TOBACCO ON THE AMAZON RIVER. 133 
and the hollow is filled with tobacco, the smoking of which 
affords much enjoyment to the denizens of the swampy 
regions of Guiana. 
Mr. Cooke, in “ The Seven Sisters of Sleep,” states that a 
tube much resembling the “ Winna” of Guiana was some 
years ago to be met with in the Tobacconists’ Shops in 
London. The Indian dwelling in the dense forests in the 
region of Orinoco has found that tobacco is an excellent 
solace to relieve the monotony of his life; he uses 
it “not only to procure an afternoon nap, but also to 
induce a state Se quiescence which they call dreaming with 
their eyes open.” We find from voyagers up the Amazon, 
that smoking prevails not merely amongst the natives inhabit- 
ing the regions which skirt that great river, but also amongst 
the people on the banks of its numerous tributaries. Mr. 
Bates the distinguished Naturalist, when making researches 
far up one of the tributaries of the Amazon, found tobacco 
extensively cultivated, and some distinguished makers of 
cigarettes. One maker, Joan Trinidade, was noted for his 
Tobacco and Tauri cigarettes. This cigar is so named from 
the bark in which the tobacco is rolled. Some of the tribes 
inhabiting the district of the lower Amazon indulge in snuff- 
taking. This snuff is not made from tobacco, it is the produce 
of a plant of the leguminous order, the seeds being carefully 
collected and thoroughly dried in the sun before they are 
pounded in a mortar, when the powder is ready for use. 
The snuff-making season is quite an event in a Brazilian 
village, the week or so during which it lasts forming a kind 
of religious festival mingled with a good deal of indulgence 
in fermented liquors, chiefly of native origin. 
Humboldt, when traveling in South America, found in use 
among the Ottomac Indians a powder called Niopo, or “ In- 
dian snuff.” Niopo is a powerful stimulant, a small portion 
of it producing violent sneezing in persons unaccustomed to 
its use. Father Gumilla says :—“ This diabolical powder of 
the Ottomacs, furnished by an adolescent tobacco plant, 
intoxicates them through the nostrils, deprives them of 
