MEsmeralda is the most famous place on the Orinoco for the making of the active poison that is used in war, out hunting and, surprisingly, as a remedy against gastric illnesses. The poison of the Amazonian Tikuna, the upas-tieute of Java and the Guianan curare are the most poisonous substances known. Already by the sixteenth century Raleigh had heard the word urari spoken, signifying a vegetable substance used to poison arrows. However, nothing was known for sure in Europe about this poison.