CHAPTER ir. 



" Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est." 



The Macoushi Indians — Poison vendors — Apparent failure of poison — 

 Collecting materials for ■wourali-poison — Preparing the jjoison — Super- 

 stitions — The blow-pipe gun — The Ourah — The Samourah— Silk-grass 

 — Acuero fruit— Coucourite palm — Wild Cotton — Arrows — Quivers — 

 Jaw of Pirai — Packing the arrows — Cotton basket — Gun sight made 

 of Acouri teeth — Poisoned fowl — Suspending the guns — The bow — 

 Ingenious arrows — Small quivers — A wild hog shot — Utilisation of 

 indigenous products. 



Having now reached the Portuguese inland frontier, and 

 collected a sufiBcient quantity of the wourali-poison, 

 nothing remains but to give a brief account of its com- 

 position, its effects, its uses, and its supposed antidotes. 



It has been already remarked, that in the extensive wilds 

 of Demerara and Essequibo, far away from any European 

 settlement, there is a tribe of Indians who are known by 

 the name of Macoushi. 



Though the wourali-poison is used by all the South 

 American savages betwixt the Amazons and the Oroonoque, 

 still this tribe makes it stronger than any of the rest. 

 The Indians in the vicinity of the Eio Negro are aware of 

 this, and come to the Macoushi country to purchase it. 



Much has been said concerning this fatal and extra- 

 ordinary poison. Some have affirmed that its effects are 

 almost instantaneous, provided the minutest particle of 



