CHAPTER II 



"Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est." 



Having now reached the Portuguese inland 

 frontier, and collected a sufficient quantity of the 

 wourali-poison, nothing remains but to give a 

 brief account of its composition, its effects, its 

 uses, and its supposed antidotes. 



It has been already remarked, that in the exten- 

 sive wilds of Demerara and Essequibo, far away 

 from any European settlement, there is a tribe 

 of Indians who are known by the name of Ma- 

 coushi. 



Though the wourali-poison is used by all the 

 South American savages betwixt the Amazons and 

 the Oroonoque, still this tribe makes it stronger 

 than any of the rest. The Indians in the vicinity 

 of the Rio Negro are aware of this, and come to 

 the Macoushi country to purchase it. 



Much has been said concerning this fatal and 

 extraordinary poison. Some have affirmed that 

 its effects are almost instantaneous, provided the 

 minutest particle of it mixes with the l)lood; and 

 others again have maintained that it is not strong 

 enough to kill an animal of the size and strength 

 of a man. The first have erred by lending a too 

 willing ear to the marvellous, and believing asser- 

 tions without sufficient proof. The following short 



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