THE TRIBES OF GUIANA--_Continued_.
WEAPONS--_Concluded_.
EFFECT OF THE WOURALI -- DEATH OF THE AI -- THE LARGER ARROWS --
TUFTED ARROWS -- A SINGULAR QUIVER -- ARRANGEMENT OF THE MOVABLE
HEAD -- QUIVER FOR THE HEADS -- FATE OF THE WOUNDED INDIAN -- HOW
THE ARROWS ARE FEATHERED -- THE NATIVE BOW -- TURTLE ARROWS --
MANUFACTURE OF THE WOURALI -- THE QUAKE AND ITS USES -- THE WOURALI
VINE, AND OTHER VEGETABLE CONSTITUENTS -- THE HYARRI POISON, AND ITS
USES -- ANTS AND SNAKE FANGS -- BOILING THE WOURALI -- EFFECTS OF THE
PROCESS ON THE MAKER -- SELF-POISONED ARROWS -- VARIOUS ARROW HEADS
OF GUIANA -- THE WHISTLING ARROW.
The effect of the poison is instantaneous, provided that it be of good
quality and kept dry. There are many varieties of the wourali, but the
best, which is made by the Macoushies, is so powerful that one of the
tiny arrows brought by Mr. Waterton from Guiana killed a hedgehog at
once, though fifty years had elapsed since the poison was made. Death
was not instantaneous, for the animal, which was very slightly wounded
in the hind leg, breathed for some seconds; but the hedgehog was quite
insensible, and, as soon as it had been pricked by the dart, it allowed
me to lay it on its back, and place my finger on the ball of its eye,
without shrinking.
Many experiments have been made in England with the wourali poison,
most of which have tended to prove that its power has been exaggerated,
and that a man could not be killed by the small quantity that could
be conveyed into a wound on the point of an arrow. I feel certain,
however, that in such cases either the poison has not been of good
quality, or that it has been carelessly kept, and allowed to become
damp, in which case it loses the greater part of its strength. It
is very difficult to procure the strongest wourali poison from the
natives, who are very unwilling to part with it, and will always try
to substitute an inferior kind. The only mode of procuring the best
wourali is to do as Mr. Waterton did, _i. e._ live among them, and
induce them to part with the little wourali-pots from which they have
poisoned their own arrows. Moreover, he must imitate their example in
keeping the poison in a perfectly dry place. The natives are so careful
on this point that they frequently remove the covers of their poison
pots and put them near the fire.
There is no mistake about the potency of such poison as this. Its
effect upon a hedgehog has already been mentioned, but Mr. Waterton
tried it on several animals. For example, he had an Ai sloth that he
wanted to kill painlessly, and without damaging the skin. How he did it
is best told in his own words:--
“Of all animals, not even the toad and the tortoise excepted, this
poor animal is the most tenacious of life. It exists long after it has
received wounds which would have destroyed any other animal, and it may
be said, on seeing a mortally wounded sloth, that life disputes with
death every inch of flesh in its body.
“The Ai was wounded in the leg, and put down upon the floor, almost
two feet from the table. It contrived to reach the leg of the table,
and fastened itself upon it as if wishful to ascend. But this was its
last advancing step; life was ebbing fast, though imperceptibly; nor
could this singular production of nature, which has been formed of a
texture to resist death in a thousand shapes, make any stand against
the wourali.
“First one fore-leg let go its hold, and dropped down motionless by
its side; the other gradually did the same. The fore-legs having now
lost their strength, the sloth slowly doubled its body, and placed its
head betwixt its hind-legs, which still adhered to the table; but when
the poison had affected these also, it sank to the ground, but sank so
gently that you could not distinguish the movement from an ordinary
motion; and had you been ignorant that it was wounded with a poisoned
arrow, you would never have suspected that it was dying. Its mouth was
shut, nor had any froth or saliva collected there.
“There was no _subsultus tendinum_, nor any visible alteration in
its breathing. During the tenth minute from the time it was wounded
it stirred, and that was all; and the minute after life’s last spark
went out. From the time the poison began to operate, you would have
conjectured that sleep was overpowering it, and you would have
exclaimed--
‘Pressitque jacentem
Dulcis et alta quies, placidæque simillima morti.’”
The reader will see that this account agrees exactly with my own
experiment. In neither case was death instantaneous, but in both cases
the power or wish to move seemed to be immediately taken from the
animal, though wounded in a limb and not in a mortal spot.
Of course the quantity of poison must be proportioned to the size
of the animal. The tales that are told of a mere scratch producing
death are manifest exaggerations. It has been mentioned that in
Guiana no very large animals are found, the tapir and the jaguar
being the largest of the mammalia. For the purpose of killing these,
or going to battle where man is to be destroyed, the natives employ
a very different weapon, and use a bow and arrow of rather peculiar
construction.
They are extremely long, some of them being six feet in total length.
The shaft is made of a cylindrical, hollow, and very strong reed
(_Gynecium saccharinum_) which runs to some length without a knot
or joint. In one end is fixed a long spike of a very hard and heavy
wood, called letter wood, because it is covered with red marks like
rude attempts at writing, very much like the scribbled marks on a
yellow-hammer’s egg. In order to guard it from splitting, the shaft of
the arrow is bound for some inches with cotton thread. The commoner
kinds of arrow are merely wrapped with this thread, but in the better
sorts the thread is woven in patterns almost as neat as those employed
by the Polynesian islanders. When the native wants to make a peculiarly
beautiful arrow, he ornaments it in a most singular manner. Into the
thread which wraps the shaft are inserted a quantity of brilliantly
colored feathers, mostly those of the various parrots which are so
plentiful in Southern America. Only the smallest and softest feathers
are used, and they are worked into the wrapping in a manner which
produces the most artistic combinations of color.
The natives have a marvellous eye for color, most likely from having
continually before their eyes the gorgeous insects and birds of their
luxuriant country, and it is wonderful to see the boldness with which
they achieve harmony from a number of hues that scarcely any one would
dare to place in opposition with each other. Scarlet, yellow, pink,
blue, green, and snowy white are all used in these arrows, and are
arranged in a way that would do honor to the best European artist.
Sometimes a cap is made for the arrows, and decorated with feathers in
the same brilliant style. Such arrows as these require much care on the
part of the owner, who is not content with an ordinary quiver, wherein
they might be jolted about and their lovely feathers spoiled, but
constructs a special and peculiar quiver for their reception. He takes
a number of bamboos, about the thickness of a man’s finger, and cuts
them into pieces some eighteen inches in length. These he lashes firmly
together, and then ties over them a bark cover, neatly wrapped with
cotton string.
Each of these tubes contains one arrow, which fits with moderate
tightness, the downy feathers keeping it in its place. They are fixed
so perfectly, that when the arrow is pushed into its tube the feathers
are pressed tightly against the shaft, and when it is withdrawn, they
spring out by their own elasticity, and form an elegant colored tuft.
As the long arrow shafts are apt to vibrate by their own weight, and
might damage the feather tufts in the tubes, a cap is usually slipped
over them--in some cases plain, like the covering of the quiver, but in
others gorgeously made of feathers. These arrows are tipped with the
barbed tail-bone of the sting-ray or are pointed with iron, and not
with bone. These arrows and one of the tubes are illustrated on p. 1214.
The heads of the arrows are made in various ways. Sometimes they are
simply covered with a series of rather blunt barbs, but the generality
of them are constructed after a very elaborate fashion.
The barb of one kind of arrow reminds the observer of the weapon of the
Bosjesman, though the arrow is almost a spear in comparison with the
tiny weapon of the African savage. The point is tipped with a piece of
iron cut into a single barb, and projecting from it and pointing in the
opposite direction a curved iron spike is slightly lashed to the shaft
with cotton.
A thick layer of wourali poison is laid on the arrow for about three
inches, aiding to fasten the iron spike to the shaft. Now, the wourali
poison mixes instantaneously with the blood, so that when the arrow
penetrates an animal, the poison dissolves, and allows the spike to
escape into the wound, carrying with it a sufficient amount of the
poison to cause death, even if in its struggles the animal should
succeed in shaking out the arrow itself. If the reader will refer to
illustration No. 4, on page 247, he will see in the illustration (fig.
4) the Bosjesman arrow, which is made on the same principle.
Some of these arrows appear to have been much prized by the owners who
have covered them with an elaborate ornamentation of cotton thread for
a considerable portion of their length--an example of which, drawn from
one of my own specimens, may be seen in the illustration. Some of the
arrows have long ends of cotton strings hanging from them in lieu of
the feather tufts. These dangling cords are often used as ornaments
by the natives, who decorate with them their clubs in such a manner
that two or three blows must destroy the whole of the work. We shall
presently see examples of these clubs.
The arrow head which is most in vogue among the Macoushies, whom we
take as the typical tribe of this part of the world, is made in a
different fashion. A square groove, about an inch in depth, is cut in
the extremity of the letter wood spike which terminates the arrow, and
a slight sliver of bamboo is lashed so as to press against the opening
along the side. A barbed spike of coucourite wood is then cut. It is
about three inches in length, flat toward the point, and squared at the
base, so as to slip easily into the groove at the head of the arrow,
where it is slightly held by means of the little bamboo spring. This
spring enables the head to remain in its place while the archer is
fitting the arrow to his bow and taking aim; but as soon as the missile
has struck its object, and the animal bounds forward, the poisoned head
remains in the wound, and the shaft falls on the ground.
There is considerable art in putting the wourali on this kind of arrow
head. It is done in several layers, one being allowed to dry before
the other is applied, and being managed so as to cause an edge of the
pitch-like wourali to run along each side of the head. In consequence
of the movability of the head the native archer does not trouble
himself to carry more than one or two shafts, though he has by him a
store of ready-poisoned heads. These are kept in a little quiver made
of a joint of bamboo fitted with a cover, in order to keep the poison
from moisture, and with a cotton belt by which it can be slung over the
shoulders.
One of these quivers in my collection, (see illustration No. 6, page
1231,) brought from Guiana by Sir. R. Schomburgk, is only seven inches
long by an inch and a half wide, and is capable of containing twelve
to fourteen poisoned heads. The native hunter does not require more
than this number, as he rarely shoots without hitting, and when he
has struck one animal large enough to require this kind of arrow, he
seldom wants more than one specimen. In the course of this account
of the Guiana natives the reader will notice the many trouble saving
expedients employed by them.
Owing to the generous nature of the country, which supplies food
without requiring labor, and the warm, moist character of the climate,
the natives are very apathetic, and have the strongest objection to
carrying one ounce more weight, or doing one stroke more work, than is
absolutely needful. So, instead of carrying a large bundle of arrows,
the hunter has one, or at the most two arrows, and a quantity of small
poisoned heads, the whole equipment being so light that a child just
able to walk could carry the bow, arrows, and quiver without being much
inconvenienced.
Knowing the power of this poison, the natives are exceedingly cautious
in handling it, and never carry the arrow with its head bare. They
always slip over the head a small tube of bamboo, just large enough
to be held in its place by the cotton wrapping that passes round the
junction of the head and the shaft. This is never removed except when
the arrow is to be used, and it is scarcely possible to frighten a
native more than by taking off the guard of an arrow and holding the
point to him. It is of this kind of arrow that the following story is
told in Mr. Waterton’s “Wanderings.”
“One day ... an Arawâk Indian told an affecting story of what happened
to a comrade of his. He was present at his death. As it did not
interest the Indian in any point to tell a falsehood, it is very
probable that his account was a true one. If so, it appears that there
is no certain antidote, or at least an antidote that could be resorted
to in a case of urgent need; for the Indian gave up all thoughts of
life as soon as he was wounded.
“The Arawâk Indian said it was but four years ago that he and his
companion were ranging in the forest in quest of game. His companion
took a poisoned arrow, and sent it at a red monkey in a tree above
him. It was nearly a perpendicular shot. The arrow missed the monkey,
and in the descent struck him in the arm, a little above the elbow.
He was convinced it was all over with him. ‘I shall never,’ said he
to his companion, in a faltering voice, ‘bend this bow again.’ And
having said that, he took off his little bamboo poison box which hung
across his shoulder, and putting it, together with his bow and arrows,
on the ground, he laid himself down close by them, bade his companion
farewell, and never spoke more.”
Mr. Waterton then proceeds to mention the different antidotes, in none
of which does he place the least reliance, and in another place remarks
that if the natives knew of any remedy for the poison, they would never
be without it.
[Illustration: (1.) WINGED ARROWS. (See page 1233.)]
[Illustration: (2.) CASSAVA DISH. (See page 1248.)]
[Illustration: (3.) QUAKE. (See page 1234.)]
[Illustration: (4.) ARROW HEADS. (See page 1235.)
_From Christy Collection._ _From my Collection._]
[Illustration: (6.) QUIVER.
(See p. 1230.)]
[Illustration: (5.) TURTLE ARROW. (See page 1233.)]
[Illustration: (7.) FEATHER APRON. (See page 1216.)]
Before passing to the manufacture of this dreaded poison, we will
finish the description of the arrows.
The very long arrows, with their plumed shafts, need no feathers, their
great length sufficing to keep them straight during their flight. Were
the Guianan native to attempt a “long shot,” he would fail. He is not
used to long ranges, which for the most part are rendered needless by
the conformation of the country and the density of the foliage. He does
not expect to shoot at an object distant more than thirty or forty
yards, and likes to get much closer if possible. At these short ranges,
the great length of the arrow keeps it straight, and is effectual in
enabling the hunter to strike an animal, such as a tapir, a capybara,
or a monkey, through the masses of vegetation by which it is concealed
from most eyes except those of a native.
Most of the arrows, however, are feathered, and there is such ingenuity
in the way of putting on the feathers that it deserves mention. In
the arrows to which we are accustomed there are three feathers, but
in the Guianan arrow there are only two. These are taken from the
corresponding feathers of the opposite wings of the bird, so that
when they are fixed on the end of the shaft they curve in different
directions, like two blades of a steamer’s screw, and so communicate
a revolving motion to the arrow as it flies through the air. So, if a
native has two or three arrows before him to which he wishes to add
the feathers, he procures a bird, and for the first arrow takes, we
will say, the second primary feather from the right and left wings of
the bird, cuts off a portion of the upper part, about three inches in
length, strips away the inner half of the feather, and fastens the
remainder on the weapon. The next arrow is feathered from the third
primary of each wing, and so on. See illustration No. 1, page 1231.
The feathers are lashed to the arrow with cotton thread, and so rudely
put on, that they would sadly cut an English archer’s hand when the
arrow was shot. In order to preserve the nock of the arrow from being
split by the bow-string, it is not made in the reed shaft of the arrow
itself, but in a piece of letter wood, which is lashed to the butt of
the arrow.
The bow is often shorter than the arrows, and is of no great strength,
a long range being, as has already been stated, not required. Many
kinds of wood furnish the Guianan bow, but those weapons which are most
in favor are made of a species of Lecythis. They are strung with the
silk grass which has been already mentioned.
Besides the ordinary mode of using their bows and arrows, the Guianan
natives have another, which exactly resembles that sport of the old
English archers, when a garland was laid on the ground, and the
archers, standing in a circle round it, shot their arrows high into
the air, so that they should fall into the garland. It sometimes
happens that a turtle is lying in the water in such a manner that an
arrow, shot at it in the usual manner, would only glance off its hard
coat without doing any injury. The hunter, therefore, shoots upward,
calculating the course of the descending missile so accurately that it
falls upon the turtle’s back, and penetrates the shell.
These arrows are heavier than the ordinary kinds, and are furnished
with a sharp iron point, made in a very ingenious manner. As may be
seen by reference to illustration No. 5, page 1231, the iron point
is doubly barbed. Its neck, at first flat, is soon divided into two
portions, which diverge from each other, and have their ends sharply
pointed, so as to constitute a secondary pair of barbs. A stout
double string of silk grass is then fixed to the neck, and cotton
cord, strengthened with kurumanni wax, is coiled round the diverging
points, so as to form a tube. The end of the piece of hard wood which
terminates the arrow is scraped down to a conical point, so that it can
easily be slipped into the tube. Lastly, the double cord fastened to
the head is carried for a foot or so along the arrow, and made fast by
a couple of belts of silk grass.
As soon as this arrow strikes the turtle, it dashes off, shaking the
shaft out of the tube, and so preventing the arrow from being worked
out of the wound by dragging the upright shaft through the water.
Whenever the reptile comes near the surface, the light reed shaft of
the arrow rises so as to indicate its presence, and, aided by this
mark, the hunter is soon able to secure the reptile. The arrow, a part
of which is shown in the illustration, is rather more than five feet in
length. It is represented with the shaft separated from the tube. The
iron point is thick and solid, and as the hard-wood spike is fourteen
inches in length, the front part of the missile is comparatively heavy,
causing it to descend with great force.
* * * * *
We now come to the manufacture of the dreaded poison which produces
such fatal effects. The natives are very chary of giving information on
the subject, and it is very difficult to learn the precise ingredients,
the proportionate quantities, or the mode of preparing them. The
following account is obtained partly from Mr. Waterton’s book, partly
from information given by himself, and partly from the words and works
of other travellers in the country.
A good many articles are employed, or said to be employed, but I
believe that only two are really needed. The native who is about to
make wourali sets about his task in a very deliberate manner. He sets
off into the woods alone, taking on his back a peculiar kind of basket
called a “quake” or “habbah.” This is a very ingenious kind of basket,
combining the two requisites of lightness and strength. It is generally
used when the native wants to carry objects that are not very heavy,
and are large enough not to slip through the interstices.
It is made from the ittiritti reed, split into slips about the third of
an inch in width. As when tilled it swells out toward the bottom and is
narrow at the mouth, the objects that are placed in it have no tendency
to fall out, which might easily be the case with an ordinary basket, as
the bearer is obliged to clamber over fallen trees, to force his way
through the dense underwood of a tropical forest, and to subject the
quake to such rough treatment that its qualities of form and elasticity
are continually brought into operation.
The quake will hold a wonderful amount of goods, being as dilatable
as an English carpet-bag. My own specimen (see illustration No. 3, p.
1231,) measures twenty inches in width, and this is the usual average.
The first thing to be sought is the wourali vine (_strychnos
toxifera_). It is closely allied to the tree which furnishes the
well-known strychnine, in its coarser stages of preparation called _nux
vomica_, or ratsbane. The upas tree, which furnishes the poison for the
Dyak sumpitan arrows, belongs to the same genus. The wourali (spelt
sometimes “oorara” or “curari”), though not very rare, is very local,
and not easily discovered. It has a vine-like appearance, with a woody
stem about three inches in diameter, covered with rough gray bark. The
leaves are dark green, placed opposite each other, and of an oval form.
The fruit is nearly as large as an apple, round, and smooth, with seeds
imbedded in a bitter gummy pulp.
When the poison maker has found the wourali, he looks after two bulbous
plants, containing a green and glutinous juice, and puts some of their
stems into the quake. The third vegetable is a bitter root, which I
believe to be the hyarri, a papilionaceous plant, which is largely used
by the natives in poisoning the water when catching fish on a large
scale. All parts of the hyarri are poisonous, but the root is the most
powerful part of it. The natives take some of the root in their canoes,
bale water over it, and pound it with their clubs. After allowing
the water time to mix with the expressed juice, the fisherman throws
it overboard, and in a few minutes every fish within a considerable
distance comes floating to the surface perfectly helpless. One cubic
foot of the hyarri will poison an acre of water, even among rapids,
while a much less quantity is needed for creeks and still water. The
poison has no effect on the flesh of the fish, which is perfectly
wholesome.
The wourali and the hyarri are, in my opinion, the essential parts of
the poison, the bulbous plants probably supplying the glutinous matter
needed to make it adhere to the point of the weapon. But the poison
maker is not content with vegetable substances, but presses the animal
kingdom into his service.
He procures two kinds of ant, one the muniri (_Ponera grandis_), a
huge, black creature, sometimes an inch in length, with a sting so
venomous that it often produces a fever. One of these ants is in my
collection, and its very look is venomous enough to warn any one
against it. The other is the fire-ant (_Myrmica sævissima_), a tiny red
insect, whose sting is just like the thrust of a redhot needle. Besides
these he takes the poison fangs of the labarri and counacouchi snakes,
two of the most venomous serpents of the country. These fangs are kept
in store, as the native always kills these reptiles whenever he sees
them, and extracts their poison fangs.
That these latter ingredients can have no effect in increasing the
power of the poison I never doubted, and some years ago I expressed
my opinion that they were not used at all, but merely collected as a
blind, to prevent the secret of the poison being known. This opinion
is corroborated by the researches of Dr. Herman Beigel, who analyzed
some wourali poison taken from the same arrow with which the hedgehog
was killed, and who ascertained that there was not a particle of bony
or animal matter in the poison, but that it was wholly of a vegetable
character. Moreover, there was no trace of red pepper, which is said to
be one of the ingredients.
As far as the sense of taste goes, my own experience coincides with
that of Dr. Beigel. I have tasted the poison, which is innocuous unless
mixed directly with the blood, and found it to be intensely bitter,
and rather aromatic. These two qualities are doubtless due to the
strychnine of the wourali and to the hyarri. There was not the least
flavor of red pepper.
All these ingredients being procured, the poison maker sets to work in
a very systematic manner. He will not prepare the wourali in, or even
near, his own house, but makes his preparations in the depth of the
forest, where he builds a little hut especially for the purpose. His
first care is to build a fire, and while it is burning up, he scrapes
into a perfectly new pot a sufficient quantity of the wourali wood,
adding to it the hyarri in proper proportion, and placing them in a
sort of colander. Holding the colander and its contents over the pot,
the Indian pours boiling water over them, and allows the decoction to
drain into the vessel, when it looks something like coffee. When a
sufficient quantity has been obtained, the bulbous roots are bruised
and their juice squeezed into the pot, and, lastly, the snakes’ fangs
and ants are pounded and thrown into the pot.
The vessel is now placed on the fire, which is kept up very gently, so
as to allow the contents to simmer, rather than boil, and more wourali
juice is added to supply the waste by evaporation. A scum is thrown
up during the process, and carefully skimmed with a leaf, the boiling
being continued until the poison is reduced to a thick dark brown
syrup, about the consistence of treacle. According to some accounts,
the seeds of the red pepper are used, not as adding to the strength
of the poison, but as a test of its preparation being complete. When
the native thinks that the poison is nearly ready, he throws into it a
single seed of red pepper, which immediately begins to revolve. He then
allows the boiling to proceed a little longer, and throws in another
seed, which perhaps revolves, but more slowly; and he repeats this
experiment until the seed remains stationary, which is accepted as a
proof that the preparation is complete.
The Indian then takes a few arrows, dips them in the poison, and tries
their effect upon some animal or bird, and, if satisfied with the
effect, pours the poison into a new earthenware pot, ties a couple of
leaves over the mouth, and a piece of wet hide over the leaves, so as
to exclude both air and moisture, especially the latter. The little
pots which are used for holding the wourali are nearly spherical, and
about as large as an ordinary orange.
The above account of preparing the wourali poison is that which is
furnished by the natives, but, as they have a definite object in
keeping the mode of preparation secret, it cannot be absolutely relied
upon. That there is a secret connected with its manufacture is evident
from the fact that the Macoushie poison is acknowledged to be better
and stronger than that which is manufactured by any other tribe, and
that all the Guianan tribes are glad to purchase wourali from the
Macoushies.
It is not every native who knows how to make this wonderful poison. The
knowledge is restricted to the conjurers, who keep it in their families
and hand it down from father to son. They are so careful to preserve
their secret, that not only do they make the wourali at a distance from
their houses, but when they have completed the manufacture they burn
down the huts, so as to obliterate every trace of the means which have
been employed.
They have a sort of superstitious reverence for the wourali. The
ostensible reason which is given for burning down the hut is, that
it is polluted by the fumes of the poison, and may never again
be inhabited, so that it is better to burn it down at once. They
allege that during its preparation the Yabahou, or evil spirit, is
hovering over, ready to seize upon those who are uninitiated in the
mysteries, and so by the aid of superstition effectually prevent their
proceedings from being watched.
In order to carry out this fear of the wourali to its full extent, the
professors of poison-manufacture will refuse to make it except when
they please, alleging any excuse that may suggest itself. Mr. Waterton
narrates an instance where a man who had promised to make some wourali
poison declined to do so at the last moment, on the ground that he
expected an increase to his family. The maker is always pleased to
consider himself ill after he has completed his work, which, in spite
of the repeated washing of his face and hands, renders him sufficiently
liable to the attacks of the invisible Yabahou to cause indisposition.
The manufacturer is not altogether an impostor in this case, but acts
from a sort of belief in the mysterious gloom which always surrounds
the wourali. Nothing, for example, would induce him to eat while the
poison is being prepared, and, however hungry he may be, he will fast
until the completed wourali has been poured into its receptacle.
Although the chief poison in Guiana, the wourali is not the only one,
the natives having discovered a sort of wood which is sufficiently
poisonous in itself to need no other appliance. The wood is that of
some endogenous tree, of a pale yellow color. From this wood the
natives cut long blade-shaped heads, much resembling those of the
Kaffir assagais in form. The peculiar shape of the head may be seen in
figures 4 and 5 of illustration No. 4, on page 1231, which represents
two views of the same arrow head. Sometimes the head is left quite
plain, but in some specimens a pattern is rudely scribbled on the outer
surface of the blade. Annatto is the coloring matter used, leaving a
dusky red dye behind it. I possess specimens of these arrows, both
plain and colored.
These flat heads are lashed to the hard-wood spike that terminates the
arrow by a complicated arrangement of cotton threads, which, though
they do not possess the artistic elegance of the Polynesian wrapping,
yet are crossed and recrossed so as to produce a series of diamond
shaped patterns. Mr. Waterton first called my attention to the venomous
properties of this arrow head.
The young men practise diligently with these weapons. The largest,
which are intended for the slaughter of tapirs, jaguars, and such like
animals, are tested by being shot perpendicularly into the air, each
archer trying to send his arrow above that of his competitor.
Mr. Brett, in his “Indian Tribes of Guiana,” gives an interesting
account of the skill of the natives as marksmen, and relates one
little episode of the shooting, which shows that the “inevitable dog”
accompanies sports in Guiana, just as he does in England.
“After several rounds from each man and boy, the archery contest
closed by a simultaneous discharge of arrows from every bow. More than
two hundred shafts flying through the air together presented a novel
spectacle, and in an instant demolished the target amid loud shouts
from all. A dog which, unheeded, had wandered behind it, was surrounded
by the crop of arrows which suddenly stuck in the sand, some even
beneath him. He was a lucky dog, however, for with marvellous fortune
he escaped unhurt, though bewildered by the adventure and the roar of
applause which followed his somewhat hasty retirement, with deprecating
look and drooping tail.”
Spears are also used by some of the tribes. The same writer describes
the mode in which a Warau had practised with the spear. His weapon
was made of the same material as the arrow, but of greater size, the
shaft being of reed, and the head of hard wood. The young spearman had
fixed a mark on the soft stem of a plantain tree. As the missile struck
the mark, the hard-wood head remained sticking in the tree, while the
elastic shaft bounded back toward the thrower.
The lad said that this javelin was used for killing sundry large
fishes, which are induced to rise to the surface of the water by means
of scattering seeds and other food of which they are fond, and are then
killed by means of this weapon.
Some of the arrows are unpoisoned, and, as an example of the great
variety assumed, of the arrow heads of the different tribes three more
specimens are given in the three left-hand figures of illustration No.
4, on page 1231, taken from the “Christy” collection. These heads are
something of the same form as those which have just been described,
but, instead of being flat, they are curved. The reader may remember
that a similar form of arrow prevails in New Guinea. The reason is
simple enough. The bamboo is covered with a coating of pure flint,
which forms a natural edge so sharp, that when the bamboo is split, it
can be used as a knife.
Indeed, until the introduction of iron, the bamboo furnished the knife
in ordinary use throughout all Polynesia and many other countries where
it grew. It is evident, therefore, that an arrow head merely made from
a hollow bamboo stem, and retaining the hollow shape, must be a most
formidable weapon, and inflict a very dangerous wound. It is brittle,
fragile, and would shiver to pieces against a shield or defensive armor
of even moderate strength, but against the naked bodies of the Indians
it is a most effective weapon.
Great pains have been taken with these arrows, all of which have
been ornamented in some peculiar manner. One of them is covered on
the convex side with colored patterns, just as is the case with the
poison-wood arrow just described. Another is not only ornamented, but
cut into barbs. The third, which is plain, is distinguished by a hollow
ball, placed just below the head. The ball is pierced with a hole, so
that when the arrow is sent from the bow a whistling sound will be
produced. The Chinese use whistling arrows at the present time, and so
did our archers in the days when the long-bow was the pride of England.
In all these cases, the whistle could be used for amusement in time of
peace, but for signals in time of war.
As the thoughtful reader might gather from the elaborate care exercised
in ornamenting these weapons, the natives would rather exhibit than
use them. It is almost invariably found to be the case, that really
warlike people keep their weapons in the highest state of efficiency,
but trouble themselves comparatively little about ornamenting them,
whereas those who want a reputation for valor, without the trouble and
danger of earning it, try to gain their end by having their weapons
covered with ornament, and themselves assuming as martial an aspect as
possible. If the reader will remember the various peoples that have
been described in the course of this work, he will see how completely
this rule holds good.
Take, by way of example, the Fijian and the Tongan. The one is
celebrated throughout the world for the variety, the beauty, the
finish, and the artistic ornamentation of his weapons. He always moves
armed, feeling himself at a loss without his club on his shoulder; he
bedizens himself in the most extravagant manner for the war dance, and
before joining in actual battle he consumes a vast amount of time in
boasting of his prowess, and of the use to which he will put the body
of his foe.
But the Tongan, who never thinks of boasting before or after battle,
whose weapons are simple and unadorned, is so completely the superior
of the Fijian that he could, if he chose, make himself the master of
the whole Fiji territory. We see the same characteristic in several
Eastern lands, in which the men are walking arsenals of weapons inlaid
with gold, silver, and precious stones, and yet will take the first
opportunity of running away when there is a probability that their
ornamental weapons will be used in earnest.
So the experienced anthropologist, as soon as he sees these beautifully
carved arms, decorated with the most delicate plumage, and painted with
all the colors which native art can supply, at once makes up his mind
that such weapons are more for show than use, and that the makers would
not have expended such time and trouble upon them, if they had intended
them to undergo the rough usage of actual warfare.
[Illustration: (1.) HEADDRESS (See page 1255.)]
[Illustration: (2.) HEADDRESS. (See page 1255.)]
[Illustration: (3.) GUIANAN CLUBS. (See page 1239.)]
[Illustration: (4.) GUIANAN CRADLE. (See page 1247.)]