eposited them in a
large joint of bamboo, which served as a quiver. I say _carefully_, for
had one of these arrows dropped with its poisoned point upon his naked
foot, or wounded him elsewhere, he never would have prepared any more
curare. But he handled them with care, and the remainder of the liquid
he poured into a small gourd (similar to that in which he carried his
coca-lime), which he closely corked up with a piece of the pith from a
palm.

Don Pablo, with Dona Isidora and the children, had watched with interest
all this process. At first, they were afraid to go near, believing that
the fumes of the liquid might be injurious. This was long believed to be
the case, in consequence of the absurd tales spread abroad by the old
missionaries, and even at a later period by the traveller La Condamine.
These asserted, that when the Indians wished to make the curare poison,
they selected for this purpose the old women of the tribe, whose lives
were not deemed of any value; and that several of these always fell a
sacrifice while "cooking" the curare!

This silly story is now refuted; and Guapo not only assured his
companions that there was no danger, but even tasted the curare from
time to time while in the pan, in order to judge when it was
sufficiently concentrated. This he could tell by its taste, as it grew
more and more bitter as the evaporation proceeded. The arrow-poisons of
South America are not all made from the creeping plant, the mavacure.
Among some Indian tribes a root is used called "curare de raiz;" and
with others the poison is produced by a mixture of several species of
juices from the plant _Ambihuasca_, tobacco, red pepper, a bark called
"barbasco," from a tree of the genus _Jacquinia_, and a plant of the
name "sarnango." Of all these the juice of the _Ambihuasca_ is the most
powerful ingredient, but the making of this species of poison is a most
complicated process.

Guapo was not long in having an opportunity to test his gravatana, and
this was just what he desired, for the old Indian was not a little vain
of his skill, and he wished to make a show of it in the eyes of his
companions. His vanity, however, was the more pardonable, as he was in
reality a first-rate shot, which he proved to the satisfaction of
everybody within half-an-hour. The instrument had scarcely been finished
and laid aside, when a loud screaming and chattering was heard in the
air, and on looking up a flock of large birds was seen