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lions on arriving at a settlement of Indians whieli I had not previously visited, was, 

 whether they knew from whence were obtained these reeds, so different in structure 

 from all known Bambuseas. I ascertained at last that the Macusis received them from 

 the Arecunas, but that they did not grow in the country of that tribe ; on the contrary, 

 the Arecunas undertook journeys of several months duration to procure them from an- 

 other tribe, who lived still further westward." — p. 557. 



M. Scliomburgk, in his third expedition, visited the Arecunas, and 

 from them he ascertained " that the plant which produced the reeds 

 grew in the country of the Giiinau and Maiongcong Indians, near the 

 head-waters of the Oronoco." 



" We saw among the Arecunas a large number of these reeds, which they were ma- 

 nufacturing into blowpipes. The reed being so valuable, and so liable to destruction 

 if carried openly through the woods, the Indian puts it for protection into the slender 

 trunk of a palm (a species of Kunthia ?), which he simply hollows out for the purpose. 

 Being aware that the tube thus manufactured is in constant demand by the other 

 tribes, he does not leave the regions which he inhabits to oflFer his ware for sale, but 

 patiently awaits the visits of the Macusi, skilled in manufacturing the Urari poison, 

 who brings him that deadly preparation, and exchanges it against these reeds or the 

 ready-finished blowpipe. By this mutual exchange, they are each rendered masters 

 of life and death over the feathered game ; for, armed with his blowpipe, the wily 

 huntsman gradually steals nearer and nearer to his victim, and launches his weapon of 

 death, which seldom fails of its deadly aim, before the unconscious bird is even aware 

 of the approaching danger. 



" The great object of my last expedition led me to that far west. We camped on 

 the 26th of January near the river Emakuni, at a settlement inhabited by Maiong- 

 cong Indians; and the first object which struck me on entering the miserable hut 

 which served as a dwelling to the Indians, was a large bundle of these reeds, some of 

 which were sixteen feet long ; a circumstance which naturally induced, the inquiry, 

 from whence they came. The houses being built on elevated ground, we had an ex- 

 tensive view before us : at the distance of twenty miles we observed a large chain of 

 mountains, which trended N.N.E. and S.S.W. ; and among this chain a high moun- 

 tain was pointed out to us, which they called Mashiatti, and where we were told that 

 these reeds were growing ; but as we were given to understand that we should find 

 them likewise at Marawacca, and as Mashiatta was entirely out of our road, we did 

 not visit it. It was consequently only in the middle of February, and after we had 

 crossed the river Parima, that my wish of becoming acquainted with that curious plant 

 was accomplished. 



" The Maiongcong and Guinau Indians, whom the Spaniards call Maquiritares, 

 conducted us to that part of Marawacca (a high mountain which terminates in an al- 

 most perpendicular wall of sandstone) where the plant grows. It is a day's journey 

 from a Maiongcong settlement on the river Cuyaca, from whence the hospitable and 

 good-natured savages showed us the beaten track. After having ascended Mount 

 Marawacca, to about 3500 feet above the Indian village, the traveller follows a small 

 mountain -stream, on the banks of which the Curas or Curatas, as the Indians call 

 these reeds, grow in dense tufts. They form generally clusters of from fifty to one 

 hundred, which are pushed forth, as in many other species of that tribe, by a strong, 

 jointed, subterranean rootstock. The stem rises straight from the rhizoina, without a 



