NARCOTICS AND STIMULANTS 425 
At this crisis the Indian wakes up from his trance, 
and if he were not held down in his hammock by 
force, he would spring to his feet, seize his arms, 
and attack the first person who stood in his way. 
Then he becomes drowsy, and finally sleeps. If 
he be a medicine-man who has taken it, when he 
has slept off the fumes he recalls all he saw in his 
trance, and thereupon deduces the prophecy, divina- 
tion, or what not required of him. Boys are not 
allowed to taste aya-huasca before they reach 
puberty, nor women at any age : precisely as on 
the Uaupes. 
Villavicencio says {op. cit. p. 373): "When I 
have partaken of aya-huasca, my head has immedi- 
ately begun to swim, then I have seemed to enter 
on an aerial voyage, wherein I thought I saw the 
most charming landscapes, great cities, lofty towers, 
beautiful parks, and other delightful things. Then 
all at once I found myself deserted in a forest and 
attacked by beasts of prey, against which I tried 
to defend myself. Lastly, I began to come round, 
but with a feeling of excessive drowsiness, headache, 
and sometimes general 77ialaiser 
This is all I have seen and learnt of caapi or 
aya-huasca. I regret being unable to tell what is 
the peculiar narcotic principle that produces such 
extraordinary effects. Opium and hemp are its 
most obvious analogues, but caapi would seem to 
operate on the nervous system far more rapidly and 
violently than either. Some traveller who may 
follow my steps, with greater resources at his com- 
mand, will, it is to be hoped, be able to bring away 
materials adequate for the complete analysis of this 
curious plant. 
