The mystery of poison arrows made from tree resin of the Thai people in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn)- The Thai people in Nghe An still pass down the method of making extremely poisonous arrows for hunting and protecting the village. Even if nThe man who was poisoned died after vomiting a few times.

Poisonous latex plant

The tree has the Thai name “co noong” on the mountain in Vi village, Bac Son commune. It is believed that the sap from its bark can be used to make poison for arrows. Photo: Huu Vi

On the mountain in Vi village, Bac Son commune (Quy Hop - Nghe An) there is a large tree. Local people estimate its circumference to be about 140 cm. This woody plant is quite rare and can be easily overlooked among countless other forest trees, if one does not know its special uses. Its white resin is an indispensable ingredient for poisoning arrows used in hunting.

The Thai people in Nghe An call this tree “co noong”. The economic value of this tree, which can have a circumference of up to 200cm, is nothing special, but the latex in the bark can be deadly. According to people who used to hunt with bows and crossbows, this latex, which looks quite similar to rubber tree latex, is the main ingredient in making poison arrows.

Mr. Vi Van Sinh, Nguoc village, Bac Son commune (Quy Hop) said that poisonous arrows used to be a nightmare for people with bad habits. Folk tales about painful and strange deaths caused by poisonous arrows are still passed down to this day. There was a cunning thief who specialized in killing cows from the villagers. Whenever he saw a human shadow, he would hide in the forest. The hunting party ambushed him many times but only saw a shadow of an indigo shirt running up the mountain. One of the hunting group mistakenly pulled out a poisonous arrow and shot it. That same morning, the forest goers found the thief's corpse next to a tree next to a stream.

Today, although no longer poisoned, crossbow arrows still have to follow quite elaborate manufacturing principles. Photo: Ho Phuong

Stories like this are told in many Thai regions.

Mr. Sinh said: Even in feudal times and when weapons were not strictly controlled by the government, the possession of hunting guns by highland men was quite common. Highland hunters organized into hunting groups, which was a traditional practice of the highland people. But obtaining hunting guns, usually military guns, was not easy. At this time, trees with poisoned arrows were the easiest choice.

Mystery of the Poison Arrow

Crossbows are an indispensable item for Thai men. Many crossbows are kept for decades. Photo: Huu Vi

The hunter's quiver is divided into two parts. One compartment holds regular arrows, used to hunt wild chickens and small animals. Around the quiver are tied small bamboo tubes containing poisonous arrows. When needed, the hunter divides the compartments like this to avoid drawing the wrong arrow.

The mistaken drawing of poisoned arrows and the accidents caused by this weapon were also a haunting fear for hunters in the past. Ong Luong Van Vinh, a crossbow expert in Bac Son commune (Quy Hop) shared: “In the past, my father occasionally used poisoned arrows when hunting. “But in his entire hunting career of several decades, he only fired about a dozen shots at most. Because it was very dangerous to people and was only used reluctantly because people still preferred to use hunting guns to shoot large animals.”

There are also many folk tales about the dangers of poisoned arrows. There is a story that people who are hit by an arrow often die very painfully. At first, they have excruciating stomach pain. Then comes vomiting. For mildly poisonous arrows, the victim will die after vomiting seven times. For highly poisonous arrows, death will come after three times of vomiting. Therefore, once they have learned how to make poisoned arrows, hunters must also learn how to detoxify them. "The important thing is to protect yourself," said Mr. Vinh. A slight scratch caused by a poisoned arrow can also endanger a person's life. However, according to folk experience, meat from animals hit by poisoned arrows is not dangerous when eaten. "Poison only kills animals, not the person who eats the animal's meat," said Mr. Sinh.

Nowadays, in mountainous areas, crossbows only appear in competitions as a reminder of traditional origins, and women can also participate. However, not many people know that there have been terrible anecdotes about poisoned arrows in historical hunting. Photo: Ho Phuong

Interviews with experienced hunters in the Nghe An highlands show that almost everyone knows about this poison. However, the method of preparing this poison has almost been lost. The oldest people only remember that the ingredients of the poison include “co noong” tree resin, soot water, opium and some other poisons.

A folk tale also tells that: In the past, highland hunters had a very horrifying way of testing the toxicity of poison arrows. They went to the fields to catch a frog, and then pressed the tip of the poison arrow against the animal without causing any scratches to the skin. If the frog rolled over dead with its legs stretched out, the arrow was considered “standard”.

The use of poisonous anteaters to hunt animals is a distant past in the memory of highland people.

Nowadays, some streams and villages in the highlands are named after the plants used to make poisonous arrows. Khe Nong village in Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong) is an example. This Dan Lai village is located at the end of Khe Nong stream (called Huoi Noong in Thai) flowing from the Vietnam-Laos border into Chau Khe commune./.

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong