56 
WANDERINGS IN 
FIRST 
JOURNEY 
The 
quiver. 
to fit the hollow of the tube, and taper off to nothing 
downwards. They tie it on with a thread of the 
silk-grass, to prevent its slipping off the arrow. 
The Indians have shown ingenuity in making a 
quiver to hold the arrows. It will contain from five 
to six hundred. It is generally from twelve to 
fourteen inches long, and in shape resembles a dice- 
box used at backgammon. The inside is prettily done 
in basket work, with wood not unlike bamboo, and 
the outside has a coat of wax. The cover is all of 
one piece, formed out of the skin of the tapir. Round 
the centre there is fastened a loop, large enough to 
admit the arm and shoulder, from which it hangs 
when used. To the rim is tied a little bunch of silk- 
grass, and half of the jaw-bone of the fish called pirai, 
with which the Indian scrapes the point of his arrow. 
Before he puts the arrows into the quiver, he 
links them together by two strings of cotton, one 
string at each end, and then folds them round a stick, 
which is nearly the length of the quiver. The end 
of the stick, which is uppermost, is guarded by two 
little pieces of wood crosswise, with a hoop round 
their extremities, which appears something like a 
wheel; and this saves the hand from being wounded 
Avhen the quiver is reversed, in order to let the bunch 
of arrows drop out. 
There is also attached to the quiver a little kind of 
basket, to hold the wild cotton which is put on the 
blunt end of the arrow. With a quiver of poisoned 
arrows slung over his shoulder, and with his bloAv- 
pipe in his hand, in the same position as a soldier 
