406 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1930 



mixture with their feet until it becomes grayish white in color. 

 Evidently it has no effect on external abrasions; in fact, it is some- 

 times taken internally in small amounts as medicine. 



When all is ready the canoes are distributed over the proposed 

 area and at a signal each participant empties his mixture into 

 the lagoon with a calabash. The harhmco left in the bottom of 

 the canoe can be mixed with more water and a second somewhat 

 weaker solution formed. Gradually the quiet water takes on a milky 

 tinge. 



After a few minutes, small fish appear on the surface, struggling 

 in an inebriated manner. These are neglected by the fishers and 

 soon float quietly in death; this careless slaughter of innumerable 

 young fish is the chief objection to the use of poisons. Soon the 

 larger fish are affected; the dying struggles of these cause con- 

 siderable excitement and rivalry. Canoes are propelled to and fro 

 across the agitated lagoon, each with one or more spearsmen in the 

 bow. The spears, equipped with two or three metal prongs, are 

 jabbed into the fish, which are dextrously flipped into the canoe 

 one after another. Shouts of laughter and encouragement fill the 

 air; both paddlers and spearsmen enter into the competition, and 

 many prizes are stolen from beneath the spear of a friendly 

 rival. Along the shores, children emulate their elders by jabbing 

 the neglected small fry. 



After a few tense minutes the lagoon is " cleaned out " ; only the 

 very large and wary fish are left, the poison having become too diluted 

 to do further damage. The precise effect of the poison is not known, 

 but it is apparentlj'^ external. In some way the gills cease to func- 

 tion, and the fish act as though paralyzed. Some observers have 

 noted a dilation of the eyes. A fish which is only partly paralyzed, 

 upon being placed in fresh water, will often recover. 



Gradually the assemblage disperses, with the prospect of a few 

 hearty meals in the near future. It is said that fish thus obtained 

 can not be kept as long as those otherwise caught, but they are 

 unharmed for immediate consumption. Usually the catch is too 

 large, and the ensuing waste is another score against this method. 



By far the greater part of Lonchocarpus nicou seen was in culti- 

 vation. Only a few scattered plants which we took to be this spe- 

 cies were found truly wild in the forests. This wild plant is called 

 sacha harhasco by the natives, and there was a difference of opinion as 

 to its effectiveness as a fish poison. Some stated that it was never 

 used ; others that it was sometimes used but was much less powerful 

 than the cultivated plant. Perhaps the wild plants represent a 

 species closely related to Lonchocarpus nicou, the true plant not 

 being native in Peru; or perhaps the cultivated plant is a selected 

 strain in which the poison content of the roots is particularly strong. 



