Teems aee Aeeanged with the Poison-Maker. 
353 
accordingly, wlien leaving the village, commissioned Mr. Youd to induce 
the poison-maker of the Canuku Hanges to manufacture it in his 
presence, and then inform him of the process. Mr. Youd succeeded in 
getting this done in front of the door of the hut specially built for the 
purpose, where lie could watch the process quite distinctly. On his 
third visit to Pirara in 1839, my brother was likewise present at its 
manufacture. The combined information of these two witnesses 
corresponds in almost every repect with that of mine, which may well 
have its reason in the fact that we watched its preparation by one and the 
same person. 
955. Let me resume the thread of my story (Sec. 936). To my conster- 
nation, cn reminding the old poison-maker next morning of his promise, he 
offered all sorts of excuses, complained of sickness and headache and 
wanted another few days’ postponement. The wily Indian knew only 
too well from experience that such a specious refusal would considerably 
increase the payment, and I found myself forced, in order to gain my 
purpose, to add some powder and a few knives to the reward already 
promised. 
956. At last I was about to have my lively wish fulfilled to see the 
actual making of the poison, about which so many a marvellous tale has 
been told, just as there is about anything else that is enveloped in a 
certain amount of mystery, when I found that, except for certain 
unessential ceremonies, it was as simple as it could possibly be. 
957. The small house that I took for the chemist’s laboratory 
immediately after my arrival, was indeed the Urari-liouse. The Indian 
now started to peel off the bark and sapwood (both portions are said 
to contain the poisonous substance to an extreme degree), and then 
fetched out the other ingredients that he seemed to have on hand, and 
divided them up in the quantities required. Unfortunately, I could not 
identify the three plants, the barks of which he added to the Strychnos: 
he called them Tarireng, Wokarimo, and Tararemu. To all appearances 
they also belonged to species of Strychnos, and upon my asking him 
where they came from, he gave me for answer ‘‘Far, far away in the 
Ranges. It takes four days to get there.” The relative proportions of 
the complete ingredients, according to weight, might be the following : 
Bark and sapwood of Urari ( Strychnos toxifera ) 
Bark of Yakki ( Strychnos Schoniburglcii. Kl. n.s.) 
„ „ Arimaru (Strychnos cogens Benth.) 
Tarireng 
Wokarimo .... 
Root of Tarireng 
„ „ Tararemu .... 
Fleshy root of Muramu ( Cissus sp .?) 
Four small wooden chips of Manuca.* 
2 lbs. 
1 lb. 
i 
4 » 
JL 
4 >> 
i „ 
l oz. 
i „ 
*— Manuca is the strongly bitter wood of a tree of the family Xanthoxyleae. The bark 
and the wood is used on the Rio Negro, Amazon and Rio Branco as an effective remedy 
against syphilitic diseases. All the ingredients that the Macusis employ for the manufacture 
of the poison are uncommonly bitter. 
