s fully five feet long. These arrows,
as far as I could ascertain, were not poisoned, but their shock-giving
and rending powers were extraordinary. The arrow-heads were all made
of the bones of the sting-ray, in themselves formidable weapons,
because of the many jagged barbs that prevent extraction from a wound
except by the use of great force, resulting in ugly laceration.

The fourth and last division consisted of three blow-gun men, the
most effective and cunning of this deadly and imposing array. As so
much depended upon the success of a first attack on the Peruvians,
who not only outnumbered us, but also were armed with Winchesters,
the blow-guns were in the hands of the older and more experienced
men. All, except the club-men, wore, around the waist, girdles fringed
with _mutum_ plumes, and the captains added, to their uniforms
multi-coloured fringes of squirrel tails. Their faces all had the
usual scarlet and black stripes. The Chief, and his principal aide, or
sub-Chief, had on their gayest feathers, including head ornaments of
_arara_ plumes and egrets. The club-men were naked, except for their
head-gear, which consisted simply of a band of _mutum_ plumes. When
the warriors stood together in their costumes, ready for battle,
they presented an awe-inspiring sight.

The Chief gave the order for the bow-and-arrow men to start in single
file, the others to follow after, in close succession. The Chief and I
fell in at the rear. In the meantime I had examined my Luger automatic
pistol to make sure of the smooth action of the mechanism, and found
besides that I had in all thirty-seven soft-nose bullets. This was my
only weapon, but previous narrow escapes from death and many close
contacts with danger had hardened me, so I was willing to depend
entirely upon my pistol. The women and children of the _maloca_ stood
around, as we disappeared in the jungle, and, while they showed some
interest in the proceeding, they displayed little or no emotion. A
couple of sweethearts exchanged kisses as composedly as if they had
been bluecoats parting with the ladies of their choice before going
to the annual parade.

Soon we were in the dark, dense jungle that I was now so well
acquainted with, and, strange to say, the green and tangled mass of
vegetation contained more terrors for me than the bloody combat that
was to follow.

For an hour we travelled in a straight line, pushing our way as
noiselessly as possible through the t