h.

Thou must not, courteous reader, expect a dissertation on the manner in
which the wourali-poison operates on the system; a treatise has been
already written on the subject; and, after all, there is probably still
reason to doubt. It is supposed to affect the nervous system, and thus
destroy the vital functions; it is also said to be perfectly harmless,
provided it does not touch the blood. However, this is certain, when a
sufficient quantity of it enters the blood, death is the inevitable
consequence; but there is no alteration in the colour of the blood, and
both the blood and flesh may be eaten with safety.

All that thou wilt find here is a concise, unadorned account of the
wourali-poison. It may be of service to thee some time or other,
shouldst thou ever travel through the wilds where it is used. Neither
attribute to cruelty, nor to a want of feeling for the sufferings of the
inferior animals, the ensuing experiments. The larger animals were
destroyed in order to have proof positive of the strength of a poison
which hath hitherto been doubted: and the smaller ones were killed with
the hope of substantiating that which has commonly been supposed to be an
antidote.

It makes a pitying heart ache to see a poor creature in distress and
pain; and too often has the compassionate traveller occasion to heave a
sigh as he journeys on. However, here, though the kind-hearted will be
sorry to read of an unoffending animal doomed to death in order to
satisfy a doubt, still it will be a relief to know that the victim was
not tortured. The wourali-poison destroys life's action so gently, that
the victim appears to be in no pain whatever; and probably, were the
truth known, it feels none, saving the momentary smart at the time the
arrow enters.

A day or two before the Macoushi Indian prepares his poison, he goes into
the forest in quest of the ingredients. A vine grows in these wilds,
which is called wourali. It is from this that the poison takes its name,
and it is the principal ingredient. When he has procured enough of this,
he digs up a root of a very bitter taste, ties them together, and then
looks about for two kinds of bulbous plants, which contain a green and
glutinous juice. He fills a little quake, which he carries on his back,
with the stalks of these; and, lastly, ranges up and down till he finds
two species of ants. One of them is very large and black, and so
venomous that its sting produces a fev