542 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 48 
The arms of the Palawanos are the kris and some of those who 
live along the beach possess guns. Those who dwell in the moun- 
tains use the blow-gun, which is a hollow bamboo joint about two 
meters in length. The darts which are used are small sticks in the 
form of quills made of cane, the point of which is poisoned with a 
substance which they make, in color like pitch. The activity of the 
poison is so terrible that a man or animal wounded by the dart 
will die within ten minutes. The unfortunate being scarcely 
moving two or three paces will fall to the earth, his vision fades, 
he will vomit severely, consciousness leaves him, and amid cold 
perspiration he will expire without uttering a word. Upon one 
occasion I found myself in the territory of the Batacs in the 
barrio of Caruray and there witnessed a case of poisoning of 
this nature. It was the result of play. One of the men of 
the tribe who was very skilled in the management of the blow- 
gun had one brought to him. Without examining it in the least 
to see whether it contained a dart, he blew into it with all the 
force of his lungs. But behold, the jest proved dear, for without 
more ado there came out of the mouth of the blow-gun a dart which 
penetrated the calf of a leg, causing the person to fall immediately 
to the ground. As soon as the one who handled the blow-gun saw 
the magnitude of the misfortune he hastened to the man and took 
out the dart. He then fell upon his knees and began to suck the 
wound, so that the poison should not reach the heart; at the same 
time an old man hastened to the woods to procure a certain kind of 
medicine. Having drawn out sufficient of the blood, whose color 
appeared black, and in the meanwhile the old man having not 
yet returned, they applied to the wound a poultice whose principal 
ingredient was lemon, causing the wounded man to partake of it. 
They assured me this remedy to be sufficient to counteract the poi- 
son; but that the medicine which the old man sought*is more 
effective. He returned with roots of trees which were unknown to 
me. These he applied to the wound and shortly afterwards the un- 
fortunate man revived and was as well as ever. In my dealings 
with the Batacs I have handled this weapon against wild beasts and 
I am convinced from my own experience that this poison is more 
fatal to animals than to man, for a lizard being wounded died 
immediately in the midst of terrible convulsions. A monkey fared 
the same. This inoffensive animal was hanging to a branch of a 
tree when it was wounded, but immediately fell and was dead 
when it reached the earth. The animals killed in this way are not 
