WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 83 



called Coiicourite, hard and brittle, and pointed 

 as sharp as a needle. About an inch of the 

 pointed end is poisoned. The other end is burnt 

 to make it still harder, and wild cotton is put 

 round it for about an inch and a half. It requires 

 considerable practice to put on this cotton well. 

 It must just be large enough to fit the hollow of the 

 tube, and taper off to nothing downwards. They 

 tie it on with a thread of the silk-grass, to prevent 

 its slii^ping off the arrow. 



The Indians have shown ingenuity in making a 

 quiver to hold the arrows. It will contain from 

 five to six hundred. It is generally from twelve 

 to fourteen inches long, and in shape resembles 

 a dice-box used at backgammon. The inside is 

 prettily done in basket-work, with wood not un- 

 like bamboo, and the outside has a coat of wax. 

 The cover is all of one piece, formed out of the 

 skin of the tapir. Eound the centre there is fas- 

 tened a loop, large enough to admit the arm and 

 shoulder from which it hangs when used. To the 

 rim is tied a little bunch of silk-grass, and half of 

 the jaw-bone of the fish called pirai, with which 

 the Indian scrapes the point of his arrow. 



Before he puts the arrows into the quiver, he 

 links them together by two strings of cotton, one 

 string at each end, and then folds them round a 

 stick, which is nearly the length of the quiver. 

 The end of the stick, which is uppermost, is 

 guarded by two little pieces of wood crosswise, 

 with a hoop round their extremities, which ap- 

 pears something like a wheel ; and this saves the 

 hand from being wounded when the quiver is 



