WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 87 



hard wood, done tight round with cotton to keep 

 it from splitting. Into this square hole is fitted a 

 spike of Coucourite wood, poisoned, and which 

 may be kept there, or taken out at pleasure. A 

 joint of bamboo, about as thick as your finger, is 

 fitted on over the poisoned spike, to prevent acci- 

 dents and defend it from the rain, and is taken off 

 when the arrow is about to be used. Lastly, two 

 feathers are fastened on the other end of the reed 

 to steady it in its flight. 



Besides his bow and arrows, the Indian carries 

 a little box made of bamboo, which holds a dozen 

 or fifteen poisoned spikes, six inches long. They 

 are poisoned in the following manner: a small 

 piece of wood is dipped in the poison, and with this 

 they give the spike a first coat. It is then exposed 

 to the sun or fire. After it is dry, it receives an- 

 other coat, and is then dried again; after this a 

 third coat, and sometimes a fourth. 



They take great care to put the poison on 

 thicker at the middle than at the sides, by which 

 means the spike retains the shape of a two-edged 

 sword. It is rather a tedious operation to make 

 one of these arrows complete ; and as the Indian 

 is not famed for industry, except when pressed by 

 hunger, he has hit upon a plan of preserving his 

 arrows which deserves notice. 



About a quarter of an inch above the part 

 where the Coucourite spike is fixed into the 

 square hole, he cuts it half through; and thus, 

 when it has entered the animal, the weight of the 

 arrow causes it to break off there, by which means 

 the arrow falls to the ground uninjured; so that, 

 should this be the only arrow he happens to have 



