88 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



with him, and should another shot immediately 

 occur, he has only to take another poisoned spike 

 out of his little bamhoo box, fit it on his arrow, 

 and send it to its destination. 



Thus armed with deadly poison, and hungry as 

 the hyaena, he ranges through the forest in quest 

 of the wild beasts' track. No hound can act a 

 surer part. Without clothes to fetter him, or 

 shoes to bind his feet, he observes the footsteps 

 of the game, where an European eye could not 

 discern the smallest vestige. He pursues it 

 through all its turns and windings, with astonish- 

 ing perseverance, and success generally crowns 

 his efforts. The animal, after receiving the poi- 

 soned arrow, seldom retreats two hundred paces 

 before it drops. 



In passing overland from the Essequibo to the 

 Demerara we fell in with a herd of wild hogs. 

 Though encumbered with baggage, and fatigued 

 with a hard day's walk, an Indian got his bow 

 ready, and let fly a poisoned arrow at one of 

 them. It entered the cheek-bone and broke off. 

 The wild hog was found quite dead about one hun- 

 dred and seventy paces from the place where he 

 had been shot. He afforded us an excellent and 

 wholesome supper. 



Thus the savage of Guiana, independent of the 

 common weapons of destruction, has it in his 

 power to prepare a poison, by which he can gen- 

 erally ensure to himself a supply of animal food; 

 and the food so destroyed imbibes no deleterious 

 qualities. Nature has been bountiful to him. 

 She has not only ordered poisonous herbs and 

 roots to grow in the unbounded forests through 



