CHANGES OF LANGUAGE — INVERSION OF WORDS AND SENTENCES — THE TALKING PARROT — THE FIVE CHIEF TRIBES OF GUIANA — PECULIARITY OF CLIMATE, AND CONSEQUENT EFFECT ON VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFE — THE HAMMOCK OF GUIANA — THE WEAPONS PECULIAR TO THE COUNTRY — THE TWO KINDS OF BLOW GUN — THE ZARABATANA, AND MODE OF CONSTRUCTION — WEIGHT OF THE WEAPON — THE PUCUNA — ITS DOUBLE TUBE — THE OURAH AND SAMOURAH — THE KURUMANNI WAX — THE INGENIOUS FORE AND BACK SIGHTS — THE BLOW GUN ARROWS — THEIR CONSTRUCTION — MODE OF SHARPENING — THE PIRAI FISH — INGENIOUS MODE OF PACKING THE ARROWS — MODE OF PROPELLING THE ARROWS — THE WINGED ARROW — THE QUIVER AND COTTON BASKET.

It is evident that the innumerable tribes which inhabit the neighborhood of the great Amazon River are members of the same family, differing more in language than in appearance or habits. It is natural that families when they become large should separate themselves, and so become founders of fresh tribes, which spread themselves over the country, settling down in those spots which suit them best. They retain the general character of their manners and customs, but, owing to the total want of a literature, their language is continually changing.

This alteration in their language is also due to the native fondness for inverting words and sentences during their conversation with each other, a custom which bears some resemblance to that of punning among ourselves. When these inverted words happen to please the people’s fancy, they are retained in the language, so that in a few years after a family has separated itself from the parent tribe the two dialects will have receded so far from each other that the people can hardly understand each other.

To the philologist this fluctuation of language would be exceedingly interesting, but, as we are concerned with manners and customs rather than with language, we will pass northward and eastward to Guiana. Sir R. Schomburgk mentions a fact which is a singular corroboration of the rapidity with which language changes among these tribes. There was a parrot living in 1800, which spoke well, but many of whose words could not be understood, because it spoke the language of the Atures, a tribe which had passed entirely out of recollection after it had been mastered by the warlike Caribs.

This comparatively small country is especially interesting to ethnologists, in consequence of the perfect manner in which the natives have guarded their individuality. Evidently sprung from one source, they have settled down in different districts and, though alike in color and general conformation, are as widely different in language, and often in manners, as if they belonged to separate quarters of the world.

Five principal nations inhabit Guiana, and are subdivided into a vast number of small tribes. These are the Macoushies, the Arawâks, the Accawaios, the Caribs, and the Waraus. The two first of these will be taken as representatives of the tribes in Guiana, though the others will be mentioned in cases where they present any marks of difference.

Taking broadly the chief points of distinction between these tribes, we may simply define them as follows.

The Macoushies are the largest and most ingenious tribe. They excel in the manufacture of the terrible wourali poison, which they exchange for canoes and other necessaries from other tribes. They also make the best blow guns. Their huts are closed, and conical like sugar loaves. Their number is somewhere about three thousand.

The Arawâks are rather taller than the Macoushies, being, on an average, five feet six inches in height. Their faces are marked with the tattoo, and, as they are much brought into contact with white men, they approach civilization nearer than do the other tribes.

The Accawaios and Caribs wear no clothing except on occasions of ceremony. The former are distinguished by a wooden ornament in the cartilage of the nose, and the latter by wearing ornaments in the under lip, and by a lump of annatto fastened to the hair of the forehead. The Waraus are darker than the others, and are acknowledged to be the best canoe makers in Guiana. Some of their vessels will carry ninety or a hundred men, and they sell these canoes to the Macoushies for the excellent wourali poison for which that tribe is celebrated.

Owing to the peculiarities of the climate, all these tribes have many customs in common. The climate is a very remarkable one, being exceedingly hot and exceedingly wet. The heat is owing to the geographical position of Guiana, which is close to the equator, and the wet is due to the trade winds and the configuration of the country. Blowing across the Atlantic they absorb a vast quantity of moisture from the ocean, and discharge the greater portion of it before they can reach any distance inland, the moisture being condensed by the secondary mountain chains, which are from five to seven thousand feet in height.

In consequence of this perpetual heat acting on perpetual moisture, vegetation flourishes with a luxuriousness scarcely to be seen in any other part of the world; and so completely is the ground covered with tree and bush, that many trees are unable to find a habitation upon the ground, and are forced to live upon each other. Thus, upon a lofty mora tree a fig tree will grow, and upon the fig an enormous creeper will fasten itself, its long shoots dangling loosely from the enormous height at which they grow, or drooping in graceful and flower-clad festoons from one tree to another. Such a forest as this is often ankle-deep in water for miles together, and the vegetation is so thick that the only way of passing through the tangled mass of vegetation is to cut a path with the axe. And even then, after a week or two has elapsed, the path will have vanished, so rapid is the growth of vegetable life.

It follows from this description that the animals which inhabit Guiana must be chiefly of two kinds, those which inhabit the trees and those which live in the water. Accordingly, we find that the country is tenanted by a great variety of the monkey tribe, that the arboreal puma and jaguar take the place of the terrestrial lion and tiger, and that the aquatic capybara and tapir flourish where beasts of equal size would perish if they had to live on the land. Birds of the most lovely plumage abound in Guiana, which is also a very paradise of insects.

It is evident that any human beings that live in such a country as this must have many characteristics in common. They need no clothes, no houses, and the woods supply them with food without the trouble of cultivation, so that their chief incentives to labor are taken away. Consequently, they may be called an idle people, though the indolence is rather apparent than real. They will work as long as there is a necessity for it; but, as a man can support existence without doing a real day’s work in his life, it is evident that the necessity for work does not often arise.

One habit which they have in common is that of sleeping in the hammock. This article is made by the natives from various vegetable fibres, and is woven in different ways, according to the character of the tribe which makes it. Some of these are made simply by laying a number of strings parallel to each other, and knotting others across at right angles; but the best have no knots at all, the strings interlacing with each other diagonally, so as to yield in every direction to the body of the occupier. When a native has made a particularly fine specimen, he adorns it with feathers, and other brilliantly colored objects.

These hammocks are of various sizes, some being small and used for children, and others large enough to contain an entire family. The specimen in my collection will hold two Guianan natives, but not two Englishmen. It is rather more than sixteen feet in length, and six feet in width.

The hammock is exactly adapted to the wants of the native. It is so light that he can roll it up and tie it round his body, so as to carry it on a journey; so slight in texture as to keep him cool when lying in it; and so yielding in its structure that the bare cords do not hurt his naked skin. On a journey he always carries his hammock with him, and if he wants to rest, he does not sit down, but slings the hammock between two trees and lies in it. Several purposes are fulfilled by this arrangement. In the first place, the ground is usually wet, so that the man is kept dry in the hammock; in the next place, he is safe from the snakes and other unpleasant reptiles that swarm in the forests; and lastly, he would always rather lie down than sit.

Another point which they have in common is the mode in which they destroy the animals on which they live. The reader will remember that the density of the jungle is so great, that if an animal were able, after it was wounded, to run for a hundred yards or so, or a bird to fly the same distance, it would be lost in the bush without the chance of recovery. It is evident, therefore, that the successful hunter must possess some means of destroying motion, if not life, almost instantaneously, and this he finds in the terrible wourali poison, which has the effect of causing instant stupor when it mixes with the blood. The mode of manufacturing this poison will presently be described, and at present it is sufficient to say that nearly all the missiles used by the Guianan aborigines, whether propelled by the bow or by the breath, are armed with this poison.

We will first take those missiles which are propelled by the breath, and examine the instrument through which they are sent. In principle this is exactly like the sumpitan of Borneo, described on page 1119, but the mode of construction is different, and in the best specimens the Guianan work is far superior to that of Borneo.

Of this singular weapon there are several varieties, the two principal of which are shown over the title “Blow guns” on the 1225th page, both being taken from specimens in my possession. On the right is the zarabatana. This is found throughout a very large tract of country southward of Guiana, when it takes a somewhat modified and improved form.

It is made of two separate pieces of wood, in each of which is cut a semicircular groove, so that when they are placed in contact with each other they form a long wooden rod, pierced with a circular bore. As the natives use nothing but the incisor teeth of rodent animals by way of tools, it may be seen that the labor of making one of these instruments is very great. The bore being carefully smoothed, the two halves are laid together, and bound by means of long, flat strips of jacitara wood wound spirally round them.

To the lower end of the weapon is fastened a large mouthpiece, with a conical opening like the mouthpiece of a trumpet, so as to collect the breath for the propulsion of the arrow. A quantity of cement, composed of a black wax made by a wild bee mixed with a pitchy substance obtained from several trees, is then rubbed over the whole weapon, which is considered complete. The zarabatana is exceedingly heavy, and requires not only a strong but a practised arm to hold it steady. The specimen in my collection, which is several feet in length, weighs three pounds twelve ounces.

A far superior weapon, called the “pucuna,” larger, lighter, and more easily handled, is made by the natives of many parts of Guiana, that used by the Macoushie tribe being the best. The specimen which is shown on the left of the zarabatana was brought from Guiana by the late Mr. Waterton, who presented it to me shortly before the accident which caused his death.

The weapon in question (called pucuna) is double, being made of two portions, called ourah and samourah. The essential portion of the blow gun is the ourah. This is a singular reed (Arundinaria Schomburgkii), which, as far as is known, only grows on the sandstone ridge of the Upper Orinoco between the rivers Ventuari, Paramu, and Mavaca. Like the bamboo, it grows in clusters, and, though not exceeding half an inch in diameter, the first fourteen or sixteen feet are without a knot. From this point spread the long, slender branches, measuring from thirty to forty feet in length, and waving in graceful curves when moved by the wind.

The portion used for the blowpipe is the first joint, which is uniform in diameter throughout, and is naturally polished within. But it is so thin, the walls being not twice the thickness of a playing card, that it would be too fragile to be used without some protection. Accordingly, the native has recourse to a sort of palm, called by him samourah, its scientific title being Ireartia setigera.

This is chosen of a proper size, cut down, and steeped in water, for the purpose of extracting the pulp which fills the interior. When it is quite dry, the reed is inserted into this tube, the native gunmaker having a wonderful talent in getting the slender reed exactly in the centre of the palm-stem, and fixing it in its place with the black wax already mentioned. This wax is called kurumanni by the Macoushies, and is used by them as freely as is the “black-boy” wax by the Australian aborigines. The samourah is then scraped down to the proper thickness, well polished, and the weapon is ready for the accessories which complete it.

One end is chosen to serve as a mouthpiece, and is bound with a string made of silk-grass and the other is tipped with the half of the acuero nut, which is very hard and prevents the end of the weapon from being injured by accidental blows against a tree or the ground. This acuero seed acts as a fore-sight, by which the native hunter can direct his weapon; but, in order to secure a more certain aim, he adds a singularly ingenious back-sight. Taking a lump of kurumanni wax, he presses it on the blowpipe about eighteen inches from the mouthpiece, and by means of the wax fixes upon the tube the two lower incisor teeth of the acouchi, one of the cavies.

Figure 1 shows the weapon itself, and fig. 2 the front view of the tip, guarded with its ring of acuero seed, which forms the fore-sight. Fig. 3 gives an enlarged representation of the back-sight, made of the teeth of the acouchi (Dasyprocta Acouchi) fixed in their place by the black kurumanni wax. Fig. 4 is a section taken through the middle of the back-sight, so as to show the way in which the teeth project from the shaft. Fig. 5 is a front view of the butt, showing the way in which the ourah reed is enclosed within the samourah palm.

Such a weapon as this is exceedingly light and easy to handle, presenting a strong contrast to the heavy and cumbrous zarabatana. The weight of the one in my collection barely exceeds a pound and a half, although it is eleven feet in length. It is held in rather a curious manner. The left hand is turned with the palm upward, and the elbow against the hip. The hand then grasps the blow gun within a hands-breadth of the mouthpiece, and the right hand seizes it, palm downward, in the space left by the other hand. In fact, this mode of holding the weapon is exactly similar in principle to that which is employed by riflemen. The blowpipe is then raised, not by the arms, but by bending back the body; and it is astonishing to see how steady it can be held for a lengthened time—a steadiness which can never be gained if it be held by stretching out the right arm and grasping it at some distance from the mouth.

The natives are most careful respecting the straightness of their blow guns, and never allow them to lean against anything lest they should be warped. When they go hunting, they carry the blow gun upright, like a soldier, “shouldering arms,” and when they return to their huts, they suspend the weapon by a loop to the top of the house. Mr. Waterton repeatedly draws attention to this point in his “Wanderings,” and when he presented me with the pucuna which he brought from Guiana, the gift was accompanied by a condition that it should never be allowed to lean against a wall, but should be either laid on the ground or suspended by its loop.

We now come to the arrows which are propelled through the pucuna. They very much resemble in shape and size those which are employed by the Dyaks, but, instead of being made to fit the bore of the pucuna by a piece of pith or soft wood at the butt, a small quantity of wild cotton, taken from the Bombax ceiba, is wound upon it, and fastened with a fibre of silk grass. Cultivated cotton is too heavy to serve the purpose, and nothing answers so well as the yellow, stout-fibred cotton of the Bombax. Very great art is required in putting on the cotton properly. It must exactly fit the bore, be perfectly regular, so as not to disturb the accuracy of the flight, and must taper gradually in front, so as to offer the least possible resistance to the air. See illustration No. 1, on the next page.

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.

When properly made and mounted, these arrows can be propelled with wonderful force. I have sent one for a distance of a hundred yards, and the natives can propel them to a still greater distance. There is a certain art in using the pucuna, the arrow not being urged by a lengthened breath, but by collecting all the air that the lungs will hold, and giving a short expiration, as if the object were to empty the lungs at one puff. The force comes entirely from the lungs, the cheeks having nothing to do with it. When an arrow is rightly propelled, it flies from the tube with a slight pop, like that which is produced by quickly drawing the cork of a small bottle. It is quite invisible for some little time, so rapid is the motion; and even when fitted with white instead of yellow cotton the eye can scarcely follow its course.

Such an instrument as this is simply invaluable for the purposes to which it is devoted. It is intended to be used almost exclusively for killing birds and small monkeys, both of which creatures live on trees. Now, as the trees of Guiana run to an enormous height, some of them attaining at least a hundred feet before they throw out a branch, it will be seen that the birds are beyond the reach of shot-guns. The foliage is so thick that it does not permit more than one or two shots to reach the bird, and the height is so great that, even if they did strike, they would produce but little effect. But the pucuna can throw an arrow higher than a gun can propel a shot, and if the needle-like point enters any part of the bird the effect is fatal.

There is another advantage which the pucuna possesses over fire-arms. The report of the gun frightens away every bird within sound, whereas the pucuna is practically noiseless. The slight “pop” with which the arrow is expelled does not alarm the birds, and an expert hunter can kill twenty or thirty birds from one tree without alarming the others. The pucuna is particularly useful in the chase of the toucan. The feathers of this bird are much used in the manufacture of the beautiful gala dresses which the natives wear on grand occasions, and are much prized by them. Now, the toucan has a way of sitting on the topmost boughs of the tallest trees, and were it not for the deadly arrow of his pucuna, the native could seldom obtain a specimen.

Just before the arrow is put into the blowgun, the hunter places it between two of the pirai-teeth already mentioned, and turns it round between his fingers. He thus cuts it through just above the poisoned portion, so as to leave a mere thread of wood attaching the head to the shaft. If, therefore, the bird or monkey, on feeling the smart, should seize the arrow and withdraw it, the poisoned head snaps off and is left in the wound.

In some parts of the country a very ingenious form of arrow is used. Instead of being made to fit the bore by means of cotton tied on the butt, a flat piece of bark is twisted round the arrow so as to cause it to terminate in a hollow cone. A larger piece of the same material is fixed along the shaft of the arrow, and slightly twisted so as to cause it to revolve when projected through the air. The arrow is tipped with a slight iron blade, instead of being merely sharpened wood. (See illustration No. 2.) This form of hollow base is admirably adapted for its purpose, and has been copied by Messrs. Lang, the well-known gunmakers of Cockspur Street, in their blow gun darts for killing small birds and animals without noise.

Next comes the quiver in which the arrows are kept. This is shown in illustration No. 4, on page 1225. The framework of the quiver is made of the ittiritti-reed, and the bottom is closed by a circular plate of wood. In order to keep the poisoned arrows from the damp, which would effectually spoil them, the whole of the quiver is covered with a thick coat of kurumanni wax, which is pressed firmly into the interstices of the wicker-work, and into the junction between the bottom and the sides of the quiver.

Lest the rough basketwork should injure the delicate arrows, the quiver is lined with beautifully made mat-work, of much finer material, and quite smooth to the hand. The cover is made of a piece of skin, sometimes of the tapir, but mostly of the peccary. While fresh and wet it is moulded over a wooden block of the proper size, just as hatters mould their felt into its form. The hairy side is kept inward, and when it is pressed on the top of the quiver, and twisted with a turn of the hand, it holds itself firmly in its place. When the cover is on the quiver, no water can enter, and even if the hunter were to drop it into the river, the arrows would be preserved quite dry in their floating receptacle.

Before the kurumanni wax which covers the quiver is quite dry, a flat plaited belt made of silk grass is secured to it by means of a long string, which encircles the quiver several times. In this cincture is also secured by strings a coil of silk-grass, from, which can be drawn the fibres by which the cotton is attached to the arrow, together with the half jaw-bone of the pirai, with which the arrows are sharpened. In my specimen this jaw-bone is two inches in length.

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.