OTHER VEGETABLE POISONS. 211 



MRS. F. 



No; there are many poisons used by the different South 

 American tribes, such as the wourara or wourali of Dutch 

 Guyana, the curare of the Oronoco, and the ticuna of the 

 Amazons, all varying in their kinds. Muriate of soda (com- 

 mon salt) is the principal antidote employed, but no proofs 

 exist of its efficacy. 



ESTHER. 



Dr. Wallich mentions a frightful poison extracted from a 

 species of aconite (Jlconitum ferox} called among the natives 

 Visha Bish; which he states to be as universally used, and 

 to be as deleterious, as the Upas. 



HENRIETTA. 



Then which are supposed to be the most violent vegetable 

 poisons known? 



MRS. F. 



Upas tiente, the poison of the ticuna, and the wourali;* 

 but many, and indeed most of these, naturalists have, as 

 yet, had little opportunity of examining. That in use at the 

 Cape, for instance, where the Hottentots poison their arrows 

 with a species of Euphorbia, and also with a large bulbous lily 

 (Amaryllis disticha}, which grows plentifully about the Cape. 

 The natives take the bulbs, when the leaves begin to shoot, 

 cut them across, and leave them in the sun until they acquire 

 the consistency of gum, and are fit for use. 



ESTHER. , 



For what purpose are these poisons employed 1 ? 



MRS. F. 



For killing antelopes and other small animals. The natives 

 also throw large pieces into the pools of water resorted to by 

 the wild beasts; the animals drink and die immediately. At 

 the Cape, there is also another poison which is much used by 



* Humboldt, Voyage, t. viii. 



