The other extremity finishes in an exceedingly sharp point (sometimes of bone or metal well inserted into the wood) contrived in such a mode that when the dart strikes an object the point breaks off and remains there. The force of penetration is however so great that the body of a man standing 30 metres off may be pierced through without its being broken.
No animal, except pachyderms, can challenge with impunity the Sakai's arrow. It is always, and for all, a terrible messenger of Death, either in the precision of aim, the violence with which it hits, or the poison it inoculates.
In the same way as the aborigenes of Australia throw their boomerang with inimitable dexterity and security, the Sakai manages his blowpipe with a cleverness it is impossible to imitate or learn. The Malays, who have studied to make themselves masters of this weapon, are but poor shooters compared to their forest neighbours.
Together with the blaù the Sakai always carries with him his lok (quiver) suspended from a girdle of bark, called bò gnan (pr. bo nean).
This quiver is also composed of bamboo measuring from 3 to 7 inches round and 13 or 14 long. It is very rare that the darts are placed in it without being first enclosed in thin reeds, known by the name of damà which preserve the points and prevent the poison from being rubbed off as well as saving it from getting damp, when it would lose its force. In its turn the quiver is enclosed in the tchenkop, a covering of ratan or palm-fibres woven so intricately as to render it water-tight.
With his blowpipe ready the Sakai penetrates into the forest, creeping softly among the tall grasses and bushes. No rustling, no crackling of dry leaves denounces the presence of the man who advances cautiously under the broad green roof, casting keen and restless glances towards the branches of the trees. His ear catches the faintest flapping of wings. From time to time he utters a cry like that of a bird or a monkey, and quickly a feathered biped, moved by curiosity descends from a higher to a lower bough; a monkey swings itself down in answer to the call, or a pretty little head with a sharp nose and bright eyes peeps out of a hollow in the tree.
Blowpipes, quivers and poisoned arrows.