The Forest Exiles: The Perils of a Peruvian Family in the Wilds of the Amazon

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER NINETEEN.

  THE POISONED ARROWS.

  The result of the tapir chase determined Guapo to have himself betterarmed. There was one weapon--and a very efficient one too--which heknew how both to make and use. That weapon was a "gravatana," orblow-gun, sometimes called "pocuna." He had had an eye to this weaponall along, and had already provided the materials necessary for makingit. These materials were of a varied character, and had cost him sometrouble in getting them together.

  First, then, for the blow-tube itself he had cut stems of a slenderpalm-tree,--a species of _Iriartea_, but not that sort alreadydescribed. It was the _Pashiuba miri_ of the Indians. This little palmgrows to the height of from twelve to twenty feet, and is never thickerthan a man's wrist. Its roots, like the others of its genus, rise abovethe ground, but only a few inches. The sterns which Guapo had chosenwere of different sizes. One was about the thickness of the handle of agarden-rake, while the other was not over the diameter of awalking-cane. Both were hollow in the heart, or rather they containedpith like the alder-tree, which when forced out left a smooth bore.

  Having cut these stems to a length of about ten feet, and pushed out thepith, Guapo inserted the smaller one into the bore of the larger, whichfitted tightly all the way--for he had chosen it of the proper thicknessto this end. The object of thus using two stems instead of one willnot, at first, be understood. It was for the purpose of making the tubeperfectly straight, as this is a most important consideration in thegravatana. The outer and stronger stem corrected any bend that theremight be in the inner one, and they were carefully arranged so that theone should straighten the other. Had it not been perfectly straight,Guapo would have bound it to a post and made it so; but it happened tocome quite right without further trouble. The tube of the lesser onewas now cleaned out thoroughly, and polished by a little bunch of theroots of a tree-fern, until it was as smooth and hard as ebony. Amouthpiece of wood was placed at the smaller end of the tube, and asight was glued on the outside. This "sight" was the tooth of ananimal,--one of the long curving incisors of a rodent animal called the"paca," which is found in most parts of tropical America. To make theinstrument look neater, Guapo had procured the tough shining bark of acreeping plant, which he wound spirally around the outside from themouthpiece to the muzzle; and then the gravatana was finished.

  There was yet much to be done before it could be used. Arrows were tobe made, and a quiver in which to carry them, and poison to dip theirpoints in--for the arrows of the blow-gun do not kill by the wound theyinflict, but by the poison with which they are charged.

  The next thing, then, to which Guapo turned his attention was themanufacture of the arrows. These can be made of cane, reeds, and otherkinds of wood; but the best materials for the purpose are the longspines of the patawa palm, of which I have already spoken. These spinesgrow out from the lower part of the leaf-petioles, and, in young treesand those much sheltered, remain upon the trunk, giving it a very shaggyappearance. They are often three feet in length, about as thick aslarge wire, rather flattish, and of a black colour. To make the arrows,Guapo cut them to the length of fifteen or eighteen inches, and thenpointed them sharply at one end. About three inches from the points henotched them all, so that they would break in the wound rather than dropout again, in consequence of the struggles of the animal. About two orthree inches from the thick end of the arrow Guapo wrapped lightlyaround the shaft some strands of the soft silky cotton, which he hadprocured from the pods of the great "ceiba," or silk-cotton tree,already mentioned. This he fastened on with a fibre of an aloe plant--one of the _bromelias_; and the cotton, when thus secured, assumed aconical or spindle shape, having its larger end toward the butt of thearrow. When inserted into the gravatana, the swell of the cotton filledthe tube exactly,--not so tightly as to impede the passage of the arrow,nor so loosely as to allow of "windage" when blown upon through themouthpiece.

  The arrows were now ready, with the exception of the poison for theirtips; and this was the most important of all, for without it bothblow-gun and arrows would have been useless weapons, indeed. But Guapowas just the man who knew how to make this poison, and that is more thancould be said of every Indian, for it is only the "piaches" (priests, or"medicine-men") who understand the process. Nay, more, there are evensome tribes where not an individual knows how the arrow-poison is made;and these have to procure it by barter from others, paying a high price,and sometimes going a great distance for it.

  This celebrated poison is known under different names, but those of"curare", "ticuna," and "wouraly," are the principal.

  It is one of the most deadly poisons yet discovered--as much so as the_upastiente_ of Java, or the bean of Saint Ignatius--but it is perfectlyharmless when swallowed, and, indeed, it is often taken by the Indiansas an excellent stomachic. Should it get into the blood, however, bymeans of an arrow-wound, or a sore, no remedy has yet been discoveredthat will cure it. Death is certain, and a death similar to that causedby the bite of a venomous serpent. So say those who have suffered fromit, but recovered on account of their having been only slightly wounded,or lightly inoculated with it. Let us see, then, how Guapo preparedthis deadly mixture.

  He had gone out to the forest, and returned carrying a bundle of slenderrods. They were pieces of a lliana, or creeping plant. It was the_bejuco de curare_, or "mavacure," as it is sometimes called. Theleaves he had stripped off, and left behind as useless. Had he broughtthem with him, they would have been seen to be small leaves of anoblong-oval shape, sharp at the points, and of a whitish-green colour.Don Pablo knew the plant to be a species of _Strychnos_.

  Guapo with his knife first scraped all the bark, as well as the alburnumor white coating, from the rods, which last he flung away. The mixtureof bark and alburnum was next placed upon a smooth stone, and mashedinto a fibre of a yellowish colour. This done, it was gathered into aheap, and placed within a funnel, which had already been made out of aplantain-leaf. The funnel was a long narrow cone, and to strengthen it,it was set within another funnel made of the thick leaf of the "bussu"palm, and then both were supported by a framework of palm fibres.Underneath the apex was placed a small pan--which could afterwards beput over the fire--and then cold water was thrown into the funnel alongwith the bark. A yellowish liquid soon commenced to filter and dripinto the pan, and this liquid was the _curare_, the arrow-poison. Itstill required, however, to be concentrated by evaporation; and for thispurpose the pan was transferred to a slow fire, where it was kept untilthe liquid became thickened by the heat.

  Another process was yet required before the curare was ready for thearrows. It was sufficiently concentrated and deadly, but still too thinto adhere properly to their tips, and for this purpose a mixture of somegummy juice was necessary. This Guapo soon prepared from the largeleaves of a tree called the "kiracaguero," and poured it into theinfusion; and then the curare turned from its yellow colour to black,and was ready for use. The change of colour was produced by thedecomposition of a hydruret of carbon; the hydrogen was burned, and thecarbon set free.

  Guapo now dipped a few of his arrows, and carefully deposited them in alarge joint of bamboo, which served as a quiver. I say _carefully_, forhad one of these arrows dropped with its poisoned point upon his nakedfoot, or wounded him elsewhere, he never would have prepared any morecurare. But he handled them with care, and the remainder of the liquidhe poured into a small gourd (similar to that in which he carried hiscoca-lime), which he closely corked up with a piece of the pith from apalm.

  Don Pablo, with Dona Isidora and the children, had watched with interestall this process. At first, they were afraid to go near, believing thatthe fumes of the liquid might be injurious. This was long believed tobe the case, in consequence of the absurd tales spread abroad by the oldmissionaries, and even at a later period by the traveller La Condamine.These asserted, that when the Indians wished to make the curare poison,they selected for this purpose the old women of the tribe, whose liveswere
not deemed of any value; and that several of these always fell asacrifice while "cooking" the curare! This silly story is now refuted;and Guapo not only assured his companions that there was no danger, buteven tasted the curare from time to time while in the pan, in order tojudge when it was sufficiently concentrated. This he could tell by itstaste, as it grew more and more bitter as the evaporation proceeded.The arrow-poisons of South America are not all made from the creepingplant, the mavacure. Among some Indian tribes a root is used called"curare de raiz;" and with others the poison is produced by a mixture ofseveral species of juices from the plant _Ambihuasca_, tobacco, redpepper, a bark called "barbasco," from a tree of the genus _Jacquinia_,and a plant of the name "sarnango." Of all these the juice of the_Ambihuasca_ is the most powerful ingredient, but the making of thisspecies of poison is a most complicated process.

  Guapo was not long in having an opportunity to test his gravatana, andthis was just what he desired, for the old Indian was not a little vainof his skill, and he wished to make a show of it in the eyes of hiscompanions. His vanity, however, was the more pardonable, as he was inreality a first-rate shot, which he proved to the satisfaction ofeverybody within half-an-hour. The instrument had scarcely beenfinished and laid aside, when a loud screaming and chattering was heardin the air, and on looking up a flock of large birds was seen flyingover the heavens. They were still high up, but all of a sudden theydarted down together and alit on a tall tree that stood nearly alone.Here they continued their chattering, only in a lower and moreconfidential tone; and they could be seen, not hopping, but climbingabout, sometimes with their backs and heads turned downwards, and, inshort, clinging to the branches in every imaginable way. These birdswere all of one kind, each of them full eighteen inches in length, andof a uniform colour over the body, which was a purple, or deep indigo--their beaks only being white. In the sun their plumage glistened with ametallic lustre. They were, in fact, a rare species,--the _ana_, or_purple macaw_.

  Without saying a word, Guapo seized his gravatana and arrows, and stoleoff through the underwood towards the tree upon which the macaws hadperched. In a few minutes he stood under it, screened from the view ofthe birds by the broad leaves of a plantain that happened to growbeneath. This cover was necessary, else the macaws, which are shybirds, might have uttered one of their wild, choral screams, and flownoff. They did not however, and Guapo had a fair chance at them. Allhis movements could be observed by the party at the house, as he was onthat side of the plantain.

  He was seen to adjust an arrow into the tube, and then raise thegravatana to his lips. Strange to say, he did not hold it as we do acommon gun,--that is, with the left hand advanced along the tube. Onthe contrary, both hands were held nearly together, at the lower end,and close to his mouth. Now, you will wonder how he could hold such along tube steady in this way. It is, indeed, a very difficult thing,and much practice alone can accomplish it. As they watched himnarrowly, his chest was seen to expand, his cheeks rose with a strong"puff," and some of them thought they could perceive the passage of thelittle arrow out of the tube. However this might be, they soon aftersaw something sticking in the side of one of the macaws, and could seethe bird pecking at it with its great beak, and trying to pull it out.In this it appeared to have succeeded after a short while, for somethingfell from the tree. It was the shaft with its cotton "boss" that felldown. The point, broken off where it had been notched, was still in thebody of the bird, and was infusing the deadly venom into its veins. Inabout two minutes' time the wounded bird seemed to grow giddy, and beganto stagger. It then fell over, still clutching the branch with itsstrong, prehensile claws; but after hanging a moment, these too relaxed,and the body fell heavily to the ground. It was quite dead.

  Long before it came down Guapo had pushed a fresh arrow into the tube,and given a fresh puff through it, wounding a second of the macaws.Then another arrow was chosen, and another victim, until several hadbeen shot, and the creatures upon the tree could be seen in all stagesof dying. Some, on receiving the wound, uttered a cry and flew off, butthe poison soon brought them down, and they invariably fell at no greatdistance from the tree.

  At length Guapo was seen to desist, and walk boldly out from his ambush.To the surprise of all, the remaining macaws, of which there were stillsix or seven upon the tree, showed no fear of him, nor did they attemptto fly away! This was explained, however, by their subsequent conduct;for in a few seconds more they were seen, one by one, falling to theground, until not a single bird was left upon the tree. All of them hadbeen killed by the arrows of the blow-gun!

  Leon now ran out to assist Guapo in gathering his game. There were noless than eight couple of them in all, and they were all quite dead--some of them shot in the thigh, some in the neck or wing, and othersthrough the body. None of them had lived over two minutes afterreceiving the wound. Such is the quickness with which the "curare" doesits work!

  As a hunting instrument for most species of game the South AmericanIndian prefers the gravatana to any other; and with good reason. HadGuapo been armed with a rifle or fowling-piece, he would have shot onemacaw, or perhaps a pair, and then the rest would have uttered atantalising scream, and winged their way out of his reach. He mighthave missed the whole flock too, for on a high tree, such as that onwhich they had alit, it is no easy matter to kill a macaw with ashot-gun. Now the gravatana throws its arrow to a height of from thirtyto forty yards, and the least touch is sufficient to do the business.Its silence, moreover, enables the hunter to repeat the shot, untilseveral head of game reward his skill. The Indians use it with mosteffect in a vertical or upward direction; and they are always surer tokill a bird with it when perched on a high tree, than when seated on alow shrub or on the ground.

  As we have observed that the curare can be taken inwardly without anydanger, it will be evident to all that game killed by the poisonedarrows may be eaten with safety. Indeed, there are many epicures inSouth America who prefer it in this way; and when a chicken is wantedfor the table, these people require that it should be killed by an arrowdipped in curare.