CURARE POISON. 



235 



clothed on its less steep declivities with vast forests, 

 presents a magnificent spectacle. At the foot of 

 this huge mass is placed the most solitary and re- 

 mote Christian settlement on the Upper Orinoco, — 

 the mission of Esmeralda, containing eighty inhabit- 

 ants. It is surrounded by a beautiful plain, covered 

 with grasses of various species, pine-apples, and 

 clumps of Mauritia palm, and watered by limpid 

 rills. 



There was no monk at the village ; but the trav- 

 ellers were received with kindness by an old officer, 

 who, taking them for Catalonian shopkeepers, ad- 

 mired their simplicity when he saw the bundles of 

 paper in which their plants were preserved, and 

 which he supposed they intended for sale. Not- 

 withstanding the smallness of the mission three In- 

 dian languages were spoken in it : and among the 

 inhabitants were some Zamboes, mulattoes, and cop- 

 per-coloured people. A mineralogical error gave 

 celebrity to Esmeralda, the rock-crystals and chlo- 

 ritic quartzes of Duida having been mistaken for 

 diamonds and emeralds. The converts live in great 

 poverty, and their misery is augmented by prodi- 

 gious swarms of mosquitoes. Yet the situation of 

 the establishment is exceedingly picturesque ; the 

 surrounding country is possessed of great fertility ; 

 and plantains, indigo, sugar, and cacao might be pro- 

 duced in abundance. 



This village is the most celebrated spot on the 

 Orinoco for the manufacture of the curare, a very 

 active poison employed in war and in the chase, as 

 well as a remedy for gastric obstructions. Erro- 

 neous ideas had been entertained of this substance ; 

 but our travellers had an opportunity of seeing it 

 prepared. When they arrived at Esmeralda, most 

 of the Indians had just finished an excursion to 

 gather juvias or the fruit of the bertholletia,* and the 



* The delightful Brazil-nut of our shops. 



