"They are guns," answered Manuel; "the guns that the Indians kill game with." "How can they kill game with guns like these?" queried the astonished visitor. "They would explode with the lightest charge of powder." "But they don't use powder at all," was the reply; "they blow arrows through the reeds, and shoot in that way." Fred expressed a desire to see how it was done, and Frank joined in the wish. Manuel talked a moment with the owner of the implements, and at Fred's suggestion agreed to pay a good price for a chicken if the Indian would kill it with the blow-gun. The Indian consented, and the party adjourned to the open space near the new house. The Indian placed a small arrow in one of the reeds. The missile had a sharp point of iron, and was fitted with a tuft of cotton at its other end, to prevent the air from passing it during the act of shooting. Thus equipped, the man took a position behind a bush, and the unsuspecting chicken was placed on the ground about twenty yards away. The bird walked around a few moments, uncertain where to go. The Indian raised the reed to his lips, took aim, and "fired." The arrow went true to the mark, and pierced through the chicken from side to side. The man offered to repeat the experiment as long as the visitors would pay for fresh game, but they had seen enough to satisfy them, and declined his proposal. "But can they kill large animals in this way?" said Frank. "I understand how they can shoot birds by concealing themselves in the trees, and watching for them to come near, but when it comes to large game, I wonder how they can give force enough to the arrows, especially where the animals have tough skins, like the capybara and the tapir." "For killing large game," replied Manuel, "they use arrows poisoned with _curari_ or _woorara_. The name has several pronunciations in different parts of South America, and there are at least half a dozen kinds of the poison." "What is that?" "If you should ask the Indian he would not tell you. The Indians have long guarded the secret of its origin and preparation, but it was obtained from them some years ago by Sir Robert Schomburgh, I believe. It is made from the juice of the _Strychnos toxifera_, a tree or shrub resembling that which supplies the St. Ignatius bean; the St. Ignatius bean is familiarly known as the 'Quaker button,' and yields the strychnine or nux vomica of commerce." "But it is more powerful even than strychnine," said the Doctor, who had just joined them; "in fact, it is considered the most active narcotic known to science. It acts on the nervous system and produces paralysis, with convulsive movements followed by death. It has been tried with some success in the treatment of lockjaw and hydrophobia, but it is too dangerous for general use. [Illustration: AGAVE, OR SISAL HEMP.]