134 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



out of the leaf of a species of palm-tree, called Coucourite, 

 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 slipping off the arrow. 



The Indians have shown ingenuity in making a quiver 

 to hold the arrows. It will contain from five to six hun- 

 dred. 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 

 unlike 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 fastened 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 cross- 

 wise, with a hoop round their extremities, which appears 

 something like a wheel; and this saves the hand from 

 being wounded when the quiver is reversed in order to let 

 the bunch of arrows drop out. 



There is also attached to the quiver a little kind of 

 basket, to hold the wild cotton which is put on the blunt 

 end of the arrow. With a quiver of poisoned arrows 



