247 



knot, and of equal thickness, frequently to a height of sixteen feet, where the first dis- 

 sepiment stretches across the inside, and the first branchlets are formed. The articu- 

 lations then continue at regular intervals of about fifteen or eighteen inches to a fur- 

 ther height of from forty to fifty feet. The full-grown stem is at the base an inch and 

 a half in diameter, or nearly five inches in circumference. It is of a bright green, per- 

 fectly smooth, and hollow inside." — p. 657. 



The long jointless stem Mr. Schomburglc considers to be the growth 

 of a very short period; it is surmounted by a head of numerous verti- 

 cillate, slender, leafy, jointed branches, three or four feet long, which 

 spring from the nodes of the articulated portion of the stem; the 

 whole being terminated by the inflorescence. 



" The whole stem is from fifty to sixty feet high ; but the weight of the numerous 

 branchlets forces the slender stem to droop, and the upper part describes an arch, which 

 adds greatly to its graceful appearance." — p. 560. 



The Ciurata (its native name) grows in a rich soil and shady situa- 

 tion, about 6000 feet above the level of the sea. It appears to be re- 

 stricted in its range to the chain of sandstone mountains extending 

 between the second and fourth parallel, and forming the separation 

 of waters between the rivers Parima, Merewari, Ventuari, Orinoco and 

 Negro : M. Schomburgk determined only three localities, — Mounts 

 Mashiatti, Marawacca and Wanaya. 



" It is a remarkable circumstance, that the plant which furnishes the chief ingre- 

 dient for the preparation of the Urari poison is likewise peculiar to a few mountain- 

 ous tracts ; consequently the tribes who inhabit the regions where these plants grow, 

 and who are acquainted with the mode of their preparation, acquire a general impor- 

 tance." — p. 560. 



The Indians who inhabit the district where these reeds grow, are 

 called Curata-people by the other tribes, a circumstance indicative of 

 the rarity of the plant. The Indians of the Rio Negro and the Ama- 

 zon, who have no intercourse with the Curata-people, manufacture 

 their blow-pipes out of a slender palm, the stem of which is hollowed 

 out, either by being steeped in water for some days, when the internal 

 substance is pushed out with a stick, or else the stem is split along 

 its length, and the interior is removed by burning; when the inside 

 has been polished, the two parts are accurately joined together by an 

 indigenous glue, and a wooden mouth-piece is added. 



The constant demand for a plant having so limited a range, would 

 be likely soon to exhaust the stock, were it not for the numerous 

 shoots from a single rootstock and their rapid growth, combined with 

 the great care taken of his blowpipe by the Indian. Carrying it erect 

 he winds his way through thickets which would be almost impenetra- 



