562 Mr. Scuompurex’s Account of the Curata, &c. 
whole life, and boasts of the lightness and precision of his Sarbacan, as we 
boast of the same qualities in our fire-arms." 
The Indian selects only the young reeds for his weapon, as the larger would 
not only prove too unwieldy when encased, but would likewise require too 
much effort in propelling the arrow through the tube. After they have been 
cut to the necessary length, they are turned slowly over a moderate coal fire, 
which process prevents their warping, and are then exposed to the sun, where 
they are allowed to remain until they acquire a shining yellow colour, which 
the Indian considers as a proof that they contain no more moisture. They are 
afterwards encased ; for which purpose they use the trunk of a slender palm 
of the tribe of Arecinæ (a Kunthia or Geonoma), which is steeped for a few 
days in water in order more easily to extract the lax tissue of which the inside 
consists, while the outer part is so hard that it takes a beautiful polish. "This 
case is called by the Macusi Indians Yáráa-Cüra. pong. 
Note by Jonn Josepx BENNETT, Esq., Sec. L.S. 
Mr. Schomburgk having placed in my hands specimens of the Grass which 
forms the subject of his communication, with a request that (if I should find 
it to be unpublished) I would describe it, I at first suspected it to be iden- 
tical with the Arundinaria verticillata of Nees von Esenbeck and Kunth; 
but a subsequent examination has satisfied me that it is a distinct species of 
that genus. I have had no opportunity of comparing it with specimens of 
A. verticillata, but it differs from the description of that species given by the 
two eminent botanists above-named, in the following particulars. Its leaves 
are linear, instead of lanceolate, and smooth on both surfaces, instead of sca- 
brous; the mouth of their sheaths is furnished on either side of the articula- 
tion of the leaf with a fringe of long rigid setze, which are not mentioned as 
occurring in A. verticillata ; its locustæ are sessile, instead of being pedicelled; 
and the hypogynous scales are lanceolate and acute, instead of obovate and 
obtuse. The following character will therefore serve to distinguish the spe- 
cies :— id 
ARUNDINARIA SCHOMBURGKII. 
A. folis linearibus acuminatis levibus : vaginarum ore utrinque longè setoso, 
spicá simplici pauciflord, locustis sessilibus, squamulis hypogynis lanceolatis 
acutis. 
