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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



containing many varieties, which were 

 thrown down in a pile beside the kettle. 

 It would have taken the best botanist a 

 week to identify them all, even if there 

 had not been some of them that were un- 

 known and unnamed by botanists. 



"That evening a short ceremony was 

 performed, in which the great medicine 

 spirit was asked to show them which of 

 these were to be used. Then all three 

 began to pick them up, one by one. 

 Nearly all were thrown away, and the 

 few chosen were hastily tossed into the 

 pot, and lost sight of in the cloud of evil- 

 smelling steam that rose above it. So 

 many kinds of leaves of tropical plants 

 exude a "white, milky sap" that I saw at 

 once that I was defeated in my quest, at 

 least in that settlement. 



"However, I went down the river to 

 another village where urari was made, 

 but only stayed long enough to learn that 

 similar tactics were used for guarding 

 the secret. 



"I realized that I was beaten. My 

 health had suffered by exposure and un- 

 accustomed food, and I started home, 

 after buying, for its weight in silver, all 

 the poison that they had readv for mar- 

 ket." 



A short time previous to the arrival of 

 the professor an Indian had drifted down 

 the river in search of work. He had 

 brought with him a blow-gun and some 

 arrows, not yet poisoned, which he had 

 sold to me as curiosities. He had had 

 some experience in using the gun, but 

 did not claim to be skillful in its use. At 

 my request the professor consented to 

 dip some of my arrows in urari, as he 

 had seen the Indians do it, and next 

 morning at daylight go to a distant corn- 

 field, where deer came at night to feed 

 and paw in the soft earth, leaving it at 

 or before sunrise. 



Next morning at dawn we were care- 

 fully hidden on the leeward side of the 

 field, to prevent their getting "our wind," 

 in one of the little arched openings where 

 all wild creatures pass the hedge-like 

 border of the clearing. Here we lay flat 

 on the ground so that we could see into 

 the growing corn. 



Our presence was evidently unsus- 





pected, for we had waited but a few min- 

 utes when we heard some creature rust- 

 ling the corn leaves. A moment later a 

 good-sized buck walked leisurely out of 

 the corn and stopped and partly turned 

 to look back, just as it reached the mouth 

 of our "tunnel," thus exposing to us its 

 full broadside as we lay some thirty feet 

 away. 



After a deliberate aim our hunter fired,, 

 if I may use such a word for the little 

 puff, scarcely heard by us, and entirely 

 inaudible above the rustling corn leaves 

 at the distance of the deer. 



The animal gave a slight start as he 

 felt the prick of the arrow on his flank, 

 and turned partly round, sniffing the air 

 for a scent, and looking about as if 

 searching for the insect that had bitten 

 or stung him. Detecting nothing, he 

 stood still and unalarmed. At the end of 

 a minute, or a minute and a half at most, 

 his head drooped a little, as if he was 

 sleepy. 



When the hunter saw this he rose and 

 stepped out in plain sight. The deer 

 turned his head and looked at him, and 

 moved forward, not away from him, a 

 few steps and stopped. He showed no 

 fear, but simply curiosity. After another 

 minute the professor and I rose, and all 

 three walked quietly to within reach of 

 him. 



He made no movement to run away, 

 but watched us intently, and shifted his 

 position a little. His movements seemed 

 perfectly easy and natural. Absence of 

 fear was the only observable change, 

 until at the end of three minutes more ; 

 then it laid down, not falling, but as nat- 

 urally as a cow or sheep when ready for 

 sleep. 



We all approached to its i,ide, and the 

 hunter laid a hand on its shoulder. It 

 looked up at him, but showed no resent- 

 ment nor fear. Even its breathing 

 seemed easy and natural, which surprised 

 me, as I had heard that death resulted 

 from paralysis of the lungs when caused 

 by urari. At the end of ten minutes, 

 though it opened its eyes when touched, 

 its breath became shorter and slower. 



Eighteen minutes after it was struck 

 by the arrow it was dead. 



