The shaft of the arrow is made of the leaf ribs of the coucourite palm, a species of areca. It is about ten inches in length, no thicker than a crow quill, and at one end is brought to a point as sharp as a needle by scraping it between the teeth of the pirai fish (Serrasalmus piraya). The teeth of this fish are flat, pointed, and double-edged, much like those of the shark—and, indeed, the pirai is a veritable fresh-water shark, biting whole mouthfuls from the bodies of animals that enter the water, and even attacking the alligator itself—and when the arrow is drawn between them, delicate shavings are taken off, just as is the case with the double knife-sharpeners of the present day. One half of a pirai jaw is always suspended to the quiver of a Macoushie.
Of the poison with which the arrow is armed we will presently treat: we are now only concerned with the manufacture of the weapon. In order to save space, the cotton is not put upon the arrows until just before they are wanted, six or seven finished arrows being left in the quiver for immediate use, and the rest tied in a bundle until needed. The formation of this bundle is singularly ingenious, the native being able to remove any of the arrows without untying it, and to add as many as he likes without disturbing those which already are tied together.
The native takes a rod of hard wood, a little longer than the arrows, and at one end he fixes a little wheel, rather more than two inches in diameter. At two inches from the wheel, and the same distance from the end of the rod, two holes are bored, through each of which are passed two strings made of cotton. When the man wishes to tie up a number of arrows, he lays them successively between the strings, which he twists between each arrow. When the last arrow is laid in its place, the whole are kept firm by a couple of sliding knots, which can be slipped along the strings.
[Illustration No. 7] on the following page, will explain the method of stringing the arrows better than can be done by words alone. Two of the arrows are shown as prepared for use, the cotton being on their butts and the poison on their tips. A number more are shown as they appear on the double strings, poisoned, but without the cotton. A hunter will sometimes have as many as five hundred arrows at once upon a string.
In order to keep the weapons compact, so that they can be easily slipped into the quiver, they are rolled round the little rod, and bound firmly together in a cylindrical form, the poisoned points being directed to the wheel, of which the reader will now see the use. It serves as a sort of shield to the hand, so that when the hunter wishes to take the arrows out of the quiver, he can do so without the least danger; and when he desires to remove some arrows to be mounted with cotton, he can push them through the spokes of the wheel, and take them out without having to untie the bundle. See [illustration No. 6].
(1.) BLOW GUN ARROWS.
(See [page 1224].)
(2.) WINGED ARROW.
(See [page 1227].)