Hauxwell, an English bird-
collector, we found it very difficult to hold steadily the long
tubes. The arrows are made from the hard rind of the leaf-stalks
of certain palms, thin strips being cut, and rendered as sharp as
needles by scraping the ends with a knife or the tooth of an
animal. They are winged with a little oval mass of samauma silk
(from the seed-vessels of the silk-cotton tree, Eriodendron
samauma), cotton being too heavy. The ball of samauma should fit
to a nicety the bore of the blowgun; when it does so, the arrow
can be propelled with such force by the breath that it makes a
noise almost as loud as a pop-gun on flying from the muzzle. My
little companion was armed with a quiver full of these little
missiles, a small number of which, sufficient for the day's
sport, were tipped with the fatal Urari poison. The quiver was an
ornamental affair, the broad rim being made of highly-polished
wood of a rich cherry-red colour (the Moira-piranga, or redwood
of the Japura).
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