SOUTH AMERICA. 65 



FIRST 

 JOURNEY. 



of this fowl was kept for sixteen hours, in a 

 climate damp and rainy, and within seven degrees 

 of the equator ; at the end of which time it had 

 contracted no bad smell whatever, and there were 

 no symptoms of putrefaction, saving that, just 

 round the wound, the flesh appeared somewhat 

 discoloured. 



The Indian, on his return home, carefully sus- 

 pends his blow-pipe from the top of his spiral 

 roof; seldom placing it in an oblique position, lest 

 it should receive a cast. 



Here let the blow-pipe remain suspended, 

 while you take a view of the arms which are 

 made to slay the larger beasts of the forest. 



When the Indian intends to chase the peccari, 

 or surprise the deer, or rouse the tapir from his 

 marshy retreat, he carries his bow and arrows, 

 which are very different from the weapons already 

 described. 



The bow is generally from six to seven feet The bow 



f used for 



long, and strung with a cord, spun out of the the chase, 

 silk grass. The forests of Guiana furnish many 

 species of hard wood, tough and elastic, out of 

 which beautiful and excellent bows are formed. 



The arrows are from four to five feet in length, Arrows. 

 made of a yellow reed without a knot or joint. It 

 is found in great plenty up and down throughout 

 Guiana. A piece of hard wood, about nine inches 

 long, is inserted into the end of the reed, and 

 fastened with cotton well waxed. A square hole, 



F 



