242 Timehri. 
that the descriptions of feather cloaks worn by Montezuma and his 
captains were fairly accurate.- 
A grand inventioa of the Aborigines was the Curari or arrow poison. 
No doubt it is the result of long experience and of many trials. Like 
the medicinal compounds of the middle ages it is somewhat of a jumble 
of ingredients, varying a little as prepared by different Peaimen. Never- 
theless the main ingredients, species of Strychnos, are the same, the 
differences being mainly in those plants which go to give body to the 
extract. The use of the fangs of poisonous snakes and fire ants is hardly 
necessary and appears not to be general. Waterton’s journey to get the 
poison is particularly interesting and his experiments to find an antidote 
are particularly valuable. In connection with the poison is that almost 
unique weapon the blow-pipe, only known elsewhere in Borneo. Every- 
thing connected with it shows what must be the result of careful observa- 
tion and experience. 
Inoculating for snake-bites may be considered as one of the strange 
things worth investigating. How far it is really successful has never been 
prov red ; it can hardly be expected that anyone would risk his life to test 
his immunity. It is however believed in by most of the Surinam creoles, 
many of whom have been inoculated by some mysterious compound that 
suggests the witches’ cauldron. Besides the immunity from snake-bites 
the operation is also supposed to render harmless the stings of scorpions, 
ete. Inoculating with beenas is another curious and wonderful notion, 
possibly, like the other, useful from its promoting that feeling of confidence 
so necessary for the huntsman. 
