50 



PIIYTOGEOGRAPIIY AND EXPLORATION 



women liad prepared a quantitv of fer- 

 mented liquor, and during two da\s 

 the Indians were in a state of intoxica- 

 tion. We were fortunate enough to find 

 an old Indian more temperate than the 

 rest, who was emplo3ed in preparing 

 the ciirare poison from freshlv-gathered 

 plants. He was the chemist of the place. 

 We found at his dwelling large earthen 

 pots for boiling the vegetable juice, 

 shallower \esscls to favor the evapora- 

 tion b)- a larger surface, and leaves of 

 the plantain trees rolled up in the shape 

 of our filters, and used to filtrate the 

 liquids, more or less loaded with fi- 

 brous matter. Tlie greatest order and 

 neatness prevailed in this hut, which 

 was transformed into a chemical labo- 

 rator}-. The old Indian was known 

 throughout the mission by the name 

 of the poison-master (amo del curare). 

 He had that self-sufficient air and tone 

 of pedantr^' of which the pharmacopo- 

 lists of Europe were formerlv accused. 

 "I know," said he, "that the whites 

 have the secret of making soap, and 

 manufacturing that black powder 

 which has the defect of making a noise 

 when used in killing animals. The 

 curare, which we prepare from father 

 to son, is superior to anything vou can 

 make down yonder (beyond sea). It is 

 the juice of an herb which kills silently, 

 without anvone knowing whence the 

 stroke comes." 



This chemical operation, to which 

 the old man attached so much impor- 

 tance, appeared to us extremely simple. 

 The liana (bejuco) used at Esmeralda 

 for the preparation of the poison, bears 

 the same name as in the forests of 

 Javita. It is the bejuco de Mavacure. 

 Although the bundles of bejuco which 

 we found in the hut of the Indian were 

 entirely bare of leaves, we had no doubt 

 of their being produced bv the same 

 plant of the str\chnos familv which we 

 had examined in the forest of Pimichin. 

 The mavacure is employed fresh or 

 dried indifferently during several weeks. 



Tlie juice of the liana, when it has been 

 recenth' gathered, is not regarded as 

 poisonous; possibly it is so only when 

 strongly concentrated. It is the bark 

 and a part of the alburnum which con- 

 tain this terrible poison. Branches of 

 the mavacure four or five lines in dia- 

 meter are scraped with a knife, and the 

 bark that comes off is bruised, and 

 reduced into very fine filaments on the 

 stone emplo\ed for grinding cassava. 

 The venemous juice being yellow, the 

 whole fibrous mass takes that colour. It 

 is thrown into a funnel nine inches 

 high, with an opening four inches wide. 

 This funnel was, of all the instruments 

 of the Indian laboraton% that of which 

 the poison maker seemed to be most 

 proud. It was the leaf of the plantain- 

 tree rolled up in the form of a cone, 

 and placed within a stronger cone made 

 of the leaves of the palm-tree. The 

 whole of this apparatus was supported 

 bv slight frame-work made of the 

 petioles and ribs of palm-leaves. A cold 

 infusion is first prepared bv pouring 

 water on the fibrous matter which is 

 the ground bark of the mavacure. A 

 \ellowish water filters during several 

 hours, drop bv drop, through the leaf\' 

 funnel. Tliis filtered water is the poi- 

 sonous liquor, but it acquires strength 

 only when concentrated by evapora- 

 tion, like molasses, in a large earthen 

 pot. The Indian from time to time 

 invited us to taste the liquid; its taste, 

 more or less bitter, decides when the 

 concentration by fire has been carried 

 sufficiently far. There is no danger in 

 tasting it, the curare being deleterious 

 only when it comes into immediate 

 contact with the blood. The vapours, 

 therefore, which are disengaged from 

 the pans are not hurtful, not\vithstand- 

 ing all that has been said on this point 

 by the missionaries of the Orinoco. 



Tlie most concentrated juice of the 

 mavacure is not thick enough to stick 

 to the darts, and therefore, to give a 

 body to the poison, another vegetable 



