added to the tobacco leaves. . .. Some individuals add 
yucastarch . .. to the tobacco extract to give it a firmer 
consistency. Occasionally, crude sugar (Saccharum offici- 
narum ..)... also is added to sweeten the mixture. 
“The Witoto generally prepare the ambi/at night, two 
or three persons staying awake to tend the fire and stir 
the extract. Sometimes, however, the making of ambil 
takes place during the day. There is no special day or 
time for the preparation of this narcotic. Moreover, no 
ceremony takes place during the preparation, and any 
man of the tribe can do it. 
**fmbil generally keeps for four or five months. After 
this time, if not used it is thrown out, and a new supply 
is made. ”’ 
Schultes comments in conclusion that the Witoto as- 
sert that the Bora prepare and use ambi/ as they do but 
have a ritual in connection with its preparation. He 
quotes Whiffen in some detail concerning ceremonial 
uses of ambil (see note 4). 
Comparison of Schultes’ description of Witoto ambil- 
making with that of mo and chimo shows that both 
process and product are strikingly similar, even to the 
detail of the use of cernada made from the ashes of cer- 
tain preferred plants. 
From the examples here given it is evident that there 
is a close connection between the tobacco concentrate of 
primitives and the chim6 of non-Indian, civilized people.‘ 
There remain the questions of how and when chimo 
appeared in the Venezuelan Andes. 
As to ‘‘when’’: on the basis of present knowledge of 
the prehistory of this area, this cannot be answered with 
any certainty. It is known, however, that it arrived in 
pre-Columbian times and, by the time it was observed 
by early chroniclers, was a conspicuous culture trait of 
[ 36 J 
