50 



WANDERINGS IN 



First 

 Journey. 



Wourali 

 poison. 



Having now reached the Portuguese inland frontier, 

 and collected a sufficient 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 Oroo- 

 noque, still this tribe makes it stronger than any of the 

 rest. The Indians in the vicinity of the Rio Negro are 

 aware of this, and come to the Macoushi country to 

 purchase it. 



Its effects. Much lias been said concerning this fatal and extra- 

 ordinary poison. Some have affirmed that its effects are 

 almost instantaneous, provided the minutest particle of it 

 mixes Avith the blood ; and others again have maintained 

 that it is not strong enough to kill an animal of the size 

 and strength of a man. The first have erred by lending 

 a too willing ear to the marvellous, and believing asser- 

 tions without sufficient proof. The following short story 

 points out the necessity of a cautious examination. 



One day, on asldng an Indian if he thought the poison 

 would kill a man, he replied, that they always go to 

 battle with it ; that he was standing by, when an Indian 

 was shot with a poisoned arrow, and that he expired 



Anecdote, 



