FORT ST. JOACHIM-LAKE PARIMA-WOURALI-POISON. are distinguished at a great distance; and in the ata and coucourite trees you may observe flocks of scarlet and blue Aras feeding on the seeds. It is to these trees that the largest sort of Toucan resorts. He is remarkable by a large black spot on the point of his fine yellow bill. He is very scarce in Demerara, and never seen except near the sea-coast. The Ants' Nests have a singular appearance on this plain. They are in vast abundance on those parts of it free from water, and are formed of an exceedingly hard yellow clay. They rise eight or ten feet from the ground, in a spiral form, impenetrable to the rain, and strong enough to defy the severest tornado. COUCOURITE. The wourali-poison, procured in these last-mentioned huts, seemed very good, and proved afterwards to be very strong. There are now no more Indian settlements betwixt you and the Portuguese frontiers. If you wish to visit their fort, it would be advisable to send an Indian with a letter from hence, and wait his return. On the present occasion a very fortunate circumstance occurred. The Portuguese commander had sent some Indians and soldiers to build a canoe, not far from this settlement; they had just finished it, and those who did not stay with it had stopped here on their return. The soldier who commanded the rest, said, he durst not, upon any account, convey a stranger to the fort; but he added, as there were two canoes, one of them might be despatched with a letter, and then we could proceed slowly on in the other. About three hours from this settlement there is a river called Pirarara; and here the soldiers had left their canoes while they were making the new one. From the Pirarara you get into the river Maou, and then into the Tacatou; and just where the Tacatou falls into the Rio Branco, there stands the Portuguese frontier fort, called Fort St. Joachim. From the time of embarking in the river Pirarara, it takes you four days before you reach this fort. There was nothing very remarkable in passing down these rivers. It is an open country, producing a coarse grass, and interspersed with clumps of trees. The banks have some wood on them, but it appears stinted and crooked, like that on the bleak hills in England. The Tapir frequently plunged into the river; he was by no means shy, and it was easy to get a shot at him on land. The Kessi-kessi paroquets were in great abundance; and the fine scarlet Aras innumerable in the coucourite trees at a distance from the river's bank. In the Tacatou was seen the Troupiale. It was charming to hear the sweet and plaintive notes of this pretty songster of the wilds. The Portuguese call it the Nightingale of Guiana. Towards the close of the fourth evening, the canoe, which had been sent on with a letter, met us with the commander's answer. During its absence, the nights had been cold and stormy, the rain had fallen in torrents, the days cloudy, and there was no sun to dry the wet hammocks. Exposed thus, day and night, to the chilling blast and pelting shower, strength of constitution at last failed, and a severe fever came on. The commander's answer was very polite. He remarked, he regretted much to say, that he had received orders to allow no stranger to enter the frontier, and this being the case, he hoped I would not consider him as uncivil: "however," continued he, "I have ordered the soldier to land you at a certain distance from the fort, where we can consult together. We had now arrived at the place, and the canoe 17 which brought the letter returned to the fort, to tell poison would kill a man, he replied, that they always The sun had not risen above an hour the morning after when the Portuguese officer came to the spot where we had landed the preceding evening. He was tall and spare, and appeared to be from fifty to fiftyfive years old; and though thirty years of service under an equatorial sun had burnt and shrivelled up his face, still there was something in it so inexpressibly affable and kind, that it set you immediately at your ease. He came close up to the hammock, and taking hold of my wrist to feel the pulse, "I am sorry, sir," said he, "to see that the fever has taken such hold of you. You shall go directly with me,' continued he, "to the fort; and though we have no doctor there, I trust," added he, we shall soon bring you about again. The orders I have received forbidding the admission of strangers were never intended to be put in force against a sick English gentleman." 66 As the canoe was proceeding slowly down the river towards the fort, the commander asked, with much more interest than a question in ordinary conversation is asked, where was I on the night of the first of May? On telling him that I was at an Indian settlement a little below the great fall in the Demerara, and that a strange and sudden noise had alarmed all the Indians, he said the same astonishing noise had roused every man in Fort St. Joachim, and that they remained under arms till morning. He observed, that he had been quite at a loss to form any idea what could have caused the noise; but now learning that the same noise had been heard at the same time far away from the Rio Branco, it struck him there must have been an earthquake somewhere or other. Good nourishment and rest, and the unwearied attention and kindness of the Portuguese commander, stopped the progress of the fever, and enabled me to walk about in six days. Fort St. Joachim was built about five and forty years ago, under the apprehension, it is said, that the Spaniards were coming from the Rio Negro to settle there. It has been much neglected; the floods of water have carried away the gate, and destroyed the wall on each side of it; but the present commander is putting it into thorough repair. When finished, it will mount six nine and six twelve pounders. In a straight line with the fort, and within a few yards of the river, stand the commander's house, the barracks, the chapel, the father confessor's house, and two others, all at little intervals from each other; and these are the only buildings at Fort St. Joachim. The neighbouring extensive plains afford good pasturage for a fine breed of cattle, and the Portuguese make enough of butter and cheese for their own consumption. On asking the old officer if there were such a place as Lake Parima, or El Dorado, he replied, he looked upon it as imaginary altogether. "I have been above forty years," added he, "in Portuguese Guiana, but have never yet met with anybody who has seen the lake." So much for Lake Parima, or El Dorado, or the White Sea. Its existence at best seems doubtful; some affirm that there is such a place, and others deny it. CHAPTER II. "Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est." HAVING now reached the Portuguese inland frontier, and collected a sufficient quantity of the wouralipoison, nothing remains but to give a brief account of its composition, its effects, its uses, and its supposed antidotes. It has been already remarked, that in the extensive wilds of Demerara and Essequibo, far away from any European settlement, there is a tribe of Indians who are known by the name of Macoushi. Though the wourali-poison is used by all the South American savages betwixt the Amazons and the Oroonoque, still this tribe makes it stronger than any of the rest. The Indians in the vicinity of the Rio Negro are aware of this, and come to the Macoushi country to purchase it. Much has been said concerning this fatal and extraordinary poison. Some have affirmed that its effects are almost instantaneous, provided the minutest particle of it mixes with the blood; and others again have maintained that it is not strong enough to kill an animal of the size and strength of a man. The first have erred by lending a too willing ear to the marvellous, and believing assertions without sufficient proof. The following short story points out the necessity of a cautious examination. One day, on asking an Indian if he thought the The second have been misled by disappointment, caused by neglect in keeping the poisoned arrows, or by not knowing how to use them, or by trying inferior poison. If the arrows are not kept dry, the poison loses its strength; and in wet or damp weather it turns mouldy, and becomes quite soft. In shooting an arrow in this state, upon examining the place where it has entered, it will be observed that, though the arrow has penetrated deep into the flesh, still by far the greater part of the poison has shrunk back, and thus, instead of entering with the arrow, it has remained collected at the mouth of the wound. In this case the arrow might as well have not been poisoned. Probably, it was to this that a gentleman some time ago, owed his disappointment, when he tried the poison on a horse in Stabroek, the capital of Demerara; the horse never betrayed the least sympton of being affected by it. Wishful to obtain the best information concerning this poison, and as repeated inquiries, in lieu of dissipating the surrounding shade, did but tend more and more to darken the little light that existed, I determined to penetrate into the country where the poisonous ingredients grow, where this pernicious composition is prepared, and where it is constantly used. Success attended the adventure; and the information acquired made amends for one hundred and twenty days passed in the solitudes of Guiana, and afforded a balm to the wounds and bruises which every traveller must expect to receive who wanders through a thorny and obstructed path. 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 wouralipoison 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 fever; it is most commonly to be met with on the ground. The other is a little red ant, which stings like a nettle, and generally has its nest under the leaf of a shrub. After obtaining these, he has no more need to range the forest. A quantity of the strongest Indian pepper is used; but this he has already planted round his hut. The pounded fangs of the Labarri snake, and those of the Couanacouchi, are likewise added. These he commonly has in store; for when he kills a snake, he generally extracts the fangs, and keeps them by him. Having thus found the necessary ingredients, he scrapes the wourali vine and bitter root into thin shavings, and puts them into a kind of colander made of leaves: this he holds over an earthen pot, and pours water on the shavings: the liquor which comes through has the appearance of coffee. When a sufficient quantity has been procured, the shavings are thrown aside. He then bruises the bulbous stalks and squeezes a proportionate quantity of their juice through his hands into the pot. Lastly, the snakes' fangs, ants, and pepper are bruised, and thrown into it. It is then placed on a slow fire, and as it boils, more of the juice of the wourali is added, according as it may be found necessary, and the scum is taken off with a leaf: it remains on the fire till reduced to a thick syrup of a deep brown colour. As soon as it has arrived at this state, a few arrows are poisoned with it, to try its strength. If it answer the expectations, it is poured out into a calabash, or little pot of Indian manufacture, which is carefully covered with a couple of leaves, and over them a piece of deer's skin, tied round with a cord. They keep it in the most dry part of the hut; and from time to time suspend it over the fire, to counteract the effects of dampness. The act of preparing this poison is not considered as a common one: the savage may shape his bow, fasten the barb on the point of his arrow, and make his other implements of destruction, either lying in his hammock, or in the midst of his family; but, if he has to prepare the wourali-poison, many precautions are supposed to be necessary. The women and young girls are not allowed to be present, lest the Yabahou, or evil spirit, should do them harm. The shed under which it has been boiled is pronounced polluted, and abandoned ever after. He who makes the poison must eat nothing that morning, and must continue fasting as long as the operation lasts. The pot in which it is boiled must be a new one, and must never have held anything before, otherwise the poison would be deficient in strength: add to this, that the operator must take particular care not to expose himself to the vapour which arises from it while on the fire. Though this and other precautions are taken, such as frequently washing the face and hands, still the Indians think that it affects the health; and the operator either is, or, what is more probable, supposes himself to be, sick for some days after. Thus it appears that the making the wourali-poison is considered as a gloomy and mysterious operation; and it would seem that they imagine it affects others as well as him who boils it; for an Indian agreed one evening to make some for me, but the next morning he declined having anything to do with it, alleging that his wife was with child! Here it might be asked, are all the ingredients just mentioned necessary, in order to produce the wourali-poison? Though our opinions and conjectures may militate against the absolute necessity of some of them, still it would be hardly fair to pronounce them added by the hand of superstition, till proof positive can be obtained. We might argue on the subject, and, by bringing forward instances of Indian superstition, draw our conclusion by inference, and still remain in doubt on this head. You know superstition to be the offspring of ignorance, and of course that it takes up its abode amongst the rudest tribes of uncivilized man. It even too often resides with man in his more enlightened state. The Augustan age furnishes numerous examples. A bone snatched from the jaws of a fasting bitch, and a feather from the wing of a night owl,-"ossa ab ore rapta jejuna canis, plumamque nocturnæ strigis," were necessary for Canidia's incantations. And in aftertimes, parson Evans, the Welshman, was treated most ungenteelly by an enraged spirit, solely because he had forgotten a fumigation in his witch work. If, then, enlightened man lets his better sense give way, and believes, or allows himself to be persuaded, that certain substances and actions, in reality of no avail, possess a virtue which renders them useful in producing the wished-for effect; may not the wild, untaught, unenlightened savage of Guiana add an ingredient which, on account of the harm it does outside has a coat of wax. The cover is all of one him, he fancies may be useful to the perfection of piece, formed out of the skin of the tapir. Round his poison, though in fact it be of no use at all? the centre there is fastened a loop, large enough to If a bone snatched from the jaws of a fasting bitch admit the arm and shoulder, from which it hangs be thought necessary in incantation; or if witchcraft when used. To the rim is tied a little bunch of silkhave recourse to the raiment of the owl, because it grass, and half of the jaw-bone of the fish called pirai, resorts to the tombs and mausoleums of the dead, with which the Indian scrapes the point of his arrow. and wails and hovers about at the time that the rest Before he puts the arrows into the quiver, he links of animated nature sleeps; certainly the savage may them together by two strings of cotton, one string at imagine that the ants, whose sting causes a fever, each end, and then folds them round a stick, which is and the teeth of the Labarri and Couanacouchi nearly the length of the quiver. The end of the snakes, which convey death in a very short space of stick, which is uppermost, is guarded by two little time, are essentially necessary in the composition of pieces of wood crosswise, with a hoop round their his poison; and being once impressed with this idea, extremities, which appears something like a wheel; he will add them every time he makes the poison, and this saves the hand from being wounded when and transmit the absolute use of them to his posterity. the quiver is reversed in order to let the bunch of The question to be answered seems not to be, if it arrows drop out. is natural for the Indians to mix these ingredients, but if they are essential to make the poison. So much for the preparing of this vegetable essence; terrible importer of death, into whatever animal it enters. Let us now see how it is used; let us examine the weapons which bear it to its destination, and take a view of the poor victim, from the time he receives his wound till death comes to his relief. 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 blow-pipe in his hand, in the same position as a soldier carries his musket, see the Macoushi Indian advancing towards the forest in quest of powises, maroudis, waracabas, and other feathered game. When a native of Macoushia goes in quest of feathered game or other birds, he seldom carries his bow and arrows. It is the blow-pipe he then uses. This extraordinary tube of death is, perhaps one of the greatest natural curiosities of Guiana. It is not found in the country of the Macoushi. Those Indians tell you that it grows to the south west of them, in These generally sit the wilds which extend betwixt them and the Rio high up in the tall Negro. The reed must grow to an amazing length, and tufted trees, but as the part the Indians use is from ten to eleven feet still are not out of the long, and no tapering can be perceived in it, one end Indian's reach; for being as thick as the other. It is of a bright yellow his blow-pipe, at its colour, perfectly smooth both inside and out. It greatest elevation, will grows hollow; nor is there the least appearance of a send an arrow three knot or joint throughout the whole extent. The hundred feet. Silent natives call it Ourah. This, of itself, is too slender as midnight he steals to answer the end of a blow-pipe; but there is a under them, and so species of palma, larger and stronger, and common in cautiously does he Guiana, and this the Indians make use of as a case, tread the ground, that in which they put the ourah. It is brown, sus- the fallen leaves rustle ceptible of a fine polish, and appears as if it had not beneath his feet. joints five or six inches from each other. It is called His ears are open to the least sound, while his eye, Samourah, and the pulp inside is easily extracted, by keen as that of the lynx, is employed in finding out steeping it for a few days in water. the game in the thickest shade. Often he imitates their cry, and decoys them from tree to tree, till they are within range of his tube. Then taking a poisoned arrow from his quiver, he puts it in the blow-pipe, and collects his breath for the fatal puff. 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 silkgrass 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. STK-GRASS. POWISE. About two feet from the end through which he blows there are fastened two teeth of the acouri, and these serve him for a sight. Silent and swift the arrow flies, and seldom fails to pierce the object at which it is sent. Sometimes the wounded bird remains in the same tree where it was shot, and in three minutes falls down at the Indian's feet. Should he take wing, his flight is of short duration, and the Indian, following the direction he has gone, is sure to find him dead. It is natural to imagine that, when a slight wound only is inflicted, the game will make its escape. Far otherwise; the wourali-poison almost instantaneously mixes with blood or water, so that if you wet your finger, and dash it along the poisoned arrow in the quickest, manner possible, you are sure to carry off some of the poison. Though three minutes generally elapse before the convulsions come on in the wounded bird, still a stupor evidently takes place sooner, and this stupor manifests itself by an apparent unwillingness in the bird to move. This was very visible in a dying fowl. Having procured a healthy full-grown one, a short piece of a poisoned blow-pipe arrow was broken off and run up into its thigh, as near as possible betwixt the skin and the flesh, in order that it might not be incommoded by the wound. For the first minute it walked about, but walked very slowly, and did not appear the least agitated. During the second minute it stood still, and began to peck the ground; and ere half another had elapsed, it frequently opened and shut its mouth. The tail had now dropped, and the wings almost touched the ground. By the termination of the third minute, it had sat down, scarce able The Indians have shown ingenuity in making a to support its head, which nodded, and then recovered quiver to hold the arrows. It will contain from five itself, and then nodded again, lower and lower every to six hundred. It is generally from twelve to four-time, like that of a weary traveller slumbering in an teen inches long, and in shape resembles a dice-box erect position; the eyes alternately open and shut. used at backgammon. The inside is prettily done in The fourth minute brought on convulsions, and life basket-work, with wood not unlike bamboo, and the and the fifth terminated together. INGENIOUS ARROWS-OPERATION OF THE WOURALI-ALLEGED ANTIDOTES. 19 The flesh of the game is not in the least injured by forests through which he strays, but has also furnished to time started involuntarily; but he never showed the poison, nor does it appear to corrupt sooner than an excellent reed for his arrows, and another, still the least desire to raise it from the ground; he that killed by the gun or knife. The body of this more singular, for his blow-pipe; and planted trees breathed hard, and emitted foam from his mouth. fowl was kept for sixteen hours, in a climate damp of an amazing hard, tough, and elastic texture, out of The startings, or subsultus tendinum, now became and rainy, and within seven degrees of the equator; which he forms his bows. And in order that nothing gradually weaker and weaker; his hinder parts were at the end of which time it had contracted no bad might be wanting, she has superadded a tree which fixed in death; and in a minute or two more his head smell whatever, and there were no symptoms of yields him a fine wax, and disseminated up and down, and fore-legs ceased to stir. putrefaction, saving that, just round the wound, the a plant not unlike that of the nine-apple, which flesh appeared somewhat discoloured. affords him capital bow-string The Indian, on his return home, carefully suspends his blow-pipe from the top of his spiral roof; seldom placing it in an oblique position, lest it should receive a cast. Here let the blow-pipe remain suspended, while you take a view of the arms which are made to slay the larger beasts of the forest. When the Indian intends to chase the peccari, or surprise the deer, or rouse the tapir from his marshy retreat, he carries his bow and arrows, which are very different from the weapons already described. The bow is generally from six to seven feet long, and strung with a cord, spun out of the silk-grass. The forests of Guiana furnish many species of hard wood, tough and elastic, out of which beautiful and excellent bows are formed. The arrows are from four to five feet in length, made of a yellow reed without a knot or joint. It is found in great plenty up and down throughout Guiana. A piece of hard wood, about nine inches long, is inserted into the end of the reed, and fastened with cotton well waxed. A square hole, an inch deep, is then made in the end of this piece of hard wood, done tight round with cotton to keep it from splitting. Into this square hole is fitted a spike of Coucourite wood, poisoned, and which may be kept there, or taken out at pleasure. A joint of bamboo, about as thick as your finger, is fitted on over the poisoned spike, to prevent accidents and defend it from the rain, and is taken off when the arrow is about to be used. Lastly, two feathers are fastened on the other end of the reed to steady it in its flight. Besides his bow and arrows, the Indian carries a little box made of bamboo, which holds a dozen or fifteen poisoned spikes, six inches long. They are poisoned in the following manner: a small piece of wood is dipped in the poison, and with this they give the spike a first coat. It is then exposed to the sun or fire. After it is dry, it receives another coat, and is then dried again; after this a third coat, and sometimes a fourth. They take great care to put the poison on thicker at the middle than at the sides, by which means the spike retains the shape of a two-edged sword. It is rather a tedious operation to make one of these arrows complete; and as the Indian is not famed for industry, except when pressed by hunger, he has hit upon a plan of preserving his arrows which deserves notice. About a quarter of an inch above the part where the Coucourite spike is fixed into the square hole, he cuts it half through; and thus, when it has entered the animal, the weight of the arrow causes it to break off there, by which means the arrow falls to the ground uninjured; so that, should this be the only arrow he happens to have with him, and should another shot immediately occur, he has only to take another poisoned spike out of his little bamboo box, fit it on his arrow, and send it to its destination. Thus armed with deadly poison, and hungry as the hyæna, he ranges through the forest in quest of the wild beasts' track. No hound can act a surer part. Without clothes to fetter him, or shoes to bind his feet, he observes the footsteps of the game, where an European eye could not discern the smallest vestige. He pursues it through all its turns and windings, with astonishing perseverance, and success generally crowns his efforts. The animal, after receiving the poisoned arrow, seldom retreats two hundred paces before it drops. In passing overland from the Essequibo to the Demerara we fell in with a herd of wild hogs. Though encumbered with baggage, and fatigued with a hard day's walk, an Indian got his bow ready, and let fly a poisoned arrow at one of them. It entered the cheek-bone and broke off. The wild hog was found quite dead about one hundred and seventy pices from the place where he had been shot. He afforded us an excellent and wholesome supper. CHAPTER III. HAVING now followed the Indian in the chase, and described the poison, let us take a nearer view of its action, and observe a large animal expiring under the weight of its baneful virulence. Many have doubted the strength of the wouralipoison. Should they ever by chance read what follows, probably their doubts on that score will be settled for ever. In the former experiment on the hog, some faint resistance on the part of nature was observed, as if existence struggled for superiority; but in the following instance of the sloth, life sank in death without the least apparent contention, without a cry, without a struggle, and without a groan. This was an Ai, or three-toed Sloth. It was in the possession of a gentleman who was collecting curiosities. He wished to have it killed, in order to preserve the skin, and the wourali-poison was resorted to as the easiest death. Of all animals, not even the toad and tortoise excepted, this poor ill-formed creature is the most tenacious of life. It exists long after it has received wounds which would have destroyed any other animal; and it may be said, on seeing a mortally wounded sloth, that life disputes with death every inch of flesh in its body. The Ai was wounded in the leg, and put down on the floor, about two feet from the table; it contrived to reach the leg of the table and fastened himself on it, as if wishful to ascend. But this was its last advancing step: life was ebbing fast, though imperceptibly; nor could this singular production of nature, which has been formed of a texture to resist death in a thousand shapes, make any stand against the wourali-poison. the same. First, one fore-leg lets go its hold, and dropped down motionless by its side; the other gradually did The fore-legs having now lost their strength, the sloth slowly doubled its body, and placed its head betwixt its hind-legs, which still adhered to the table; but when the poison had affected these also, it sank to the ground, but sank so gently, that you could not distinguish the movement from an ordinary motion; and had you been ignorant that it was wounded with a poisoned arrow, you would never have suspected that it was dying. Its mouth was shut, nor had any froth or saliva collected there. There was no subsultus tendinum, or any visible alteration in its breathing. During the tenth minute from the time it was wounded it stirred, and that was all; and the minute after, life's last spark went out. From the time the poison began to operate, you would have conjectured that sleep was overpowering it, and you would have exclaimed, "Pressitque jacentem, dulcis et alta quies, placidæque simillima morti." There are now two positive proofs of the effect of this fatal poison; viz. the death of the hog, and that of the sloth. But still these animals were nothing remarkable for size; and the strength of the poison in large animals might yet be doubted, were it not for what follows. Nothing now remained to show that life was still within him, except that his heart faintly beat and fluttered at intervals. In five-and-twenty minutes from the time of his being wounded he was quite dead. His flesh was very sweet and savoury at dinner. On taking a retrospective view of the two different kinds of poisoned arrows, and the animals destroyed by them, it would appear that the quantity of poison must be proportioned to the animal, and thus those probably labour under an error who imagine that the smallest particle of it introduced into the blood has almost instantaneous effects. Make an estimate of the difference in size betwixt the fowl and the ox, and then weigh a sufficient quantity of poison for a blow-pipe arrow with which the fowl was killed, and weigh also enough poison for three wild-hog arrows which destroyed the ox, and it will appear that the fowl received much more poison in proportion than the ox. Hence the cause why the fowl died in five minutes and the ox in five-andtwenty. Indeed, were it the case that the smallest particle of it introduced into the blood has almost instantaneous effects, the Indian would not find it necessary to make the large arrow; that of the blow-pipe is much easier made and requires less poison. And now for the antidotes, or rather the supposed antidotes. The Indians tell you, that if the wounded animal be held for a considerable time up to the mouth in water, the poison will not prove fatal; also that the juice of the sugar-cane poured down the throat will counteract the effects of it. These antidotes were fairly tried upon full-grown healthy fowls, but they all died, as though no steps had been taken to preserve their lives. Rum was recommended and given to another, but with as little success. It is supposed by some, that wind introduced into the lungs by means of a small pair of bellows would revive the poisoned patient, provided the operation be continued for a sufficient length of time. It may be so; but this is a difficult and a tedious mode of cure, and he who is wounded in the forest far away from his friends, or in the hut of the savages, stands but a poor chance of being saved by it. Had the Indians a sure antidote, it is likely they would carry it about with them, or resort to it immediately after being wounded, if at hand; and their confidence in its efficacy would greatly diminish the horror they betray when you point a poisoned arrow at them. One day, while we were eating a red monkey, errc neously called the baboon in Demerara, an Arowacl Indian told an affecting story of what happened to a comrade of his. He was present at his death. As it did not interest this Indian in any point to tell a falsehood, it is very probable that his account was a true one. If so, it appears that there is no certain antidote, or at least an antidote that could be resorted to in a case of urgent need; for the Indian gave up all thoughts of life as soon as he was wounded. The Arowack Indian said it was but four years ago that he and his companion were ranging in the forest in quest of game. His companion took a poisoned arrow, and sent it at a red monkey in a tree above him. It was nearly a perpendicular shot. The arrow missed the monkey, and in the descent, struck him in the A large well-fed ox, from nine hundred to a thou-arm, a little above the elbow. He was convinced it sand pounds weight, was tied to a stake by a rope was all over with him. "I shall never," said he to sufficiently long to allow him to move to and fro. his companion in a faltering voice, and looking at his Having no large Coucourite spikes at hand, it was bow as he said it, "I shall never," said he, “bend judged necessary, on account of his superior size, to this bow again." And having said that he took off put three wild-hog arrows into him; one was sent his little bamboo poison-box, which hung across his into each thigh just above the hock, in order to avoid shoulder, and putting it together with his bow and wounding a vital part, and the third was shot tra- arrows on the ground, he laid himself down close by versely into the extremity of the nostril. them, bid his companion farewell, and never spoke more. The poison seemed to take effect in four minutes. Conscious as though he would fall, the ox set himself firmly on his legs, and remained quite still in the same place, till about the fourteenth minute, when he smelled the ground, and appeared as if inclined to Thus the savage of Guiana, independent of the walk. He advanced a pace or two, staggered, and common weapons of destruction, has it in his power fell, and remained extended on his side with his head to prepare a poison, by which he can generally ensure on the ground. His eye, a few minutes ago so bright to himself a supply of animal food; and the food so and lively, now became fixed and dim, and though destroyed imbibes no deleterious qualities. Nature you put your hand close to it as if to give him a blow has been bountiful to him. She has not only ordered there, he never closed his eyelid. poisonous herbs and roots to grow in the unbounded His legs were convulsed, and his head from time +1 He who is unfortunate enough to be wounded by a poisoned arrow from Macoushia had better not depend upon the common antidotes for a cure. Many who have been in Guiana will recommend immediate immersion in water, or to take the juice of the sugar-cane, or to fill the mouth full of salt; and ** recommend these antidotes because they h Indians. But were you to a these antidotes used with su answer would be in the neg Wherefore let him reject from the rew PIT able, and of no avail. He has got an active and deadly foe within him, which, like Shakspeare's fell Sergeant Death, is strict in his arrest, and will allow him but little time-very-very little time. In a few minutes he will be numbered with the dead. Life ought, if possible, to be preserved, be the expense ever so great. Should the part affected admit of it, let a ligature be tied tight round the wound, and have immediate recourse to the knife : "Continuo, culpam ferro compesce priusquam, que yo no escribo Portugues ni aun lo hablo, pero, haviendo aprendido el Castellano, no nos faltara medio de communicar y tener conversacion. Ruego se escuse esta carta escrita sin tinta, porque un Indio dexo caer mi tintero y quebrose. Dios le de a VM. muchos años de salud. Entretanto, tengo el honor de ser Su mas obedeciente servidor, REMARKS. "Incertus, quo fata ferant, ubi sistere detur." KIND and gentle reader, if the journey in quest of the And now, kind reader, it is time to bid thee fare-wourali-poison has engaged thy attention, probably well. The two ends proposed have been obtained. thou mayest recollect that the traveller took leave of The Portuguese inland frontier fort has been reached, thee at Fort St. Joachim, on the Rio Branco. Shouldand the Macoushi wourali - poison acquired. The est thou wish to know what befel him afterwards, account of this excursion through the interior of excuse the following uninteresting narrative. Guiana has been submitted to thy perusal, in order to Having had a return of fever, and aware that the induce thy abler genius to undertake a more extensive farther he advanced into these wild and lonely If any difficulties have arisen, or fevers come regions, the less would be the chance of regaining on, they have been caused by the periodical rains, his health; he gave up all idea of proceeding onwards, which fall in torrents as the sun approaches the tropic and went slowly back towards the Demerara, nearly of Cancer. In dry weather there would be no diffi-by the same route he had come. one. culties or sickness. Amongst the many satisfactory conclusions which thou wouldst be able to draw during the journey, there is one which, perhaps, would please thee not a little; and that is with regard to dogs. Many a time, no doubt, thou hast heard it hotly disputed that dogs existed in Guiana previously to the arrival of the Spaniards in those parts. Whatever the Spaniards introduced, and which bore no resemblance to anything the Indians had been accustomed to see, retains its Spanish name to this day. Thus the Warow, the Arowack, the Acoway, the Macoushi, and Carib tribes, call a hat, sombrero; a shirt, or any kind of cloth, camiso; a shoe, zapato; a letter, carta; a fowl, gallina; gunpowder, colvora (Spanish, polvora); ammunition, bala; a cow, vaca; and a dog, perro. This argues strongly against the existence of dogs in Guiana before it was discovered by the Spaniards, and probably may be of use to thee, in thy next canine dispute. In a political point of view this country presents a large field for speculation. A few years ago there was but little inducement for any Englishman to explore the interior of these rich and fine colonies, as the British Government did not consider them worth holding at the peace of Amiens. Since that period their mother-country has been blotted out from the list of nations, and America has unfolded a new sheet of politics. On one side the crown of Braganza, attacked by an ambitious chieftain, has fled from the palace of its ancestors, and now seems fixed on the banks of the Janeiro. Cayenne has yielded to its arms. La Plata has raised the standard of independence, and thinks itself sufficiently strong to obtain a government of its own. On the other side, the Caraccas are in open revolt, and should Santa Fe join them in good earnest, they may form a powerful association. Thus, on each side of the ci-devant Dutch Guiana, most unexpected and astonishing changes have taken place. Will they raise or lower it in the scale of estimation at the Court of St. James's? Will they be of benefit to these grand and extensive colonies? Colonies enjoying perpetual summer Colonies of the richest soil. Colonies containing within themselves everything necessary for their support. Colonies, in fine, so varied in their quality and situation, as to be capable of bringing to perfection every tropical production; and only want the support of government, and an enlightened governor, to render them as fine as the finest portions of the equatorial regions. Kind reader, fare thee well. LETTER TO THE PORTUGUESE COMMANDER. On descending the falls in the Essequibo, which form an oblique line quite across the river, it was resolved to push through them, the downward stream being in the canoe's favour. At a little distance from the place, a large tree had fallen into the river, and in the meantime the canoe was lashed to one of its branches. The roaring of the water was dreadful; it foamed and dashed over the rocks with a tremendous spray, like breakers on a lee-shore, threatening destruction to whatever approached it. You would have thought, by the confusion it caused in the river, and the whirlpools it made, that Scylla and Charybdis, and their whole progeny, had left the Mediterranean, and come and settled here. The channel was barely twelve feet wide, and the torrent in rushing down formed traverse furrows, which showed how near the rocks were to the surface. Nothing could surpass the skill of the Indian who steered the canoe. He looked steadfastly at it, then at the rocks, then cast an eye on the channel, and then looked at the canoe again. It was in vain to speak. The sound was lost in the roar of waters; but his eye showed that he had already passed it in imagination. He held up his paddle in a position, as much as to say, that he would keep exactly amid channel; and then made a sign to cut the bush rope that held the canoe to the fallen tree. The canoe drove down the torrent with inconceivable rapidity. It did not touch the rocks once all the way. The Indian proved to a nicety, "medio tutissimus ibis." Shortly after this it rained almost day and night, the lightning flashing incessantly, and the roar of thunder awful beyond expression. The fever returned, and pressed so heavy on him, that to all appearance his last day's march was over. However, it abated; his spirits rallied, and he marched again; and after delays and inconveniences he reached the house of his worthy friend, Mr. Edmonstone, in Mibiri Creek, which falls into the Demerara. No words of his can do justice to the hospitality of that gentleman, whose repeated encounters with the hostile negroes in the forest have been publicly rewarded, and will be remembered in the colony for years to come. Here he learned that an eruption had taken place in St. Vincent's; and thus the noise heard in the night of the first of May, which had caused such terror amongst the Indians, and made the garrison at Fort St. Joachim remain under arms the rest of the night, is accounted for. After experiencing every kindness and attention from Mr. Edmonstone, he sailed for Granada, and from thence to St. Thomas's, a few days before poor Captain Peake lost his life on his own quarter-deck, Como no tengo el honor, de ser conocido de VM. lo pienso bravely fighting for his country on the coast of Guiana. mejor, y mas decoroso, quedarme aqui, hastaque huviere At St. Thomas's they show you a tower, a little recibido su respuesta. Haviendo caminado hasta la chozo, adonde estoi, no quisiere volverme, antes de haver visto la distance from the town, which they say formerly befortaleza de los Portugueses; y pido licencia de VM. para que longed to a Bucanier chieftain. Probably the fury of me adelante. Honradissimos son mis motivos, ni tengo pro- besiegers has reduced it to its present dismantled state. yecto ninguno, o de comercio, o de la soldadesea, no sind What still remains of it bears testimony of its former yo, o comerciante, o oficial. Hidalgo catolico soy, de hacienda in Ynglatierra, y muchos años de mi vida he pasado en caminar. strength, and may brave the attack of time for cenUltimamente, de Demeraria vengo, la qual dexé el 5 dia de turies. You cannot view its ruins without calling to Abril, para ver este hermoso pais, y coger unas curiosidades, mind the exploits of those fierce and hardly hunters, especialmente, el veneno, que se llama wourali. Las mas recentes noticias que tenian en Demeraria, antes de mi salida, long the terror of the western world. While you aderan medias tristes, medias alegres. Tristes digo, viendo que mire their undaunted courage, you lament that it was Valencia ha caido en poder del enemigo comun, y le General often stained with cruelty; while you extol their Blake, y sus valientes tropas quedan prisioneros de guerra. Alegres, al contrario, porque Milord Wellington se ha apode-scrupulous justice to each other, you will find a want rado de Ciudad Rodrigo. A pesar de la caida de Valencia, of it towards the rest of mankind. Often possessed parece claro al mundo, que las cosas del enemigo, estan andan of enormous wealth, often in extreme poverty, often do, de pejor a pejor cada dia. Nosotros beinos dar gracias al Altissimo, por haver sido servido dexarnes castigar ultima triumphant on the ocean, and often forced to fly to ente, a los robadores de sus santas Yglesias. Se vera VM. | the forests, their life was an ever-changing scene of advance and retreat, of glory and disorder, of luxury and famine. Spain treated them as outlaws and pirates, while other European powers publicly disowned them. They, on the other hand, maintained that injustice on the part of Spain first forced them to take up arms in self-defence; and that, whilst they kept inviolable the laws which they had framed for their own common benefit and protection, they had a right to consider as foes those who treated them as outlaws. Under this impression they drew the sword, and rushed on as though in lawful war, and divided the spoils of victory in the scale of justice. After leaving St. Thomas's a severe Tertian ague every now and then kept putting the traveller in mind that his shattered frame, "starting and shivering in the inconstant blast, meagre and pale-the ghost of what it was "-wanted repairs. Three years elapsed after arriving in England before the ague took its final leave of him. During that time several experiments were made with the wourali-poison. In London an ass was inoculated with it, and died in twelve minutes. The poison was inserted into the leg of another, round which a bandage had been previously tied a little above the place where the wourali was introduced. He walked about as usual, and ate his food as though all were right. After an hour had elapsed the bandage was untied, and ten minutes after death overtook him. The ass A she-ass received the wourali-poison in the shoulder, and died apparently in ten minutes. An incision was then made in its windpipe, and through it the lungs were regularly inflated for two hours with a pair of bellows. Suspended animation returned. held up her head, and looked around; but the inflating being discontinued, she sunk once more in apparent death. The artificial breathing was immediately recommenced, and continued without intermission for two hours. This saved the ass from final dissolution; she rose up, and walked about; she seemed neither in agitation nor in pain. The wound, through which the poison entered, was healed without difficulty. Her constitution, however, was so severely affected that it was long a doubt if ever she would be well again. She looked lean and sickly for above a year, but began to mend the spring after, and by Midsummer became fat and frisky. The kind-hearted reader will rejoice on learning that Earl Percy, pitying her misfortunes, sent her down from London to Walton Hall, near Wakefield. There she goes by the name of Wouralia. Wouralia shall be sheltered from the wintry storm; and when summer comes she shall feed in the finest pasture. No burden shall be placed upon her, and she shall end her days in peace.1 For three revolving autumns the ague-beaten wanderer never saw, without a sigh, the swallow bend her flight towards warmer regions. He wished to go too, but could not; for sickness had enfeebled him, and prudence pointed out the folly of roving again too soon across the northern tropic. To be sure, the continent was now open, and change of air might prove beneficial; but there was nothing very tempting in a trip across the Channel, and as for a tour through England!-England has long ceased to be the land for adventures. Indeed, when good King Arthur reappears to claim his crown he will find things strangely altered here; and may we not look for his coming! for there is written upon his grave-stone :— "Hic jacet Arturus, Rex quondam Rexque futurus," "Here Arthur lies, who formerly Was king-and king again to be." Don Quixote was always of opinion that this famous king did not die, but that he was changed into a raven by enchantment, and that the English are momentarily expecting his return. Be this as it may, it is certain that when he reigned here all was harmony and joy. The browsing herds passed from vale to vale, the swains sang from the bluebell-teeming groves, and nymphs with eglantine and roses in their neatlybraided hair went hand in hand to the flowery mead to weave garlands for their lambkins. If by chance some rude uncivil fellow dared to molest them, or attempted to throw thorns in their path, there was sure to be a knight-errant not far off ready to rush forward But alas! in these degenerate days in their defence. it is not so. Should a harmless cottage maid wander out of the highway to pluck a primrose or two in the neighbouring field the haughty owner sternly bids her retire; and if a pitying swain hasten to escort her 1 Poor Wouralia breathed her last on the 15th of February, 1839, having survived the operation nearly five and twenty years. FROM LIVERPOOL TO PERNAMBUCO-TROPICAL ZOOLOGY-FLYING FISH. back, he is perhaps seized by the gaunt house-dog ere Moreover, he had a sibyl to guide his steps; and as such a conductress nowadays could not be got for love nor money, it was judged most prudent to refrain from sauntering through this land of freedom, and wait with patience the return of health. At last this long-looked for, ever-welcome stranger came. SECOND JOURNEY. CHAPTER I. IN the year 1816, two days before the vernal equinox, I sailed from Liverpool for Pernambuco, in the southern hemisphere, on the coast of Brazil. There is little at this time of the year in the European part of the Atlantic to engage the attention of the naturalist. As you go down the Channel you see a few divers and gannets. The middle-sized gulls, with a black spot at the end of the wings, attend you a little way into the Bay of Biscay. When it blows a hard gale of wind the stormy petrel makes its appear ance. While the sea runs mountains high, and every wave threatens destruction to the labouring vessel this little harbinger of storms is seen enjoying itself, on rapid pinion, up and down the roaring billows. When the storm is over it appears no more. It is known to every English sailor by the name of Mother Carey's Chicken. It must have been hatched in Eolus's cave, amongst a clutch of squalls and tempests; for whenever they get out upon the ocean it always contrives to be of the party. and air seems to have been more favoured than the You will often see above one hundred of these little It often happens that this little creature, after alternate dips and flights, finding all its exertions of no avail, at last drops on board the vessel, verifying the old remark, 21 continent. Though within a few degrees of the line, its climate is remarkably salubrious, and rendered almost temperate by the refreshing sea breeze. Had art and judgment contributed their portion to its natural advantages, Pernambuco at this day, would have been a stately ornament to the coast of Brazil. On viewing it, it will strike you that every one has built his house entirely for himself, and deprived public convenience of the little claim she had a right to put in. You would wish that this city, so famous for its harbour, so happy in its climate, and so well situated for commerce, could have risen under the flag of Dido, in lieu of that of Braganza. As you walk down the streets, the appearance of the houses is not much in their favour. Some of them are very high, and some very low; some newly whitewashed, and others stained, and mouldy, and neglected, as though they had no owner. The balconies, too, are of a dark and gloomy appearance. They are not, in general, open, as in most tropical cities, but grated like a farmer's dairy window, though somewhat closer. There is a lamentable want of cleanliness in the streets. The impurities from the houses, and the accumulation of litter from the beasts of burden, are unpleasant sights to the passing stranger. He laments the want of a police as he goes along; and when the wind begins to blow, his nose and eyes are too often exposed to a cloud of very unsavoury dust. When you view the port of Pernambuco, full of ships of all nations; when you know that the richest commodities of Europe, Africa, and Asia are brought to it; when you see immense quantities of cotton, dye-wood, and the choicest fruits pouring into the town, you are apt to wonder at the little attention "Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim." these people pay to the common comforts which one There, stunned by the fall, it beats the deck with always expects to find in a large and opulent city. its tail and dies. When eating it, you would take it However, if the inhabitants are satisfied, there is for a fresh herring. The largest measure from four-nothing more to be said. Should they ever be conThough the calms and storms, and adverse winds teen to fifteen inches in length. The dolphin, after vinced that inconveniences exist, and that nuisances in these latitudes are vexatious, still, when you reach pursuing it to the ship, sometimes forfeits his own are too frequent, the remedy is in their own hands. the trade winds you are amply repaid for all disap- life. At present, certainly, they seem perfectly regardless pointments and inconveniences. The trade winds In days of yore, the musician used to play in of them; and the Captain-General of Pernambuco prevail about thirty degrees on each side of the softest, sweetest strain, and then take an airing walks through the streets with as apparent content equator. This part of the ocean may be called the amongst the dolphins ; "inter delphinas Arion." and composure as an English statesman would proElysian Fields of Neptune's Empire; and the torrid But nowadays, our tars have quite capsized the ceed down Charing-cross. Custom reconciles everyzone, notwithstanding Ovid's remark," non est habi- custom; and instead of riding ashore on the dolphin, thing. In a week or two the stranger himself begins tabilis æstu," is rendered healthy and pleasant by they invite the dolphin aboard. While he is darting to feel less the things which annoyed him so much these gently-blowing breezes. The ship glides and playing around the vessel, a sailor goes out to upon his first arrival, and after a few months' resismoothly on, and you soon find yourself within the the spritsailyard-arm, and with a long staff, leaded dence, he thinks no more about them, while he is northern tropic. When you are on it, Cancer is just at one end, and armed at the other with five barbed partaking of the hospitality, and enjoying the eleover your head, and betwixt him and Capricorn is spikes, he heaves it at him. If successful in his gance and splendour within doors in this great city. the high road of the Zodiac forty-seven degrees wide, aim, there is a fresh mess for all hands. The dying famous for Phaeton's misadventure. His father dolphin affords a superb and brilliant sight: begged and entreated him not to take it into his head to drive parallel to the five zones, but to mind and keep on the turnpike which runs obliquely across the equator. "There you will distinctly see," said he, "the ruts of my chariot wheels, manifesta rota vestigia cernes.' But," added he, "even suppose you keep on it, and avoid the by-roads, nevertheless, my dear boy, believe me, you will be most sadly put to your shifts; ardua prima via est,' the first part of the road is confoundedly steep! ultima via prona est,' and after that it is all down hill. Moreover, 'per insidias iter est, formasque ferarum,' the road is full of nooses and bull-dogs, ‘Hæmoniosque arcus,' and spring guns, sævaque circuitu, curvantem brachia longo, Scorpio,' and steel traps of uncommon size and shape." These were nothing in the eyes of Phaeton; go he would, so off he set, full speed, four-in-hand. He had a tough drive of it; and after doing a prodigious deal of mischief, very luckily for the world, he got thrown out of the box, and tumbled into the river Po. Some of our modern bloods have been shallow enough to try to ape this poor empty-headed coachman, on a little scale, making London their Zodiac. Well for them, if tradesmen's bills, and other trivial perplexities, have not caused them to be thrown into the King's Bench. The productions of the torrid zone are uncommonly grand. Its plains, its swamps, its savannas, and forests, abound with the largest serpents and wild beasts; and its trees are the habitation of the most beautiful of the feathered race. While the traveller in the old world is astonished at the elephant, the tiger, the lion, and rhinoceros, he who wanders through the torrid regions of the new, is lost in admiration at the cotingas, the toucans, the hummingbirds, and aras. The ocean, likewise, swarms with curiosities. Probably the Flying-fish may be considered as one of the most singular. This little scaled inhabitant of water "Mille trahit moriens, adverso sole colores." All the colours of the rainbow pass and repass in From the Cape de Verd islands to the coast of On entering the bay of Pernam Its Close by the river-side stands what is called the palace of the Captain-General of Pernambuco. form and appearance altogether strike the traveller that it was never intended for the use it is at present put to. Reader, throw a veil over thy recollection for a little while, and forget the cruel, unjust, and unmerited censures thou hast heard against an unoffending order. This palace was once the Jesuits' college, and originally built by those charitable FRIGATE PELICAN. When Pombal took the reins of power into his own hands, virtue and learning beamed bright within the college walls. Public catechism to the children, and religious instruction to all, flowed daily from the mouths of its venerable priests. buco, the Frigate Pelican is seen watching the shoals | fathers. Ask the aged and respectable inhabitants Pernambuco probably contains upwards of fifty thousand souls. It stands on a flat, and is divided into three parts—a peninsula, an island, and the They were loved, revered, and respected throughout the whole town. The illuminating philosophers of the day had sworn to exterminate Christian knowledge, and the college of Pernambuco was doomed to founder in the general storm. To the long lasting sorrow and disgrace of Portugal, the philosophers blinded her king and flattered her prime minister. Pombal was exactly the tool these sappers of every public and private virtue wanted. He had the naked sword of power in his own hand, and his heart was as |