NARCOTICS AND STIMULANTS 425 



At this crisis the Indian wakes up from his trance, 

 and if he were not held down in his hammock by 

 force, he would spring to his feet, seize his arms, 

 and attack the first person who stood in his way. 

 Then he becomes drowsy, and finally sleeps. If 

 he be a medicine-man who has taken it, when he 

 has slept off the fumes he recalls all he saw in his 

 trance, and thereupon deduces the prophecy, divina- 

 tion, or what not required of him. Boys are not 

 allowed to taste aya-huasca before they reach 

 puberty, nor women at any age : precisely as on 

 the Uaupes. 



Villavicencio says (pp. cit. p. 3/3): "When I 

 have partaken of aya-huasca, my head has immedi- 

 ately begun to swim, then I have seemed to enter 

 on an aerial voyage, wherein I thought I saw the 

 most charming landscapes, great cities, lofty towers, 

 beautiful parks, and other delightful things. Then 

 all at once I found myself deserted in a forest and 

 attacked by beasts of prey, against which I tried 

 to defend myself. Lastly, I began to come round, 

 but with a feeling of excessive drowsiness, headache, 

 and sometimes general malaise!' 



This is all I have seen and learnt of caapi or 

 aya-huasca. I regret being unable to tell what is 

 the peculiar narcotic principle that produces such 

 extraordinary effects. Opium and hemp are its 

 most obvious analogues, but caapi would seem to 

 operate on the nervous system far more rapidly and 

 violently than either. Some traveller who may 

 follow my steps, with greater resources at his com- 

 mand, will, it is to be hoped, be able to bring away 

 materials adequate for the complete analysis of this 

 curious plant. 



