of
vegetable life.
It follows from this description that the animals which inhabit Guiana
must be chiefly of two kinds, those which inhabit the trees and those
which live in the water. Accordingly, we find that the country is
tenanted by a great variety of the monkey tribe, that the arboreal puma
and jaguar take the place of the terrestrial lion and tiger, and that
the aquatic capybara and tapir flourish where beasts of equal size
would perish if they had to live on the land. Birds of the most lovely
plumage abound in Guiana, which is also a very paradise of insects.
It is evident that any human beings that live in such a country as
this must have many characteristics in common. They need no clothes,
no houses, and the woods supply them with food without the trouble of
cultivation, so that their chief incentives to labor are taken away.
Consequently, they may be called an idle people, though the indolence
is rather apparent than real. They will work as long as there is a
necessity for it; but, as a man can support existence without doing a
real day’s work in his life, it is evident that the necessity for work
does not often arise.
One habit which they have in common is that of sleeping in the hammock.
This article is made by the natives from various vegetable fibres, and
is woven in different ways, according to the character of the tribe
which makes it. Some of these are made simply by laying a number of
strings parallel to each other, and knotting others across at right
angles; but the best have no knots at all, the strings interlacing with
each other diagonally, so as to yield in every direction to the body of
the occupier. When a native has made a particularly fine specimen, he
adorns it with feathers, and other brilliantly colored objects.
These hammocks are of various sizes, some being small and used for
children, and others large enough to contain an entire family. The
specimen in my collection will hold two Guianan natives, but not two
Englishmen. It is rather more than sixteen feet in length, and six feet
in width.
The hammock is exactly adapted to the wants of the native. It is so
light that he can roll it up and tie it round his body, so as to carry
it on a journey; so slight in texture as to keep him cool when lying in
it; and so yielding in its structure that the bare cords do not hurt
his naked skin. On a journey he always carries his hammock with him,
and if he wants to rest, he does not sit down, but slings the hammock
between two trees and lies in it. Several purposes are fulfilled by
this arrangement. In the first place, the ground is usually wet, so
that the man is kept dry in the hammock; in the next place, he is
safe from the snakes and other unpleasant reptiles that swarm in the
forests; and lastly, he would always rather lie down than sit.
Another point which they have in common is the mode in which they
destroy the animals on which they live. The reader will remember that
the density of the jungle is so great, that if an animal were able,
after it was wounded, to run for a hundred yards or so, or a bird to
fly the same distance, it would be lost in the bush without the chance
of recovery. It is evident, therefore, that the successful hunter
must possess some means of destroying motion, if not life, almost
instantaneously, and this he finds in the terrible wourali poison,
which has the effect of causing instant stupor when it mixes with
the blood. The mode of manufacturing this poison will presently be
described, and at present it is sufficient to say that nearly all the
missiles used by the Guianan aborigines, whether propelled by the bow
or by the breath, are armed with this poison.
* * * * *
We will first take those missiles which are propelled by the breath,
and examine the instrument through which they are sent. In principle
this is exactly like the sumpitan of Borneo, described on page 1119,
but the mode of construction is different, and in the best specimens
the Guianan work is far superior to that of Borneo.
Of this singular weapon there are several varieties, the two principal
of which are shown over the title “Blow guns” on the 1225th page,
both being taken from specimens in my possession. On the right is the
zarabatana. This is found throughout a very large tract of country
southward of Guiana, when it takes a somewhat modified and improved
form.
It is made of two separate pieces of wood, in each of which is cut a
semicircular groove, so that when they are placed in contact with each
other they form a long wooden rod, pierced with a circular bore. As the
natives use nothing but the incisor teeth of rodent animals by way of
tools, it may be seen that the labor of making one of these instruments
is very great. The bore being carefully smoothed, the two halves are
laid together, and bound by means of long, flat strips of jacitara wood
wound spirally round them.
To the lower end of the weapon is fastened a large mouthpiece, with a
conical opening like the mouthpiece of a trumpet, so as to collect the
breath for the propulsion of the arrow. A quantity of cement, composed
of a black wax made by a wild bee mixed with a pitchy substance
obtained from several trees, is then rubbed over the whole weapon,
which is considered complete. The zarabatana is exceedingly heavy, and
requires not only a strong but a practised arm to hold it steady. The
specimen in my collection, which is several feet in length, weighs
three pounds twelve ounces.
A far superior weapon, called the “pucuna,” larger, lighter, and more
easily handled, is made by the natives of many parts of Guiana, that
used by the Macoushie tribe being the best. The specimen which is shown
on the left of the zarabatana was brought from Guiana by the late Mr.
Waterton, who presented it to me shortly before the accident which
caused his death.
The weapon in question (called pucuna) is double, being made of two
portions, called ourah and samourah. The essential portion of the blow
gun is the ourah. This is a singular reed (_Arundinaria Schomburgkii_),
which, as far as is known, only grows on the sandstone ridge of the
Upper Orinoco between the rivers Ventuari, Paramu, and Mavaca. Like the
bamboo, it grows in clusters, and, though not exceeding half an inch in
diameter, the first fourteen or sixteen feet are without a knot. From
this point spread the long, slender branches, measuring from thirty to
forty feet in length, and waving in graceful curves when moved by the
wind.
The portion used for the blowpipe is the first joint, which is uniform
in diameter throughout, and is naturally polished within. But it is
so thin, the walls being not twice the thickness of a playing card,
that it would be too fragile to be used without some protection.
Accordingly, the native has recourse to a sort of palm, called by him
samourah, its scientific title being _Ireartia setigera_.
This is chosen of a proper size, cut down, and steeped in water, for
the purpose of extracting the pulp which fills the interior. When it
is quite dry, the reed is inserted into this tube, the native gunmaker
having a wonderful talent in getting the slender reed exactly in the
centre of the palm-stem, and fixing it in its place with the black wax
already mentioned. This wax is called kurumanni by the Macoushies, and
is used by them as freely as is the “black-boy” wax by the Australian
aborigines. The samourah is then scraped down to the proper thickness,
well polished, and the weapon is ready for the accessories which
complete it.
One end is chosen to serve as a mouthpiece, and is bound with a string
made of silk-grass and the other is tipped with the half of the acuero
nut, which is very hard and prevents the end of the weapon from being
injured by accidental blows against a tree or the ground. This acuero
seed acts as a fore-sight, by which the native hunter can direct
his weapon; but, in order to secure a more certain aim, he adds a
singularly ingenious back-sight. Taking a lump of kurumanni wax, he
presses it on the blowpipe about eighteen inches from the mouthpiece,
and by means of the wax fixes upon the tube the two lower incisor teeth
of the acouchi, one of the cavies.
Figure 1 shows the weapon itself, and fig. 2 the front view of the tip,
guarded with its ring of acuero seed, which forms the fore-sight. Fig.
3 gives an enlarged representation of the back-sight, made of the teeth
of the acouchi (_Dasyprocta Acouchi_) fixed in their place by the black
kurumanni wax. Fig. 4 is a section taken through the middle of the
back-sight, so as to show the way in which the teeth project from the
shaft. Fig. 5 is a front view of the butt, showing the way in which the
ourah reed is enclosed within the samourah palm.
Such a weapon as this is exceedingly light and easy to handle,
presenting a strong contrast to the heavy and cumbrous zarabatana.
The weight of the one in my collection barely exceeds a pound and a
half, although it is eleven feet in length. It is held in rather a
curious manner. The left hand is turned with the palm upward, and the
elbow against the hip. The hand then grasps the blow gun within a
hands-breadth of the mouthpiece, and the right hand seizes it, palm
downward, in the space left by the other hand. In fact, this mode of
holding the weapon is exactly similar in principle to that which is
employed by riflemen. The blowpipe is then raised, not by the arms,
but by bending back the body; and it is astonishing to see how steady
it can be held for a lengthened time--a steadiness which can never be
gained if it be held by stretching out the right arm and grasping it at
some distance from the mouth.
The natives are most careful respecting the straightness of their blow
guns, and never allow them to lean against anything lest they should be
warped. When they go hunting, they carry the blow gun upright, like a
soldier, “shouldering arms,” and when they return to their huts, they
suspend the weapon by a loop to the top of the house. Mr. Waterton
repeatedly draws attention to this point in his “Wanderings,” and when
he presented me with the pucuna which he brought from Guiana, the gift
was accompanied by a condition that it should never be allowed to lean
against a wall, but should be either laid on the ground or suspended by
its loop.
* * * * *
We now come to the arrows which are propelled through the pucuna. They
very much resemble in shape and size those which are employed by the
Dyaks, but, instead of being made to fit the bore of the pucuna by
a piece of pith or soft wood at the butt, a small quantity of wild
cotton, taken from the _Bombax ceiba_, is wound upon it, and fastened
with a fibre of silk grass. Cultivated cotton is too heavy to serve
the purpose, and nothing answers so well as the yellow, stout-fibred
cotton of the Bombax. Very great art is required in putting on the
cotton properly. It must exactly fit the bore, be perfectly regular, so
as not to disturb the accuracy of the flight, and must taper gradually
in front, so as to offer the least possible resistance to the air. See
illustration No. 1, on the next page.
The shaft of the arrow is made of the leaf ribs of the coucourite palm,
a species of areca. It is about ten inches in length, no thicker than a
crow quill, and at one end is brought to a point as sharp as a needle
by scraping it between the teeth of the pirai fish (_Serrasalmus
piraya_). The teeth of this fish are flat, pointed, and double-edged,
much like those of the shark--and, indeed, the pirai is a veritable
fresh-water shark, biting whole mouthfuls from the bodies of animals
that enter the water, and even attacking the alligator itself--and when
the arrow is drawn between them, delicate shavings are taken off, just
as is the case with the double knife-sharpeners of the present day. One
half of a pirai jaw is always suspended to the quiver of a Macoushie.
Of the poison with which the arrow is armed we will presently treat:
we are now only concerned with the manufacture of the weapon. In order
to save space, the cotton is not put upon the arrows until just before
they are wanted, six or seven finished arrows being left in the quiver
for immediate use, and the rest tied in a bundle until needed. The
formation of this bundle is singularly ingenious, the native being able
to remove any of the arrows without untying it, and to add as many as
he likes without disturbing those which already are tied together.
The native takes a rod of hard wood, a little longer than the arrows,
and at one end he fixes a little wheel, rather more than two inches in
diameter. At two inches from the wheel, and the same distance from the
end of the rod, two holes are bored, through each of which are passed
two strings made of cotton. When the man wishes to tie up a number of
arrows, he lays them successively between the strings, which he twists
between each arrow. When the last arrow is laid in its place, the whole
are kept firm by a couple of sliding knots, which can be slipped along
the strings.
Illustration No. 7 on the following page, will explain the method of
stringing the arrows better than can be done by words alone. Two of the
arrows are shown as prepared for use, the cotton being on their butts
and the poison on their tips. A number more are shown as they appear
on the double strings, poisoned, but without the cotton. A hunter will
sometimes have as many as five hundred arrows at once upon a string.
In order to keep the weapons compact, so that they can be easily
slipped into the quiver, they are rolled round the little rod, and
bound firmly together in a cylindrical form, the poisoned points being
directed to the wheel, of which the reader will now see the use. It
serves as a sort of shield to the hand, so that when the hunter wishes
to take the arrows out of the quiver, he can do so without the least
danger; and when he desires to remove some arrows to be mounted with
cotton, he can push them through the spokes of the wheel, and take them
out without having to untie the bundle. See illustration No. 6.
[Illustration: (1.) BLOW GUN ARROWS. (See page 1224.)]
[Illustration: (2.) WINGED ARROW. (See page 1227.)]
[Illustration: (3.) COTTON BASKET. (See page 1227.)]
[Illustration: SHARPENER ENLARGED
(4.) QUIVER AND SHARPENER. (See page 1227.)]
[Illustration: (5.) BLOW GUNS. (See page 1223.)]
[Illustration: (6.) ARROWS ROUND STICK. (See page 1224.)]
[Illustration: (7.) ARROWS STRUNG. (See page 1224.)]
When properly made and mounted, these arrows can be propelled with
wonderful force. I have sent one for a distance of a hundred yards,
and the natives can propel them to a still greater distance. There
is a certain art in using the pucuna, the arrow not being urged by a
lengthened breath, but by collecting all the air that the lungs will
hold, and giving a short expiration, as if the object were to empty the
lungs at one puff. The force comes entirely from the lungs, the cheeks
having nothing to do with it. When an arrow is rightly propelled, it
flies from the tube with a slight pop, like that which is produced by
quickly drawing the cork of a small bottle. It is quite invisible for
some little time, so rapid is the motion; and even when fitted with
white instead of yellow cotton the eye can scarcely follow its course.
Such an instrument as this is simply invaluable for the purposes to
which it is devoted. It is intended to be used almost exclusively for
killing birds and small monkeys, both of which creatures live on trees.
Now, as the trees of Guiana run to an enormous height, some of them
attaining at least a hundred feet before they throw out a branch, it
will be seen that the birds are beyond the reach of shot-guns. The
foliage is so thick that it does not permit more than one or two shots
to reach the bird, and the height is so great that, even if they did
strike, they would produce but little effect. But the pucuna can throw
an arrow higher than a gun can propel a shot, and if the needle-like
point enters any part of the bird the effect is fatal.
There is another advantage which the pucuna possesses over fire-arms.
The report of the gun frightens away every bird within sound, whereas
the pucuna is practically noiseless. The slight “pop” with which the
arrow is expelled does not alarm the birds, and an expert hunter can
kill twenty or thirty birds from one tree without alarming the others.
The pucuna is particularly useful in the chase of the toucan. The
feathers of this bird are much used in the manufacture of the beautiful
gala dresses which the natives wear on grand occasions, and are much
prized by them. Now, the toucan has a way of sitting on the topmost
boughs of the tallest trees, and were it not for the deadly arrow of
his pucuna, the native could seldom obtain a specimen.
Just before the arrow is put into the blowgun, the hunter places it
between two of the pirai-teeth already mentioned, and turns it round
between his fingers. He thus cuts it through just above the poisoned
portion, so as to leave a mere thread of wood attaching the head to the
shaft. If, therefore, the bird or monkey, on feeling the smart, should
seize the arrow and withdraw it, the poisoned head snaps off and is
left in the wound.
In some parts of the country a very ingenious form of arrow is used.
Instead of being made to fit the bore by means of cotton tied on the
butt, a flat piece of bark is twisted round the arrow so as to cause
it to terminate in a hollow cone. A larger piece of the same material
is fixed along the shaft of the arrow, and slightly twisted so as to
cause it to revolve when projected through the air. The arrow is tipped
with a slight iron blade, instead of being merely sharpened wood. (See
illustration No. 2.) This form of hollow base is admirably adapted
for its purpose, and has been copied by Messrs. Lang, the well-known
gunmakers of Cockspur Street, in their blow gun darts for killing small
birds and animals without noise.
Next comes the quiver in which the arrows are kept. This is shown in
illustration No. 4, on page 1225. The framework of the quiver is made
of the ittiritti-reed, and the bottom is closed by a circular plate of
wood. In order to keep the poisoned arrows from the damp, which would
effectually spoil them, the whole of the quiver is covered with a thick
coat of kurumanni wax, which is pressed firmly into the interstices of
the wicker-work, and into the junction between the bottom and the sides
of the quiver.
Lest the rough basketwork should injure the delicate arrows, the quiver
is lined with beautifully made mat-work, of much finer material,
and quite smooth to the hand. The cover is made of a piece of skin,
sometimes of the tapir, but mostly of the peccary. While fresh and wet
it is moulded over a wooden block of the proper size, just as hatters
mould their felt into its form. The hairy side is kept inward, and when
it is pressed on the top of the quiver, and twisted with a turn of the
hand, it holds itself firmly in its place. When the cover is on the
quiver, no water can enter, and even if the hunter were to drop it into
the river, the arrows would be preserved quite dry in their floating
receptacle.
Before the kurumanni wax which covers the quiver is quite dry, a flat
plaited belt made of silk grass is secured to it by means of a long
string, which encircles the quiver several times. In this cincture is
also secured by strings a coil of silk-grass, from, which can be drawn
the fibres by which the cotton is attached to the arrow, together with
the half jaw-bone of the pirai, with which the arrows are sharpened. In
my specimen this jaw-bone is two inches in length.
The last article which completes the equipment of the bird hunter is
the basket of wild cotton. This, as may be seen from illustration No.
3, has a narrow neck, and bulging body; so that the cotton does not
fall out of the basket, though carried with the opening downward.
The quantity which it will hold is astonishing. From one of them Mr.
Waterton took handful after handful until a large heap was on the
table, just as a conjuror takes vast quantities of feathers out of an
apparently empty hat.