The last article which completes the equipment of the bird hunter is the basket of wild cotton. This, as may be seen from [illustration No. 3], has a narrow neck, and bulging body; so that the cotton does not fall out of the basket, though carried with the opening downward. The quantity which it will hold is astonishing. From one of them Mr. Waterton took handful after handful until a large heap was on the table, just as a conjuror takes vast quantities of feathers out of an apparently empty hat.
CHAPTER CXXX.
THE TRIBES OF GUIANA—Continued.
WEAPONS—Concluded.
EFFECT OF THE WOURALI — DEATH OF THE AI — THE LARGER ARROWS — TUFTED ARROWS — A SINGULAR QUIVER — ARRANGEMENT OF THE MOVABLE HEAD — QUIVER FOR THE HEADS — FATE OF THE WOUNDED INDIAN — HOW THE ARROWS ARE FEATHERED — THE NATIVE BOW — TURTLE ARROWS — MANUFACTURE OF THE WOURALI — THE QUAKE AND ITS USES — THE WOURALI VINE, AND OTHER VEGETABLE CONSTITUENTS — THE HYARRI POISON, AND ITS USES — ANTS AND SNAKE FANGS — BOILING THE WOURALI — EFFECTS OF THE PROCESS ON THE MAKER — SELF-POISONED ARROWS — VARIOUS ARROW HEADS OF GUIANA — THE WHISTLING ARROW.
The effect of the poison is instantaneous, provided that it be of good quality and kept dry. There are many varieties of the wourali, but the best, which is made by the Macoushies, is so powerful that one of the tiny arrows brought by Mr. Waterton from Guiana killed a hedgehog at once, though fifty years had elapsed since the poison was made. Death was not instantaneous, for the animal, which was very slightly wounded in the hind leg, breathed for some seconds; but the hedgehog was quite insensible, and, as soon as it had been pricked by the dart, it allowed me to lay it on its back, and place my finger on the ball of its eye, without shrinking.
Many experiments have been made in England with the wourali poison, most of which have tended to prove that its power has been exaggerated, and that a man could not be killed by the small quantity that could be conveyed into a wound on the point of an arrow. I feel certain, however, that in such cases either the poison has not been of good quality, or that it has been carelessly kept, and allowed to become damp, in which case it loses the greater part of its strength. It is very difficult to procure the strongest wourali poison from the natives, who are very unwilling to part with it, and will always try to substitute an inferior kind. The only mode of procuring the best wourali is to do as Mr. Waterton did, i. e. live among them, and induce them to part with the little wourali-pots from which they have poisoned their own arrows. Moreover, he must imitate their example in keeping the poison in a perfectly dry place. The natives are so careful on this point that they frequently remove the covers of their poison pots and put them near the fire.
There is no mistake about the potency of such poison as this. Its effect upon a hedgehog has already been mentioned, but Mr. Waterton tried it on several animals. For example, he had an Ai sloth that he wanted to kill painlessly, and without damaging the skin. How he did it is best told in his own words:—
“Of all animals, not even the toad and the tortoise excepted, this poor animal is the most tenacious of life. It exists long after it has received wounds which would have destroyed any other animal, and it may be said, on seeing a mortally wounded sloth, that life disputes with death every inch of flesh in its body.
“The Ai was wounded in the leg, and put down upon the floor, almost two feet from the table. It contrived to reach the leg of the table, and fastened itself upon it as if wishful to ascend. But this was its last advancing step; life was ebbing fast, though imperceptibly; nor could this singular production of nature, which has been formed of a texture to resist death in a thousand shapes, make any stand against the wourali.
“First one fore-leg let go its hold, and dropped down motionless by its side; the other gradually did the same. The fore-legs having now lost their strength, the sloth slowly doubled its body, and placed its head betwixt its hind-legs, which still adhered to the table; but when the poison had affected these also, it sank to the ground, but sank so gently that you could not distinguish the movement from an ordinary motion; and had you been ignorant that it was wounded with a poisoned arrow, you would never have suspected that it was dying. Its mouth was shut, nor had any froth or saliva collected there.
“There was no subsultus tendinum, nor any visible alteration in its breathing. During the tenth minute from the time it was wounded it stirred, and that was all; and the minute after life’s last spark went out. From the time the poison began to operate, you would have conjectured that sleep was overpowering it, and you would have exclaimed—