found in travel books have almost invariably neglected 
the fundamental question of the botanical identity of the 
source of the narcotic. 
Orton, who travelled widely in the Andes in the last 
half of the last century, reported (61) the narcotic use 
of ayahuasca amongst the Ziparos of the eastern slope 
of the Andes of Ecuador, but he failed to shed any light 
on the botanical source of the drug. 
Writing on his travels in South America, Crévaux 
reported (15) that, in southeastern Colombia, the Corre- 
guahes of the Rio Caqueta prepared an intoxicating bev- 
erage from the bark of a plant called yayé. He likewise 
noted, as had Spruce, the use by the Guahibos inhabit- 
ing the Rio Inirida of Colombia of an intoxicating drink 
prepared from a root called capi, apparently unaware that 
this capi and the yajé were probably botanically the same. 
Many years passed before it was known that yajé and 
ayahuasca referred to the same intoxicant. 
This report by Crévaux injected a new uncertainty 
into the picture. Was yajé from the same source as aya- 
huasca and caapi, or was it made from a different plant ? 
Although, as time went on, the belief that the three were 
at least generically identical became stronger, the prob- 
lem was not subjected to careful study until the late 
1920s. 
In 1866, Simson reported (89) that the Piojes of Ecua- 
dor, like their neighbors, the Zdparos, ‘‘drink ayahuasca 
mixed with yajé, sameruja leaves and guanto wood, an 
indulgence which usually results in a broil between at 
least the partakers of the beverage.’’ He failed to iden- 
tify any of the ingredients botanically, but we may safely 
assume, I think, that gwanto refers to a tree-species of 
Datura. This report is, however, of great significance 
in being apparently the earliest to mention the mixture 
of anumber of elements in preparing the ayahuasea drink 
[ 6 | 
