The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

Most of the arrows, however, are feathered, and there is such ingenuity in the way of putting on the feathers that it deserves mention. In the arrows to which we are accustomed there are three feathers, but in the Guianan arrow there are only two. These are taken from the corresponding feathers of the opposite wings of the bird, so that when they are fixed on the end of the shaft they curve in different directions, like two blades of a steamer’s screw, and so communicate a revolving motion to the arrow as it flies through the air. So, if a native has two or three arrows before him to which he wishes to add the feathers, he procures a bird, and for the first arrow takes, we will say, the second primary feather from the right and left wings of the bird, cuts off a portion of the upper part, about three inches in length, strips away the inner half of the feather, and fastens the remainder on the weapon. The next arrow is feathered from the third primary of each wing, and so on. See [illustration No. 1], page 1231.

The feathers are lashed to the arrow with cotton thread, and so rudely put on, that they would sadly cut an English archer’s hand when the arrow was shot. In order to preserve the nock of the arrow from being split by the bow-string, it is not made in the reed shaft of the arrow itself, but in a piece of letter wood, which is lashed to the butt of the arrow.

The bow is often shorter than the arrows, and is of no great strength, a long range being, as has already been stated, not required. Many kinds of wood furnish the Guianan bow, but those weapons which are most in favor are made of a species of Lecythis. They are strung with the silk grass which has been already mentioned.

Besides the ordinary mode of using their bows and arrows, the Guianan natives have another, which exactly resembles that sport of the old English archers, when a garland was laid on the ground, and the archers, standing in a circle round it, shot their arrows high into the air, so that they should fall into the garland. It sometimes happens that a turtle is lying in the water in such a manner that an arrow, shot at it in the usual manner, would only glance off its hard coat without doing any injury. The hunter, therefore, shoots upward, calculating the course of the descending missile so accurately that it falls upon the turtle’s back, and penetrates the shell.

These arrows are heavier than the ordinary kinds, and are furnished with a sharp iron point, made in a very ingenious manner. As may be seen by reference to [illustration No. 5], page 1231, the iron point is doubly barbed. Its neck, at first flat, is soon divided into two portions, which diverge from each other, and have their ends sharply pointed, so as to constitute a secondary pair of barbs. A stout double string of silk grass is then fixed to the neck, and cotton cord, strengthened with kurumanni wax, is coiled round the diverging points, so as to form a tube. The end of the piece of hard wood which terminates the arrow is scraped down to a conical point, so that it can easily be slipped into the tube. Lastly, the double cord fastened to the head is carried for a foot or so along the arrow, and made fast by a couple of belts of silk grass.

As soon as this arrow strikes the turtle, it dashes off, shaking the shaft out of the tube, and so preventing the arrow from being worked out of the wound by dragging the upright shaft through the water. Whenever the reptile comes near the surface, the light reed shaft of the arrow rises so as to indicate its presence, and, aided by this mark, the hunter is soon able to secure the reptile. The arrow, a part of which is shown in the [illustration], is rather more than five feet in length. It is represented with the shaft separated from the tube. The iron point is thick and solid, and as the hard-wood spike is fourteen inches in length, the front part of the missile is comparatively heavy, causing it to descend with great force.

We now come to the manufacture of the dreaded poison which produces such fatal effects. The natives are very chary of giving information on the subject, and it is very difficult to learn the precise ingredients, the proportionate quantities, or the mode of preparing them. The following account is obtained partly from Mr. Waterton’s book, partly from information given by himself, and partly from the words and works of other travellers in the country.

A good many articles are employed, or said to be employed, but I believe that only two are really needed. The native who is about to make wourali sets about his task in a very deliberate manner. He sets off into the woods alone, taking on his back a peculiar kind of basket called a “quake” or “habbah.” This is a very ingenious kind of basket, combining the two requisites of lightness and strength. It is generally used when the native wants to carry objects that are not very heavy, and are large enough not to slip through the interstices.

It is made from the ittiritti reed, split into slips about the third of an inch in width. As when tilled it swells out toward the bottom and is narrow at the mouth, the objects that are placed in it have no tendency to fall out, which might easily be the case with an ordinary basket, as the bearer is obliged to clamber over fallen trees, to force his way through the dense underwood of a tropical forest, and to subject the quake to such rough treatment that its qualities of form and elasticity are continually brought into operation.

The quake will hold a wonderful amount of goods, being as dilatable as an English carpet-bag. My own specimen (see [illustration No. 3], p. 1231,) measures twenty inches in width, and this is the usual average.