558 Mr. Schomburgk's Account of the Curata, 



they came, increased their interest ; and one of my first questions on arriving 

 at a settlement of Indians which I liad not previously visited, was, whether they 

 knew from whence were obtained these reeds, so different in structure from 

 all known Bambusece. I ascertained at last that the Macusis received them 

 from the Arecunas, but that they did not grow in the country of that tribe ; 

 on the contrary, the Arecunas undertook journeys of several months duration 

 to procure them from another tribe, who lived still further westward. 



During the latter part of my third expedition in the interior of Guiana, I 

 likewise visited these Arecunas, who inhabit the northern tributaries of the 

 Orinoco, and from whom the Macusis receive their reeds by barter; and 

 here I received certain information that the plant which produced the reed 

 grew in the country of the Guinau and Maiongcong Indians near the head- 

 waters of the Orinoco. 



We saw among the Arecunas a large number of these reeds, which they 

 were manufacturing into blowpipes. The reed being so valuable, and so liable 

 to destruction if carried openly through the woods, the Indian puts it for pro- 

 tection into the slender trunk of a palm (a species of Kunthia ?), which he 

 simply hollows out for the purpose. Being aware that the tube thus manufac- 

 tured is in constant demand by the other tribes, he does not leave the regions 

 which he inhabits to offer his ware for sale, but patiently awaits the visits of 

 the Macusi, skilled in manufacturing the Urari poison, who brings him that 

 deadly preparation, and exchanges it against these reeds or the ready-finished 

 blowpipe. By this mutual exchange, they are each rendered masters of life 

 and death over the feathered game ; for, armed with his blowpipe, the wily 

 huntsman gradually steals nearer and nearer to his victim, and launches his 

 weapon of death, which seldom fails of its deadly aim, before the unconscious 

 bird is even aware of the approaching danger. 



Tlie great object of my last expedition led me to that far west. We camped 

 on the 26th of January near the river Emakuni, at a settlement inhabited by 

 Maiongcong Indians ; and the first object which struck me on entering the 

 miserable hut which served as a dv/elling to the Indians, was a large bundle 

 of these reeds, some of which were sixteen feet long ; a circumstance which 

 naturally induced the inquiry, from whence they came. The houses being 

 built on elevated ground, we had an extensive view before us ; at the distance of 



