he 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 coucourito, 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 jawbone 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 is uppermost, is guarded by two little pieces of wood crosswise,
with a hoop round their extremities, which appears something like a
wheel; and this saves the hand from being wounded when the quiver is
reversed in order to let the bunch of arrows drop out.

There is also attached to the quiver a little kind of basket, to hold the
wild cotton, which is put on the blunt end of the arrow. With a quiver
of poisoned arrows slung over his shoulder, and with his blowpipe in his
hand, in the same position as a soldier carries his musket, see the
Macoushi India