Thus the ourah and samourah, one within the other, form the blow-pipe of
Guiana. The end which is applied to the mouth is tied round with a small
silk-grass cord to prevent its splitting, and the other end, which is apt
to strike against the ground, is secured by the seed of the acuero fruit
cut horizontally through the middle, with a hole made in the end through
which is put the extremity of the blow-pipe. It is fastened on with string
on the outside, and the inside is filled up with wild-bees' wax.

The arrow is from nine to ten inches long. It is made out of the leaf of a
species of palm-tree called coucourite, hard and brittle, and pointed as
sharp as a needle. About an inch of the pointed end is poisoned. The other
end is burnt to make it still harder, and wild cotton is put round it for
about an inch and a half. It requires considerable practice to put on this
cotton well. It must just be large enough to fit the hollow of the tube and
taper off to nothing downwards. They tie it on with a thread of the silk-
grass to prevent its slipping off the arrow.

The Indians have shown ingenuity in making a quiver to hold the arrows. It
will contain from five to six hundred. It is generally from twelve to
fourteen inches long, and in shape resembles a dice-box used at backgammon.
The inside is prettily done in basket-work with wood not unlike bamboo, and
the outside has a coat of wax. The cover is all of one piece formed out of
the skin of the tapir. Round the centre there is fastened a loop large
enough to admit the arm and shoulder, from which it hangs when used. To the
rim is tied a little bunch of silk-grass and half of the jaw-bone of the
fish called pirai, with which the Indian scrapes the point of his arrow.

Before he puts the arrows into the quiver he links them together by two
strings of cotton, one string at each end, and then folds them round a
stick which is nearly the length of the quiver. The end of the stick, which