THE LIBRARY OF
BROWN UNIVERSITY

THE CHURCH
COLLECTION

The Bequest of

Colonel George Earl Church

1835-1910

A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

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A

NATURALIST IN THE
GUIANAS

BY

EUGENE ANDRE, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., M.S.A.

WITH A PREFACE BY DR. J. SCOTT KELTIE

(SECRETABT OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY)

WITH THIRTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

AND A MAP

LONDON
SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE

1904

[All riglits reserved]

9 ^^-D

PREFACE

I HAVE been asked by Mr, Andre to write a brief preface
to the following account of his journeys up the Caura
affluent of the Orinoco, and feel that I cannot well refuse
to do so, especially as the author declares that I am in a
measure personally responsible for the appearance of the
narrative in its present form. But if the reader will turn
to the narrative itself, he will quickly discover that no
preface is needed to proclaim its merits. In the Geo-
graphical Journal for September 1902, a paper by Mr.
Andre summarised the results of his latest journey and
described his ascent of Mount Turagua. But Mr. Andre
is still more a naturalist than a geographer, and in
particular he has made valuable additions to our know-
ledge of the bird life of the great Venezuelan forests,
as Dr. Hartert of the Tring Museum has abundantly
testified.

It is not, however, by any means only the scientific
student who will find much to interest him in Mr. Andre's
narrative. In no region of the world is travelling more
full of incident, more prolific in perilous adventure, than
in the dense tropical forests and along the mighty streams
of the still practically virgin areas which form so large a
part of the South American continent. Mr. Andre him-
self suffered shipwreck in the Arichi rapids of the Caura

vi A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

river, and only reached one of the poor Httle settlements
scattered along its banks after a journey of twenty-six
days, during which six men out of a party of fourteen
succumbed to the hardships endured. Life amid these
forests, in the innermost recesses of which strange
creatures have their abode ; where vegetation grows in
rank, masterful luxuriance ; where indefinable, mysterious
influences seem ever to be at work — seem, indeed, an
essential accompaniment of the hot, dank vapours which
rise from the rotting undergrowths ; life amidst these
surroundings takes on curious aspects. It is not sur-
prising that the few Indians who inhabit the sparsely
populated country through which the Caura flows should
be imbued with a nameless dread of the evil spirits
and terrible demons that dwell among the mountains
and manifest their presence in the thunder and light-
ning of the tropical storms that rage with such resistless
violence.

The particular region which Mr. Andre visited in 1900
is doubly interesting as the scene of the adventures
and sufferings of the ill-fated party of emigrants from
England who were induced by an unscrupulous adven-
turess to try their fortunes in this remote part of Vene-
zuela. The enterprise was a hopeless failure, and the
story of the dogged struggle of the emigrants against the
dangers from man and beast which confronted them, and
the other difficulties of their situation, is as thrilling and
of as absorbing interest as any production of the imagina-
tion. There still lives at Ciudad-Bolivar the son of a
leading member of this tragic enterprise, who tells how
his father had more than once to go alone a distance of a
mile or more with two pails of water, carrying a revolver
between his teeth with which to defend himself on the

PREFACE vii

wa}'. No other man of the party was well enough to
walk.

Mr. Andre is well qualified to tell the fascinating
story of wild life in regions such as these — and there is a
fascination about the life, not only for those who can sit
at home and read at their ease of travel and adventure in
far-off lands, but for those who have had actual experience
of its hardships and its charms. Mr. Andre is descended
from a Huguenot family which emigrated from France to
Virginia after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His
grandfather settled in the island of Trinidad, which, as is
of course well known, lies close to the coast of Venezuela.
He has for ten years past devoted himself to travel-
ling in Venezuela and Colombia, collecting orchids,
birds, butterflies, and small mammals. His first visit to
the Caura river lasted from September 1897 until May
1898. So encouraging were the results of this trip that
in 1900 Mr. Andre renewed his investigation of this
region, and ascended the river to within five degrees of
the Equator. Subsequently he published in Trinidad a
narrative of the journey for circulation among friends,
and the reception accorded to this led to his drawing up
the following account of his travels. Mr. Andre's narra-
tive records the results of a piece of work really interesting
and fruitful of scientific results.

J. Scott Keltie.

CONTENTS

CHAPTEB I

PAGE

The Orinoco and its tributaries, the Ventuari, Caura, and Caroni — 1
Dorado — The Caura and Merevari— Headless men of the Caura —
The tonca-bean tree — The tonea-bean industry — A trip to the
Caura arranged 1

CHAPTER II

First visit to the Caura, September 1897-May 1898 — La Prision— Ex-
ploration of Turagua — Departure from La Prision — Old Guachee's
house — Tramp through the forest — The jaguar — Method of shoot-
ing paujis — Tortoises— Gnats — Indian method of walking — Forest
fruits— Ascent of the mountain — The water-vine — The Peak — A
plague of flies — We leave the mountain — A journey to Ameha
arranged 13

CHAPTER III

History of the Orinoco steamers— Seizure of the steamer 'Bolivar' —
Departure from Trinidad— The hammock — Gambling on board —
Guaraunos— Barrancas— Guayana la Vieja— Ralegh and Guayana
la Vieja— Simon Bolivar and Los Castillos— San Felix— El Callao
mine — The Caroni — Ciudad-Bolivar 33

CHAPTER IV

Ciudad-Bolivar— Construction of the houses— Malaria— Notes on the
town— Navigation of the Orinoco— Rise and fall of the Orinoco—
The Orinoco as a highway— Exports— The trade in feathers— The
trade in balata gum— Export duties— Salt-pans— Salt monopoly—
Araya— Formation of salt deposits— Smuggling of salt— Leprosy-
Strange method of fishing °°

A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

CHAPTER V

PAGE

Cock-fighting and its history — The training of cocks in Venezuela —
The cockpit— Bull-fighting — Carr6ras de Cintas— Golfo — Paro
pinto— Monte de dados— Gambling banks 76-

CHAPTER VI

Departure from Ciudad-Bolivar, December 6, 1900 — The chubasco—
The Gates of Hell— Alligator hunting — Trade in alligator skins—
On board the ' Caura ' — Fish spearing by torchlight— Mapire . 90'

CHAPTER VII

Humboldt's description of the Caura — Llanos of the Cam-a — Cattle-
rearing — Revolution of 1898 — Waterfowl — Puerto Antonio Liccioni
— Mosquitos and flies— Maripa and Aiipao — Pinta disease — The
Mato — Piaroas — Cormorants — La zona de los bosques . . . 100

CHAPTER VIII

Temblador — Departure for La Prision — La Prision — Ants— Our

quarters — Method of keeping accounts — House building . .117

CHAPTER IX

LA PKISION

Manufacture of sugar — Method of packing — Molasses and stills —
Trade — Cabbage palm and giub — Faculties of insects — Hunting
and fishing — Fishing with dynamite — Rise and fall of the Caura —
Voracious fish — In dreamland 1'2(>

CHAPTER X

FAONA AND FLORA OF LA PKISION — THE CLEABING

Hornets— Butterflies — Nightjars — The wood-nightjar — Hawks — The
Guaco— Rice-birds — Ants and ant-thrushes — Man and the other
animals — Utopia 140

CHAl'TER XI

FADNA AND FLORA OF LA PRISION — THE FOREST

Bejucales — Curassows, grullas — Tinamus — Habits of curassows — The
king-tody and other flycatchers — Scarcity of snakes in the forest —
The jaguar — Orchids— The lajas— The evenings at La Prision . 152

CONTENTS xi

CHAPTER XII

EXPEDITION TO THE NICHARE, DECEMBER 22, 1900, TO JANUARY 28,
1901. FHOM LA TRISION TO THE MOUTH OF THE NICHABE

I'AOK

Indians — Preparations for our departure — Departure from La Prision
— Dug-outs — Rapids of Mura — Water plants and tapirs — Burrowing
birds — Indian settlement at Mura — Strange-looking trees — Christ-
mas on the Caura — Facundo returns to La Prision — The Nichare . 165

CHAPTER XIII

EXPEDITION TO THE NICHARE, DECEMBER 22, 1900, TO JANUARY 28,
1901. THE NICHARE

My first tapir — Morocotos — Otters — The rubber industry — The rubber
on the Nichare — Establishment of settlements — New birds obtained
— News of Facundo's death — Return to La Prision , . . 180

CHAPTER XIV

La Prision, January 28-February, 22, 1901— Peccaries— Method of
camping — Water tortoises — Eggs of the water tortoise — Para —
Orchids — Indian method of carrying loads — Flies and ants — Above
the Falls of Para — Tapir hunting 193

CHAPTER XV

Guayarapo— Ayaima — Block-houses on the Erewato — Tapir hunting
— Strange superstitions — Achaba — The sun-bittern — Suraima —
Dining under difficulties 208

CHAPTER XVI

Colonies of hang-nests— We push on to Ameha — The tapir — Accident
to the large boat — First sight of Am6ha — Insects and a bright
light — We kill another tapir— Iguanas — Ameha .... 220

CHAPTER XVII

AM^HA

Inaccessible mountains — The koa bird — Concerning our taxidermist —
Journey to the cliffs— At the foot of the cliffs— Storm at night—
We return to our camp— Further attempts to scale the mountain
— We leave the mountain 231

xii A NATURALIST IX THE GUIANAS

CHAPTER XVIII

PAOE

Our last tapir — Arawa and Arichi — The fatal Apiil 27 — Loss of the
large boat — We arrive at a decision — A night of misery — Mateo
bitten by a snake— Treatment of snake-bite — Slow progress through
the forest — The men build a raft— The kosoibo — Sufferings of the
men — Suraima — We begin to starve — In desperate straits — The
men decide to separate 243

CHAPTER XIX

We separate— Achaba — The giant armadillo — Dogs attacked by a
puma — Guayarapo — Maite loses his reason — Death of our guide
— Para — We leave Para — We reach Mura— Back at La Prision . '265

CHAPTER XX

Departure of the relief party — Juan Silva's wife — With the Waiom-
gomos — Cotton-spinning — A primitive dark-room^Orchid collect-
ing— Cassava — Yaraqud — Basket -making — Return of the relief
party — Canoe-building — Agi-iculture — Treatment of children — The
blow-pipe — Isidor — Departure from La Prision — On the Orinoco
again 283

Conclusion 304

Index . . 305

LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS

Portrait of Eugene Andre (with autograph) Nov. 1900 Frontispiece

Making Arrows . To face page 6

Cleaning Orchids (Cattleya superba) ... „ 14

IsiDOR in Full Dress „ 20

Isidor's Wife „ 32

Making Hammock „ 40

GuARAUNo Settlement — Delta of the Orinoco . „ 42

Los Castillos, formerly Guayana la Vieja

where Young Ralegh was Killed . . „ 50

Falls of the Caroni „ 54

Young of the Snowy Egret .... „ 64

River-front — Ciudad-Bolivar .... „ 72

Street — Ciudad-Bolivar „ 84

Rapids of Mura „ 102

With the Waiomgomos — Primitive Sugar Mill „ 126

Balling Cotton ........ „ loO

Waiomgomos Fishing „ 134

Butterflies „ 142

The King-Tody (Muscfvora coronata) colov/ted „ 158

xiv A NATITKALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Waiomgomo Children To face page 166

With the Waiomgomos— Vicente ... „ 170

Vicente's "Wife „ 176

Christmas on the Caura ,, 178

On the Nichare — Tapping a Rubber Trice . . „ 184

Calliste Paradisea (coloured) .... „ 190

Making Baskets „ 202

Maite, the Guide who afterwards died of

Starvation „ 230

Portrait of Eugene Andre, May 1901 (at the

end of the Expedition) „ 258

The Survivors at La Prision .... „ 270

Arrival of the Survivors at La Prision . . „ 282

Departure of the Relief Party ... „ 284

Spinning Cotton „ 286

With the Waiomgomos — Grating Cassava . ,, 290

The Relief Party „ 294

AVith the Waiomgomos — Augustin the Flute

Player „ 800

Map showing the Routes of the Expeditions

ON the Caura Rivkr „ 310

V

"• A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANA8

CHAPTEE I

The Orinoco and its tributaries, the Ventuari, Caura, and Caroni — El
Dorado — The Caura and Merevari — Headless men of the Caura— The
tonca-bean tree — The tonca-bean industry — A trip to the Caura.
arranged.

If we look at a map of Venezuela, we shall observe that
the whole country, with the exception of a small portion
on the northern seaboard, is drained by the Orinoco.
This huge artery, which rises somewhere on the confines
of Brazil, in a range of mountains vaguely marked on
maps as the Serrania de Parime, forms in its course a
gigantic fishhook-like bend before flowing in an almost
straight line towards the east to fall into the Atlantic.
On its right bank, and rising in the region contained
within the bend, three important rivers — the Ventuari,
the Caura, and the Caroni — flow into the Orinoco. The
sources of these tributaries are not far from each other.
In the case of the Ventuari and the Caura in particular,
the headwaters of both streams are so close together that
a journey up one river and down the other would not
present any insurmountable difficulties, but these courses
are in directions so divergent that the points where their
waters are lost in the brown flood of their mighty parent
lie more than 500 miles apart. Quite a number of smaller

2 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI ANAS

streams, such as the Sipapo, Cuehivero, Suapure, fall into
the Orinoco and drain the country between the Ventuari
and the Caura, but so little has been done in the ex-
ploration of the region through which they run, that the
courses of these streams as laid down on maps must be
looked upon as being merely approximate and not by any
means accurate. Unlike the affluents of the left bank,
like the Meta and the Apure, which flow for the most
part through grassy treeless plains, the tributaries on the
right, rising in the unexplored tableland forming the
watershed between the basins of the Amazon and the
Orinoco, are rapid in their descent to the lowlands, and
they rush through a region of dense forests and numerous
isolated mountains and mountain ranges. While the
navigation of the Apure, the Meta, and the other streams
of the plains is comparatively easy, although encumbered
by sandbanks during the dry season, that of the affluents
on the right hand, especially the Caroni and the Caura, is
difficult and dangerous.

Three centuries have passed away since the first
adventurers tried to reach the Golden Land supposed to
exist somewhere near the sources of these rivers, yet our
knowledge of the far interior of the Guianas remains
shadowy and indefinite. After the conquest and spoha-
tion of the Inca kingdom, the cities of the Andes held
many bands of needy adventurers. They consisted of
men, some of whom had accompanied the conqidstadorcs
in their first descent upon the land of the children of the
sun, and had squandered in wild excesses the gold they
had acquired so easily ; while others, who had been lured
by the stories of the fabulous wealth of the new country
conquered by Pizarro, had hurried in numbers from the
shores of Europe to find, after a long and tedious voyage,

EL DORADO 3

that the riches of the land had been secured by the first-
comers.

It is easy to understand how, out of the longings of
these needy and restless spirits, there grew a belief, which
gradually shaped itself into a certainty, that far away
towards the east there lay a land of plenty, compared to
which the kingdom of the Incas was but a barren waste.
Why should there not be in a country so vast other and
richer empires than those of Montezuma and Atahualpa '?
And it is not improbable that the viceroys and such
citizens as had acquired wealth and power did much to
encourage the belief in a distant country teeming with
gold and precious stones. It was an easy way of getting
rid of men who must have been importunate, if not
dangerous, fellow-citizens. Thus it came to pass that
many expeditions left the plateau of Quito in search of
the Golden City on the shores of the Lake of Parime.

The Indians, whom these early explorers visited, eager
in their turn to rid themselves of such unwelcome guests,
found it to their advantage to confirm the stories of a
wealthy country far away in the direction of the rising
sun. So that the few who returned from these first
expeditions, so fraught with danger and hardships,
brought with them many detailed accounts gathered in
their wanderings of the wealth and beauty of the
wonderful city of Manoa, with the result that fresh bands
of adventurers started in search of the kingdom of the
Inga, each band hoping to be more successful than its
predecessors. In spite of the failure of expedition after
expedition, the fable of El Dorado continued to exert an
extraordinary influence on the more adventurous spirits
of the times, of whom Sir Walter Ralegh was one of the
most prominent. It was not until the beginning of the

B 2

4 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

eighteenth century that Humboldt finally dispelled the
mythical beliefs that clung to the El Dorado of the
conquistadores. The veil of enchantment which shrouded
the unexplored interior of Guiana has been torn aside.
In place of the fairy city gleaming with gold and precious
stones, with a vast population revelling in luxury, we
now know that there is an immense stretch of im-
penetrable forest interspersed here and there with open
savannas, with mountains of fantastic shapes and sur-
passing grandeur, rising abruptly from the surrounding
country — a region of abundant rains and rapid rivers,
thinly peopled by small tribes of Indians who for centuries
have carried on a series of cruel blood-feuds with their
neighbours — a region rich in bird, insect, and vegetable
life, but difficult of access and deadl}^ in climate. Beyond
this our knowledge is vague and uncertain, and is likelj''
to remain so for some time to come. The difficulty of
navigating rivers which consist of a series of rapids and
falls, the utter absence of population for considerable
distances on their banks, the almost impossible task of
transporting a sufficiency of provisions where only boats
of no great size can be employed on account of the
frequent portages, make the exploration of the highlands
of Guiana an undertaking replete with danger and hard-
ships. Added to these natural difficulties there is a rooted
disinclination on the part of the natives to undertake long
and arduous journeys outside of the immediate district
with which they are familiar.

Of all the rivers flowing through this region none
is more picturesque than the Caura, but none is more
difficult to navigate. Under the name of the Merevari it
rises near where the Pacaraima and Parime mountain
ranees meet. For a short distance it flows almost due

THE CAURA AND MEREVARI 5

south, skirting that part of the Pacaraima range known as
the Cerros Merevari. Early in its course it receives on
its right the Emecuni, near to which the Waiomgomos
have their largest house or compound, then it flows in an
easterly direction for about 60 miles, when it turns almost
due north to fall into the Orinoco after a total course of
over 500 miles. The bend which the Merevari forms
before meeting the Canaracuna on its left bank, is so
irregular and broken by falls and rapids that the Indian
traders from the Chawarro, rarely, if ever, attempt to
reach the Waiomgomo houses by this route. They
prefer to ascend the Canaracuna and follow its small
tributary, the Yapecuna, for a short distance. A journey
of two days over exceedingly rough country takes the
traders to the Merevari, where there is sure to be a
woodskin.^ By crossing the Merevari and ascending the
Emecuni the Indian settlement is reached. Between
this settlement and that at the rapids of Mm*a, a distance
of about 250 miles as the crow flies and 400 miles
following the windings of the river, no human habitation
is met with. "When the Spaniards first visited this
region the banks of both the Caura and Merevari sup-
ported many tribes. If the names of the various tribes
and villages entered on some Spanish maps be correct, we
find it difficult to account for the complete extermination
of so many people in so short a space of time. Even so
late as 1840 Codazzi mentions several tribes of which no
trace remains to-day.

Of the beliefs which prevailed in the early part of the
sixteenth century respecting the inhabitants of this part
of Guiana we may gather some idea by referring to Sir
Walter Ealegh's quaint work ' The Discovery of Guiana ' :

' Woodskins are small canoes made of bark, used all over Guiana.

6 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI ANAS

* And on that branch which is called Caora are a nation
of people whose heads appear not above their shoulders,
which though it may be thought a mere fable, yet for
mine own part I am resolved it is true, because every
child in the provinces of Arromaia and Canuri affirm the
same. They are called Ewaipanoma. They are reported
to have their eyes in their shoulders, and their mouths in
the'middle of their breasts, and that a long train of hair
groweth backward between their shoulders. The son of
Topiawari, which I brought with me into England, told
me that they are the most mighty men of all the land, and
use bows, arrows, and clubs thrice as big as any of Guiana
or of the Orinocoponi and that one of the Iwararaqueri
took a prisoner of them the year before our arrival there
and brought him into the borders of Arromaia, his father's
country.'

When we consider that this was written by a man
looked upon as one of the greatest of his time, we cannot
help being struck by that curious tendency on the part
of man in every age to believe in the supernatural and
incredible. The story of the headless men of the Caura,
like the pigmies warred on by cranes on the shores of
old Oceanus, now belongs to the domain of fable.

It is probable that the first missionaries travelled over
a considerable part of the Caura. They established a
mission at the mouth of the Erewato above the falls of
Para, but no trace of their work remains to show the
exact spot where the old mission stood. With stations
on the river its navigation was easier than it is to-day,
when the whole country is nothing but a wilderness of
interminable forest. The Waiomgomos who accompanied
me said that on the Nichare there are still some Taparitos,
but none of them would dare to visit the spot, for this

THE TONCA-BEAN THEE 7

tribe is at feud with all others ; they are the Ishmaelites
of the Caura. If Taparitos still exist on the Nichare, it
must be in the mountains at the very source of the stream,
or at some distance from its banks, for when I subse-
quently explored this river for a considerable distance,
no signs of any Indians were met with.

That part of the Caura between the mouth of the
Nichare and the Orinoco is fairly well known to the
Venezuelans of the district engaged in tonca-bean collect-
ing, but in their quest for this product they rarely go
beyond Cangrejo, a three days' journey in boats after
leaving the last settlement at the rapids of Mura, and
two days from the mouth of the Nichare.

So bound up is the existence in this district of the
tonca-bean tree with the presence of the stations of
Suapure, Temblador, and La Prision on the banks of the
Caura, that any description of the river would be incom-
plete without some reference to the industry that has
given birth to and continues to foster these stations.

The Tonqua, Ton-ka, or Tonquin bean of commerce,
first reached Europe from the Chinese province of
Tonquin. It is the dried seed of the fruit of Dipterix
odorata, and it owes the peculiar odour for which it is
valued to a crystallisable principle known as coumarin.
At least two other known members of the vegetable
kingdom, Melilotus officinalis and Anthroxanthum
odoratum, are indebted to the same principle for their
fragrance. The tree has been found in different parts of
tropical America, but the product exported from Para
appears to be inferior to that which comes from the
region in the vicinity of the Caura and the Cuchivero
rivers. The watershed between these two streams consists
of several mountain ranges of granitic formation, the

8 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

most considerable of which is the SeiTania de Mato.
On the right bank of the Caura mountains of similar
formation, of which Turagua is the highest point, also
exist. The average altitude of these ranges is between
3,000 and 4,000 feet, but there are peaks that attain an
elevation of nearly 6,000 feet. Besides the mountain
ranges many isolated hills and large open masses of
granite, onlj^ a little higher than the surrounding country,
are scattered through the forest. The land in the vicinity
of these mountains and lajas consists largely of granitic
grit, and it is in this soil that the tonca-bean tree appears
to be at home. Although met with in patches this tree
is not by any means gregarious, so that the collecting of
the fruit is arduous work.

So irregular are the crops that it is almost impossible
to forecast the yield of any particular year. It may how-
ever be taken as a general rule, that for one or two years
after a plentiful harvest the production is so scant that
it does not pay to collect beans. In Venezuela the tree
is known as sarrapia and the men engaged in the
collection of the seed are called sarrapieros. The sarra-
pieros begin to arrive on the Caura early in February.
Some of them come from considerable distances ; a good
many are from Ciudad-Bolivar.

During the months of October and November, while
the fruit is still quite small and green, the large macaws
and several other members of the parrot family commit
great havoc upon the young crop. No birds are more
extravagant than parrots in their method of feeding, not
so much on account of what they consume as of what
they waste. Wherever these birds have eaten the ground
is strewn with fruit only clawed and then awkwardly
topped, or perhaps with just a small piece bitten off.

THE TONCA-BEAN INDUSTRY 9

Hence the destruction before maturity of enormous
quantities of this vahiable product.

All through February and March the Caura, so de-
serted at other times, presents a scene of activity ; many
boats are met with struggling against the powerful
current of the stream, from the large bongo or dug-out,
of several tons, with an entire family, to the frail skiff
handled by two men. Those of a more enterprising dis-
position fit up expeditions of two or three bongos and
employ quite a number of hands. This is a time of plenty
for the inhabitants of the place. Progress up the river is
slow and the boats make frequent stoppages for the
purpose of purchasing fresh provisions and rum. Where-
ever there is a settlement the men will land and most
of them get drunk. The old visitors usually stop at the
spots leading to the sarrapiales with which they are
familiar : they know every inch of ground, every tonca-
bean tree in the district. Cano Guayapo, Suapure,
Temblador, and La Prision are the settlements where
most of the boats stop. Some of the more energetic
sarrapieros push on as far as Cangrejo, but it is hard and
risky work getting through the rapids of Mura and
Piritu. So soon as a party has selected a spot as a centre
of operations, the men build the rancJios or huts which
for two or three months will be their home. If the fruit
has commenced to fall, collecting begins at once ; if not,
the men wander about the forest noting the spots where
fruit is plentiful, or they while away the time fishing and
hunting. Every member of a family or party — man,
woman, and child — takes part in the collecting. At day-
break the work commences, the workers separating so
that no fruit-bearing tree may be overlooked. After the
irees in the immediate neighbourhood of the ranchos have

10 A NATURAIJST IN THE GUIANAS

been exhausted, the sarrajneros wander farther into the
depths of the forest ; often they undertake expeditions to
considerable distances and remain a week or a fortnight
away. During this time they sleep in the forest, sling-
ing their hammocks between trees with a slight covering
of wild plaintain-leaves or palm-branches to keep the
rain oft'.

The fruit of the sarrapia is much like a mango in
appearance and is largely eaten by the natives. It has
but little pulp, which is sticky and of insipid taste, the
seed being covered with a hard fur-like substance. After
the sarrapiero has got together a sufiticient quantity of
fruit, he takes his find to some open spot where he can,
<:;et the benefit of strong sunlight. The hard shell is then
carefully broken between two stones, and a single oblong
bean of a dark-brown colour obtained. The seeds are then,
spread out to dry, generally upon the large open masses of
granite called lajas which form so peculiar a feature of
the forests of this region. These dried beans form the sar-
rapia or tonca-bean as it is sold by the sarrapiero to the
merchants of Ciudad-Bolivar, where the process of crystal-
lisation, as it is called, is sometimes carried out. This
operation, however, costs very much less if performed in
Trinidad, where the strong rum required for the process can
be obtained at a cheaper rate than at Ciudad-Bolivar. By
the end of May or the beginning of June the last beans have
been taken, and the crop may be said to be over. The boats
descend the river, stopping at every settlement, and the
sarrapieros get drunk whenever they can as they did three
months before, for the curse of the Venezuelan peo7i or
labourer is his fatal fondness for ardent spirits. When
the men reach Ciudad-Bolivar, they dispose of their pro-
duct to one of the big export-houses. It does not take

THE TONCA-BEAN INDUSTRY 11

long for what they have earned to disappear in the round
of parrandas ^ sudi fiestas '^ the peon loves to indulge in
when he has money. But the profits of the sarrapieros
are not what they used to be, for the days when tonca-
beans were worth three or four dollars the pound have
passed away, to the benefit of the tobacco manufacturer of
the United States, the only market for large quantities of
this product. The beans are never shipped in the raw state ;
they are treated with strong rum, the process being called
* crystallising.' Puncheons open at one end, having been
placed in a row, are filled with beans to within a foot or
eighteen inches of the top. Strong rum is then poured
into the puncheons until they are quite full, when they
are covered over with layers of bagging. At the end of
twenty-four hours the rum not absorbed is run off, and the
beans are spread out to dry in a current of air. When
first taken out of the puncheons the beans are of a dull-
black colour and are soft and swollen; but on drying,
shiny white crystals appear on their surfaces, and by the
time they are ready for packing they look as if they had
been sprinkled over with powdered sugar. They have
shrunk a good deal and are wrinkled in appearance. They
are then put into wine-casks or rum-puncheons and are
ready for shipment.

In referring to the tonca-bean industry I have touched
upon a subject intimately connected with my two voyages
to the region I have just roughly described, for it was
as the guest of a gentleman who was deeply interested
in this industry that I paid my first visit to the Caura
in the latter part of 1897. Some time in the eighties,
it must have been] in 1885 or 1886, I made the
acquaintance of Mr. J. B. Richard, who was on his way

' Serenades. - Feast-days.

12 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

to Venezuela as one of the superintendents of the Societe
du Haut Or^noque. This concern was a company formed
for the purpose of exploiting the forest products and sup-
posed mineral wealth of the country on the banks of the
Upper Orinoco. It was started with a large capital. Its
operations were undertaken on a magnificent scale.
Expensive steamers were sent out with men who knew
absolutely nothing, not only of Venezuela, but of any-
thing connected with the tropics or tropical products.
After large sums had been wasted the concern collapsed,
leaving in the lurch those of its employes who had not
returned in disgust to their native country, or who had
been fortunate enough to escape from the malarial fevers to
which many had fallen victims. I had almost forgotten
the Societe du Haut Orenoque and my old acquaintance,
Richard, when I ran up against him one afternoon in
August 1897, close to the club in Port of Spain. We
spent the rest of the day together comparing notes, he
telling me all about his travels on the Orinoco, I relating
events connected with my orchid and bird collecting
excursions into the northern mountain range. It was at
dinner, while he was speaking of his plans for the future,
that he said to me suddenly, ' I am going to the Caura at
the end of next month ; why don't you come with me ? '
Before we parted I had agreed to join him in Ciudad-
Bolivar by the end of September.

13

CHAPTEK II

First visit to tlie Caura, September 1897-May 1898— La Prision — Ex-
ploration of Turagua — Departure from La Prision— -Old Guachee's
house— Tramp through the forest— The jaguar— Method of shooting
paiijis — Tortoises — Gnats — Indian method of walking — Forest fruits —
Ascent of the mountain— The water-vine — The Peak — A plague of fiies
— We leave the mountain — A journey to Am^ha arranged.

As my first visit to the Caura was more in the nature of
a pleasure-trip than a regular voyage of exploration, I
did not keep any extensive notes, but simply jotted down
from time to time such incidents as I considered most
interesting. Only in the case of the expedition to the
mountain of Turagua did I keep a regular diary and enter
into details. I have thought it necessary to mention this
so as to explain why the narrative of my first journey to
the Caura is a short one.

I left Trinidad by the steamer ' Bolivar,' on Sep-
tember 22, 1897, accompanied by a taxidermist and a
hunter. We passed Barrancas and San Felix on the
following day and reached Ciudad-Bolivar at noon on
Friday, the 24th. A week was spent in preparations for
the journey, as Eichard, who intended to explore the
Nichare, one of the tributaries of the Caura, was taking
thirty men with him and a quantity of provisions and
other articles for the long stay he intended making in
that hitherto unexplored region. Early on the morning
of October 1 we went on board the little * Caura,' and
within an hour we were well on our way to the river

14 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

whose banks, according to Sir Walter Kalegh, were
peopled with a strange race of headless beings. What
with the number of men and boats, and the quantity of
cargo we carried, our small steamer was as loaded as she
possibly could be, and we had but little room for moving
about. Our pilot kept close either to one bank or the
other, so as to avoid the full force of the current, and this
allowed Bichard and myself to lay wagers on our respec-
tive merits as marksmen by shooting at the alligators or
wild ducks on the sandbanks. At about one o'clock in
the morning of the third day after our departure from
Ciudad-Bolivar, we reached the mouth of the Caura. As
it was a very dark night we did not enter the river until
daybreak. At three in the afternoon we arrived at the
landing-place of the village of Maripa, where the steamer
was moored for the rest of the day so that we might visit
some ricefields in which Eichard was interested and at
the same time replenish our stock of firewood. On the
following morning we steamed up to Suapure, where we
remained until October 10, Eichard being engaged in-
specting the tonca-bean forests and making arrangements
with the people of the place for collecting the beans.
Four days after we got to La Prision, which I made my
headquarters during our stay of eight months on the
Caura, and it was from this settlement as a base that I
explored Turagua, the most important of the mountain
masses existing in this region. This trip was undertaken
with the definite idea of obtaining rare and valuable
orchids, the mountain having appeared to me a likely
spot for such plants. It was not until March, however,
that I was able to carry out my project, the weather
having been so rainy up to that time that the streams in the
forest were impassable. On the 8th (March) the Indians

DEPARTURE FROM LA PRISION 15

whom I had employed to cut a track to the base of
Tm-agua returned. It had taken them nine days to per-
form the work. They were tired, they said, and would
like a rest, so we fixed upon the morning of the 11th for
our departure. The Indians came early. It was a raw
drizzly morning, with heavy banks of clouds piled up
towards the east and appearing to almost touch the tops
of the trees. Such threatening weather denoted abund-
ance of rain, and I knew that we would be soaked through
and through before getting very far. Nevertheless I
decided to start at once, for the trip had been forcibly put
off so often, that it seemed at one time as if some strange
fatality stood in the way of our long-contemplated journey
to the mountain. No time was lost in preparing the
packs. Oval frames about three feet in length, made of
thick pieces of pliable creeper with strips of bark woven
between, had been prepared. The articles to form the
pack were placed between two of these frames, which
were then securely tied together. Each pack weighed
from fifty to sixty pounds, and was carried by a broad
band of bark stretched across the forehead, the pack rest-
ing on the shoulders and back. The method of carrying
loads by a broad band across the head is common to most
of the American tribes. In certain parts even men
and women are carried across the mountains in chairs in
this manner. Throwing the body slightly forward, the
carriers proceed at a jog-trot, and thus cover long dis-
tances with a considerable weight.

When we filed out of the settlement our party con-
sisted of the three Indians, Isidor, Maite, and Sylvestre,
Raoul Turban (a taxidermist), and my boy, Guy, The
moment an Indian comes in contact with Venezuelans
he adopts some Spanish name. Maite is a corruption of

16 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Mateo, and not an Indian name, as one might suppose
on first hearing it. Sylvestre, who had come from one
of the Waiomgomo villages on the Parime mountains
only a month or so before my arrival, had been named
immediately by the others. I never could induce Isidor or
any of the others to tell me their Indian names. All the
Indians of Guiana appear to have the same objection to
divulging to strangers the names by which they are
known to their immediate relations. It was about nine
when we passed the last house at the edge of the
clearing and entered the forest, and we agreed not to
stop before reaching a place called Esperanza, where the
tracks of the sarrapieros end, and the trail opened by our
Indians began. By the time we got to the Laja de los
Perros * the rain had increased to a steady downpour.
Near to this laja a huge slab of rock resting on two up-
right masses forms a natural shelter. Old Guachee, one
of the La Prision sai'rajpieroa, and his wife had taken
possession of this rocky protection from the weather.
They were collecting tonca-beans, for the crop was then
at its height, and most of the people from the settlement
were staying in the forest. We stopped at this natural
rancho and had a chat with the old man and his wife.
They were a dilapidated pair. In the days of his youth
the man, who, I was told, had been of a turbulent dis-
position, had had frequent misunderstandings with his
neighbours, especially on feast-days when the rum-bottle
had been circulated more freely than wisely. In one of
his encounters he had suffered considerable damage, not
the least of which had been the loss of an eye. The
woman was a victim to that curse of the Caura, ulcers
on the legs. One of these ulcers had eaten deep down
' ' The Rock of the Dogs.'

TRAMP THROUGH THE FOREST 17

into the very bones of her right ankle, and had so
crippled her that she was unable to walk. In spite of
her affliction, she followed her one-eyed husband for
many long miles into the woods, slowly dragging herself
on one leg. The sight of this couple stricken with age
and disease, forced to wander about the forest so as
to obtain a living, was painful in the extreme. After
leaving this scene of misery we proceeded in the direction
of the Laja Grande} Many ranclios had been built in
the vicinity of this laja, for its size and the flatness of its
surface offered great convenience for the preparation of
the beans. We could hear the sarrapieros shouting to
each other as we followed the narrow path through the
forest. We passed three of their huts, but did not stop.
The trail lay almost due east, and except where a curve
had been made to avoid some obstruction, such as a fallen
tree, it was straight enough. We trudged wearily along,
keeping our eyes down so as to avoid being tripped up by
the network of roots and creepers with which the ground
was covered. Several streams, some with mud, others
with sandy beds, had to be crossed. At first I took my
boots off whenever we came to one of these streams, but
I soon got tired of this repetition of taking off and put-
ting on my socks and boots every ten minutes, and I
resolved to leave them on until we should reach our
camping-place. It was all right when the bed of the
stream happened to be of mud or earth, but where it was
sand, and my boots got filled with particles, I still had to
take them off and wash the grit out, or I should have
been unable to continue walking. At about one o'clock
we halted on the banks of a broad clear stream and
had something to eat. The Indians had brought ripe

' The Great Eock.

18 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

bananas, fresh cassava bread, and boiled turtle-eggs. Off
these we made a hasty meal, and then continued our
journey. We had got beyond the district where the sarra-
pieros conduct their operations. Within the memory of
the people at La Prision no one had ever gone farther
than the sarrapial of Esperanza, and there were no tracks
beyond the spot except the newly opened trail made by
our Indians. The masterly manner in which the cutting
of this trail had been performed was really astonishing. In
the thickness of the forest, where it was impossible to see
anything fifty yards ahead, these men, without a compass
or any other instruments, had succeeded in opening a
road to the foot of the mountain, of which even a trained
surveyor might have been proud. No deviation from an
almost straight line marred the accuracy of their work.
It was evident, from the quantity of game we came
across, that we had got beyond the haunts of the people
on the Caura. Although we were far from being a silent
lot, and the men, in getting through the narrow path
with their packs, made a good deal of noise, yet we
surprised a number of the larger game-birds which are
so difficult of approach near the settlements. These birds,
so wild in the vicinity of La Prision, never having been
disturbed in this locality, are quite stupid. I could have
shot several curassows had we not been in a hurry to get
to a good camping-place before nightfall.

It was near sunset when we stopped for the night.
While Maite and my boy Guy were preparing dinner,
Isidor and Sylvestre constructed a rancJio. Poles were
lashed to four trees in the form of a square at a height of
about eight feet. Upon these poles others were placed as
rafters. A thick covering of palm-branches formed the
roof. Either palm-branches or the long broad leaves of

THE JAGUAR 19

the wild banana are used for this purpose. Our rancho
was completed in less than half an hour, and when our
hammocks had been slung between the trees under the
thick covering of palm-branches, the place looked quite
snug with the big log-fire burning in front of it. Close to
our hut one of the men, while collecting firewood, came
across the fresh excrement of a full-grown jaguar. The
conversation immediately turned upon tigers, as the
jaguar is called all over South America, and their doings.
Each man had some story to tell of the cunning and
audacity of the tiger, and the speaker usually happened
to be the principal figure in the story which he was
telling. Isidor was an easy winner in this competition of,
I am afraid to have to admit, imaginary tiger-stories. As
he could speak Spanish fairly well, he not only told of his
own adventures, but he interpreted the tales of his two
friends, and put the finishing touches to them, so as to
render them more impressive. It may appear strange
that men of the same race who came from villages fairly
near to each other should have been utterly unable to
carry on a conversation of even a few sentences. Such,
however, was the case with Maite and Sylvestre. So
different were the dialects of these men, one of whom
had come from the mountainous country at the sources
of the Erewato, and the other from the Pacaraima range,
that they could not exchange even the simplest ideas. It
was amusing to observe their futile attempts to carry on
a conversation when Isidor, who spoke both dialects and
interpreted for them, happened to be absent.

The fact of the members of a small village consisting
of but comparatively few individuals speaking a dialect
peculiar to themselves is not uncommon amongst the
Indians of Guiana. Probably the difficulties of com-

c 2

20 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

munication in this country of impenetrable forest may, to
a certain extent, be responsible for the existence of so great
a number of dialects. The prevalence of long-standing
blood-feuds between neighbouring villages may also, by
the isolation w^hich they tended to produce, have con-
tributed to these divergencies from a common language.

As Isidor and his companions told their stories in the
ruddy glovi^ of the v^ood fire, using in their excitement
many forcible gestures, they so impressed my boy Guy,
that he got up and removed his hammock from the outer
part of the rancJio v^here he had slung it, and begged
me to allow him to sleep between the Indians and myself.
He was resolved that he, at least, would not be made a
meal of by the jaguar, a token of whose presence in the
neighbourhood we had seen on our arrival.

Towards midnight it rained heavily, and we con-
gratulated ourselves that we were mider shelter.

Isidor and Sylvestre were astir early, and woke me bj'
their movements. They were splitting wood, with which
they made a torch, while I watched them lazily from my
hammock. Although it was quite dark, many curassows
were calling in the forest around us, while now and again
a tinamu would utter its long-drawn tremulous note.
The Indians, having completed their arrangements,
started out together. Isidor carried m}^ twelve-bore,
while Sylvestre went in front, holding aloft the torch
they had made, which cast a bright glare around. They
had not been gone many minutes when a report, followed
by a thud, told me that they had succeeded in killing a
curassow. After a short while they fired again. When
they returned to camp they brought two Paujis. They
could have shot more, they said, but why waste powder
and shot when we had enough game for breakfast and

ISIDOR IN FULL DRESS

TORTOISES 21

dinner ? Indians are, as a rule, poor shots with a gun,
yet they rarely miss. I have never seen Isidor or any of
the others attempt to fire at a bird on the wing. "Why
should one fire at birds flying, with a chance of missing,
when they can be stalked and potted with certainty at
short distances ? Powder and shot are commodities too
valuable to be wasted in practising difficult shots. But if
the Indian be but a poor marksman with a shot-gun, he
more than makes up for his lack of skill by his ability as
a tracker and hunter. No Indian thinks of wasting a
shot until he gets to within but a few yards of his victim.

We made a hasty meal off biscuits and tea, and con-
tinued our tramp towards Turagua. The leaves of the
undergrowth were dripping with water from the previous
night's shower, and we were soon wet to the skin.
Almost immediately after leaving our camping-place we
got to a part of the forest which the Indians told me had
taken them nearly two days to cut through, although I
do not suppose that this belt of matted vegetation could
have been more than a couple of miles wide. Of the
extent of its length we were ignorant. These belts or
tracts of tangled creepers and bush are called bejucales.

While getting through this hejucale I almost trod on
a very large coral snake. The Indians begged me not to
kill it. I was surprised at this, because these same men
did not appear to have any scruples about destroying
other snakes. Tortoises are abundant all over this
region. The Indians captured several, which they tied
with creepers to the branches of small trees by the side of
the track they had cut, to be taken on their return. At
La Prision these tortoises are kept in enclosures, and
eaten on special occasions. During times of continued
drought numbers of these reptiles are caught by the men

22 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

and boys who wander along the banks of the streams and
pools where there is water. Morocoy, as the tortoise is
called in Venezuela and Trinidad, is a favourite dish
when well prepared. These reptiles can remain a con-
siderable length of time without food. The liver of the
tortoise is large compared with its body, and it shrinks in
proportion to the length of time during which its owner
has been deprived of nourishment ; and this has given
rise to the belief among the people that the animal eats
its liver when it is unable to obtain any other food.

During this day's march we were followed by large
gnats, which gave us a good deal of trouble. So per-
sistent were they in their efforts to bite us, that there
appeared to be no other means of getting rid of them,
except by allowing them to alight, when they could be
killed by a sharp slap. They would keep buzzing around
our heads until they could settle on some bare spot, when
they would nip off a bit of skin and clear out with their
booty, to return a few moments afterwards with appetites
whetted by the taste of so dainty a morsel. The Indians,
who were clothed after the fashion of Adam before he got
into trouble, suffered most from their attentions. Em-
barrassed with their packs, they found it difficult to keep
off their tormentors, for they had more than their hands
and faces to look after. On this occasion my naked
companions must have been convinced that there was
some advantage in being clothed. Considering that these
Indians undertake journeys, often lasting for months,
through dense thorny bush where wasps and ants are
plentiful, it is marvellous to note how smooth and free
from marks their skins are as a rule. How they can get
through certain parts of the forest where the ground is
actually littered with thorns has puzzled me. A man

INDIAN METHOD OF WALKING 2tJ

accustomed to boots who would dare to attempt such
a feat would be lame before he had gone many yards.
These Indians all walk with the toes slightly turned in,
and they plant one foot before the other in a straight line.
In cutting a track through the forest, much labour is
saved if it be made narrow. But the narrower the path
the more careful one has to be of the stumps and small
trees on its sides. Hence the adoption by the Indians of
a system of walking suited to the conditions under which
they have to travel.

We ate cassava and tm'tle-eggs at midday, as we had
done the day before. Isidor advised me to drink my fill
at the stream where we then were, for we would not, he
said, meet with water again until late in the afternoon.
He and his companions then set the example by filling
themselves up with water as only savages can do. It was
necessary that we should hurry on if we meant to reach
before nightfall the ranclio built by the Indians when
they cut the track. Isidor took the lead, with Sylvestre
following, and they made the pace. As we proceeded the
ground became uneven. The Indians told us that we
were nearing the first hill, and that we would have to
cross three of these hills before reaching the base of
Turagua. The aspect of the country when we reached
the foot of the hill was quite different to that which we
had left behind us. In place of the luxuriant growth of
the forest, we were going through a vegetation similar to
that of the lajas.

In climbing these hills we had to proceed cautiously,
as rocks of all sizes and shapes were piled loosely one on
top of the other, and in certain cases we found that a
slight touch was sufficient to displace masses of consider-
able weight, which would go rolling down the declivity

24 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

to the danger of those behind. In the more open parts,
patches of a tall coarse grass occurred here and there, and
were a source of a good deal of inconvenience to us. The
blades of this grass would cling to our faces and hands,
and, if not lifted off carefully, cut us painfully when we
moved away. Even our clothes suffered from the razor-
like edges of this grass.

In the lower part of the valleys between the hills the
vegetation again became luxuriant. We found in these
hollows quantities of a fruit which in appearance and
taste reminded me of the sapodilla (Sapota achras), but
was somewhat smaller and more regular in size. The
tree bearing this fruit is one of the tallest in the forest.

From the top of the second hill I obtained a good
view of the cliff forming the highest point of Turagua.
At the bottom of this hill we pitched our camp close to a
rapid stream of beautifully clear water where the Indians
had stayed when they cut the track.

The Indians went out before daybreak, as they had
done the day before, and they were again successful in
bringing back a couple of curassows. Turban and Guy
preferred not to attempt the ascent of the mountain, so I
sent them out to collect birds and butterflies. The
Indians and myself then crossed the last of the three hills
which run parallel to the base of the main mass. Between
this hill and Turagua there is a dark narrow gorge, at the
bottom of which a rivulet trickles, forming pools along its
bed. We sat on some rocks near one of these pools and
rested a while, for a long stiff climb lay ahead of us. The
Indians drank copiously, actually filling themselves up
with water, and they advised me to do likewise, as we
might not, they said, be able to obtain anjrthing to drink
until our return, so they thought it wise to absorb a

ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN 25

supply to last for the day. There were a good many
butterflies flitti,ng up and down over the pools formed
by the rivulet, while swarms of flies kept buzzing around
us, settling on our hands and faces, and even getting
into our eyes.

The ascent of the slope leading to the peak was at
first gradual, but by degrees it became steeper. Low
down in the gorge and for some distance after leaving the
stream I saw but few rocks, a thick stratum of soil having
formed in the bed of the valley, and this supported a
vigorous vegetation similar to that we had passed through
before reaching the hills. From the tops of the tallest
trees came the call-notes of the bell-birds. Judging by
the frequency with which the metallic bang was uttered
and rephed to, this chatterer must be common in this
secluded valley. The Campajiero, ' the bellman,' as the
natives call the bird, is rarely met with in the neighbour-
hood of cultivated spots. The presence of man appears
distasteful to this lover of primeval forests, and if his
domain be encroached upon by human beings, he imme-
diately abandons it to retire to some distant recess, where
he can enjoy the solitude he loves so well.

The higher we got the more rocks we met with, some
of them being of considerable size. I noticed that the
masses close to the cliffs were generally larger than those
lovt^er down, the blocks decreasing gradually in size in
proportion to their distance from the main mass. These
smaller rocks lower down in the valley had no doubt been
also giants many ages ago when they lay at the foot of
the cliffs which then formed the central mass of the
mountain covering the spot where we now stood. The
rains of ages had reduced their volume. Slowly but
surely the rains of the future would continue the work of

26 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

erosion, until Turagua would have wasted away to an
inconspicuous hill like those we had left behind us, while
those hills would have disappeared into the surrounding
plain.

For a considerable distance we skirted the base of the
titanic wall which forms the crest of the mountain, with-
out being able to find any spot by which it would be
possible to attempt the ascent to the plateau above. Our
progress was slow, for in many places the ground was
strewn with the debris brought down by the masses of
rock in their descent from the cliffs. I sat down and
rested while the Indians went ahead to try to find some
place by which the peak might be scaled. In about an
hour's time they returned. They had seen, they said, a
gully which appeared to lead to the top of the mountain,
but the ascent by it would be, they thought, difficult and
dangerous. Isidor suggested that we should try the
other side on the morrow, when we might find some spot
offering easier means of access than the gully on this side.
I determined, however, to see for myself what chances of
success we should have in making the attempt by the
gully. I found, on reaching the spot described by the
Indians, that they had not exaggerated the difficulties of
the ascent by this way. A narrow streak of vegetation,
consisting mostly of ferns, marked where a stream had
cut a shallow bed in the face of the cliff towering above
us. For the first 200 or 300 feet our climb was up a
surface almost upright, the deviation out of the per-
pendicular being so small that it only just allowed us to
lie on our faces while holding on to the ferns and roots
of the plants which the moist rock supported.

Sylvestre and Maite went first, I was third, and Isidor
last. These Indians are excellent climbers. Even the

THE WATER-VINE 27

largest forest-trees did not appear to offer difficulties
which they could not overcome. If the trunk of the tree
they wanted to climb was of such dimensions that they
could not embrace it, they would choose some other tree
near by, and, passing from branch to branch like monkeys,,
they soon got to the place they had decided to reach.

As we proceeded we found the ascent less arduous.
After the first 100 yards the gully widened out, nor was
it so precipitous as lower down. Although the incline
was still steep, we were able to stand up. Many stunted
trees like those of the lajas grew from between the crevices
in the rocks, but everything was greener. The rocks,
trunks, and branches of the trees were covered with beauti-
ful mosses and ferns nourished by the mist which crept
daily up the sides of the mountain and shrouded its summit.
A stately Sobralia grew in clumps in great profusion,
while in the glades we met with the same razor-grass
which had caused us so much inconvenience when we
crossed the three hills. The highest point of Turagua
is about 6000 feet above sea-level, and consists of one
huge block of granite nearly flat on top. Stunted moss-
covered trees overgrown with a scandent shrub formed
the vegetation of the plateau, which also supported a
dense growth of bromelias. The Indians pronounced the
scandent shrub to be the water- vine (Doliocarpus) , and as
we were exceedingly thirsty they cut pieces of from three
to four feet in length, which produced a small quantity
of clear water. It took quite a number of these pieces ta
quench our thirst.

To get through the field of bromelias overgrowing
the plateau, it was necessary to cut a track through them.
Closely resembling the pineapple in its growth, the leaves
of this bromelia are arme:l with sharp spikes, and the

i>8 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

plants grow in such dense masses that they form a barrier
through which it would be impossible to get without the
continuous use of the hunting-knife. Even after the
track had been cut we had to exercise a good deal of
caution in our movements. Many of the plants bore
bunches of yellow fruit, of which the Indians and myself
ate a good many. The pulp is white, full of small black
seeds, and, although sour, is not disagreeable. I suffered
for some time after from a painful itching of the lips,
tongue, and palate, and whenever I spat my saliva was
streaked v^ith blood. The Indians experienced the same
sensations. The fruit of the closely allied Bromelia
pinguin produces similar effects when eaten.

Our track led us to the south-west, and we reached a
point on the edge of the cliff from which there was a
magnificent view of the country to the south and west.
Standing on a rock quite close to the precipice, I looked
over the ocean of trees stretching away beneath us. To-
wards the west was the Serrania de Mato, where the
Piaroas dwell, a long range of dark blue melting away in
the distant haze. Through the green of the forest we
could see stretches of the Caura glistening in the glare of
the afternoon sun. Isidor pointed along the river to the
south in the direction of the country from which he had
come many years before. It would take several weeks,
he said, to get to that distant village on the Merevari
mountains, where his people lived. Between us and that
small tribe no human habitation existed, nothing but
forest, vast and impenetrable, like that which lay beneath
us. If I ever cared to go with him to the place of his
birth, then he would show me mountains, he said. There
was Ameha, where the evil spirits dwell ; and Arawa and
Arichi. Those were mountains, not like the hillock we

A PLAGUE OF FLIES 29

were standing upon, but giant masses which no human
being could cHmb. And thus it was while I stood on
the highest point of Turagua, looking towards the El
Dorado of the conquistador es, the idea of exploring the
region where the Caura rises took possession of me. We
skirted the edge of the precipice for some distance with
the intention of descending by some other route if practic-
able, but a dense mist had been creeping up the sides of
the mountain, and we were soon enveloped in it, rendering
any further exploration along the cliff impossible. It
rained heavily, and we got drenched to the skin. The
rain was accompanied by violent gusts of wind, which
at this altitude, with our soaked clothes clinging to our
bodies, made us feel somewhat chilled. As soon as the
fog had cleared up, we retraced our steps through the
field of bromelias to the spot where the descent began.
We sat on some rocks and ate roasted pauji and cassava,
which the Indians had brought tied up in wild banana
leaves. The descent did not take much time, but as we
had left the mountain late it was almost dark when we
got within sight of our camp, which we could make out
at some distance below us by the bright fire kindled
by Turban and Guy. We shouted to give notice of our
approach, and, hurrying on, we were soon seated within
the circle of ruddy light which the burning logs cast
aromid. Turban said that he had been out the greater part
of the day, and had returned a couple of hours before us.
Both he and Guy were of opinion that it would be im-
possible for us to remain where our camp was pitched, if
we intended to stay in the neighbourhood of the mountain
for a few days. On their return from hunting they had
found the whole place alive with flies. Never, they said,
had they seen so many flies together. The blankets

so A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

spread out to dry, our clothes and hammocks, a couple of
curassows tied to a branch, everything almost which had
been left exposed, had been used by these flies for de-
positing their disgusting larvae. From the moment of
their arrival they had been occupied passing our things
over the fire so as to rid them of the filth left by these
disagreeable visitors.

Baoul had shot three curassows. We dined off these
and roasted ripe bananas, and then retired to our damp
hammocks. Although I was very tired I passed a bad
night, as the quantity of bush-ticks I had collected on my
body during our day's tramp kept me awake the greater
part of the time.

At daybreak we had the usual cup of black coffee,
which becomes indispensable after a time. "With Maite's
assistance I managed to get rid of some of the ticks with
which I was covered, and I then had a good long bath so
as to allay the irritation caused by the garrapatas, as ticks
are called by the natives. With sunrise the flies began to
arrive, and by eight o'clock they were numerous enough
to be disagreeable. By the time we had finished break-
fast half an hour later they were around us in swarms ; it
was time to think of getting away. The Indians made
up their packs as hastily as they could, and we left with-
out regret this paradise of flies. Although my naked
companions were much more heavily laden than Turban,
Guy, or myself, we found it difficult to keep up with
them until we reached the stream which we had passed two
days before. There they left us and hurried on ahead,
and we did not see them again until we reached our
camp late in the afternoon. It never occurred to them,
considering that their track was in places difficult to
follow, that we might go astray and get lost in the forest.

wp: leave the mountain si

Probably they expected us to possess some of that instinct
for following a trail with which they were so highly
gifted. On the way we surprised a flock of trumpeters,
and shot three. In addition I killed two penelopes.
When we were quite near to our camp it rained heavily,
and although we hurried on as fast as we could, we were
wet to the skin by the time we reached shelter. The
Indians had not forgotten the tortoises left on the way ;
they were now hanging from the rafters of our rancho.

We breakfasted early. The Indians broke the shells
of the tortoises with a heavy log of wood. They then
picked the pieces of shell off the still quivering masses of
flesh, which they wrapped up in banana leaves. After
crossing the stream they hurried on as they had done the
day before, and when we got to La Prision in the
afternoon, I found that they had gone on to Isidor's
house, probably to have a night of it, leaving word that
they would return in the morning. We proceeded with
caution, for had we strayed from the trail we might have
got lost in the depths of this interminable forest. Game-
birds were plentiful ; but I decided on not wasting time
in following them up, as it would have been too fatiguing
to have to carry a number of heavy birds over the dis-
tance we still had before us. Perhaps the Indians had
left us to avoid having to add to their burdens. I killed
only four trumpeters as specimens.

By one o'clock we reached the Laja Grande, and
shortly afterwards we passed before a large rancho
occupied by several people. Two of the men were
breaking tonca-beans on a slab of rock, while one of the
women was mending clothes and another was cooking.
They asked us to stay and share their meal. Although
we were all very hungry, I thought it best to refuse their

32 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

invitation ; I knew that if we once sat down we should
feel more fagged on resuming our tramp. We passed
another hut about a mile farther on, and reached La
Prision late in the day, For a couple of days we were all
footsore, and spent most of the time in our hammocks.

After our return from Turagua, we spent three weeks
at the rapids of Mura and Piritu. Isidor brought his
family with him, so that we were a large party. We
collected quantities of Cattleya superba, which is abun-
dant on the rocky islands in the river. Towards the end
of May I bade adieu to my Indian friends, with the
understanding that I would return at the end of the year
so that we might go to Ameha.

ISIDOR'S WIFE

CHAPTEE III

History of the Orinoco steamers — Seizure of the steamer ' Bolivar ' —
Departure from Trinidad — The hammock — Gambling on board —
Guaraunos — Barrancas — Guayana la Vieja — Ralegh and Guayana
la Vieja — Simon Bohvar and Los Castillos — San Felix — El Callao
mine — The Caroni — Ciudad-Bolivar.

Although I had promised the Indians to return at the
end of the year, circumstances over which I had no con-
trol, to use a hackneyed expression, prevented me keeping
my promise. While descending the lower reaches of
the Caura, after my departure from Mura, I contracted
malaria of so virulent a type that for five months I did
not leave my bed, and for a considerable time after I was
unable to travel or to collect orchids. My long illness and
inability to do any remunerative work had resulted in my
having to dispose of the whole of my slender resources,
so that any voyage of exploration requiring outlay was
for some time an impossibility. Towards the middle of
1901, however, I had a run of luck, and began to think
of the journey to Ameha. At the same time Mr. Aurelio
Battistini, an old schoolfellow, who was established as a
merchant at Ciudad-Bolivar, paid a visit to Trinidad.
During his stay we frequently discussed the possibilities
of the rubber industry on the Caura, he being largely
interested in a concession of a considerable tract of
country on the banks of the Nichare. He suggested that
I should accompany an American gentleman who would
be going at the end of the year to inspect the concession
on behalf of a syndicate. He agreed to place his steamer,

D

34 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

the * Caura,' at my disposal, free of charge, if I would
assist in reporting on the rubber district in question, after
which I would be free to continue my voyage of explora-
tion to the headwaters of the Caura. It was definitely
settled between Battistini and myself, when he left for
Ciudad-Bolivar, that he would write and advise me when
his steamer would be ready for the projected trip. Early
in November I got a letter from him saying that I would
have to be in Ciudad-Bolivar by the end of the month,
or, at any rate, by December 2 or 3.

I employed the whole of the month making prepara-
tions for the journey, and we fixed our departure for the
29th, the steamer ' Delta ' of the Orinoco Trading and
Shipping Company having been advertised to leave on
that day.

Previous to 1860 all trade between Trinidad and
Ciudad-Bolivar was conducted by schooners and sloops,
which carried not only goods but passengers and mails
between the two places. Some time in the early sixties
Messrs. Grillet and Company ran a steamer from Ciudad-
Bolivar for their cattle trade, but she was not by any
means a regular boat, as the exigencies of the traffic for
which her owners used her necessitated her making fre-
quent visits to Demerara and Cayenne. It was not until
1867 that regular steam communication between the
towns of Port of Spain and Ciudad-Bolivar was estab-
lished by Mr. Hancox, under the protection of the Ame-
rican flag. The history of the line of steamers organised
by this gentleman, and of the claim against the govern-
ment of Venezuela which arose in connection with it, is
interesting and instructive, as illustrating the ways of
South American republics. In August 1871, when there
was a rising of revolutionists known as ' the Blues,' the

HISTORY OF THE ORINOCO STEAMERS 3^

' Hero,' one of the steamers of Mr. Hancox's line, was
seized at Guayana la Vieja, the United States flag was
hauled down, the captain imprisoned, and the steamship
used as a man-of-war and transport for troops. The
revolutionists having seized the ' Hero,' the Government
promptly took possession of the ' Nutrias,' deposed her
captain, and against his protest manned and armed her
and engaged her in a naval combat with her sister ship
the ' Hero.'

Out of this incident and others of a similar nature
there arose a claim which lasted for quite a number of
years before Mr. Hancox succeeded in squeezing some-
thing out of the Venezuelan government.

From the above description of the 1871 incident, it
will be seen that whenever civil war breaks out in Vene-
zuela, the rival factions vie with each other in obtaining
possession of and transforming into men-of-war the
steamers trading on the Orinoco, which are generally the
property of foreigners. As a rule these buccaneering
operations are carried out in Venezuelan v/aters, but in
November 1888, during what was known as the Crespo
revolution, an attempt was made to seize the steamer
* Bolivar ' while in British waters in the harbour of Port
of Spain. The following is the account given by a local
paper of this daring act :

'On Saturday evening last ^ the s.s. "Bolivar," which
flies the Venezuelan flag and trades between this city and
Ciudad-Bolivar, was about starting, the anchor having
been raised, when pistol and gun shots and shouts were
heard on board, and the steamer was first seen to drift
and then to be heading towards the St. Vincent jetty.
This created a great excitement amongst the persons wha

' November 17, 1888.

S6 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

happened to be on the jetty, and most exaggerated rumours
were at once communicated to the police-station and cir-
culated all over the city. Acting Sergeant-Major Giblan
was immediately sent to the scene with twelve men sup-
plied with side-arms ; on arriving on the wharf they found
that the affray was over and all firing had ceased, and that
the "Bolivar" had approached so near to the jetty that
from it they were able to scramble over her side and get
on board. Mr. Fitzsimons, acting Inspector-Commandant,
soon followed with twenty men under arms, and Sergeants
Shelton, Kock, and Lucy. They were further followed
by twenty-one men under Corporal Croney, all armed.
The men were provided with ten rounds of ammunition.
Our readers can imagine that, with such an extraordinary
display of arms, the wharf far and wide presented a scene
of the wildest excitement and commotion amongst the
hundreds of spectators who strove to get as near to the
central spot as possible. At an early hour the " Bolivar "
steamed off and anchored at a short distance from the
jetty. The Hon. H. Fowler, Colonial Secretary, accom-
panied by the Hon. Vincent Brown, acting Solicitor-
General, appeared on the scene and went on board the
"Bolivar." Mr. Harragin, acting magistrate of Port of
Spain, and Dr. C. B. Paisley also went on board. Those
who were suspected of taking part in the affair were pointed
out, and seven prisoners, quickly followed by six others,
were sent on shore. We have been informed that the
prisoners, although accompanied by the police, were badly
treated by the mob on their way to the police-station.
"We went there shortly afterwards to get the names of
the prisoners, but found the iron entrance-gate closed
and guarded by an armed police-patrol. This appeared
so ridiculous that we inquired into the matter and were

SEIZURE OF THE STEAMER 'BOLIVAR' 37

afterwards informed that this step had been taken without
orders. A number of armed police were left on board the
" Bolivar " for the night. The result of the affray on board
the " Bolivar " was the unfortunate wounding of two men,
who were immediately conveyed to the Colonial Hospital ;
and the death from drowning of a third, whose body was
found floating opposite Mucurapo by a fisherman, on
Monday, and was recovered and conveyed to the mortuary
at the hospital. The prisoners were taken to the Colonial
Hospital to be seen by the two wounded men, who were
considered to be in a dangerous state and whose dying
testimony it was deemed prudent to take. Mr. Harragin,
acting magistrate of Port of Spain, attended for the pur-
pose, accompanied by the Hon. George Fitt, who acted as
interpreter. Freitas, one of the wounded men, said that
he was below deck when he heard the firing ; that he
went on deck, and finding that his General was attacked,
went to defend him and received a wound. He did not
know who shot him. He looked at the prisoners, but
could not identify any of them. General Urrutia, the
other individual wounded, was then asked if he recognised
among the prisoners those who shot at him, and he
replied, " No." He was then requested to look at them
again well, when he inquired if the law compelled him to
reply. He was told " Yes " and he repeated that he recog-
nised no one. He further said that what had been done
had been done by countrymen of his, and that he would not
compromise them by making any declaration. That the
exaggerated rumours which reached the police-station of
the affair on board the " Bolivar " created a profound sen-
sation, there is sufficient evidence from the successive
bodies of armed police who were hurried to the wharf ;
and that the executive took a serious view of the occur-

58 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

rence was proved by the presence on the scene of the
Hon. the Colonial Secretary and the Hon. acting Solicitor-
General. A meeting of the Executive Council, we are
informed, was also immediately held, at which His Excel-
lency the Governor presided. In addition to the armed
police despatched to the wharf and left on board the
*' Bolivar," six armed policemen were sent to Carenage to
search for men who were supposed to have escaped from
the vessel, and six others were sent under the acting
harbour-master to Monos, as it was rumoured that there
were armed faluchos in the Gulf. These rumours proved
to be entirely unfounded and false, and are a sample of
exaggerated reports conveyed to the police-station and
spread over the city, and that not only alarmed the Execu-
tive but deceived the general public. One of the most
barefaced falsehoods propagated was that shots were
aimed deliberately from the "Bolivar" at people on the
jetty, and particularly at General Perez Leon, in charge
of the Venezuelan Consulate here. That the affray was
entirely confined to the " Bolivar," when at some distance
from the jetty, is already clear from the evidence that was
forthcoming against the prisoners on Monday, at the
examination, a full report of which we give in another
column, and to which we refer our readers. The whole of
the matter is now under judicial examination and we
therefore refrain for the present from commesints upon it,
one way or the other, or from giving currency to all the
wild rumours that have been circulated in regard to the
affair.'

Thirteen men, several of whom occupied very good
positions in Venezuela, were charged with murder in
connection with this attempted seizure of the ' Bolivar.'
Although these men were remanded from week to week

DEPARTURE FROM TRINIDAD 89

and from month to month, the poHce were unable to
obtain such evidence as would secure a conviction. The
Venezuelans who were on board on the day of the fray
had made up their minds that they were going to do
without British justice or interference. They had had
their family quarrel. A man had been killed. Some
two or three had been wounded. While the prisoners
were being tried the revolution had succeeded. Those
who had been injured during the encounter were unwilling
that their fellow-countrymen should be the victims of a
British court of justice. So they very wisely refused to
recognise any of the prisoners when they were called upon
to give evidence. Eventually the lucky thirteen — for who
can say that thirteen is an unlucky number after this ? —
found that they were free to depart, which they did
precipitately.

In going into these details I have drawn attention to
the fact that a passenger on board an Orinoco steamer
may get a good deal of excitement for his passage-money,
not to speak of the risk of being hit by a stray bullet.

When we boarded the steamer ' Delta ' on the after-
noon of the 29th (November) our party consisted of an
American gentleman, Mr. Orleans Longacre, who, as I
have already said, was to accompany me as far as the
Nichare for the purpose of inspecting some rubber forests
on the banks of that river ; Mr. Jacobson (a photographer),
a Mr. Villegente (a taxidermist), and five men. Two
of these were expert hunters who had accompanied me
on former expeditions into Venezuela and Colombia. Of
the other three, one was an East Indian whom I had
employed once before to collect butterflies ; the other
two men were strangers to me, but they were supposed
to be able to make themselves generally useful.

40 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

It was almost dark when the ' Delta ' left the pier at
Port of Spain, and started ploughing her way through
the shallow waters of the Gulf along the shores of the
island, towards the Serpent's Mouth. The 'Delta ' carried
a motley lot of passengers. Most of them had slung their
hammocks between the stanchions supporting the upper
deck upon which the pilot-house and captain's cabin are
situated, and there they lay lazily awaiting the dinner-
hour. All over Venezuela hammocks are largely used for
sleeping. In fact, in certain places a bed is rarely seen,
and for cleanliness and comfort in a tropical country,
especially when the nights are hot, hammocks are un-
doubtedly the best sleeping-places. Besides, the native
article when well made possesses the advantage of light-
ness and durability, while it can be rolled up into quite
a small parcel, so that a man may wander about with his
bed, so to speak, under his arm. It takes but a few seconds
to sling this ready-made bed between trees, if one be
travelling in the forest, or between the uprights of any
house on the wayside where the rover may elect to spend
the night. This widespread use of the hammock has
been adopted from the aborigines, who still use no other
sleeping-places than these hanging nets. Pulleyn, in his
' Etymological Compend,' says that the natives of Brazil
used to sleep in nets composed of the rind of the hamack-
tree suspended between poles. Hence the sailor's hammock
derived its name. The word is more probably of West
Indian origin, for Columbus in the narrative of his first
voyage tells us : ' A great many Indians in canoes came
to the ship to-day for the purpose of bartering their cotton
and hamacas or nets in which they sleep.' Strangel)'
enough the word hamaca, although the correct word
for hammock, is rarely used in Venezuela, where the

GAMBLING ON BO AMD 41

hammocks, usually made of grass or cotton twine, are
called chinchorros, the real meaning of which in Spanish
is fishing-nets. In the island of Margarita very good
chinchorros are made of twisted cotton, but the most
expensive hammocks come from the banks of the Rio
Negro, where the Indians spend many months in the
manufacture of one of these articles. They are decorated
with designs woven with the gorgeous feathers of rare
birds into the fine grass used in this industry. The
hammocks made by the Indians of Guiana for their own
use are small, the net itself being rarely more than four
feet and a half in length. In their wanderings, when
they carry all their belongings with them, these people
find it convenient to have only the lightest and smallest
of hammocks.

By the time we had slung our hammocks and made
ourselves comfortable it was dinner-time. Dinner on
board of a steamer such as the * Delta ' is not a very
elaborate affair, although the present owners of the line
have made great improvements in this respect, as well
as in everything else connected with the working of their
steamers.

Afte': dinner the table was cleared, and several of
the passengers engaged in a game of baccarat. A few
played poker. I did not see any large sums change
hands on this occasion, but there have been times,
particularly in the eighties, during the boom in the
Yuruari mines, when huge amounts were won and lost
in the course of the sixty or seventy hours occupied in
reaching Ciudad-Bolivar. Old gamblers recall with regret
those golden days, when piles of the yellow metal lay
heaped upon the table before the lucky players. At an
early hour I retired to my hammock in the bow of the

42 A xNATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

steamer, leaving the players trying their best to ruin each
other in a small way.

When I awoke at daybreak on the following morning,
we were already in the Macareo, one of the many
channels which form a labyrinth through the low-lying
lands known as the delta of the Orinoco. The scenery
on the banks of these channels, or canos, is dreary and
monotonous. To the waste of mangroves which line the
coast, trees of more robust growth and more varied in
character succeed ; nevertheless, the unbroken stretch of
tangled vegetation along the banks of the canos produces
a feeling of weariness and a longing for a glimpse of more
open and uneven country.

In this wilderness of land and water countless num-
bers of marsh-birds have made a home. Flocks of the
scarlet ibis and snowy egret, and of that strange example
of arrested evolution in bird life, the hoatzin, rise from
the trees at every moment, as the steamer brushes past
the wooded banks avoiding the full force of the current
in mid-stream. We passed several canoes and many
settlements of almost nude Guaraunos.^ Whenever we
neared a settlement the Indians would put off in their
dug-outs and paddle frantically towards the steamer.
Biscuits and other trifles were thrown to them by the
captain and passengers, and it was amusing to observe
the eagerness with which they paddled for such objects
as had fallen in the water ; in return they threw cassava
and game on board. It is a curious fact that, since the
advent of the white man, the Guaraunos do not appear
to have decreased in the same proportion as the other
Indian tribes of Venezuela, although they are certainly
inferior, physically and intellectually, to most of the
' Pronounced Wavaunos.

BARRANCAS 43

aborigines of this part of South America. While many
of the most powerful tribes have almost entirely dis-
appeared, these degraded Indians have succeeded in
holding their own, in spite of the unhealthiness of the
country where they live. Probably the isolation they
have been able to enjoy in this waste of mosquito-infested
swamp, where no other human beings would care to
reside, has been the cause of their escape from extinc-
tion.

On the morning of the 30th we entered the Orinoco
itself, and shortly afterwards stopped at Barrancas, where
a couple of hours were spent in repairing one of the
boiler-tubes, which had given out a few minutes before
we cast anchor. The wretched appearance of these
small towns on the banks of the Orinoco is a striking
example of the effects of misrule, which appear to
have accompanied the Spaniards wherever they planted
colonies ; it is really painful to consider that these
wretched collections of mud huts covered with thatch
are the centres of immense expanses of country capable
of sustaining innumerable herds of cattle. Barrancas
is advantageously situated in open undulating prairie-
country, at some little distance above that extensive tract
of swamp-forest through which the Orinoco discharges
its waters by a multitude of channels, a short description
of which I have just given. It is considered a place
of some importance by those cattle-loving patriots who
make a business of revolutions. To these people
Barrancas is interesting, not so much from a strategic
point of view, but because it is possible in its neigh-
bourhood to lift a horse or lasso a cow without much
waste of energy, if the owners be not in a position
to defend their property. Barrancas has, in conse-

44 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

quence, been the scene of many a bloody encounter
between the generals of the president in esse and the
one i7i posse, who find it profitable to make their
followers fight for other people's animals. Sometimes
the generals of the opposing factions are friends. In
such cases the animals are divided without any fighting
taking place ; then one side goes over to the other, and
the generals, the colonels, and the soldiers feast on beef
that has cost them nothing.

Although there were passengers on board for this place
they were not allowed to land, Barrancas not being a
jmerto habilitado — that is, a port regularly constituted
for receiving or despatching vessels trading with foreign
countries. The government of Venezuela, with its fatal
predilection for putting every difficulty in the way of the
commerce and advancement of the country, has decreed
that Ciudad-Bolivar shall be the only puerto habilitado
on the Orinoco. When we reflect on the waste of time
and money which this arbitrary decree entails on the
people of Barrancas, Los Castillos, San Felix, and on all
the inhabitants of that immense stretch of country on the
banks of the Orinoco east of Ciudad-Bolivar, we cannot
help being struck by the lack of foresight on the part
of a government which treats its subjects in so cruel a
manner. During our short stay opposite this ill-used
port, the ' Delta ' was invaded by clouds of sandflies. We
were all glad when the tinkering of the boiler-tubes was
completed and we were able to resume our journey.

At ten o'clock we reached Los Castillos, formerly
known as Guayana la Vieja. We cast anchor quite close
to the shore, and as the upper deck of the steamer near
the pilot-house commanded a good view of the old
Spanish fort, I got Jacobson to take a photograph of the

RALEGH AND GUAYANA LA VIEJA 45

place. Somewhere in the vicinity of this rugged hill
covered with boulders, had taken place on January 1,
1618, that I'atal encounter between the Spaniards and
Keymis in which young Ralegh lost his life. Edwards,
in his 'Life of Sir Walter Ralegh,' says that 'it was about
eleven o'clock on New Year's morning that the English
vessels hove in sight of Point Araya. They were still far
from the chosen landing-place, but the soldiers were
landed before sunset. They were, says Ralegh, as weak
men as ever followed valiant leaders ; yet there were
amongst them some twenty or thirty very adventurous
gentlemen, and of singular courage. He particularises
several, and amongst them one who bore the illustrious
name of John Hampden. Knevitt, Hammond, and
Plessington are also named with special commendation.
Part of the Spanish force already occupied an ambuscade
on some rising ground in advance of the village. These
men were under a certain Geronimo de Grades.

The Englishmen had neither the design nor the
expectation of an immediate encounter. Their plan was
to encamp on the river's bank for the night, and to
prosecute the attempt on the following morning, leaving
part of the force to protect the ships and to watch the
town. Grados attacked them soon after nightfall and
took them by surprise. * The common sort,' says Ralegh,
* were so amazed, as had not the captains and some other
valiant gentlemen made a head and encouraged the rest,
they had all been broken and cut to pieces.'

Suddenness of attack and knowledge of the ground
were the only advantages which the Spaniards possessed.
"Whatever the inferiority of the ' common sort ' of
Englishmen here present, they had pluck enough to fight
when rightly led. And on this occasion they were led

46 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

nobly. Walter Kalegh, in particular, showed that his
mettle was worthy of his strain.

Grados and his Spaniards, too, fought well against
superior numbers. But they were driven fiercely back,
and, as they retreated, the Englishmen followed. It is
apparent, alike from the Enghsh accounts and from the
Spanish, that Ealegh's men were as ignorant of the close
proximity of the village as of the nature of the ground
and of the defences. As the Spaniards under Grados
came near to their comrades already under arms within
St. Thomas, and headed by Diego Palomeque, the
Governor, the pursuers were for a moment checked b}''
new and fresh opponents. The English musketeers were
behind, the pikemen were in advance.

Young Ralegh was the first to rally his men under
the unexpected charge of Palomeque. Calling cheerily
to the pikemen not to wait for the musketeers, he dashed
on at their head. It is probable, but not quite certain,
that Palomeque himself fell under his hand. There is no
doubt that he killed a principal leader of the Spaniards
who had sallied out from St. Thomas. John Plessington,
his lieutenant, slew another. One of the men of Walter's
own company — ' John of Morocco ' by designation — slew
two other Spaniards in quick succession. In the melee
young Ealegh received a musket-shot, but, bleeding as
he was, he pressed on vigorously, sword in hand, and
struck at a Spaniard named Erinetta who defended
himself with the butt-end of his musket. Ralegh was
felled to the ground, mortally wounded, but quite un-
dismayed. He had breath but for very few words. The
last words that were audible from his lips were these :
' Go on ! May the Lord have mercy upon me and
prosper your enterprise.'

RALEGH AND GI-AVANA LA VIEJA 47

So died, in an obscure ambush laid by foemen who
were far from being 'worthy of his steel,' all that was
mortal of young Kalegh. He had shown, more than
once before, his fierj'' temper and his utter contempt of
personal danger. He had also shown not a little of firm
endurance and persistency. Whatever seed of still finer
qualities to come may have laid within him had lacked
time to grow. A few incidents of youthful turbulence and
of soldierly valour, and an anecdote or two which show that
he had before him the prospect of a somewhat ambitious
alliance, make up the story of his short life. He had
barely reached twenty-three years of age when he fell at
St. Thomas under the musket of the Spaniard Erinetta.

* Young Ealegh had fallen in the moment of apparent
victory, when the Spaniards were rapidly retreating
before the vigorous onset of the Englishmen. Erinetta,
by whose hand he died, fell almost instantly. Part of
the defeated troops took refuge in a convent called the
monastery of St. Francis, at the opposite end of the
village. But the soldiers under George Kalegh and
Keymis quickly stormed it. Their surviving enemies
took flight : first towards the nearest forest, and eventu-
ally to the place to which the women, the invalids, and
children had been already taken ; for all these had left
St. Thomas before the attack made by the Spaniards on
the Enghsh camp. That the Spanish Governor had
fallen in the onset at the entrance of the village the
Englishmen learnt from the Spanish priest at St. Thomas,
too ill to join in the retreat, who identified his body. Two
other Spanish officers had fallen. The priest was pro-
tected and cared for, but it was his ill-fortune to be
forgotten in the hurry of the English departure.

48 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

' Thus quickly had the tables been turned upon the
assaulting Spaniards. But the remnant, though in dis-
order, were not wholly disorganised. Garcia de Aguilar,
who had succeeded Palomeque in the command, dis-
played very soldierly qualities. He seems to have done
all that was feasible under the circumstances. One of
his first acts after the retreat was to send Geronimo de
Grados to remove the women and sick people from their
original place of refuge to (as it seems) an island in the
Orinoco, called La Ceyva or Seiba. His next act was to
form, from amongst the valid inhabitants of St. Thomas,
two small troops charged with two special duties. They
were to watch for opportunities of killing such English-
men as should leave the village in foraging parties. They
were to watch still more zealously for the prevention as
much as might be of the intercourse between the Eng-
lish and the natives. If any Indians could not be kept
away from the foreigners by terror, they were, if possible,
to be shot. Others on whom the Spaniards could rely
were made part of the force for defending the camp at
Seiba, and for making ambuscades, whenever opportunity
offered.

' Meanwhile, all the English soldiers were assembled
under arms for Walter Ralegh's burial. With reversed
muskets, trailed pikes, and muffled drums, but with
banners outspread, the youth who had died so gallantly,
and in whose grave so many hopes were to be buried,
went to his rest. He was laid near the high altar in the
church of St. Thomas. Captain Cosmer, who had fallen
nearly at the same time, was laid near him. For three
other of their dead companions-in-arms graves were made
within the nave of the church.'

We have no reliable record of the time during which

SIMON BOLIVAR AND LOS CASTILLOS 49^^

the English remained at St. Thomas. It would appear,
if we are to believe Father Simon's report, that the
occupation of the place extended over twenty-five days.
Of the failure of Keymis to find the mine, the real object
of the expedition, of his suicide after his interview with
the admiral, of the imprisonment and subsequent exe-
cution of Sir Walter Ralegh because of the encounter
at St. Thomas, I do not believe it would be within the
scope of this narrative to give the details. On account
of a fray on that worthless arid bit of country which
lay before us, one of the greatest of all Englishmen
was beheaded, a man who was as great in intellect as
James was small, who was as brave as his king was
cowardly.

But it is not only in connection with English history
that Los Castillos lays claim to have been a place of
importance in the past, for it is said that at a critical
moment during the war of independence, Simon Bolivar
was nearly captured in its vicinity ; he only escaped by
hiding in the swamp adjoining the town. Had this re-
markable man been taken prisoner by the troops of Spain
how different might have been the termination of that
war which secured the independence of the Spanish
colonies in South America !

Several passengers suffering from a form of malignant
fever were taken on board at Los Castillos. Some ap-
peared to be in a dying condition, and those were placed
on blankets on the deck. No account was taken of the
fact that the fever might have been of a contagious nature.
One would believe that this place as seen from the steamer
ought to be anything but unhealthy, but I was told that
an extensive swamp behind the hill is the cause of the
fever from which the inhabitants suffer, and that at

E

50 A NATIMIALIST IN THE GUIANAS

times such as the present, the disease becomes epidemic
and is the cause of many deaths.

At four in the afternoon we anchored off San Fehx,
also called Las Tablas. Like most of the towns on the
Orinoco this is a straggling ill-kept place. One looks in
vain for some vestige of the wealth which passed through
it during those prosperous days when the Callao yielded
its millions, and when it was believed that the numerous
mines in the interior would produce even vaster quantities
of the metal we adore than had ever been obtained from
the goldfields of California and Australia. With the
exception of the Callao none of the mines of the Yuruari
district has verified those expectations of great mineral
wealth attributed to the region, although it would be
quite possible, under a different government and with
cheaper means of transport, to work many of these
abandoned mines profitably. The history of the Callao
is the history of many a mining enterprise of the kind.
So far back as 1860 some adventurous Americans suc-
ceeded in obtaining gold in paying quantities by washing
the alluvial gravels of the streams of what was then
known as the Caratal district. It was not until early in
the seventies, however, that any attempt at quartz-mining
was made, when a small company formed for that pur-
pose started operations in the development of what
subsequently became the famous Callao mine. As
frequently happens in such enterprises, the men who
made the biggest fortunes out of the mine did so in
spite of themselves. Three of these men whom I knew
personally admitted to me that they became holders of
shares by force of circumstances, and kept them because
it was impossible to get rid of them at any sacrifice.
They were small shopkeepers whose sole ambition in life

EL CALLAO MINE 51

was to arrive at a competence by supplying the wants
of the labourers employed in the mine. It turned out,
however, after a time, that the company having exhausted
its small capital was unable to pay its employes in
cash, so scrip was issued to them redeemable in shares.
Most of this scrip found its way into the hands of the
shopkeepers, to whom those in the employ of the com-
pany were indebted. We can form an idea of the little
value placed upon this scrip at the time when we learn
that shares issued at 1,000 pesos could not find pur-
chasers even at 100 pesos. One of the holders of this
scrip, a negro who had been a boatman in Trinidad,
related to me how he became a millionaire in spite of
himself. ' I used to keep a cookshop,' - he told me,
' and I gave credit freely to the men employed by the
Callao Company. When the mine shut down, I was
forced to accept in payment of what was due to me, the
scrip issued by the company to its employes. How-
well do I remember my journey to Ciudad-Bolivar when
I offered my principal creditor all the scrip I possessed
if he would give me a receipt in full for my account,
amounting to about 3,000 dollars ! You are an honest

man, Mr. told me. Continue working. Some

day if you make monej' you will pay me, but I
don't want " to have anything to do with that rotten
paper you have brought with you." Six months after
I was worth half a million.' In those days candles were
used by the miners in the galleries. One small merchant
had monopolised the supply of candles, and he, also, was
forced to accept, much against his will, a quantity of
scrip in payment of his account. Within a few months
after he had looked upon himself as a ruined man he

' 800 dollars U.S. money. - A cheaii restaurant.

E 2

52 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

had become a millionaire. A friend of mine now living
in Trinidad relates how three original shares were offered
to him when he was in business at Ciudad-Bolivar in ex-
change for ten cases of Angostura bitters, an offer which,
he says pathetically, ' I declined with thanks.'

Two of these same shares realised subsequently 80,000
pesos.' For a considerable period original shares of 1,000
pesos produced dividends of 72,000 pesos yearly. In
those days of its prosperity the business of the Callao
Company was conducted in a most extravagant manner,
and although there was a clause in the articles of associa-
tion providing for the establishment of a reserve fund, no
such fund was put aside. When, in 1895 or 1896, the
main lode was lost, the directors of the company found it in
consequence impossible to prosecute a search for the vein
of paying quartz, which seems to have disappeared sud-
denly. The mine is now the property of a small syndicate
of merchants at Ciudad-Bolivar, and they have arranged,
so one of them told me quite recently, with the aid of a
powerful company in Paris, to spend a considerable sum in
search of the lost lode. Should the attempt be successful,
and it is to be hoped that it will be, the Callao will again
pour forth a stream of wealth like that which so benefited
in the past the commerce of the Lower Orinoco. To the
fact of huge fortunes having been occasionally made by
a few lucky ones out of successful mines like the Callao
can be traced that infatuation most human beings appear
to suffer from, of investing, sometimes all their savings,
in gold-mining speculations. And it may be remarked
that men who are exceedingly cautious in their regular
dealings are frequently the most easily duped where mines
are concerned. Probably ventures appealing strongly to

' G4,000 dollars U.S. money.

THE CARONI 53

the gambling instinct in our natures tend to develop
a feeling of recklessness inseparable from enterprises in
which the element of chance is dominant. What better
material to work upon could the unscrupulous and clever
promoter desire than the average mortal thirsting for
riches which he is eager to obtain without toil ? For a
number of years I was on fairly intimate terms with one
of the fraternity who deal in imaginary gold-mines. He
was a very able man in his way, and a marvellous judge
of character. To a select few on rare occasions he would
confide the results of his researches in the form of maxims
such as these : ' The richest of all mines, the best paying
of all lodes, is the credulity of the human race.' ' Never
put your money in gold-mines,' he used to say, ' let other
people put theirs ; but you may put your brains.' I had
almost forgotten to mention that we remained excellent
friends, because I never had any money to pit against
his brains.

The little that remains of the trade with El Callao and
the few mines around is still done through San Felix.
Heavy goods and machinery are transported by waggons ;
lighter articles are carried by pack animals. The traffic
over the wretched road to the mines is, in consequence,
tedious and expensive, and this precludes the working of
many mines which, with cheaper means of transport,
might be made to pay handsomely. Where we lay at
anchor we could distinguish between the dark waters of
the Caroni, sweeping along the shore, and the dirty yellow
wash of the Orinoco itself. The two streams flow side
by side for some distance before the smaller one is finally
absorbed by the other.

When we passed the mouth of the Caroni I was again
reminded of Sir Walter Kalegh's voyage up the Orinoco.

54 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

This appears to have been the farthest point reached by
him, and he describes how, when he ran to the tops of
the first hills of the plains adjoining the river, he beheld
' that wonderful breach of waters which ran down Caroli ; '
and how from the momitain he saw the river as it ran in
three parts above twenty miles off ; * and there appeared
some ten or twelve overfalls in sight, every one as high
over the other as a church tower, which fell with that
fury that the rebound of waters made it seem as if it had
been all covered over with a great shower of rain.' He
says he never saw a more beautiful country, nor more
lively prospects ; ' hills so raised here and there, over the
valleys ; the rivers winding into divers branches ; the
plains adjoining, all fair green grass, without bush or
stubble ; the ground of hard sand easy to march on,
either for horse or foot ; the deer crossing on every path ;
the birds, towards evening, singing on every tree with a
thousand several tunes ; cranes and herons, of white,
crimson, and carnation, perching on the river's side ; the
air fresh, with a gentle easterly wind ; and cvenj stone
that 2ce stooped to take itp promising either gold or silver
by his complexion.' Above San Felix the Orinoco is of
imposing width, and the country on its banks is of
undulating character and park-like in appearance, but
thinly peopled. All night long the ' Delta ' forced her
way up against the strong yellow current. At ten in the
morning we sighted the hill on which Ciudad-Bolivar
stands, and we were soon near enough to distinguish the
churches and red-roofed houses which form the town.

55

CHAPTEE IV

Ciudad-Bolivar —Construction of the houses — Malaria — Notes on the
town — Navigation of the Orinoco — Bise and fall of the Orinoco —
The Orinoco as a highway — Exports — The trade in feathers — The trade
in balata gum — Export duties — Salt-pans — Salt monopoly — Araya —
Formation of salt deposits — Smuggling of salt — Leprosy — Strange
method of fishing.

The first capital of Guayana was called San Tomas de
Guayana, It was founded in 1575, but in 1591 a new
site was chosen, which continued to be the metropolis
until 1764, when the seat of government was removed
to the spot which it still occupies. The new town was
appropriately christened Angostura, * The Narrows,' be-
cause at this spot the Orinoco is contracted to a consider-
able extent by the hills on both banks. The distance
across the river to the small town of Soledad on the
opposite bank is about a mile. Above and below ' The
Narrows ' the Orinoco is rarely less than two miles in
width, while for long stretches it spreads out to a breadth
of four and even five miles, and is altogether a stream of
majestic proportions. But it does not by any means
occupy that position among the rivers of the world
assigned to it by most Venezuelans and many travellers
I have met with. It would not figure on a list enume-
rating the earth's twelve greatest rivers, for instance. Of
course it is almost impossible to compare rivers in difierent
countries affected by different climates, therefore the
compiling of an accurate list of the most important rivers
of the world in order of magnitude would be beset with

56 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

difficulties. One may, however, obtain a fair idea of the
Orinoco by contrasting it with some of the rivers of the
South American system to which it belongs. Leaving
out of consideration the Amazon itself, the drainage of
which has been estimated to be about six times that of
the Orinoco, it will be remarked that one of its tributaries,
the Madeira, is at least as large as the Orinoco, and the
volume of its next important affluent, the Eio Negro,
is probably not less than that of the giant stream of
Venezuela. The Orinoco is somewhat larger than the
Tocantins, but is smaller than the La Plata. I have
entered into these details respecting the river on which
the capital of Guiana stands because they may prove
interesting to those who, like myself, are fond of physical
geography.

The name Angostm'a appears so appropriate to the
locality upon which the city we were about to visit has
been built, that it seems a pity to have changed it to that
of Ciudad-Bolivar, however disposed we may be to admit
the claim of the Lihertador to the distinction conferred
•on his memory at the meeting of the Congress in 1819.^

It took some time to get the ' Delta ' alongside of the
steep sandy bank which forms the landing-place when
the river has begun to fall. "While my men were looking
after the carrying of our effects to the Custom-house,
I went ashore to pay a visit to the Hendersons, one of
whom is United States Consul. The first thing that
strikes the traveller coming from Port of Spain when he
lands at Ciudad-Bolivar, is the great difference in appear-
ance and construction between the houses in the British
West India islands and those of the towns in Venezuela.

' In 1819, at a meeting of Congress, the city of Angostura was christened
anew Ciudad-Bolivar in honour of Simon Bolivar.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSES 57

After having dwelt in a house surrounded by a garden,
with open galleries on all sides, and the flimsiest of
jalousied windows, one feels instinctively, on seeing for
the first time the squares of solid walls forming the
blocks of buildings, each house with its single doorway
and its heavily barred windows, that he is visiting a land
of lawlessness and violence. And yet the origin of these
iron- barred windows is not connected with the idea of
resisting an assault or of being a means of protection
during a riot, however useful such defences may be in
times of disturbance now. The style of architecture
adopted all over Spanish-America, from Mexico in the
north to Chili and Argentina in the south, is essentially
Moorish. In the heavily barred windows and the single
entrance to the patio ^ we are in the presence of a system
of construction which answered the Mohammedan purpose
of secluding and keeping strict watch over the women of
the household. The Spanish-American has retained the
barred windows and the single entrance, but his women-
folk sit by the hour at their windows chatting with the
young men who pay informal calls in this manner. We
can imagine the scene that would take place in any
Moorish family if one of the ladies showed herself at the
window even for a few minutes. I was still musing on
the hold that customs once adopted continue to exert
on a people long after the reasons for them have ceased
to exist, when I reached the counting-house of the
Hendersons. Jesse, the younger, had gone to New York ;
the elder brother, Eobert, insisted on my putting-up with
him during my stay at Ciud ad-Bolivar. After lunch we
went to the Custom-house, as I was desirous of having
my things passed through so that we might repack and

' An open courtyard, usually planted with shrubs and flowering plants.

58 A NATUKAIJST IN THE GUIANAS

prepare for our journey as quickly as possible. I was
very agreeably disappointed, if I rnay so express myself,
at the courtesy and consideration shown me by the
Administrador de Aduana,^ General Barroeta Briceno,
whom I found to be an affable and enlightened gentleman.
As a rule, getting through a Venezuelan Custom-house
is a trying ordeal, and when one is accompanied by such
a miscellaneous collection of baggage as is required for a
long expedition like the one I had in view, the collector
of Customs can give the traveller a great deal of trouble
before he finishes with him. On the present occasion,
however, I had no difficulty, as I have just remarked, in
getting my baggage through, so that I was able to devote
a part of the afternoon to strolling through the town,
while my men attended to the transport of our trunks
and boxes to the Hendersons' store. Ciudad-Bolivar is
situated on the right bank of the Orinoco, at a distance
of 240 miles from its mouth. Its altitude above sea-level
is inconsiderable, its mean average temperature about 80°,
and its population nearly 9,000. The town itself is built
on a hill, to the east of which lies an extensive lagoon.
To those who associate expanses of stagnant water reeking
with decaying vegetable matter with certain diseases such
as malaria, it comes as a surprise to find that Ciudad-
Bolivar is a fairly healthy town. This fact is worth
mentioning because swamps appear, in different localities,
to have widely different effects on the healthiness or
unhealthiness of the districts in their vicinity. Why,
for instance, should the inhabitants of Los Castillos be
subject to a deadly form of malaria while those of Ciudad-
Bolivar enjoy immunity from that disease ? Both are
situated on sandy arid hills, both have lagoons towards.
' Collector of Customs.

MALARIA 59'

the east over which the prevailing winds blow before
reaching the towns.

If swamps or expanses of stagnant water were inju-
rious to health in themselves, we should find it impossible
to account for such an anomaly as that presented by the
towns I have just described. If, on the other hand, we
accept the theory that many diseases are propagated by
insect agency, as has been proved beyond the shadow of
a doubt in the case of malarial and yellow fevers, we can
understand how it may happen that diseases dependent
on insect agency for their transmission will be prevalent
in the neighbourhood of one marsh and unknov^m in the
vicinity of another. Different causes may contribute to
this. In the first place, it is quite possible that the par-
ticular insect capable of harbouring some special parasite
causing disease in man during certain phases of its exist-
ence may be abundant in a locality without affecting the
health of the inhabitants ; and this would be the case
where the insects themselves happen to be free from
infection through the non-existence in the country fre-
quented by them of the organisms constituting at some
period in their lives the parasites to which these insects
are liable. Again, the organism may be present and the
insect absent. To account for a regular malarial district
both the insect and its parasite must occur together, and the
conditions must be favourable to both. Nothing is more
puzzling to the naturalist at times than to try to deter-
mine why some particular form of life should be abundant
in one locality and absent in another, while nearly allied
forms may be common to both. Causes which we are
frequently unable to appreciate, but which must be very
potent in themselves, are responsible for this, to us, un-
accountable distribution of life ; and when we speak of

60 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

life, we must not forget that closely connected with the
distribution of life is the distribution of disease and death,
for what is disease and death to one animal may mean
life to myriads of organisms each of which is fighting for
its own welfare at the cost of the subject it is preying
upon. Much has been done in recent years in connection
with these terrible diseases due to the introduction into
our systems of forms of life detrimental to our well-being
or fatal to our existence. Much remains to be done,
particularly in the study of those malarial fevers which
render so large a part of the tropics uninhabitable.
Theoretically Ciudad-Bolivar ought to be a deadly spot ;
in reality it is not. The poorer houses are built on the
very edge of the swamp, and as the people entertain that
bold disregard for sanitation characteristic of South-
American peoples, they throw their refuse into the shallow
water close to their doors, and they appear to have been
following this system for quite a length of time without
having to pay any penalty for their sins against cleanli-
ness. This may serve as a lesson to more civilised people
that there is yet much to be learnt in the science of
sanitation.

The cathedral and plaza, government buildings and
principal houses, are on the top of the hill, where it is
almost flat. Those learned in historical detail point out
the spot quite close to the National College where Simon
Bolivar suddenly decided upon the colours of the infant
republic he had founded. Suggestions were being made
by a party of ladies and gentlemen assembled for the
purpose of fixing upon a national flag, when a rainbow
appeared in the heavens. ' What finer colours could we
think of for our flag,' exclaimed the Libertador, ' than
those of the rainbow ? ' And this is how the Spanish-

NAVIGATION OF THE ORINOCO 61

American republics came to possess those gaudy flags
made up of all the colours of the rainbow.

If one strolls away from the plaza towards the south,
the cemetery, which is situated outside the town, can
be seen. It is said that this cemetery is one of the finest
in South America, many of the mausoleums having cost
thousands of pesos to build. I did not feel inclined just
then to tramp through the heat and dust of the plain
beneath to visit the last resting-place of the people of
Ciudad-Bolivar, so I walked towards the river, down one
of the steep ill-paved streets leading to the business part
of the town. All the principal commercial houses face
the river. They are owned chiefly by Corsicans and
Germans, who have monopolised the trade of this part of
Venezuela. They receive their goods and make their
shipments through Trinidad, although sailing-vessels and
sometimes steamers visit the port direct from the United
States. Up to quite recent times the navigation of the
Macareo by steamships was a monopoly, out of which the
presidents and high ofiicials of Caracas made money ; but
towards the end of last year General Castro issued a
decree annulling the privileges of the company which
owned the concession, thereby throwing open the naviga-
tion of the Macareo to the shipping interests of the world.
Unfortunately the unsettled state of the country stands in
the way of any enterprise in that direction. The advan-
tages of the route by the Macareo are so obvious to any-
one acquainted with the relative positions of Venezuela
and Trinidad, that no details need be entered into here.
It is sufficient to state that the few lines which have
tried to compete with the one from Trinidad, by using
the main mouth or hoca grande of the Orinoco, have
invariably had to shut down after a while.

•62 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Above Ciudad-Bolivar flat-bottomed steamers of the
same type as those running to Trinidad, but smaller in
size, do the carrying trade as far as the towns on the
Apure and Meta. Up to some three years ago these lines
of steamers were in different hands, but the companies
have been amalgamated ; so that to-day the Orinoco
Shipping and Trading Company own the bulk of the
steamers on the Orinoco.

Between the months of January and March, or April,
there is no steam communication with the towns on the
Upper Orinoco. The river and its tributaries are then at
their lowest, and their navigation becomes difficult, owing
to the ever-shifting sandbanks which encumber their
beds. During these months, therefore, the steamers
remain idle. By the beginning of April there is generally
a sufficiency of water to allow of the resumption of traffic.
In August and September the rivers reach their highest
point, and it is not unusual during an excessively rainy
season for considerable tracts of country to get flooded.
When this occurs a good deal of damage is the result.
One of the most remarkable overflows in recent times
occurred in 1891, when the ground floors of all the stores
along the quay at Ciudad-Bolivar were under water to a
depth of two or three feet. A stone pillar marks the
height attained by the waters during that disastrous flood.
The difference between the highest and lowest points of
the water during the rainy and dry seasons is usually
about eighty feet. Mr. Spence, in his work, ' The Land
of Bolivar,' has attributed the rising of the Orinoco to
the melting of the snows in the Andes (vol. i. p. 78),^ but
this explanation is absurd, for in tropical countries where

' ' The waters at Ciudad-Bolivar rise 80 ft. when the melted snow from
the Andes cumes down.'

THE ORINOCO AS A HIGHWAY 63

the temperature varies but little, the snow on the moun-
tains does not melt more at one time of the year than at
another. As a matter of fact, the rise of all these rivers
is the result of heavy rains in the interior during the
rainy months, x^though the trade of Ciudad-Bolivar is
considerable, it is nothing to what it might be. The
Venezuelan government, with a short-sighted policy
which is almost incredible, has persistently debarred
Colombia from making use of that natural highway to
the Atlantic, the Orinoco : with the result that the
Colombian towns on the eastern slopes of the Andes,
instead of using the waterways which form part of the
Venezuelan system, are forced to do all their trade
through their own territory. With an intelligent
government, able to grasp the advantages of abolishing
the restrictions against the sister republic, and stable
enough to encourage the investment of foreign capital,
the possibilities of the Orinoco as a commercial highway
would be considerable. The cataracts between Atures
and Maipures are a serious obstacle to the navigation of
the Upper Orinoco. Yet it would be quite possible, by
the construction of a short railway along the river, and
the establishment of a line of steamers above the
cataracts, to obtain regular communication with the
country around the Upper Orinoco and its tributaries, a
region rich in rubber and other forest-products. Unfor-
tunately, there is no immediate likelihood of any beneficial
change taking place in the affairs of the country. During
the frequent revolutions from which Venezuela has suffered
in recent years, the overthrow of one government has
been generally succeeded by the establishment of another
even worse than its predecessor. Is it any wonder, then,
that the commerce of a country so miserably administered

64 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

should be on the wane ? That there should be any pro-
sperity at all speaks volumes for the natural resources of
Venezuela.

The principal exports of Ciudad-Bolivar are hides,
rubber, tonca-beans, feathers, and copaiba oil. The hides
come from the towns of the llanos,^ those vast plains
which extend in a northerly direction, from the left bank
of the Orinoco to the mountain range on the Atlantic,
and stretch towards the west as far as the very Andes
themselves. Rubber, tonca-beans, and copaiba are forest-
products from the wooded region on the right bank and
around the headwaters of the stream. The feathers,
known in the trade as ospreys, are sent from the country
on the banks of the Apure and the Arauca. The swamps
in the vicinity of these rivers are the abode of numberless
flocks of wild-fowl, of which two varieties of egret are
abundant. It is from these egrets that the feathers which
form so expensive an article of commerce are obtained.
The small egret (Ardea candidissima) produces the most
valuable plumes ; from the larger birds {Ardea garzetta)
a coarser feather is obtained which is not so much
appreciated, but the wily dealer can sort his plumes so as
to introduce a fair proportion of the inferior article with-
out danger of detection. Quite a number of birds have to
be slaughtered to produce a pound of feathers, only a few
drooping plumes from the backs of the birds being taken.
The season for collecting extends through the months of
June, July, and August ; that is, through the mating and
breeding period. The egrets are wary birds and difficult
of approach except when they are nesting or rearing their
young, and it is at this time that the collector obtains his
feathers. The persistence with which the same localities

' Plains covered with grass are called llanos in Venezuela.

YOUNG OF THE SNOWY EGRET

THE TRADE IN FEATHERS 65

are chosen by the birds for this purpose, j-ear after year^
is an instance of that extraordinary predilection on the
part of many birds, to repair to the spot where they
themselves have been reared, for the purpose of nesting.
These spots are called garceros,^ and as they are generally
upon private lands, the owners make quite an income by
hiring out the privilege to kill egrets. As much as 2,000
pesos, equal to 1,600 dollars of United States money,
have been paid for this privilege on a single garcero
during one season. In spite of the slaughter of thousands
of these birds, the garceros continue to be used by the
egrets, but in ever diminishing numbers. The beauty of
a few feathers on their backs will be the cause of their
extinction. The love of adornment common to most
animals is the source of their troubles. The graceful
plumes which they doubtless admire in each other have
appealed to the vanity of the most destructive of all
animals. They are doomed, because the women of
civilised countries continue to have the same fondness for
feathers and ornaments characteristic of savage tribes.

Hides, which are exported in a dry state, go to the
American market. Of rubber, two kinds are shipped :
true rubber, the product of trees of the Micrandra family ;
and balata rubber, obtained from the genus Sapoteae, the
principal source of supply being Miniusops balata. The
true rubber, or rather indiarubber, is similar to the article
exported in such large quantities from Para in Brazil,
and like the BraziUan product it comes from considerable
distances in the interior. Whereas indiarubber has been
known to science for quite a length of time,^ and has

' The word garcero is also used to designate the heron-hawk (Falco).
- Torquemada in his De la Mo-narquia Indiaim, published at Madrid
in 1615, says, ' There is a tree which the Indians call Ulequahuitl ; it is

F

66 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

been put to commercial uses for more than half a century.

It is only within the last decade that an extensive trade in

balata gum has sprung up, although so far back as 1857

Professor Bleekrod called attention to its value as a

substitute for guttapercha.^ The tree producing this

gum is one of the largest of forest trees. Its timber is

exceedingly hard, heavy, and durable, and is of a fine

claret colour. It is found all over the West India

Islands and in Venezuela, being particularly abundant in

the Guianas, where the preparation of balata gum has

become within the last four or five years a very important

industry. Unfortunately the method employed to obtain

the gum is sure to lead to the destruction of this

industry which, if conducted on intelligent principles,

might constitute a permanent source of wealth to the

countries where the balata-tree is found in the forests.

It is almost impossible to exercise any control over the

gum collectors in the vast expanses of forest where their

operations are carried on, so that they are at liberty to

work in whatever manner they choose ; and they have in

consequence adopted the method which gives the least

labour and the biggest return. Instead of judiciously

tapping the trees, the gum collectors throw them down ;

and then, by scoring the bark of the trunk and branches,

they secm'e all the sap they can, which they then boil and

cast into rough moulds. Sometimes the gum is brought

to market in the shape of large blocks. The experienced

trader, who has learnt that these blocks may contain

heavy stones or other materials not as valuable as gum,

is very careful in deaHng with this class of merchandise.

held in great estimation and grows in the hot country. It is not a very
high tree ; the leaves are round and of an ashy colour. This tree yields a
white milky substance, thick and gummy, and in great abundance.'
' Journal Hoc. Arts, October 9, 18"<7.

EXPORT DUTIES 67

Like most hard-wood trees the halata is of very slow
growth. Those giants of the forest recklessly destroyed
in a few short hours have taken hundreds of years to
attain their full development. In ten or fifteen years
there will not be, it is to be feared, a single balata-tree
in the districts where gum is being obtained by the
destructive system in vogue amongst the collectors.
What is most to be regretted in the wholesale destruction
of these trees is that the very valuable timber they might
supply is allowed to remain and rot on the ground. Of
course the reason for this is that in most cases the trees
are found in the depths of the forest far from any road,
so that the dragging out of logs of this heavy wood
would be an undertaking too costly to leave any return on
the outlay.

In former times no taxes or export dues were levied
in Venezuela on the products of the country, the object
of the government having been to encourage and pro-
tect native industries and agriculture. Now all this is
changed. Some fifteen or twenty years ago one of the
presidents introduced the thin edge of the wedge of
adding to his revenue and to the incomes of his satellites
by putting a small shipping-tax on one of the exports.
I think it was coffee. The plan answered so well that
other products were added to the list of dutiable exports,
while the taxes were increased at every opportunity.
Balata pays to-day 25 centimos of a bolivar ^ per
kilogram ; feathers, 50 bolivares or nearly 10 dollars ';
hides, 15 centimos ; tonca-beans, 25 centimos ; coffee and
cocoa, 10 centimos ; cattle per head, 10 bolivares. These
are government charges. An additional 25 per cent,
(formerly it used to be 12i) has to be paid to the

' A bolivar is equal to a franc in value, and a centimo to a centime.

F 2

68 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

municipality, ostensibly for the upkeep of the roads and
streets and for other expenses incidental to towns.
Little of the revenue, however, is ever spent in improv-
ing, or even in keeping in order, the towns and the roads
connecting them, even the streets remaining unswept for
weeks and sometimes months. Too many men make a
living out of politics in most of the Spanish-American
republics to allow of a decent portion of the revenue of
the country being spent in improvements. It is true that
in many cases the taxes I have just enumerated are not
paid in their entirety. It is not very difficult to make
arrangements with the officials whereby only a portion of
the tax is paid, the deal being a private one in which the
authorities at Caracas are ignored. In a country like
Venezuela, where the import duties are out of all pro-
portion to the value of the articles on which they are
imposed, the incentive to smuggle is exceedingly power-
ful. The tariff, or arancel as it is called, enumerates nine
classes of merchandise of which Class 1 only is free :
Classes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 pay respectively 10, 25,
75 centimos, 1 bolivar and 25 centimos, 2 bolivares and
50 centimos, 5 bolivares, 10 bolivares, and 20 bolivares.^
All duties are collected on the gross weight including
package, and the figures mentioned above are for each
kilogram. The importation of coffee, cocoa, cocoanut oil,
starch, and salted beef is prohibited ; so is the importa-
tion of salt, the procuring and disposal of which from
various deposits on the northern seaboard is a government
monopoly constituting a source of considerable revenue,
now collected by the Bank of Venezuela in repayment of
debts contracted by the rulers of the country.

There are several extensive salt-pans in Venezuela,
' These figures are from the Arancel issued at the end of 1900.

SALT MONOPOLY 69

notably at Coro, Coche, and at Araya to the north of the
town of Cumand, The last mentioned is, I believe, by
far the most important of the lot ; and, as I happened
on one occasion to be a passenger from Cumana to La
Guaira on board a schooner which touched at Araya and
took a cargo of salt, I shall describe the system followed
by the government in controlling the sale of this very
necessary article. To Ciudad-Bolivar and the other
towns on the banks of the Orinoco situated in the llanos
where numbers of cattle are reared and much beef
preserved, salt is a commodity of such importance that a
detailed account of how it is procured will not be out of
place here.

When a trader decides on a deal in salt, his first care
is to obtain the polizas, or permits, with which he can
proceed to the salt-pan he has fixed upon for taking his
cargo. At La Guaira or Puerto Cabello he can secure
polizas for any of the pans, but if he happen to be at any
other port, such as Cumana or Juan Griego, he can only
obtain permits for the salina ^ lying within the juris-
diction of the town where he is. The money for the salt
must be paid in advance, and then the trader obtains his
polizas specifying the quantity of salt he has bought, and
is entitled to take from the salina on which the order
is issued. For several years the average price at which
these permits have been granted is 10 pesos ^ the f anega
of 130 kilograms ; that is equivalent to 8 dollars for
300 pounds, or very nearly 3 cents per pound. When
Humboldt visited the salt-works of Araya 103 years ago
the price of salt was 12 reals — this is 1 dollar and
20 cents the fanega — and the deposits were then, as they

* Salt-pan.

- A peso is equal to 80 cents U.S. money or 3s. 4d. sterling.

70 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

are now, under government control. By comparing the
value of the article in Humboldt's time and what i&
charged for it to-day, we see what an advance there has
been in the price of this necessary.

Araya is a barren stretch of land forming a small
peninsula at the western extremity of that long narrow
strip separating the gulfs of Cariaco and Paria from the
Caribbean Sea. A few cacti, with here and there a patch
of thorny scrub, is all the vegetation the dry calcareous
soil can support. The whole place looks so desolate, so
unfit for animal life, that one is surprised to learn that
wild rabbits exist in such numbers that they are sold at
a medio, or 2^d. a piece. Large flocks of goats may be
seen wandering over the hillocks where the scrub is
thickest. It is in such inhospitable regions that we come
to realise to what an extent life is capable of adapting
itself to the most adverse conditions. To be more
accurate when speaking of life, I ought to have said not
only of adapting itself to the most adverse conditions, but
of thriving in spite of them. Although we do not meet
with many different species in a district where fresh
water is wanting and vegetation scarce, yet we cannot
fail to notice that whatever does exist in such localities is
vigorous of its kind and difficult to destroy. Midway
between the seashore and the lagoon where the salt is
obtained, is the collection of houses forming the village
of Araya ; and here, in one of the best houses, lives the
Administrador de la Salina. To be Administrator of
the salt-pan at Araya is the ambition of many of those
place-hunters whose business is the setting up or over-
throwing of presidents, for the post is considered one
of the best political rewards in the Kepublic. On the
occasion of our visit a tall dignified old gentleman with a

ARAYA 71

long grey beard was Administrador de la Salina, and to
him our captain handed over his papers, arranging at
the same time to take in his cargo on the following morn-
ing. The village of Araya is not a cheerful sort of place
according to European ideas, but the people appear to
enjoy themselves in their way, as the frequent visits of
schooners and smaller craft are occasions for parrandas
and dances, amusements dear to the heart of the
Venezuelan. The captain, who was also the owner of
our schooner, insisted that I should accompany him in
the evening, when he would call on his friends. On such
occasions, he told me, he was always accompanied by
his crew, every one of whom could play some stringed
instrument. Don Lam-eano, for that was the name of
our skipper, was very particular on this point, and he
used to say that even the cook had to be a musician,
otherwise the schooner was no place for him. After dark
we wandered forth, but not like * the sons of Belial
swollen with insolence and wine,' and going from door to
door our musical crew played joropos,^ waltzes, and
polkas for the benefit of the people of the house we
meant to honour. We were generally invited in, and
the chairs and tables having been cleared away we
danced with the ladies, so that good music, as they said,
might not be wasted. This strolling from door to door
with music, somewhat after the fashion of Christmas
waits in England, is called ^;«r;'a.7i(^ear. Una parranda
is the name applied to this form of amusement, and as it
is not unusual for those who indulge in these parrandas
to get festive on occasions, a man who has a weaKness
for sprees is called a parrandero. These terms will

' Pronounced liorcypos, the favourite dance of the peasant and labouring
class.

72 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

not, I believe, be found in any Spanish dictionary ; they
are essentially Venezuelan.

If I have described the light side of a visit to Araya
before tackling the serious business of the handling of a
cargo of salt, I have but followed the system in vogue in
the country I am wrriting about, the motto of whose in-
habitants is, pleasure before duty.

The salt is gathered from the edges of a lagoon of
intensely saline nature, the bed of which is composed of
a thick deposit of crystals of chloride of sodium ^ mixed
with some earth and sand ; and, according to Humboldt,
surcharged with muriate ^ and sulphate of magnesia.^ This
salt deposit, still in course of formation, gives one a very
good idea of how those beds of rock-salt, so extensively
worked in Austria at depths of many hundreds of feet,
were formed in the past. We can imagine that mine in
Galicia, in whose bowels Polish criminals have toiled
their lives away, being at one time a broad sheet of water
glistening in bright sunlight in a region where it never
rained. And the stretch of open country on which we
stood drinking in the fresh sea-breeze and enjojdng the
glories of the sunshine, will it not also be buried with its
wealth of salt in the depths of the earth, to be, perhaps,
the prison-house of the convicts of a f ature generation ?

From the salina the salt, put up in bags, is carried
by donkeys to the seashore, where it is taken on board by
the crew. The vessel, having completed her cargo, sails
to one of the coast towns or beats her way up against
the current of the Orinoco to Ciudad-Bolivar, where the
price of salt is generally 15 pesos the fanega. Considering
that the same sort of salt can be obtained at Trinidad
at something like 3s. the barrel of 300 pounds, we
' NaCl. = MgCl,. =• MgSO^.THjO.

SMUGGLING OF SALT 73

can understand the temptation the illicit introduction
of this article holds out to the man with smuggling
instincts. The capital required for such a venture is a
matter of 2,000 dollars at the outside, as a small schooner
or sloop with a full load of, say, 1,200 bags of salt re-
presenting 600 fanegas, would mean an investment of
about 400 pounds sterling only. Should the venture be
a successful one, and I should say these ventures
generally are, because the men who undertake them are
known to be desperate and determined characters, with
whom the officials would rather not have any misunder-
standing, the return on the outlay is so considerable that
it pays the cost of the vessel and leaves a handsome
profit besides. So that, even if the regular salt smuggler
meets with bad luck now and again, still in the long run
his profits are so large that he can well afford to lose a
rotten schooner from time to time. The best results
are obtained, I understand, from a mixed cargo of salt,
gunpowder, white sugar, flour, and brandy. My informant,
I have every reason to believe, knew what he was talk-
ing about when he furnished me with the above list.
The principal article of food at Ciudad-Bolivar is beef,
although at certain seasons a fair supply of fish can be
procured from the Orinoco, and then the regular meat
diet is varied with some fish. The people of Venezuela
might well be divided into two sections : those who eat
beef and those who eat fish. The inhabitants of the
plains are naturally beef -eaters, but on the northern coast,
separated from the llanos by ranges of high mountains
across which it is expensive to drive cattle, the chief
article of food, especially of the poorer class, is fish, either
fresh or salted. Fish salted and dried in the sun is sent
in quantity from Cumana to the villages in the moun-

74 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

tains, where, boiled with vegetables, it forms the sancocho
of the mountaineers. The people are not delicate in their
tastes, sharks and other coarse fish being largely eaten. In
fact, it would appear that a strong taste of whale oil is
appreciated, for the fish most extensively consumed in
Venezuela is to my mind one of the coarsest flavoured of
all fishes. It is called jurel,^ and as it is very abundant,
being met with in large shoals off Cumana and in the Gulf
of Cariaco, its capture and curing give employment to a
number of people. In addition to fish, much pork is con-
sumed all over this region, where pigs are reared in a semi-
wild state and have to forage for themselves. Although
cases of leprosy occur everywhere in Venezuela, Cumana
and Maracaibo are the places where the proportion of lepers
to the rest of the inhabitants is greatest. The people
unanimously attribute the prevalence of the disease to
the diet of fish and pork on which they subsist. I have
heard more than one Venezuelan say that pork and fishes
without scales give leprosy. Has this saying sprung up
in the country or is its origin connected with the Old
Testament ? ^

With reference to fish as an article of food I am re-
minded of a curious method of fishing in vogue at Ciudad-
Bolivar which I do not remember to have seen anywhere

' Scomber carnngus.
- Leviticus xi. :

7. And the swine though he divide the hoof, and be cloven-footed, yet
he cheweth not the cud, he is unclean to you.

8. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch,
they are unclean to you.

10. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers,
of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the
waters, they shall be an abomination unto you.

12. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an
abomination unto you.

STRANGE METHOD OF FISHING 75

else. I had wandered to the suburbs of the town, along
the river's bank, where several fishermen were throwing
their lines. I noticed that they used no bait, their object
being to hook the fish by the body. To a long line a
cylindrical weight is tied. Above the weight, for a length
of about eight feet, and at distances of six inches, strong
fish-hooks are attached. The line is thrown out in spots
where the current runs swiftly, and then hauled rapidly
in by a series of jerks. This system of fishing is called
rohador, literally ' to rob,' and it is surprising to see what
quantities of fish can be caught by an expert fisherman
in this manner, without a particle of bait.

Ciudad-Bolivar supplies most of the cattle used in
Trinidad. The animals in many cases come from con-
siderable distances. Suffering from fatigue and hunger,
they are packed so close on board the steamer that they
dare not lie down for fear of being trampled upon. The
enraged oxen spend the two days on board trying to
gore each other to death, and it is not to be wondered at
under these circumstances that the beef used in Trinidad
is usually tough and unpalatable.

The soil of the country around Ciudad-Bolivar is poor
and is suitable for little else than pasture-land. It con-
sists either of hard red clay mixed with pebbles, or sand
supporting a sparse and stunted vegetation ; but in the
hollows, especially where there are pools or streams of
fresh water, there are trees of vigorous growth and the
grass is more luxuriant in character. These oases are
called morichahs, on account of the predominance of the
moriche palm in the vegetation with which they are
clothed. In the vicinity of the town the morichales are
used by the well-to-do inhabitants as country seats to
which they can escape from the heat and dust of the city.

76 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

CHAPTER V

■Cock-fighting and its history — The training of cocks in Venezuela — The
cockpit — Bull-fighting — Carr^ras de Cintas — Golfo — Pare Pinto — Monte
de Dados — Gambling banks.

The day after our arrival at Ciudad-Bolivar was a Sunday.
In Spanish-American countries Sundays and the numerous
feast-days of the calendar are set aside for amusement.
In studying a people I cannot help thinking that there is
as much to be learnt by observing them in their pastimes
as by associating with them in business, and that is why
if I traded with a Venezuelan on a Saturday I did not
hesitate to accompany him to the bull-ring, the cock-
pit, or a gambling-den on the Sunday. In every form of
sport, as in everything else connected with their lives,
Spanish-Americans give evidence of their excessive con-
servatism. If we compare English sport of to-day with
that of 300 years ago, we cannot fail to be struck
by the different view taken now of certain forms of
amusement and that which prevailed in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. Who would dream in these
days of holding a cock-fight in public anywhere in
England, except he had made his mind up to stand the
risk of being arrested and brought before a magistrate for
breaking the law ? Yet it is not so long ago that kings,
lords, and even bishops bred and fought cocks in good
virtuous old England. In an old book dealing with
orders on the Exchequer in the reign of James I., we find
frequently repeated the following order : ' 16^. 13s. Ad.

COCK-FIGHTING AND ITS HISTORY 77

to William Gatacre, for breeding, feeding, and dieting of
cocks of the game for His Highness' recreation.' Pepys
relates in his quaint manner how he went to Shoe-lane
to see a ' cocke-fighting ' at a new pit there, a spot he had
never been to in his life. * But, Lord ! ' he says, ' to see
the strange variety of people, from Parliament man to the
poorest 'prentices, bakers, brewers, butchers, draymen,
and what not.' Anyone who cares to look up the history
of cock-fighting will find, amongst other names, those of
Lord Derby, Sefton, Anson, and Lowther, as having been
enthusiastic patrons of the sport. One noted dean of
York frequently attended the cockpit, and bred such fine
cocks as to hold his own against all comers. At York
the cockpit was near the Cathedral, and at Canterbury
the cockpit was an apartment of the gateway forming
part of St. Augustine's monastery. It would appear to
be a curious coincidence that in several places in Venezuela
the cockpits are close to the churches, but such coinci-
dences can easily be accounted for, considering the con-
venience of an arrangement which provides for one being
able to attend to his devotions without having to walk
too far afterwards to win money on a favomite bird.

Cock-fighting is the national sport of Spanish-
Americans, and on Sundays, the great day for important
events, the sport lasts the greater part of the day. The
origin of cock-fighting is wrapped in obscurity. It is
probably the oldest of all the sports in which man obtains
pleasure out of the sufferings of the lower forms of animal
life. Three thousand years ago the Lydians fought cocks
on the banks of the golden Pactolus, and it is pretty
certain that long before this the pastime was a popular
one with the peoples of India and Persia, We are told
that Themistocles, the Athenian general, encouraged his.

78 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

soldiers' valour by pointing out to them two cocks
fighting, saying : ' These birds fight not for their gods,
nor for their children, nor for glory, nor for freedom, but
for the sake of victory, that one may not yield to the
other,' the example of the cocks having such an effect
on the flagging spirits of the soldiers that he led them
once more to victory. If the example of two cocks
fighting led the soldiers of Themistocles to victory, might
it not be pardonable to infer that the prevalence of cock-
fighting in Spanish- American republics may be in some
measure connected with the pugnacious and revolutionary
spirit of the people '?

As I do not remember to have seen anywhere a
full description of the training and fighting of cocks in
Venezuela and Colombia, although such a description
would certainly prove of interest to some, I propose to
make an attempt at explaining all the niceties of this
exciting sport as I studied it at Ciudad-Bolivar and in
various towns of the two republics.

Between the months of June and November there
are no regular cock-fights. The birds are then in the
moulting stage, and their feathers being soft and full of
blood incapacitate them for a prolonged engagement.
During that time, therefore, they are allowed to roam
about with a few hens, care being taken that each male
bird has a run for himself and his harem of wives. A
visit on the part of any other male bird would be sure
to have disastrous results for the owner or owners of
the birds. By November or December most of the birds
have acquired new suits of clothes and are ready to
undergo training. In countries like Venezuela and
Colombia, where cock-fighting is carried on extensively,
the training of the birds is conducted with the greatest

THE TllAINING OF COCKS IN VENEZUELA 79

care, as much trouble being taken with the feathered
gladiators as is bestowed in England on a possible Derby
winner. Quite a large number of men in the countries
I have mentioned do absolutely nothing else for a living
but train cocks. They are called cuidadores de gallos}
The first operation a bird undergoes as soon as he enters
the gymnasium, which, by the way, goes by the name of
una cuerda de gallos,^ is performed by the barber of the
establishment — a sort of shave and brush up. Some
gymnasiums boast of regular artists, whose birds always
look spick and span. These men take as much trouble
with the feathers of their charges as a Bond-street tailor
does with the clothes of a dandy. After the bird has
passed through the hands of the barber and tailor he is so
altered in appearance that his own mother would not
know him. His head, legs, and posterior are bare, and
these parts assume after a short time a bright reddish
colour. When he is brought in he is sure to be infested
with, parasites such as lice and ticks, so he is given a bath
of strong rum, with the result that he usually gets very
drunk on the first day of his arrival at his training
quarters. To the honour of these feathered pugilists it
must be conceded that, unlike human beings, they appear
to take no pleasure in getting drunk, thus supplying
another powerful argument in favour of the inferiority
and utter soullessness of the lower animals. The bird
having recovered from his intoxication, and having been
dosed with some medicine so as to clear his head, enters
on the serious work of training. Every cock is fought in
some particular weight," known as his weight. If you are
being shown around a training establishment, you will be
told, that Zambo is a 3.10 ; that Canagiceij is 3.4 ; and

' Literally, caretakers of cocks. - Training school for cocks.

80 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

the Gallo Giro in the corner is a 3.8. For the enhghten-
ment of the uninitiated let me explain that the terms
employed are those used to designate the birds by their
colour. Thus Zamho means a black-red, Canaguey is
equivalent to the English Pile, and Giro to the yellow
Duckwing.' In Venezuela the fighting weight of the
gamecock rarely exceeds four pounds, the weights ranging
as a rule from that down to three pounds, so that when
a trainer says 3.10 in particularising some bird he means
that his fighting weight is three pounds and ten ounces,
but he considers it superfluous to mention the pounds
and the ounces.

On the third or fourth day after the birds have been
taken in, the trainer arranges sparring matches between
those of similar size. The spurs of the sparrers having
been carefully covered with wadding or cork, so that no
severe wound may be inflicted during the trial, they are
allowed to hammer away at each other for some time in
much the same manner as prizefighters do with the gloves
when they are preparing for a serious engagement with
the naked fist. This operation, which is called topar, serves
to give some idea of the powers of each bird. After this
the training is carried on regularly for a period ranging
from four to six weeks, when the bird is ready for the pit.
Although there may be slight differences in unimportant
details in different districts, the system of preparing cocks
for the pit is in the main much the same all over Vene-
zuela and Colombia. At daybreak the birds are bathed

' It would take a whole vocabulary to express the names of all the
colours by which gamecocks are known in Venezuela. The hencocks or
hennies alone, which are of every shade of colour and variety of marking,
would fill a long list. In Spanish -America, so far as I have been able to
learn, cocks are not bred true to colour and no weight appears to be
attached to this point, the saying being that no good cock is ever of a bad
colour.

THE COCKPIT 81

in cold water, after which they are tied to pegs in the sun,
where they remain until about ten o'clock, when they are
put in their coops. Each bird is then weighed ' and
exercised singly for about a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes, the exercising being done by the trainer holding
by the legs another bird which he moves rapidly above
and in front of the one on the ground. This is probably
the most barbarous part of cock-fighting, for the poor bird
which has daily to be pecked at and battered by a dozen
others presents at the end of a few days a lamentable
appearance. This method of exercising is called carear,
and the bird employed for the purpose is known as a^
careador. It is necessary that the careador be game and
plucky, otherwise he will refuse to beak {picar) and thus
provoke the bird he is exercising to continue to strike at
him when the latter gets tired. After the carear the bird.
is rubbed down and returned to his coop. He is fed once
a day, chiefly on maize, with a little raw beef and hard-
boiled Qgg twice or three times a week. The greatest
attention is paid to the amount of water allowed him, this
being reduced until he gets only two or three mouthfuls
daily. At last the day arrives on which he is taken to the
cockpit, whither we will accompany him to be witnesses,
of his indomitable spirit, and of his contempt of suffer-
ing and death. When we reflect upon the pride most men
feel in being considered brave, and we note the rewards
showered upon those who have exposed themselves to pain
and death, even if it be in an unjust cause, we cannot help
being struck by the inconsistency of a race of beings who,
while looking upon themselves as the lords of creation,

' A regular weighing-book is kept, in which the weights are entered from
clay to day, so that the trainer may regulate the quantity of water to be
given to each bird.

G

S2 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

liold in the highest esteem a quahfication which they do
not possess in nearly so great a degree as many of the
lower animals.

There is no village, however poor, throughout the
length and breadth of Venezuela, that does not boast of
a cockpit of some sort. In these cockpits every man is
equal, and it is no unusual thing to see a barefooted peon
pitting his favourite bird against that of the most influen-
tial man in the state. At times mains or series of fights
are arranged between different towns or districts, but this
is not the rule, the cock-fights one witnesses usually on
Sundays being conducted in the following manner. A
man steps into the pit holding a cotton bag in which is a
cock. He may be, as I have already said, a barefooted
peon or a general in a frock-coat and patent-leather boots.
He holds up his bag and says, ' I have got a 3.10 for
fifty pesos.' ' Someone is almost sure to answer from
among those present, ' I will match you,' and a few
moments after he also steps into the ring, holding a bag
similar to that of the challenger. In every cockpit an
ordinary pair of scales, from which the pans have been
removed leaving only the bar, hangs from the roof, and
on this arrangement the cocks are weighed, or rather
matched, the bags being attached to each end of the bar.
An ounce is allowed as a rule.^ The birds, having been
declared a match, are removed from their bags, when the
spectators are able to see them and make their bets.
While the spurs of the cocks are being sharpened, for
artificial spurs or gaffles are not in use in Venezuela, betting

' The amount quoted is the minimum amount the owner intends to pit
his bird for. Winners of several fights are fought for large sums.

- When the birds are so evenly matched that the needle of the bar
remains perfectly perpendicular, the weights aie said to be oro, literally
Kold.

BULL-FIGHTING 83

proceeds furiously. Amidst the din of voices may be heard
' I am for the red cock, twenty pesos.' ' Thirty on the
black.' ' Fifty on the red.' ' Done.'

The setters stand before the judge, arrange the terms
of combat, and fix upon the length of time beyond which
it is to cease. ^ The spurs of the birds are thrust into
limes and withdrawn, there being a widespread belief that
the acid juice of limes renders innocuous any poison with
which an unscrupulous setter may have smeared the steel-
like weapons of his bird. Each setter fills his mouth
with water, which he blows on his charge in a cloud of
fine spray. This is an art in itself, acquired only by long
practice ; if anyone who reads this be incredulous on the
point, let him try.

And now the birds stand face to face in the arena,
with a crowd of excited men and boys watching their
every movement. Slowly they draw together, each one
cautiously noting every action of his adversary. Perhaps
there is a wild rush in which one bird is killed outright as
if struck by lightning, but this happens rarely, even the
best fighters taking several minutes to dispose of an
opponent. Covered with blood, with the skin hanging
from their heads and necks, sometimes stone blind, stag-
gering and falling, but still trying to inflict some deadly
injury, unyielding to the last, these noble birds lay down
their lives while a mass of howling humanity is making
wagers on the result.

Every town of any importance has its bull-ring, where
toreadors and matadors from Spain display their skill or
lack of it. In Venezuela bull-fighting is a tame affair
when compared with the sport in Spain, where bulls of a

* Thirty minutes is the time usually fixed upon. If at the end of the
thirty minutes the fight remains undecided, it is declared a dr^w.

G 2

84 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

ferocious breed are reared specially for the ring. The
emasculated animals seen at the corridas de toros'^ at
Ciudad-Bolivar are not the fierce brutes who kill horses,
toreadors, and matadors in the rings of Seville and
Madrid. One great improvement in the sport as con-
ducted in Venezuela, although but few Spaniards, I am
sure, would consider it an improvement, is the elimination
of the picadors with their horses. Since Byron composed
his splendid stanzas on the bull-ring of Seville so much
has been written about bull-fighting in Spain, that a long
description of the poor imitation of a Spanish corrida
de toros to be seen at Ciudad-Bolivar could not be other-
wise than tame ; therefore I have thought it best not
to attempt one. In some of the smaller towns where no
regular construction for bull-fighting exists, the people
find a way of gratifying their ingrained love of this form
of sport by letting an ox loose in the principal street, the
inhabitants having closed their doors and the ends of
the street being barricaded. The llaneros or cowboys of
the country, who are experts in the use of the lasso and
can successfully dodge the wild rush of an infuriated ox,
amuse themselves and the spectators who are safe behind
the bars of their windows by torturing the poor animal
until he is thoroughly exhausted. Another form of
amusement indulged in on Sunday afternoons in some
of the streets of the towns, is tilting the ring.^ To an
arrangement stretched across the street, rings are attached
by long ribbons of various colours. The competitors,
mounted on the swiftest horses they possess or can borrow,
and armed with long slender poles, assemble at one
end of the street. They ride, either singly or by twos
and threes, at a furious pace along the street and, when
' Bull-figbts. - Carriras de cintas.

GOLFO 85

passing under the arrangement with the rings, each
horseman tries to carry away one of them on his pole.
The one who secures most rings is declared the winner.
Sometimes in addition to the rings the horsemen tilt at
a crown which is kept moving rapidly up and down by
means of a string, and is in consequence a difficult object
to capture. I believe that carreras de cintas owe much
of their popularity to the opportunities they afford for
display. The Venezuelan is fond of show. He is in his
glory when, mounted on a fiery steed richly caparisoned,
he rides along the principal streets of the town to be
admired by the dark-eyed beauties who sit behind their
iron-barred windows to look at the passers-by. No
quiet horse, however perfect he might be, would suit a
caballero's ^ fancy then. It must be a restless animal ;
one that rears and curvets, that can turn suddenly on its
hind legs with a touch of the rein, or bound forward in
leaps on being pricked by the spur. In carreras de cintas
the horseman has every opportunity of showing off his
horse and himself, and, as I have said before, this accounts
in a great measure for the popularity of the sport.

Venezuelans are passionately addicted to gambling.
At the clubs various games of cards and dice are played,
sometimes for very heavy stakes. In cards, baccarat,
golfo, and within recent years poker, are the games most
in vogue. Moiite de dados and paro pinto are played
with dice, and I should say that the latter is essentially
the national gambling game, all sorts and conditions of
men being addicted to it. Baccarat and poker are so
well known in all the most highly civilised countries
that they may be dismissed without comment. Besides,
they are not of Spanish origin. Golfo, on the contrary,

' Caballero = knight, gentleman.

86 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

I had never heard of before I travelled in Venezuela ; so
a short description of the game may not be out of place
here. In Venezuela golfo is played with a pack of
Spanish cards out of which the ones, twos and threes,
eights, nines, and tens, have been removed, the knaves,
queens, and kings counting as the last three.

Five players are the limit, and even then the dealer
can only come in if he chooses when one of the players
drops out. There is a good deal in common in poker and
golfo, the element of bluff, as it is called, being a powerful
factor in both games.

The cards are taken from the bottom of the pack and one
deal of two cards to each player is made, beginning with
the one on the right of the dealer. Up to this part of the
game no money has been staked. Each of the players
may come in or drop out as he chooses, the first to declare
saying ' I pass ' or ' I play,' and in the latter case staking
the sum for which he opens the game. It is the privilege
of any of the other players to raise the sum originally
staked, just as in poker. As in poker also, the person next
the dealer, but on the right, has the last say, although he
does not have to put up an ante. There are three deals
in all, the players taking each time as many cards as they
may have discarded. The whole object of the game is to
make the highest point in one suit, and the highest point
possible is thirty-four. Thus the seven, knave, queen, and
king of clubs, let us say, would represent thirty-four. If
five cards of the same suit be held, the hand is called
golfo; but the lowest does not count, as the hand is
reckoned on four cards only. At first sight the game
appears exceedingly simple, but on reflection it will be
seen that a good golfo player requires to pay a great deal
of attention to the drawings of the other players, while he

PAKO PINTO 87

keeps in mind the cards he has discarded during the three
deals, as he may by doing so make a fairly correct guess
as to the value of his adversary's hand. When the deals
are completed the players bet on their hands and, as in
poker, bluffing may be attempted with or without success.
These are the outlines of the game, as I have omitted
many points uninteresting to any but regular card-players.
To enter into all the details and intricacies of golfo would
be a question of whole chapters of writing, which could
not be otherwise but tiring to the average reader.

As I have said before, paro pinto is undoubtedly the
national gambling game. On pay-days the bulk of the
peons, as soon as they receive their wages, sit around a
blanket thrown on the ground, where they spend hours
trying to add the hard-earned reales ^ of their fellow-
labourers to their own slender pay. As a rule the players
do not disperse until all the cash has found its way into
the pockets of one or two lucky individuals, the rest
remaining, to use their own term, Iwipio.'^ Paro piyito
may be played by any number of persons. The materials
are two dice, with a dice-box. If there be no box the dice
are thrown with the hand, but this frequently leads to
misunderstandings which sometimes end disastrously, as
there are certain individuals who are incomprehensibly
lucky when they throw with the hand. In such cases
the other players will usually object to a persistence
of luck in one and the same quarter, and as they get
unreasonable in proportion as they lose, the game may
wind up with a wake and a fun;3ral. If anyone care to
obtain a good idea of paro pinto, let him take two dice
and hold them together so that the sixes are uppermost ;
the opposite sides are ones. The former are winning

' A reale is equal to five pence or ten cents. ^ Cleaned out.

88 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

points, the latter are losing ones, and they are named
respectively suertes and azares, the literal meaning of
suerte being luck, and that of azar absence of luck ; but
these are merely terms, for the unlucky numbers win
when the lucky ones lose. The other winning points or
suertes are two fives, two threes, and five and six ; the
losing ones or azares are two fours, two twos, and one
and two. Other throws do not count. ^ Any one of the
players begins the game by staking either a single sum or
two amounts, one in front of the other. If but a single
sum be staked, the player when he throws the dice says
'paro,' and he wins or loses the whole amount by throwing
suertes or azares. Should numbers that do not count
be cast, then the right to throw passes, and the player
throwing does so on the same conditions as he who threw
first. When two amounts are staked, one in front of
the other, the player says ' paro pinto '^ He wins both
amounts with the double suertes, the two sixes, the two
fives, and the two threes ; he loses them with the double
azares, the two ones, two twos, and two fours. He wins
the sum placed in front only with five and six, and loses
it with one and two.

Monte de dados is in reality a modified form of para
pinto, where one man holds the bank and throws the dice,
while the players bet either on the right or on the left,
the terms suertes y azares being used to indicate the
right and left respectively. Every time the banker throws
two threes or two fours he deducts twenty-five per cent,
from the amount staked on the winning side, so that in
the long run the bank is sure to win, as is always the

' Such numbers as one and three, one and four, two and three, two and
four, &c., do not count.

- There are modifications of this — where three sums are staked, for
instance — but a detailed account of all such combinations would be tedious.

GAMBLING BANKS 89

case where banks for gambling having the odds in their
favour are held, however small those odds may be. Most
of those who have tried their luck at the tables at Monte
Carlo for any length of time must have learnt by experi-
ence that the bank always wins in the end.

Before bringing this chapter to a close, I would like to
warn those who, imbued with the gambling spirit, may
have mastered the principles of the games I have described,
and who may in the course of a visit to some Spanish-
American republic be proud of their knowledge and eager
to display it. My advice to such persons is, 'Do not
gamble with strangers.' You may be a very clever fellow,
you may be a good engineer, you may teach Spanish-
Americans how to lay a railway or erect a brewery, but
you are not going to teach them anything in cards
or dice. What the average man of Central and South
America does not know in these matters is not worth
knowing.

90 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

CHAPTEK VI

Departure from Ciudad-Bolivar, December 6, 1900 — The chubdsco — The
Gates of Hell — Alligator hunting — Trade in alligator skins — On board
the ' Caura ' — Fish-spearing by torchlight — Mapire.

The few days spent at Ciudad-Bolivar were employed
in purchasing provisions and such other articles as were
necessary for the trip, and although one would expect to
be able to obtain almost anything in so important a town,
I met with the greatest difficulties in my attempts to fit
out my expedition properly. Salt was exceedingly scarce,
so that I was unable to procure more than three bags
of 150 pounds each, and for these three bags I had to
pay something like forty pesos, or nearly seven pounds
sterling. There was a dearth of peas and rice, but I
expected to get all I wanted of these articles on the
Caura itself. The dried beef offered me by those engaged
in the salting and preparing of meat was old and unfit for
food. It is indicative of the backwardness of Venezuela,
when compared with another Spanish-American republic,
Argentina, that while in the latter country a very good
dried beef is prepared which is exported in large quantities,
in the former a semi-putrid abomination called came
salada is the only form of preserved beef obtainable.
The scarcity of salt and its high price are no doubt
responsible to a certain extent for the imperfections of
the preparation known as came salada, but there is
another important point to which no attention is paid,
and that is the pressing of the beef so as to get rid of the

DEPARTURE FROM CI UD AD-BOLIVAR 91

juices causing putrefaction. In the Argentine, where
tasajo ^ is prepared in an intelligent manner, it remains
wholesome and palatable for several months, whereas the
Venezuelan article at the end of a few weeks is offen-
sive in smell and disgusting in appearance. Yet it is
impossible to obtain any other kind of prepared beef in
Venezuela, as the importation of salted meats is pro-
hibited so that the native industry may be protected and
flourish.

The ' Caura,' the steamer which was to take our party
up as far as Temblador, had to undergo some repairs
before she would be in a condition to undertake the trip,.
so that our departure was definitely fixed for December 6.
I had purchased one large bongo or dug-out at Trinidad.
I required four others, but succeeded in getting only two
at Ciudad-Bolivar, as a large number of these boats had
been taken from their owners by the contending parties
during Castro's revolution, and had either been carried
away or destroyed. The two smaller bongos were placed
crosswise on the lower deck of the ' Caura,' with their ends
projecting over the water ; the larger ones were lashed to
her sides, this being the most convenient way of towing
them. On the 5th (December) our effects were sent on
board. After I had seen that everything was in order
I returned to the hotel. On this last night of our stay
at Ciudad-Bolivar we slept on beds with sheets and
pillows, luxuries we would not be able to obtain on the
journey which lay before us.

At dawn we hurried down to the spot where the

' Caura ' was moored. For a wonder we found that steam

was up and the captain ready to start, so that no time was

lost in getting under way. We were soon out of ' The

' Salted beef, preserved and dried.

D2 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Narrows,' forcing our way over the broad waste of those
"waters whose sources lie so far apart. As I sat gazing
lazily over the steamer's side at the yellow current
sweeping past us, I wandered into dreamland. Whence
came that mighty flood which lay ahead of us? The
snows of the Andes, the heavy rains of the forests, the
thunderstorms on the craggy heights of Parime and
Maravaca, had contributed to its volume. Through the
grassy treeless plains stretching from the Andes, through
the wooded country on the Guaviare, through the gloomy
forests of Amazonas, rushing and tumbling from the
highlands of Guiana, the waters had met at last and
mingled in the current running swiftly past us. They
had traversed in their course many a wild and unexplored
tract of country, they had flowed past the houses of
the little known Guaharibos, through the land of the
Maquiri tares, by the huts of the Piaroas and Guahibos ;
they would soon be lost in the blue waves of the Atlantic,
whence they had come borne on the wings of the easterly
breeze to feed the snows of the white-capped heights
of Merida and the torrents that pour on the forests of
Guiana.

We soon made ourselves comfortable on board of the
little ' Caura.' On the after-part of the upper deck, which
had a wooden covering supported by stanchions open
on the sides, we slung our hammocks. In this place we
spent the greater part of the day and had om' meals.
The engine, boiler, and stacks of firewood, with tlie two
small bongos, occupied the whole of the lower deck. The
€rew slept huddled together in the bongos, or on top of
the firewood.

During the dry season, when the easterly winds blow
with regularity, a good deal of the carrying trade of the

THE CHUBASCO 9S

Orinoco is performed by sloops and schooners, the breeze
being powerful enough to drive the vessels up against the
current, which is not as strong as in the rainy months.
The Orinoco is subject to sudden squalls of a violent
nature called cliuhdscos. The sky assumes a coppery-red
colour, followed by strong gusts of wind and fitful showers ;
the placid waters of the stream are lashed into big waves,
dangerous for even the largest bongos. Although those
in the habit of navigating the rivers of this part of
Venezuela know the signs indicating the approach of the
chuhdscos, yet boats are frequently overtaken by them
before they can reach some friendly bank, so sudden
at times is the occurrence of these squalls. I have a
very vivid recollection of how our boat was nearly
swamped once near ' El Potrero,' one of the finest cattle
ranches on the Orinoco. We had stopped for a couple of
hours on a marshy stretch of ground to shoot wild ducks,
which are abundant at this place. After some very good
sport we shoved off well into the stream, so as to get the
full benefit of the current. It could not have been more
than ten minutes after we had left the shore when one
of the men shouted to the others ' chubdsco,' and with
a suddenness that was appalling the squall struck us.
Everything around seemed to grow white in an instant.
The small drops of rain, which almost blinded us, were
of a misty whiteness ; the tops of the waves were white ;
the verj'^ wind rushing past us appeared of a greyish tint.
The men bent to their paddles and, as we had not had
time to get far from land, we succeeded in getting back.
But it was with difficulty that we accomplished this,
while most of our effects were wet with the water we
shipped in the short time it took us to reach a place of
safety. From my experience on that occasion I should

"94 A NATURALIST IN rilE GUIANAS

say that a small boat would have but a poor chance
of reaching the shore if struck by the chubdsco when far
from land.

At ten on the morning of the 8th we reached the Torno ;
the place is also called La Puerta del Inferno (The Gates
of Hell). At this spot the banks of the Orinoco contract
and become bold and rocky. The immense volume of
water forces its way through the iron-bound shores which
confine it ; sometimes boiling and bubbling, sometimes
in swift eddies, it pours through the serrated rocks form-
ing the bed of the stream at these gates of Hades. The
little ' Caura ' trembled in every beam when she struck
the first whirlpool. Twice she turned almost right round
like a cork on the waters, and we were borne back to
the * Gates ' by the force of the current. We were more
fortunate on our third attempt, but it was slow work
getting through this dangerous passage. Above the
Torno the river is again grand and majestic. Our captain
kept close to the bank to avoid the current in the middle
of the stream, and this allowed us to amuse ourselves by
shooting at the alligators basking on the sand, or at the
Carreteros which stalked in pairs along the shore. These
large ducks owe their name to their peculiar call-note,
resembling the hoarse noise of a driver urging his animals
forward. I managed to shoot two of them with a
Winchester rifle, and we had roast wild-duck that day for
dinner. The Carretero is good eating, but it should not
be cooked on the same day on which it is killed, for it is
then tough and without flavour. Although alligators are
fairly plentiful in the Orinoco, and we saw several and
killed some, yet the lower part of the stream is not the
best place to kill numbers of these descendants of the
gigantic saurians who held sway over the animal kingdom

ALLIGATOR HUNTLNG 95

in the dim and distant past. On the Apure and the Arauca
the killing of alligators for their skins is sometimes
combined with the collecting of the feathers of the white
egret. The best time to kill them is at night. The
hunters visit the swamps and sandbanks, working their
way noiselessly through the channels or over the open
stretches of shallow water. A lantern with a good
reflector is placed at the bow of the punt used on these
occasions. The hunters succeed in this manner in getting
quite close to the alligators, when they can be shot in a
vital spot and secured with a noose or ga£f. It is not
unusual by these means to procure between sixty and
seventy of these reptiles in a single night. When I
visited the Orinoco for the first time in 1897, I met
two adventurous Norwegians (they were brothers, named
Christiansen) who were then engaged in obtaining
alligator-skins by the method I have just described. They
told me they had followed this pursuit in Mexico before
they decided on trying their fortunes in the land of
Bolivar, as Venezuelans sometimes call their country,
which happens at the present to be no man's land.^
From the Christiansens' description of the alligator-skin
industry I have come to the conclusion that it is not
by any means as pleasant or lucrative an occupation as
being a London stockbroker or a speculator in pork at
the Produce Exchange. The wounding and subsequent
securing by an uncertain process of an enraged reptile
with teeth like a circular saw and a tail like a sledge-
hammer, is an undertaking calculated to appal even
the man who has sufficient nerve to attempt a corner in

' Venezuela is now being contended for by several generals on the one
hand, and President Castro who still holds Caracas and some other towns
on the other (August 1902).

96 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANOS

wheat or the recklessness to finance a Spanish-American
revolution. Besides, the alligator-skin industry does not
end with the night's exciting work in malarial swamps.
The skin has to be removed and salted, compared to
which the buying and selling of imaginary stocks of
pigs' feet before they are put in barrels is clean work. I
understand that these skins are worth in New York one
dollar apiece, including the cost of the salt. For twenty
of these skins, therefore, the alligator hunter can become
the possessor of a United States twenty-dollar piece, with
the motto ' In God we trust.' He will be able to add in
the vernacular of the citizens of the Great Bepublic, when
he comes to know them, ' Everyone else pays cash.'

Captain Mayne Reid, in one of his delightful books
for boys, relates how a party of young hunters succeeded
in shooting geese at night which were so wild as to
be unapproachable during the day. The boys placed at
the head of their boat a frying-pan full of blazing pine-
knots, behind which a section of the thick bark of a tree
served as a reflector and also screened the occupants from
being seen. With this simple apparatus they paddled
down the stream after dark, and were thus able to get
quite close to and kill the wary birds they had vainly
attempted to approach in the daytime. The method
employed in killing alligators I have described is what has
brought to my mind one of Captain Mayne Reid's stories
which so fascinated me when I was a boy. There are
few points more curious in connection with the habits of
the various members of the animal kingdom than the
influence a bright light appears to exert at night on
almost every form of life. Let us take, for insta.nce,
creatures so widely different in every way as fishes and
insects. Everyone knows that the surest and easiest way

FISH SPEARING BY TORCHLIGHT 97

to catch moths and many other insects is by means of a
light, the brighter the better. Many years ago I used to
take great pleasure in accompanying some fishermen who
were engaged in the catching of a species of large mullet
known to the natives of Trinidad under the name of
Uhranclie. This fish is usually caught by spreading nets
at high tide in certain places along the mangrove swamps
which line the coast of the island between the towns of
Port of Spain and San Fernando. With high water
the fish ascend the small channels and wander about
amongst the flooded roots of the mangroves, where they
find abundance of food. With the fall of the tide, on
their return to the sea, they get entangled in the nets set
in favourite spots, and thus fall victims to the fisher-
men's knowledge of their habits. I have referred to this
method of catching large mullet or Uhranclie because
it would be misleading to describe the fishing by night
only ; this latter operation, although affording much sport,
being not nearly so remunerative as netting. A dark
night in the dry season is the time to go on a mullet-
spearing expedition with every chance of success. Har-
poons and torches are the implements used. Of the men,
two to each boat, one paddles and steers at the same
time, the other stands in the bow holding a torch aloft in
one hand and his harpoon by the shaft in the other.
With the rising tide the boats ascend the creeks, to return
when the tide changes. The light appears to have the
same .effect on the mullet as on the alligators, the fisher-
men being able to get so close to them that they can be
spearQd without difficulty. During my first visit to the
Caura in 1897, I observed that the Indians use torches
when they go after curassows before daybreak. So that,
in introducing here the subject of hunting and fishing by

n

98 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

torchlight, if I have digressed awhile, yet I have kept in
view the principal object of my narrative by describing
the habits of the people and other creatures in the country
I am writing about, and comparing them with those of
other countries.

We had left ' The Gates of Hell ' behind us at ten in
the morning ; we reached Mapire, which is certainly no part
of Heaven, at about four in the afternoon. Most of the
steamers stop here for the purpose of replenishing their
store of fuel, which rarely lasts more than a day, as a
supply for a longer period would take up so much space
-that there would be but little room left for freight. The
question of fuel is the great trouble captains of steamers
have to contend with on the Orinoco. As a rule, each
steamer or line of steamers has its contractors, who are
supposed to keep supplies of firewood ready for shipment
at different spots on the river's banks. If the owner of
any particular stack of wood happens to be in the vicinity
of his merchandise when the steamer he supplies arrives,
he checks the quantity taken and gets paid either in cash
or by an order on Ciudad-Bolivar. But his absence never
causes the captain a moment's anxiety. The latter blows
his whistle once or twice and allows ten minutes for which
he charges no demurrage. Then he sends a part of his
crew on shore, who proceed to take in all the wood
required. A note is taken of the quantity shipped, more or
less, and the steamer tramps contentedly away. Imagine
the introduction of this state of affairs into the trans-
actions of the methodical Anglo-Saxon or the still more
methodical Gael. Think of a customer walking into the
shop of the grocer who supplies his wants, while that
gentleman's back is turned, and helping himself to a pound
of butter. Go and tell that grocer afterwards that yon

MAPIRE 99

did this thing and took a note of it, and calculate how
many cows you would have to pay for if you were at all
particular about not going to gaol.

When there is a revolution the wood-cutters find it
unprofitable to continue business, so they take a rest or go
on the warpath in the expectation of taking something
better — it may be a cow or a mule.

Mapire is situated on a bluff commanding a good view
of the Orinoco. The country around is open grass-land
where a good many cattle are reared, yet the place has
the same poverty-stricken appearance which, as I have
said before, is characteristic of the towns of the Orinoco.
A steamer and three barges were moored to the bank
shipping hides when we arrived, and they were still there
when we left, for our stay had not been long. By five
o'clock the passengers were landed and we had taken in
as much wood as it was possible to carry on the deck
aroimd the boiler. We then steered for the mouth of the
Caura, which is some distance up the river obliquely
opposite to Mapire.

H 2

100 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

CHAPTEK VII

Humboldt's description of the Caura — Llanos of the Caura— Cattle-rearing
— Eevolution of 1898 — Waterfowl — Puerto Antonio Liecioni — Mos-
([uitos and flies — Maripa and Aripao — Pinta disease— The Mato —
Piaroas — Cormorants — La zona de los bosques.

Humboldt on his return with Bompland from their
memorable journey to the Cassiquiare and Esmeralda,
refers to the Caura, before which he passed on June 10,
1800. He says that after having slept on an island in the
middle of the river, that called Acaru by Father Caulin,
they passed the mouth of the Rio Caura. This, the Aruy,
and the Carony, he tells us, are the largest tributary
streams which the Orinoco receives on its right bank.
All the Christian settlements are near the mouth of the
river, and the villages of San Pedro, Aripao, Urbani, and
Guaraguaraico succeed each other at the distance of
a few leagues. The first and most populous contains
only about 250 souls. San Luis de Guaraguaraico is a
colony of negroes, some freed and others fugitives from
Essequibo. This colony merits the particular atten-
tion of the Spanish Government, for it can never be
sufficiently recommended to endeavour to attach the
slaves to the soil and suffer them to enjoy as farmers
the fruits of their agricultural labours. The land on the
Caura, for the most part virgin soil, is extremely fertile.
There are pasturages for more than 15,000 beasts;
but the poor inhabitants have neither horses nor horned

HUMBOLDT'S DESCRIl^lON OF THE CAURA 101

cattle. More than five-sixths of the banks of the Caura
are either desert or occupied by independent or savage
tribes. The bed of the river is twice choked up by rocks :
these obstructions occasion the famous Raudales of Mura
and of Para and Paru, the latter of which has a portage
because it cannot be passed by canoes. At the time of
the expedition of the boundaries, a small fort was erected
on the northern cataract, that of Mura ; and the Governor,
Don Manuel Centurion, gave the name of Ciudad de San
Carlos to a few houses which some families, consisting
of whites and mulattos, had constructed near the fort.
South of the cataract of Para, at the confluence of the
Caura and the Erewato, the mission of San Luis was then
situated ; and a road by land led thence to Angostura, the
capital of the province. All these attempts at civilisation
have been fruitless. No village now exists above the
Raudales of Mura ; and here, as in other parts of the
colonies, the natives may be said to have reconquered
the country from the Spaniards. The valley of the Caura
may become one day or other highly interesting from the
value of its productions, and the communications which
it affords with the Rio Ventuari, the Caroni, and the
Cuyuni. Near the mouth of the Caura, between the
villages of San Pedro de Alcantara and San Francisco de
Aripao, a small lake of 400 toises ^ in diameter was formed
in 1790, by the sinking of the ground consequent on an
earthquake. It was a portion of the forest of Aripao,
which sank to the depth of eighty or 100 feet below
the level of the neighbouring land. The trees remained
green for several months, and some of them, it was
believed, continued to push forth leaves beneath the
water. This phenomenon is the more worthy of atten-
' A toise is equal to 6J feet approximately.

102 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

tion as the soil of these countries is probably granite..
From the great traveller's remarks it will be seen that
he succeeded in gathering but little reliable information
respecting this important river. He says that the bed of
the stream is twice choked up by rocks : these obstruc-
tions occasioning the famous Kaudales of Mura and Para
or Paru. He makes no mention of the rapids of Piritu
between them, nor of those rapids above Para, which are
ever so much grander and more dangerous than the
famous Eaudales of Mura.

At eight o'clock we entered the mouth of the river
which the illustrious explorer had passed 100 years
ago. The night was dark, and, the river being low, the
pilot found it difficult to avoid the sandbanks which
encumber the bed of the stream, so that it was almost
impossible to obtain any sleep. Just as one would be
dozing off there would be a shock as if we had struck a
rock. The backing of the engines, the hurrying up and
down of the crew, joined to the persuasions of the captain
in language which, if not choice, was certainly effective,
precluded the possibility of sleep for more than a few
minutes at a time. Before daybreak we stopped at the
landing-place of the small village of San Isidro. One of
our fellow-passengers landed at this place. He had told
us that he was the agent of Mrs. Crespo, the wife of the
late President, who had been killed in an engagement
with General Hernandez's troops a couple of years before,
and that he was on his way to take charge of the exten-
sive cattle-ranch ' La Aurora,' one of the finest properties
of the heirs of the General.

On the banks of the Lower Caura there are extensive
undulating llanos, diversified by narrow belts of wood-
land, bordering the streams or pools of water. It is a

CAl^rLE REARING 103

splendid district for cattle-rearing, in a country where
cattle and beasts of burden might be reared by hundreds
of thousands. But the blasting influence of unceasing
strife in a land where revolutions form the stock-in-trade
of a part of the people, is the cause why one may pass
mile after mile of admirable pasture-land without seeing
a horse or an ox. And to think that there is no region
where such animals as horses and cattle can be reared at
less expense and in greater number than on the llanos of
Venezuela !

In the Jiatos or cattle farms on the Caura, it is
customary to have one llanero or cowboy to look after
every forty or fifty animals. This is also the proportion
of the bulls to the cows, so that each cowboy may be
said to be in charge of a kind of animal harem, an
arrangement which is sure to appeal strongly to those
who have imbibed Mohammedan ideas. The principal
work of the llanero consists in attending to the calves
for the first few days after their birth, this being the
period during which they are in need of most care,
especially as they are liable to be attacked by worms
while still young and delicate. The weaning of the
calves begins at a very early period — that is, two or three
weeks after birth. Compared to our milch cows the cow
of the llanos produces but little milk, but where there are
large numbers of cows, although the individual yield may
be small, still the day's supply is considerable. Two
sorts of cheese are made on the Jiatos, queso de cinclio
and queso de mano — that is, pressed cheese and hand-made
cheese ; the former, which is manufactured in large
quantities, being an article of commerce, while the latter
may be looked upon as a delicacy prepared only now and
then to meet a limited demand. The manufacture of

104 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

queso de cinclio is exceedingly simple. To an arrangement
consisting of four poles tied in the form of a square to
uprights planted in the ground, a hide is sewn loosely so
that it assumes a bowl-like shape. Into this receptacle
the milk is poured and a piece of rennet thrown in. The
whey having been skimmed off, the curd is kneaded for
some time, after which it is transferred to baskets of
reeds, where it is subjected to pressure by winding thongs
of bull-hide around the baskets in the form of girdles,
and tightening them from time to time. Hence the name
queso de cinclio, the word cincho meaning a girdle. One
rarely sees such a thing as a piece of rope on the hatos,
the sagas ' as they are called, being made of twisted bull-
hide well greased so as to be pliable. The above is a short
description of how stock is reared and handled on a hato
like 'La Aurora.' As far as I have been able to judge,
the same system prevails over the region of the llanos.

It had been my misfortune to descend the Caura in
May 1898, when the news of Crespo's death reached his
people at ' La Aurora.' The tonca-bean crop was just
over, so that besides the regular inhabitants of the place,
there were a good many men at Temblador and Suapure
and at the smaller stations on the banks of the Caura,
who had come from the surrounding country and Ciudad-
Bolivar. They were preparing to descend the river when
the steamer ' Apure ' arrived with the unwelcome news
that a revolution had broken out in the Guarico. It
appears that upon the first intimation of a rising the
' Apure ' had been taken possession of by the Government,
and the authorities, aware of the presence of a large
number of men on the Caura, had sent her up on a

' Soga is a general term for rope, halter, cord ; and is also used to
designate the lasso.

REVOLUTION OF 1898 105

recruiting expedition. I happened to reach Temblador
from the rapids of Piritu just in time to have my men
impressed. Fortunately I managed to arrange with
General Kivas, who was in charge of the troops on board
of the ' Apure,' to take me and my collections of birds
and plants to Ciudad-Bolivar. From Temblador the
' Apure ' dropped down to Suapure, where a day was
spent recruiting. At night the men, having only their
blankets and unable to sleep on account of the clouds of
mosquitos, talked and sang and quarrelled until it was
time to start. It was a wild lot we had on board.
Without discipline, with but little respect for, or fear of
their chiefs, eager to get drunk wherever drink could be
obtained, excited by the exaggerated accounts of the
fighting which had taken place in the llanos, the ' Apure '
carried as wild and unmanageable a set of beings as it
would be possible to meet with anywhere. After leaving
Suapure the steamer stopped at the landing-place of the
village of Maripa, and more generals and colonels and
troops came on board. The men carried large pieces
of meat still dripping with blood, for an ox had been
slaughtered and divided up amongst the soldiery. As I
had heard the men say when they joined the campaign,
' Now we are going to eat beef,' I understood that they
were carrying out to the letter the promise they had
made themselves. Wherever the troops stopped they
appropriated whatever they could lay their hands on, and
as cattle are the mainstay of the plains, the soldiers very
naturally looked forward to a pleasant diet of fresh meat
free of cost. Few campaigns are carried on at less
expense to the leaders than these intestine wars which
are the curse of the Spanish-American republics. It is
difficult to understand why those who work have put up

106 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

with such a state of things for so long a period. The-
' Apure ' left the port of Maripa in the afternoon, and
crossed over to * La Aurora,' where a further detachment
of men was picked up. They were cowboys from the
late General Crespo's ranch, and they had brought their
horses with them. Each man had a band of crape
around his hat ; strips of crape were also tied to the
shafts of the lances which they carried. They were
typical llaneros, sinewy, and brown from continued
exposure in the open savannas. I had occasion when
they landed on the banks of the Orinoco lower down, tO'
observe what excellent horsemen they were. When they
rode away there was a look of determination about them^
and I felt that they meant to fight if any fighting came
their way.

While the * Caura ' lay off the port of San Isidro in the
early hours of the morning, waiting for the dawn, I could
not help conjuring up images of my first eventful visit of
September 1897 to May 1898, which had resulted in my
spending nearly five months in bed. Once more I was
on that almost unknown river, determined to conquer the
secrets of the region around its head-waters.

With the first streak of dawn we cast off from the
bank and steamed up towards Puerto Antonio Liccioni.
The countrj' on both sides of the river is similar to that
around Ciudad-Bolivar, the forest region beginning higher
up. Along the banks, however, there is a thin stretch of
wood which conceals the open llanos beyond. The large
ash-coloured heron {Ardea cocoi) is common enough in
these woods, where it spends the greater part of the day
sitting on some branch at the edge of the river. It is a
wary bird, rarely allowing a boat to get within gunshot..
Its flight is slow and heavy and its cry loud and harsh ;

PUERTO ANTONIO LICCIONI 107

it is called locally Garza morena. Another bird which is
common on the banks of the river as far as Suapure,
is the tree-duck {Dendrocygna discolor). In size, ap-
pearance, and many of its habits this duck appears to
be closely allied to Dendrocygna fidva, and they are
frequently seen together ; but while the former bird
spends a considerable part of the day perched upon the
branches of trees in the vicinity of the swamps where it
feeds, the latter does not alight upon any eminence, such
as a tree, but remains concealed among the rushes. The
call-notes of both of these ducks possess a peculiar
metallic shrillness, such as is produced by blowing
violently through an ordinary tin whistle, but there is
a very decided difference in the uttering of the notes by
each species. An excellent decoy whistle may be made
by extracting the caps from the brass ends of an ordinary
central-fire cartridge and forcing one head into the other.
With such a whistle the ducks can be lured to within
easy shooting distance of the sportsman, and if the flock
be not an exceedingly wild one, the birds will return
repeatedly in answer to the call. I have been assured
by native hunters that the tree-duck is in the habit of
laying its eggs in some hollow stump of an old tree.
When the young are hatched the parents force them out
of the nest, taking care to make them fall into the water
beneath. The large black duck {Cai7'ina moschata) or Pato
real, is also a lover of trees. It perches frequently during
the day, and repairs late in the afternoon to some particular
tree where several individuals meet to pass the night.

At nine the ' Caura ' reached Puerto Antonio Liccioni.
A long shed-building covered with galvanized iron, with
a few mud houses with thatched roofs scattered around,
constitute the station. It is only a few years since the place

108 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

came into existence. The store was built by Mr. Aurelio
Battistini, a merchant of Ciudad-Bohvar, who named it
in honour of his father-in-law, Don Antonio Liccioni, for
a long time chairman of the famous Callao mine. A
steam rice-mill is attached to the store, the inhabitants
of the Caura being now largely engaged in the cultivation
of this grain. Before the erection of the mill, the waste-
ful and tedious process of pounding the rice in a wooden
mortar was the method employed for removing the husk
from the grain. The winnowing was done by slowly
pouring the mixed husk and grain from baskets held high
up on to mats placed on the ground, the wind doing the
winnowing. Now most of the growers bring their rice
to the mill for preparation. Puerto Antonio Liccioni is
cursed with sand-flies, so is the lower part of the Caura
from Suapure to its mouth ; but it is a singular fact that
this small sand-fly, the sting of which causes so painful
an itching, is not met with above Suapure, although it is
a perfect plague lower dovni, and on the banks of the
Orinoco. Manj- different species of mosquitos and other
flies are plentiful in the forest region beyond the village
of Suapure, but this terrible little pest is fortunately
never met with. The natives use the word mosquito for
both gnats or sand-flies and mosquitos without distinc-
tion, but in designating the mosquito specifically they
never employ any other word but pullon.

The myriad of flies of different kinds which infest the
whole forest region, especially during the rainy season,
are simply called jpZat/a — the plague. Moscais generally
applied to the house-fly alone. Whenever we spoke about
mosquitos, I tried to explain to the people of the place
the theory of malarial fever in connection with these
insects as propagators of the disease. Of course, it would

MARIPA AND ARIPAO 109

have been waste of time to have gone mto details respect-
ing the disease in the form of microbes, and its trans-
mission from one being to another, as in the case of
malaria, in the shape of plasmodia, so that my ex-
planations had to be of a character which they could
assimilate. They usually appeared to be very much
surprised at the theory, but they almost invariably agreed
that the period during which malaria was prevalent coin-
cided with the presence of certain kinds of mosquitos.

A walk of three-quarters of an hour across the llano
takes one to Maripa. Nearly all the inhabitants of this
place and the neighbouring village of Aripao are pure
negroes. The fact is worth mentioning, because the
black race does not by any means constitute so large a
proportion of the inhabitants of Venezuela as it does in
the West Indies and in the Southern States of North
America. I was told that these negroes of Maripa and
Aripao are the descendants of one of the few batches of
slaves introduced into the country before the abolition of
slavery. The republics of South America, with the
exception of Brazil, do not appear to have given much
encouragement to the African slave-trade. It is not
that the Spaniards were more humane than the other
Europeans who followed in their footsteps, and finally
wrested a part of their possessions from them, for they
also made use of African slave-labour in their West
Indian colonies, but on the mainland they probably
obtained all the workers they had need of from the
conquered tribes who owned the country before their
advent, so that there was no necessity for importing
slaves from a foreign country.

The negroes of Maripa and Aripao possess all the
features of the races from the Slave Coast ; they have the

110 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

heavy expression, the thick lips, the yellowish tinge of
the whites of the eyes characteristic of the tribes from
Western Africa. During the tonca-bean crop they are
engaged, like most of the inhabitants on the Caura, in the
collection of sarrapia. At other times they attend to
their provision gardens, or are employed cutting wood,
principally cedar, of which there is an abundance in the
extensive forests of the district.

I have never visited any spot where ulcers of a
virulent and almost incurable type are more common
than amongst the dwellers on the Caura, although skin
diseases in general are far from being rare in tropical
American countries. At least every second man and
woman one meets is a victim to these terrible sores, and
the blacks of Maripa and Aripao do not enjoy any
immunity from what could almost be called the national
complaint. Probably personal habits as regards clean-
liness have much to do with the prevalence of llagas, as
these ulcers are called. In addition to the absence of
cleanliness and care, particularly in the early stages of the
disease, when the small sores are curable, there is the
question of diet, which is of so much importance in con-
nection with this disorder and others of a similar nature.
There is so little change in the food of the people of the
•Caura, and it is so coarse in quality, that it is a marvel
how they can continue to subsist, year after year, on
so poor and unvaried a regimen. Dried beans and rice
simply boiled in water with a little salt, form the principal
nourishment of the peon. Fresh meat is rarely obtain-
able ; the beef which is used, being roughly salted and
dried in the sun, is unpalatable and indigestible. With
such poor food, with the inordinate consumption of
freshly distilled rum which is generally taken raw, is it

PINTA DISEASE 111

tiny wonder that the inhabitants of a hot damp cHmate,
teeming with insect Hfe, should be subject to ulcers and
kindred diseases ? A not uncommon form of skin affec-
tion which I noticed, particularly among the negroes of
Maripa and Aripao, is the pinta disease, or spotted sick-
ness. I did not observe any cases of the black and blue
forms of the disease, the white and pink varieties being
the only ones I had the opportunity of seeing. The
common term applied to pinta in Venezuela is carate ;
those afflicted with it are called caratosos. The same
eauses which contribute to the prevalence of ulcers
among these people are no doubt responsible for the
existence of this disfiguring affection.

Fortunately, the disease, like many other cutaneous
disorders, does not appear to be attended with any
symptoms dangerous to the health of the individual
affected with it ; its only drawback being its grotesque
unsightliness. Probably it is exceedingly difficult to cure,
but as a rule no attention is paid to its existence by this
apathetic people, nor are any attempts made to get rid
of a malady which, though repulsive in appearance, does
not entail any suffering.

In strong contrast with the lightness with which any
one affected with carate looks upon his affliction in
this out-of-the-way place, is the dread with which it is
regarded by the inhabitants of the larger towns of the
western plains, where it appears to be common. Sarare,
a town of importance in the state of Zamora, bears the
unenviable distinction of breeding more caratosos than
any other spot in Venezeula, although it is common
enough in Barquisimeto and other towns of the west.
There is a firm belief among the people of these places
that carate is not transmitted by simple contact; thej'

1V2 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

think that it is necessary to introduce blood from a
caratoso into the system of a healthy person so as to
ensure the development of the disease. So rooted is this
conviction, particularly among the low^er orders, that a
common threat one hears in a street quarrel, is, ' Te voy
a pintar ' — ' I shall paint you.'

Although it had been arranged at Ciudad-Bolivar that
there should be no delay at Puerto Antonio Liccioni,
and that we would find everything in readiness for an
immediate departure from that place, it did not cause me
any disappointment when I learnt that the men whom
we required could not start before the following day,
Monday. In fact, I was prepared for even a longer
stoppage, so that on the whole I considered we had
reason to congratulate ourselves. Mr. Klages, an American
collector of birds, butterflies, and mammals, spent the day
with us. He had been nearly three years at Maripa, he
told me, and he was delighted to meet with some English-
speaking people. That night was to be our last on
board. On the morrow we would be cut adrift from all
communication with the civilised world : we would have
left behind us many luxuries and many pleasures, yet I
looked forward to my trip up the river with keen delight.

The noise of the stokers getting up steam awoke us
at an early hour — it must have been about three. I
dozed off again to be aroused by the screech of the steam
whistle, which, as had been agreed, would be a signal
for the men on shore that we were ready to start.

More than an hour elapsed before two of them put in
an appearance ; they were very drunk. It was nearly eight
when the rest arrived, the whole of them in an advanced
stage of intoxication. All this time the captain had been
alternately pulling at the throttle of his whistle and

THE MATO-PIAROAS US

swearing in approved nautical fashion. He reviled all
peons in general and those of Puerto Antonio Liccioni
in particular ; but the men, w^ho had had a night of it
and M^ere in good humour with themselves and every-
one else, only laughed at him. As one of them told me
afterwards : ' How could anyone expect that they would
go on a long and dangerous voyage without bidding
good-bye to their friends, and could there be a jovial
parting without rum? Did not the captain himself
get drunk at times ? ' He politely hinted that I was
no man if I did not also indulge in an excessive libation
now and then. I admitted that his arguments were
sound and to get drunk at times was a glorious sensa-
tion. Any other logic would have been lost on him.

At ten o'clock we passed Suapure. There is a pro-
nounced bend in the river, which is both broad and deep,
towards the east, just above the village. At this spot it
receives one of its three important affluents, the Mato, and
this tributary is navigable for small dug-outs for a con-
siderable part of its course. Two of the Indians who
were with me in 1897 and 1898 told me that they had-
ascended it for ten days and that it was still navigable
when they turned back. They said that game was
plentiful on its banks and that its waters were full of
fish and turtles. The Mato rises in the Serrania de
Mato, near the country of the Piaroas, small bands of
whom have, during the last two or three years, paid
regular visits to Suapure in quest of bits of iron for their
arrow-heads, and such other trifles as they can obtain. It
is said of these Piaroas that they make mummies of their
dead which they put into large earthenware jars, but I
have had no opportunity of seeing any such mummies
myself. The Mato brings down a quantity of sand and

I

114 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

logs of wood, and this debris has accumulated near its
mouth in the form of an extensive bank. When I
.ascended the river in the February of 1898, and passed
near to this sandbank, I witnessed an extraordinary
spectacle. For over a mile in the water on each side of
this stretch of sand, and sitting on it, were myriads of
that dark slate-coloured cormorant (Phalacrocorax vigua)
called Cotua by the natives. I had seen immense flocks
■of this cormorant at Cumana, for it is plentiful on the
north coast of Venezuela, but never before had I beheld
such a multitude of birds assembled in one spot. In the
vicinity of the town of Cumana, a narrow arm of the sea,
separated from the Atlantic by a range of arid hills, runs
inland as far as the village of El Muelle. It is called the
gulf of Cariaco and it swarms with fish. It is in conse-
quence a favourite resort of the Cotua, which can procure
a sufficiency of food for its countless numbers only in parts
of the sea and in such rivers as are stocked with a super-
abundance of fish. The fishermen of Cumana and of the
neighbouring island of Margarita, who have ample oppor-
tunity of observing the Cotua, say that they have never
met with its eggs ; but as there are many inaccessible cliffs
in the neighbourhood of these localities, some such spots
may be made use of as breeding-places. Perhaps one or
two of the many rocky islands of the Caribbean Sea serve
this purpose ; perhaps the birds migrate to some recess
far away in the north where they have their regular nesting
seats ; perhaps they cross the Isthmus and rear their
young on some solitary islet in the Pacific. It has been
observed that there are not nearly so many Cotuas along
the coast of Venezuela during the northern summer months
as at other times of the year, so that in all likelihood the
birds wander away in warm weather, to return when

LA ZONA DE LOS BOSQUES 115

the cold sets in. Like other varieties of the family this
cormorant congregates in vast flocks. Abundance of fish
in favoured parts of the sea may be the cause of their
being so gregarious, but they may also have found by
experience that they gain some advantage by fishing in
company ; for any shoal of fish attacked simultaneously
by a large number of birds would offer in their bewilder-
ment an easier prey than if pursued by one or two
individuals only.

When I saw the clouds of these Gotuas which rose
from the surface of the Caura while we were passing the
mouth of the Mato, and I considered that each of these
greedy birds devoured several pounds of fish in the course
of a single day, I could not but appreciate the necessity
for that prodigality of generation with which Nature has
endowed many of the dwellers in the waters.

Most of the men who accompanied me ate the flesh of
this cormorant, although it possesses a disagreeable oiiy
taste which is most unpalatable. But then, some of my
peons were as voracious as the cormorants themselves,
with the difference that the former were omnivorous.

At a distance of about a mile above the mouth of the
Mato a ledge of rock runs across the bed of the Caura,
and as there is a slight declivity at the spot, the current is
rapid. But between this rocky formation and the settle-
ment of Temblador no obstruction occurs in the bed of
the stream, which is broad and deep, and free from rocks.
The country on both banks is clothed with virgin forest.
It is ' La zona de los bosques,' the region of the woods.
We had entered its outskirts ; we meant to penetrate
some distance into its solitudes ; we should see 300 or
400 miles of it along the banks of the Caura. But even
then we should have wandered on its threshold only,

I 2

116 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

for it stretches away to the Amazon and far beyond,
enclosing the banks of the mighty tributaries of the
mightiest of rivers ; spreading over the highlands of Brazil
to the deserts of Bolivia, and the pampas of Paraguay ;
clothing the slopes of the snow-crovsrned Andes, it covers
viith the luxuriance and immensity of its growth a con-
siderable portion of the South American continent. Who
can hope (to violate the seclusion of its impenetrable
recesses ?

ir

CHAPTEK VIII

Temblador — Departure for La Prision — La Prision — Ants — Our quarters —
Method of keeping accounts — House building.

Although it was quite late in the day when we got
opposite to Temblador, we hoped to be able to land our
effects before nightfall ; and had our captain adopted
the usual tactics of the average Orinoco pilot, there would
have been no delay in putting us and our belongings
on shore. We had not taken our skipper seriously, when,
with much ceremony he had see-sawed into Mapire, nor
had we looked upon his throwing the lead near to Puerto
Antonio Liccioni otherwise than as a joke meant for
our amusement. Now that we were in a hurry to get on
shore before nightfall, I for one expected him to take
into account the emergency of the case and follow the
rapid and effective method of running ashore, which is
the custom in the navigation of the Orinoco. Long may
it survive ! I have heard it said that now and again a
sharp rock will find itself in the way of an over-adventu-
rous steamer, and the owner has to build a new one ; but
in spite of this disadvantage for the owners of steamers
the system of charging the shore has much to commend
it so far as passengers are concerned, and saves a good
deal of vexation of spirit. However, it was not ordained
that we should enter Temblador in this fashion, which
precedent has rendered orthodox among the mariners of
the river. It was with all the pomp and vanity of a

118 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

liner that the httle * Caura ' was slowly laid up against
the steep patch of sand leading to the houses which form
the settlement. On the way, when time had hung heavy
on our hands, we had been greatly amused at the marvel-
lous evolutions which our skipper had practised when he
had had to stop anywhere. And when at Cucurital he
had covered himself with glory by attempting an original
manoeuvre, which had resulted in his running into a stack
of firewood at the water's edge and ramming a part of
the wood into the river, our joy had been boundless.
Now, with that contrariety of spirit characteristic of most
human beings, we felt quite vexed with him over this
strange hobby of his of handling his launch like a ten
thousand ton liner, and we fretted at the delay which
had been but a few days before the source of so much
amusement to us.

By the time the ' Caura ' was securely moored, and
what the mate called the * bridge ' run out, it was quite
dark. If the captain had taken his time in getting his
ship into port he was determined to make up for the
loss of it by bundling us on shore. No sooner had we
balanced ourselves across the three-inch plank I had
heard called the bridge, than the jettisoning of our pro-
perty began. Luckily the landing-place at Temblador
is of soft powdery sand, otherwise we would have been
saved the trouble of carrying away a goodly portion of
our effects. It took me over two hours to reduce to
something like order the state of chaos which the casting
ashore of our chattels had produced. It was with a
feeling of relief that I recognised the box of dynamite
for which I had searched in vain since leaving Ciudad-
Bolivar, and which had caused me so much anxiety.
When I had seen that the pile of boxes and odds and

TEMBLADOR 119

ends, indispensable on a long journey, were properly
covered with oil-cloths in case it should rain, we ascended
the hill where the houses are situated. There was a
sound of revelry in Monteverde's compound, which ceased
for a moment as Longacre, Jacobson, and myself entered.
After I had gone through the bear-like ceremony of back-
patting which is the mark of affection bestowed upon
an old friend, I introduced my friends in the impressive
phraseology so dear to the descendants of the old Spanish
hidalgos. The people of the house insisted on our taking
possession of the few seats which was all the furniture
they could boast of, and coffee was handed round.

The Joropo ^ interrupted by our arrival was started
afresh, and as there was only one girl to dance with,
the men stood around the room and danced by turns with
this sole available female performer, who seemed inde-
fatigable. I chatted with Monteverde about the events
which had taken place since my departure in 1898,
but he had little to tell. One of his men had died ;
Roseliano had lost an eye while cutting down a tree ;
the tonca-bean crop had been fairly good, therefore there
would be no yield to speak of in the coming season ; they
had all suffered from fever, but that was no news ; and
so he rattled on about the few occurrences which had lent
some variety to his monotonous life in this secluded
settlement. We did not remain very long at this ball,
where one girl did the dancing around mud walls adorned
with male wallflowers. Our hammocks had been slung
in a long open shed adjoining the ball-room. To the
thrumming of the cuatro ^ and the angry drone of a cloud
of deluded mosquitos beating against my hammock-net
I fell asleep.

' Joropo, see note page 71. ■ Cuatro = a stringed instrument.

120 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

At daybreak coffee was brought us. Wherever one
stays for the night in the country districts of Venezuela
coffee is given in the morning and no payment is expected.
Indeed, any offer of money for board or lodging would be
considered an insult in most homes ; but a small present
may be made to one of the children without hurting the
susceptibilities of these hospitable people, who are always
glad to share whatever they have with the stranger stay-
ing with them.

While the boats were being got ready for our departure
for La Prision, I strolled about. No change had taken
place since my last visit. In the kitchen the same woman
was grinding the corn for breakfast between two stones,
as she had done three years before, while the pigs trotted
about in the hope of being able to steal something, and
the fowls, dogs, and cats added to the general confusion
in this sort of stationary Noah's Ark.

At eight o'clock the men came up to the house and said
that they were ready to start. The cargo had been put
into three of the hojufos. The largest boat I decided to
leave at Temblador ; it would have been dangerous to
have attempted the passage of the rapids in such an
unwieldy construction. With a small boat the journey
to La Prision takes about three hours, but we were nearly
five hours paddling up against the strong current before
we got to the stretch of rocks which encumber the
Caura for 300 or 400 yards belov/ the landing-place
at La Prision. Getting through the narrow channels of
this part of the river when the water is low, is tedious
and even dangerous. We liad almost reached the port,
when our men, while crossing the last channel, allowed
their hongo in a moment of carelessness to be driven
sideways against a large slab of roclv. In a few seconds

LA PRISION 121

our boat was half full of water and it looked very much
as if we were going to lose her and her cargo. The men
jumped overboard and managed to get her off, but nearly
all of our things had got wet, and this, to say the least
of it, was a serious inconvenience. The other boats were
not yet in sight, so I walked to the house alone, leaving
the men to spread our effects out to dry. I was no
stranger at La Prision. It was in the forest around the
settlement, and at the rapids of Mura close by, that I had
collected most birds in 1897 and 1898 ; and although I
had on that occasion frequently been away for several days,
and once for three weeks, yet I had on the whole spent
more time at La Prision than anywhere else. I must
have created a good impression during that first visit, for
my return appeared to be the cause of genuine pleasure
at the settlement, and vigorous was the back-patting and
bear-hugging with which these hospitable people empha-
sised the extent of their joy at seeing me. Word was
sent to the farthest houses that I had arrived. The back-
patting and bear-hugging had to be repeated with each
batch of arrivals, until I felt like a wrestler who had been
having a hard half-hour with a heavy antagonist. Arrivals
are not everyday occurrences at these settlements, but
such a coming as ours was an event in the history of the
place.

In the height of the confusion brought about by my
home-coming, as Dona Antonia was pleased to call it, the
other boats arrived with Longacre and Jacobson. They
also had met with a mishap, and a part of the cargo of
one of the boats had got wet. The presentation of these
new arrivals to the lords of the soil occasioned great
excitement and bustle. The pigs and dogs joined in the
demonstration, and as they were anxious to make us

122 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI ANAS

understand that they took an inteUigent interest in the
proceedings, they tried to compHcate matters by getting
between our legs and making us look ridiculous. Somehow
the scene reminded me of the sort of thing which must
have happened when the prodigal son returned to the
paternal homestead. But although the parallel ceased at
the part where the fatted calf came in, we had no reason
to complain. An obese centenarian of a land-turtle was
sacrificed for the occasion ; and what veal can compare
with the succulent flesh of this Chelonian ! My men
took up their quarters in the large shed where the boiling
of the cane-juice for the making of the coarse sugar known
as pwpelon had been performed during my first visit.
It was there I had stayed, and I had good reason to
remember the place. Attracted by the syrup with which
the ground had become saturated, many species of ants
had taken possession of the scrub around the shed, from
which they made excursions at night in search of this
favourite food which was there in such abundance.
During the day not an ant could be seen, for the little
robbers had doubtless found out that there was danger
while the huge animal which made the honey they loved
so well was walking about, so they waited until nightfall
to commit their depredations. Then they poured forth
their millions and we got the benefit of their attentions
if we attempted to leave our hammocks. Now all this
was changed. A new boiling-house had been built, at
some distance from the old one. The ants, accustomed
to a life of indolence and luxury, had suffered a great deal
of inconvenience for many days after the removal of the
industry upon which they depended for their existence,
but they had, according to their custom, sent out spies
who succeeded in locating the new Goshen, and then in

LA PRISION— OUR QUAllTEliS 123

one day they migrated in a body from their home near
the old boihng-house, so suddenly struck by famine, and
took up their abode close to this other land flowing with
honey, so that on this occasion my men did not have to
dispute the possession of the premises with an army
of ants. Longacre, Jacobson, and myself accepted Dona
Antonia's hospitality. Hers was the best house at the
settlement, and we made ourselves as comfortable as we
could under the circumstances. Within a few feet of our
quarters was the kitchen, the most important part of a
ranclio. Here the women spend the greater part of the
day and take their meals. I have never seen women of
the peasant class in the country districts sit at table with
the men. Most of the work at La Prision and the other
settlements where I have stayed falls to the lot of the
females of the family : and this is all the more tedious on
account of the absence of any implements for facilitating
manual labour. Even so necessary an article as an ordi-
nary grinding-mill is rarely seen in any household. Coffee,
corn, and the coarse salt used in the country are ground
upon a large flat stone which with time gets hollowed
out. Cakes made of Indian corn are the bread of the
peasantry. The making of these cakes, or arepas, as
they are called, is tiresome work, occupying a good deal
of the women's time. After pounding the corn, damped
with water, in a large wooden mortar so as to get rid of
the skin with which each grain is covered, the slow
process of triturating the coarse bits until the whole
assumes a soft consistency, is performed. The mass is
then kneaded in thick cakes, which are baked over the
fire. When the women are not cooking they do a little
sewing or wash the clothes of the household.

What strikes one most forcibly while travelling through

124 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

Venezuela, is the total absence of comfort in the homes
of the people ; and this is not confined to the poorer
class of peasants, for men of means, owning large cattle
hatos or coffee-plantations, are content to live in the same
miserable manner. A rough table, a bench, a few plates,
perhaps a glass, the hammocks of the family : that is the
entire furniture of the home of a man like Medina, who
owns more property than anyone else at La Prision. Not
a single person at this settlement could read or write.
Once every two or three months a sort of travelling scribe
visits the place, and stays for a few weeks answering
letters and arranging accounts. During his absence
notes of the transactions between Medina and his peons are
kept by a system of symbols peculiar to the place. I was
much puzzled during my first visit by the coal marks which
disfigured the posts of the house. These consisted mostly
of long and short bars, and other irregular characters.
By degrees I managed to master the significations of most
of these symbols. Each post was devoted to a peon — was
in fact his pass-book. A long bar meant a day's work, a
short one half a day ; the other strange characters repre-
sented the coffee, beans, salt, and other necessaries with
which he was charged. Five thousand years have passed
away since a similar system did duty in Egypt and
Assyria. To-day, in its most primitive form, this system
of symbols meets the wants of these inhabitants of a
secluded part of South America.

The houses or mud huts in which these people live
are built on the same principle as those met with all over
Venezuela and Colombia. Not a single nail is used in
their construction. Whenever any fastening has to be
performed it is done by means of creepers procured in the
forest. The word bejuco is applied to all creepers without

HOUSE BUILDING 125

distinction, and although several kinds of bejuco are used
in house-building, there are a great many varieties quite
unsuited for this or any other purpose. When creepers
for construction are not obtainable in the neighbourhood
of a settlement, they are brought from a distance, and
they then constitute an article of commerce. On the
Caura the two kinds of bejuco most commonly employed
in building are called Midato and Murcielago. The
former belongs to the family of the Aroideae, the latter
to that of the Bignoniaceae. In the case of the scandent
Mulato, the long roots, after having been cleared of their
thorny bark, are usually thick enough to allow of being
split into two or four strips. Both kinds are soaked in
water before being used, so as to render them pliable. In
this region of the woods the construction of a hut or
rancheria is a simple matter. All the necessaries are
abundant in the forest adjoining the clearing, the only
cost being the labour of procuring them. Very often the
huts are simply thatched sheds having a part at one end
enclosed with palm-branches. It is customary, however,
to form the enclosure to which the family retires at night
by tying poles close together to the uprights and plastering
them over with mud. In such easily constructed huts
these people pass their simple lives away. Having but
few wants, unacquainted with luxury, satisfied with
getting drunk whenever they can afford it, they are con-
tent to live as their fathers and grandfathers have done
before them ; they have no longing for a more civilised
form of existence.

126 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

CHAPTER • IX

LA PRISION

Manufacture of sugar — Method of packing — Molasses and stills — Trade —
Cabbage palm and grub — Faculties of insects— Hunting and fishing —
Fishing with dynamite — Rise and fall of the Caura — Voracious fish —
In dreamland.

The clearing at La Prision is fairly large, and is planted
principally in rice, sugar-cane, and tobacco. Bananas,
cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, and corn are grown in
sufficient quantities to meet the wants of the people.
From the sugar-cane a good deal of the coarse brown
sugar known as papelon is made. The cane is crushed
by vertical rollers worked by cattle in the very crudest
fashion, the mill being the property of Jose Gregorio
Medina, who also owns most of the land under cultivation.
It is indicative of the lack of ideas on the part of these
people that a man was employed during a considerable
part of the day carrying the cane-juice in a large calabash
from the trough near the crusher to the boiling-place.
The simple expedient of a piece of bamboo for running
the juice to the cauldron had never been thought of,
although it was immediately put into practice when I
suggested it. The juice is boiled in cauldrons, quicklime
being added from time to time to assist in thickening the
syrup, which is transferred when it begins to harden to
shallow wooden troughs, where the lumps are broken up
by means of paddle-shaped pieces of wood, and the whole

MANUFACTURE OF SUGAli 127

mass thoroughly mixed until it is of the consistency of
thin mud. The troughs are then emptied into earthen-
ware moulds placed head downwards in holes in the
ground. When the sugar has cooled and become solid
the moulds are taken out of the ground, and as they are
conical in shape the sugar drops out of them in the form
of a loaf when they are turned over. These are the
papelones or common sugar-loaves one sees everywhere in
Venezuela. They are of different sizes and according to
the size so many, it may be thirty or forty, go to the
cuenta} Papelones are put up in the following manner :
Pieces of a fairly thick creeper of a given length are bent
to form a circle, the ends being spliced with strips of bark.
Similar strips are then woven in large meshes across each
hoop. Several kinds of bark are used in Venezuela for
this and various purposes. From the majagua {Hibiscus
tiliaceus), which is common in many parts of the country,
good cordage is made. In the northern mountain range,
where all the traffic is performed by pack animals, the
trappings of the donkeys and mules are usually plaited
from the bark of this hibiscus. The word majagua is used
indiscriminately in speaking of the tree or the bark
obtained from it. On the Caura two sorts of bark are
employed ; one is called coco de mono {Chytro?na rosea),
the other caheza negra {Apeiba Tibourbou). These barks,
being pliable and strong, are put to many uses by the
Indians and Venezuelans. 'Be^idie^ papelones, such articles
as cassava and dried fish are always packed between these
sieve-Hke affairs of creepers and bark, which are really
very handy appliances, easy to make and effective in use.

' Many articles are sold in Venezuela by the cuenta. A cuenta is a
packi ge of a particular size, containing a fixed quantity of some particular
artic ! ; thus one hears of a cuenta de cazabe, or a cuenta de papelones.

128 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

One of the hoops is placed on the ground and covered
with a layer of dried banana-leaves. On this the commodity
to be packed is arranged in the most convenient manner,
and more banana-leaves having been spread on the top and
sides, another hoop is placed above and lashed securely to
the one beneath. In a country like Venezuela, where the
necessaries of life have frequently to be carried from one
district to another, sometimes over considerable distances,
on the backs of mules and donkeys, we cannot but admit
that these primitive packages are admirably suited for the
uses to which they may have to be put. Any two such
packages are called a carga, literally a load, one being
fastened on each side of the rough pack-saddle used in the
country so that the packages balance each other.

At La Prision, as everywhere else where sugar is made,
there is always a part of the juice too poor in saccharine
matter to crystallise. This is made into molasses, which
is stored in large wooden troughs hollowed out of some
huge tree. After the trough is filled with syrup bits of
wood are laid across the top and the whole plastered over
with clay, which is allowed to harden. In this manner
a quantity of molasses may be kept over from one season
to another. Without these precautions the molasses,
exposed to the atmosphere, would soon turn sour. In
any case, were the troughs not properly covered over,
it would not be long before they would be full of all sorts
of insects. I recalled to mind, in connection with the
molasses' branch of the sugar industry at La Prision, that
when I made Jose Gregorio Medina's acquaintance in
1897 he had a grievance : he did not own a still, or as he
called it in the language borrowed by his forefathers from
their Moorish conquerors, an alamhique? Day after day

' Arabic, Alanbiq.

MOLASSES AND STILLS 129

for two whole months during which I was his guest, my
friend Jose Gregorio would pour doleful jeremiads in
my ear because he was not the possessor of a still. No
work of human hands, and he had been to Ciudad-Bolivar
and had seen the river steamers and the ice-factory,
appeared to excite his admiration to the same extent a&
the invention for turning harmless molasses into the fiery
liquid that makes some men foolish and happy, and
others quarrelsome and murderous. Without rum no
fiesta ^ is possible in Venezuela, and as Jose Gregoria
used to say, one may pay his peons off on feast-days if
he only happen to have a still. ' And to think,' he told
me pathetically, ' that I managed to get an alamhiqtie
after you left in 1898, only to lose it the first day we made
rum.' Then he related how the Virgin had lent an ear
to his earnest prayers, and had blessed La Prision with
an abundant tonca-bean crop. He had gone to Ciudad-
Bolivar and had bartered his beans for a small distilling
apparatus. After weeks of navigation against the strong
current of the Orinoco and the still stronger one of the
Caura, he had at last had the satisfaction of mooring his
hongo with its precious cargo to the old tree which is
the anchorage at La Prision. To the thrumming of the
cuatro and the singing of extempore verse in honour of
the occasion, the alambique was installed in a corner

' Usually a day dedicated to some particular saint. Anyone who is
sceptical on the subject of saints would do well to consult a Spanish
calendar. Such a one will be surprised to learn how many authentic saints
have lived and died within the last 1900 years. The days dedicated to the
more important saints are public holidays. As a result of this arrangement
scarcely a week occurs during which it is possible to get men to work for
six days consecutively. The memory of the deceased gentlemen who have
been canonised is preserved by gambling and drinking. In a country where
killing is not murder, and no capital punishment exists, most of the killing
takes place on feast-days.

K

l;30 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

-of the mill-shed. On the very first day that distilling
•operations were started the catastrophe occurred : the
mill-shed was burnt down, involving the still in complete
ruin, the peon who was in charge of the place having
been rescued from cremation in the nick of time. The
poor devil tried to explain how he had been overcome by
the fumes of strong spirit and had fallen into a state of
dreamy unconsciousness with a lighted lamp, which had
caused the damage, beside him. Medina ably backed up
by the others very uncharitably decided that the brute, as
they called him, had got drunk, and they exiled him from
his beloved La Prision in the arbitrary manner displayed
by Augustus in dealing with the poet Ovid, whose
legacies of Metamorphoses in rhythm caused so many of
us to get into trouble in years gone by while rendering
financial service to Bohn's Classical Library.

Besides being the owner of the mill and most of the
land under cultivation, Medina has the monopoly of trade
at La Prision. From time to time he sends a bongo or
two loaded with rice, papelones, or molasses to Puerto
Antonio Liccioni, receiving in return cheap cotton goods,
dried beef, salt, and such other necessaries as are indis-
pensable ; luxuries are rarely seen at these settlements.
These commodities he sells to the peons — who are all
indebted to him — at an enormous profit, and they repay
him by keeping up the cultivation and working at the
mill. It is customary all over Venezuela, except in the
larger towns, for the peons to sit at the same table as
their employer, a part of whose engagement is to feed
them while they are working for him. As a result of
this arrangement the food one sees on the patriarchal
dinner-tables of the land of revolutions is not of a kind
to tempt a jaded appetite. It is considered the height of

CABBAGE PALM AND GRUB 131

bad breeding when anyone enters a house during meal-
time, or even passes before the door, not to invite him
to share the family repast. The invitation is more often
refused than accepted. There are times when this
extreme courtesy has its disadvantages, for now and
again a hungry crowd, regardless of etiquette, takes the
host at his word, and he finds himself face to face with
the performance of a miracle like that of the loaves and
fishes. But no basketfuls are cleared away after such
a feast, nor does the multitude disperse having eaten
its fill.

I was surprised to learn that the people at La Prision
were ignorant of the fact that several members of the
palm family supply food, although many palms exist in
the forest around. In Trinidad and other places two
delicacies are obtained, chiefly from the stately palm
known as the cabbage palm. The heart of the upper
part or crown, which is in reality the leaf in embryo,
furnishes a vegetable, while the rest of the tree nurtures
a grub considered by those accustomed from early youth
to see these unsightly grubs at table, one of the daintiest
of delicacies. To such an extent is early training
responsible for our prejudices in after life, that I have
known people who would dine off semi-putrid venison
and living cheese say, in the charitably indirect language
sanctioned by society, to a host who had gone to the
trouble to provide the best he could think of, and had,
amongst other things, thought of palm grubs, that such
worms were food for pigs but not for human beings. And
this is how we are governed throughout our lives in
more important matters by the petty ideas imbibed in our
youth in petty surroundings. But I am wandering away
from the palm-grub, whose life history is more interesting

K 2

Vd'2 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

than a dissertation on the prejudices of mankind. One
of the most extraordinary faculties possessed by many
insects is that power of locating and arriving at the object
of their desires from very great distances. It is difficult
for us to form any correct conception of such a power,
considering how defective are our senses in this respect.
The entomologist takes advantage of this instinct — the
word instinct being applied to those attributes of animal
life superior to our own qualification in some particular
direction and consequently beyond our understanding — to
capture the males of certain Bomhyces, chiefly Kentish
Glories and Emperor Moths. A virgin female, when
' calling,' that is, slightly convulsed with tremor, is placed
in a small cage made of two little hoops tied crosswise
and covered with gauze. This the entomologist carries
about with him. If there be any males of the same
species in his vicinity he is pretty certain to capture them,
for they will crawl into his pocket should he have placed
the caged female there. I have referred to this extra-
ordinary faculty certain moths are endowed with, because
the beetle ' which produces the palm-grub is also gifted
in a similar fashion. No sooner is a palm-tree cut down
than the beetles find it out and lay their eggs in the juicy
pith which serves as food for their larvae. Incisions are
made in the trunk of the palm so as to expose the pith
and thus facilitate the work of the beetle. At the end of
about a fortnight the larva? have been hatched and the
grubs are fit for eating. They are removed and placed in
vessels with water, where they will live for a couple of days.
They are prepared by being fried or roasted on a skewer.
Should the grubs be allowed to remain for three weeks in
the palm-tree they assume the third stage, that of the
' Bi/nchophora palmarum.

FACULTIES OF INSECTS 133

chrysalis. Perhaps there is no more remarkable instance
of this attribute of certain insects of arriving at, in a
manner incomprehensible to us, some object necessary for
the perpetuation of their species or advantageous to
their welfare, than the visits paid by a large bee to one of
our commonest orchids (Catasetum tridentatum) } This
bee, which Darwin describes as a Euglossa, is rarely seen
except when the Catasetum is in bloom. But then, it
does not matter where one of these plants may be, the
bees are sure to find it out. They appear as if by magic
in small swarms of five or six, or even ten individuals, as
soon as the buds expand, and they will continue their
visits, returning every morning to feast on the thick
viscid stuff distilled by the flowers during the night. In
their struggles to get at the nectar they are so passion-
ately fond of, they disturb the highly sensitive pollinia,
which fly out and attach themselves by a sticky disc
to the heads of their voracious guests. Should the bee
afterwards visit a female flower with his burden of pol-
linia he repays the hospitality he has enjoyed by assisting
in the propagation of the Catasetum, whose flowers will
at some future period furnish a delicacy for his descen-
dants, while ensuring the perpetuation of their species.
The female Kentish Glory, with her mysterious power of
attraction facilitating her impregnation ; the palm-beetle,
with its faculty of ascertaining when and where have
fallen the trees whose decaying pith furnishes food for its
larvae ; the perfect development of some particular sense
enabling the Euglossa bee to find out and indulge in the
luxury of which he is so fond ; the marvellous relation-

' In his Fertilisation of Orchids Darwin has so fully described the
sexual forms of the flowers of this orchid that I think it needless to dilate
on the subject here, although it is an exceedingly interesting one.

134 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

ship existing between the bees and the Catasetum, a
relationship on which the latter depends for the con-
tinuity of its species : these are but a few instances of
the wondrous contrivances of Nature, the results of the
gradual development and perfection of particular organs
or senses useful to their possessors or necessary for the
preservation of their kind. And yet, in spite of these
evidences of the adaptability of life to almost any con-
dition we may think of ; in spite of the positive proofs
we possess of the changes effected during the course of
ages in the structure and habits of the beings inhabiting
our globe, and of those who peopled it in the past and are
no more, the majority of mankind persists in upholding
that each form of life as we see it now was so created
from the very beginning, with man, of course, at the head
of the list. Why should we discard a theory so flattering
to our overweening vanity ?

But to return to our friends at La Prision, who
certainly do not worry themselves very much as to how
they appeared on earth, or whither is bound whatever im-
mortality they may possess, their thoughts being too much
occupied with the material question of obtaining food for
the day. They add something to their bare diet of rice
and peas and coarse ground provisions by hunting, but
game is not over abundant in the immediate vicinity of
the settlement. Now and again a tapir is killed. At
rare intervals bands of peccaries visit the clearing, doing
considerable damage before they are dispersed, with the
loss of a few of their number whose flesh, salted and dried,
is consumed by the owners of the ravaged gardens, not as
might be supposed in the spirit of retaliation inculcated by
the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,
Imt because the flesh of the peccary is really excellent

FISHING WITH DYNAMITE 155

eating. Of all the inhabitants of La Prision I should say
that there was only one man who was a born hunter, and
he was the only one who owned a shot-gun and dogs,
fie was a powerful, middle-aged mulatto named Luis
Urbana. To what breed his two dogs belonged remained
a mystery which we never succeeded in solving. But
whatever may have been their origin, he was proud of
them, his conversation consisting exclusively of stories
exhibiting the sagacity and courage of Meoro and
Cazador, these being the names he had bestowed on" the
half-starved quadrupeds who accompanied him in his
wanderings. He was also the only man I ever saw
during my stay at the settlement fish with a hook and
line in true sportsmanlike fashion ; the fishing which the
others engaged in being of a rather indirect character.
Sometimes during the creciente or rising of the Caura,
shoals of fish ascend the creek on which is ' The Port,' as
the people call the landing-place. No sooner does this
welcome news reach the houses than there is a general
rush for the stream, Medina, who always has d3Tiamite
cartridges ready for such a contingency, being usually
the first to arrive at the ' The Port.' A cartridge is
lighted and thrown into the water; then another and
another. The ground vibrates with the explosions. The
men rush to the boats, shouting and gesticulating. They
paddle wildly about, catching the stunned fish by their
tails as they come to the surface and throwing them into
the boats or on shore ; but, after all, they secure but a
small portion of the victims. For days after dead fish
may be seen floating on the waters, and the destruction
of the smaller fry is simply appalling. Fishing with
dynamite as practised at La Prision is exciting work,
not devoid of danger, as some of us experienced on one

136 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

occasion when a cartridge was thrown into the pool
at ' The Port ' and exploded before reaching the water.
The man who threw the cartridge was hurled to the
ground with violence ; we, who were further off, were
quite stunned by the concussion of the explosion and
suffered from deafness for hours afterwards.

One of the most grotesque sights I ever witnessed
occurred in connection with dynamite fishing at the mouth
of the Cano Guayapo,^ where we spent a month in 1898
collecting birds. Our camp overlooked a deep pool in
which a large electric eel had taken up his quarters. We
saw a good deal of him as he floated lazily on the surface
of the water enjoying himself, a habit to which he
appeared to be addicted and which led to his meeting
with a violent end. One of my men, who had from the
very first regarded the eel's indolent happiness with an
envious eye, amused himself in a moment when time hung
particularly heavy on his hands by dropping a dynamite
cartridge into his premises, with the object he explained
of knocking the animal's electric battery out of him.
The result of his experiment was as diverting as it was
unforeseen, for the explosion of the dynamite roused an
old alligator whose presence in the pool no one had
suspected. For fully five minutes we were treated to the
most extraordinary display of aquatic gymnastics it has
been any man's lot to witness. One moment we saw the
alligator's tail and the next his head, the entire perform-
ance of the huge reptile in his dazed state being of a
most ludicrous nature. As clown he would have made
the fortune of the manager of an animal circus. While

' Cano Guayapo is some distance above Puerto Antonio Liccioni, on the
left bank of the Caura. It is a stream which rises in the mountain range
of Hilaria.

RISE AND FALL OF THE CAURA 137

the alligator was trying to find out what had occurred to
him, the men ran for the rifles and wasted cartridges
taking snapshots at the exposed parts of his body while
he performed irresponsible somersaults. Eventually he
regained sufficient consciousness to realise that the pool
was no longer a haven of rest, and he headed for the
stream at a rate that would have made a bicycle scorcher
open his eyes.

In the course of my description of fishing with
dynamite at La Prision, I referred to the creciente or
sudden rise of the Caura. Anyone unaccustomed to the
ways of streams in countries of heavy rains would be
surprised at the increase which sometimes takes place in
the volume of a river like the Caura in an exceedingly
short space of time. Though we were well aware of the
vagaries of the river we were exploring, we suffered
repeatedly, either by leaving things where we thought the
water could not possibly reach them, or by mooring our
boats close to the banks. We would awake in the morn-
ing to find that some very necessary article had been
carried away, or that a heavily laden boat was high and
dry on land. There is a large slab of rock close to ' The
Port ' at La Prision. We experienced a good deal of
inconvenience whenever this slab was covered by the
creciente, for we found it very useful in more ways than
one. By using it as a mark we were always able to tell
how much the river had risen or fallen in a given time.
Here the women used to wash our clothes and procure
our supply of drinking water, for the temperature of the
stream is several degrees lower than that of the Caura,
owing to its being completely shaded from the rays of the
sun by the tall trees of the forest through which it flows.
Here we spent the early morning and had our bath

138 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

using big calabashes to pour the water over us. It is
dangerous to get into the water in the Orinoco or any of
its tributaries, on account of the fearlessness and voracity
of some of the fish which inhabit these streams. Most
of the men I had with me had been brought up either on
the banks of the main river, or of one of its affluents.
They were in consequence unable to swim. They told
me that they did not stand in much fear of alligators, but
that they dreaded electric eels and rays, and, most of
all, the rapacious carihe. This terrible little fish has been
most appropriately named after the ferocious aborigines
of the Antilles, who have contributed the word cannibal
to our language. I had one day a good opportunity of
observing this characteristic of the caribes of immediately
setting upon and devouring any members of a shoal the
moment they appear to be disabled or unable to take care
of themselves. I was washing out a pot containing paste
into which some carbolic acid had been put to prevent
its being attacked by cockroaches. The caribes, attracted
to the spot by the white particles, greedily swallowed the
bits of paste. Those who had succeeded in securing the
biggest share of this dangerous food paid the penalty of
their gluttony, for no sooner did an individual turn upon
its side and show signs of distress than it was imme-
diately attacked by the others and torn to shreds,

Jacobson took several views at La Prision, and at
the rapids of Mura. After he had developed his plates,
which he always did at night, the washing-boxes would
be taken down to the slab of rock where we had our bath
in the morning, and there we would spend an hour or
two.

While the tedious process of cleansing was being
performed I whiled the time away by spreading a piece

IN DREAMLAND 139

of cotton under our lantern and catching moths. How
often during those silent hours of the night have I not
wandered into dreamland, while I lay gazing lazily at the
stars above, with Jacobson like some alchemist perform-
ing strange antics over his plate-boxes in the dim lamp-
light ! I would give myself up to musing upon my
journey to the little known country beyond the falls of
Para. What momitains were those of which the Indians
spoke with such awe, where dwelt the spirits of mischief
who forged the deafening thunder and awoke the raging
storm ? Why had the tribes on the lower reaches of the
river passed away in so short a period ? Would we reach
that distant village on the slopes of the Pacaraima moun-
tains along whose base the infant Merevari threads its
tortuous course ? . . . Jacobson would break in upon my
meditations with his strong German accent. ' I want some-
body to help me with these plates — I can't carry them up
to the house alone,' he would be saying, and I was back
at La Prision, with Ameha and Arawa and the Indian
village far away in the uncertain distance. We would
trudge wearily to the house, disturbing the nightjars who
had been catching insects in the narrow path which
leads to the rancheria, and I would retire to my hammock
to dream again of Ameha and Arawa and the distant
village near the sources of the Merevari.

140 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

CHAPTER X

FAUNA AND FLORA OF LA PRISION — THE CLEARING

Hornets — Butterflies — Nightjars — The wood-nightjar — Hawks — The
Gnaco^ — Rice-birds — Ants and ant-thrushes — Man and the other

animals— Utopia.

A NATURALIST might spend weeks at La Prision adding
daily to his collections without having to wander beyond
the limits of the clearing. He will find out within a very
short space of time after he will have taken up his quarters
in Dona Antonia's house that there are at least two kinds
of insects which were not created solely for man's pleasure
and glorification. Until he will have learnt to move about
with circumspection he will be sure to arouse the suspicions
of the colonies of hornets who own the ceiling of the
establishment, and he will not forget the circumstance
for hours after. When I first visited La Prision I had
with me as taxidermist a young Creole who was a bit of
a dandy and a great admirer of the fair sex. He was
slinging his hammock with studied grace while two of Dona
Antonia's daughters looked admiringly on, when he realised
that something had gone wrong. No man looks a hero
when he is boxing with a hornet. So the spell was broken.
' Was it nice ? ' the younger sister, who was a bit of a
tease, inquired. ' Not as nice,' replied my fellow country-
man with the ready wit of the Creole, ' as a kiss from
a sweet girl like you ' ; and he scored in spite of the dis-
figuring marks left by the hornet's stinging caress.

BUTTERFLIES 141

If the hornets pay attention to the person of the
collector, the ants devote themselves to looking after his
collections ; so that, what vi^ith having to dodge a being with
wings and a sting who means business when he has made
his mind up, and trying to devise ways for keeping his
property out of the way of an insect that can find a grain
of sugar in a stack of hay, the amateur naturalist acquires
his first real knowledge of the powers of those so-called
lower forms of life.

The yards near the houses are usually in a filthy con-
dition, owing to the number of domestic animals which
are allowed to roam about the place. At La Prision the
cows and calves were tied to a tree close to the kitchen
during the night, so that they might not wander into the
forest and get lost. The pigs had the run of the house,
and as they belonged to the breed known in the States as
razor-backs and had to forage for themselves, we were
being perpetually reminded of their existence by the
destruction of our boots, hats, and such unlikely articles
of food ; but nothing comes amiss to the razor-back.
The united efforts of these quadrupeds, and of the turkeys,
fowls, and ducks composing this domestic menagerie had
imparted to the place a very pronounced smell suggestive
of a pigsty and stable-yard combined. We did not find
this smell agreeable, but it was otherwise with many
gorgeous butterflies, for whom it appeared to be as myrrh
and frankincense. Anyone acquainted with the habits of
the Lepidoptera cannot have failed to observe how many
kinds of butterflies will persist in returning to, and alight-
ing on, some particular spot, although repeatedly disturbed.
These butterflies are, at times, so engrossed by their
attempts to secure places on the locality of their selection,
which is usually of but small extent, that the whole batch.

142 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

consisting of many hundreds, may easily be captm'ed in

an ordinary net. The yard around Dona Antonia's house

at La Prision, reeking of animal effluvia, was a favourite

resort of many of the butterflies of the district. As a

matter of fact I secured more specimens at this place than

anywhere else. On hot sunny mornings they began to

assemble between eight and nine, increasing in number

until midday, when they actually swarmed all over the

place. By far the greater proportion was of the genus

Gallidryas with a fair number of red and black Heliconii.

Although the different kinds would fight for the same

spots, it appeared to me that in alighting each species

tried to herd with its own kind, for the various sorts

would be usually bunched together. Those separated

from their congeners were sure to be late arrivals who

were glad to secure a place anywhere. Of the other

butterflies subject to this infatuation for alighting on

some small spot of damp ground, apparently in no way

different to hundreds of square feet around, I may mention

Papilio protesilaus, Metamorpha dido, and Ccerois chori-

ncBus} The last butterfly, however, appeared to prefer

the parts of the house where we lived as resting-places.

I was surprised at the number which came to the house,

because, so far as my experience goes, these butterflies are

not met with in numbers. At times they would remain

stationary, either slowly opening and shutting their wings,

or keeping them quite closed. At other times they

shuffled along the posts, stopping at intervals for a few

moments. I noticed that these posts were infested with

wood-lice and very small ants. May not the presence of

' The abundance of Ccerois cJiorinccus at La Prision may be accounted
for by the existence of fields of sugar-cane, on wliich the larva of this
species is said to feed.

NIGHTJARS 143

these insects have something to do with the visits of the
Cccrois to the house at La Prision ?

These dirty yards surrounding the houses, frequented
by butterflies during the day, were also the favourite
hunting grounds after dark of nightjars, which are
common on the Caura. They used to be particularly
noisy on bright moonlight nights. Two of them had
taken possession of the open space around the houses, and
they would return night after night, one appropriating
the part in front of our quarters, the other occupying
the yard at the back of the kitchen. There they spent
the night quite close to the houses, uttering at intervals
their loud and discordant notes. With the approach of
daylight they went away. The nightjar is called in
Venezuela Aguaitacaviino — the watchman of the roads —
on account of its habit of frequenting the paths after
sunset. At Panama, where it is plentiful in the open
savannas, the natives call it Bohio in imitation of its cry.
These nightjars spend the hours between sunrise and sun-
set sitting close to the ground, generally in low scrub. On
the Caura they are in the habit of passing the day upon the
lajas and islands in the rapids. Squatted on the dark
rock of which they seem to form part, it is most difficult
to distinguish them. When disturbed they flit a short
distance away and then drop suddenly on to some spot
where they remain perfectly motionless, trusting to the
strong resemblance they bear to their surroundings to
escape detection. Closely allied to this smaller species,
but very much rarer, is the large wood-nightjar. The
plaintive wail (it can scarcely be called anything else) of
this bird at dead of night would startle anyone unac-
quainted with its origin. The hunters and woodcutters of
both Venezuela and Trinidad, with but very few excep-

144 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

tions, persist in asserting that this wail is made by one
of the sloths. In the island of Trinidad the cry of the
wood-nightjar can be heard on almost any night in the
stretch of mangrove swamp along the coast between the
towns of Port of Spain and San Fernando. The wood-
cutters who pass a part of their lives in this waste of
wood and mud, say that as the sloth toils lazily from
branch to branch he utters at intervals the complaint
'Poor — me— one— 0.' What has probably led to this
error is the existence in the swamps of the little ant-
eater in fairly large numbers. The woodcutters have in
consequence associated this ant-eater, which they call a
sloth, with the strange cry they hear at nights.

The wood-nightjar is a difficult bird to detect during the
day. He chooses for perching some mottled stump or branch
so closely resembling his plumage that he appears to form
part of the bough upon which he is sitting. I suppose in
my wanderings I must have passed quite close to a good
many of these large nightjars, yet I must confess that
only on one occasion did I get a good opportunity of
observing the habits of this bird. We had had a morning's
duck-shooting and were resting in the shade of one of the
mangrove-trees which line the creeks, when what had
appeared to me to be a dry stump jutting out of one of
the branches seemed to move slightly. I threw lumps of
clay and bits of stick at it, but it did not move until it
was actually struck, when, to our surprise, a wood night-
jar flitted a short distance away, alighting on a stump
similar to the one which he had quitted a moment before.
He immediately flattened his tail against his perch and
assumed an attitude which gave him all the appearance
of being part of the stump on which he rested. I dis-
turbed him repeatedly and he invariably followed the

HAWKS 145

same tactics. He always chose as resting-places stumps
or branches which his plumage resembled, and he assumed
an attitude so suggestive of a piece of wood that I would
certainly have passed him by had I not been watching
his movements and seen him alight.

Many other birds are seen quite close to the houses, or
in the clearing around, which may be looked for in vain
in the gloomy forest beyond. For there are many kinds
of birds with socialistic principles who find life easier in
the neighbourhood of man, where they can appropriate
a share of the results of his labours, than in the wilderness
where they would have to depend entirely on their own
exertions. Of the smaller birds, whose biggest offence is
petty larceny on a limited scale, the man who tills the
soil and rears poultry does not speak with bitterness ;
but start him on chicken-hawks or the large rice-bird,
and you will be able to add something to your swearing
vocabulary. Though most members of the hawk family
have a fondness for poultry, there is one species on the
Caura, called the Guaco, that has earned for itself the
unrelenting enmity of those who like to see the domestic
fowl knocking about their premises. When I heard some
of the anecdotes illustrating the cunning of this bird of
prey when he has fixed upon a district where he intends
to carry on a series of operations, I could not but compare
his proceedings with those of a class of Trinidad vagabond
who is cursed in a similar manner with an incorrigible
weakness for the contents of other people's fowl-houses.
For both culprits the punishment is severe. The biped
without feathers gets six months and thirty-six lashes :
the other is treated as heretics used to be in the good old
days of the auto-da-fe. Doha Antonia told me that one
Guaco had eaten dozens of her fowls before he was

146 A NATURALIST IS THE GUIANAS

wounded and captured by one of the peons, who had been

detailed specially for the purpose of taking him dead or

alive. The owner of the fowls off which he had feasted,

and her friends, had the grim satisfaction in this instance

of hanging him over a slow fire while they sat cheerfully

around enjoying his sufferings as he was slowly roasted

to death. Such is the fate of the Guaco when he happens

to be taken alive by the people on the Caura. Of all the

places I have visited, Tucumay, about thirty miles south

•of the city of Panama, is the spot where I collected most

hawks. Close to the hut where we lived, which was in

-an open savanna where a good many cattle were kept,

-a swamp several square miles in extent exists. The

swamp is fringed with a belt of forest, which was the

abode, when I stayed there, of large numbers of water-fowl.

Many hawks of different kinds also inhabited this belt

of wood. The country around consists of rolling plains

covered with a short coarse grass. During the dry season

this grass is set on fire, so that with the first rains the

■cattle may get the benefit of fresh green food. The

natives told me that a reddish-brown hawk, of which

I secured some specimens, was in the habit of taking

advantage of these savanna fires for having a regular

feast. These hawks, according to their statements, keep

• circling over the smoke just in front of the advancing fire,

ready to pounce upon any lizards or serpents attempting

to escape from the fiery death behind them. The natives

have in consequence christened this bird Bcber-humo —

' The smoke-drinker.' May it not be that the birds also

devour the half-roasted bodies of the lizards and snakes

overtaken by these fires ?

If the Guaco considers that he is entitled to levy a
toll on the poultry yards, the rice-bird is convinced that

RICE-BIRDS 147

he has a vested interest in the grain-fields. The first
time I saw a flock of these birds negotiating a rice-patch
I became a convert to their convictions. It was a pleasmre
to observe how they conducted their operations ; I say a
pleasure, because I had no share in the rice-fields. At
one end of the clearing there was a huge tree, still standing
although dry and devoid of leaves. This was the coign
of vantage the birds had fixed upon as a base for their
operations, and they could not have made a wiser selec-
tion. In the mornings and afternoons, while the flock
was feeding, only two or three individuals remained on
the bare branches of the tree. They were the sentinels
whose duty it was to notify their comrades below of any
suspicious manoeuvre on the part of those who had
planted the rice. A note of alarm and the whole flock
would leave the field like a well-drilled battalion. The
birds would betake themselves to the tree, where they
would remain if no attempt were made to follow them
up. It was perfectly useless, as we found, to try to get
within shooting distance of the tree. The birds invariably
flew away and scattered about in the wood at the edge
of the clearing. One of my hunters did bring in a couple
of specimens of the rice-bird once : they must have been
the idiots of the flock.

In my wanderings along the margin of the forest
I frequently came across detachments of Parasol Ants
{(Ecodoma cephalotes) returning to their homes laden
with booty obtained in the gardens. Like the mound-
builders who peopled North America in prehistoric times,
these ants also build mounds, in which are their colonies,
connected by subterranean galleries. If the ants with
their burden of leaves be followed they v/ill be seen to
enter holes in the mounds, out of which other ants having

148 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

deposited their loads are issuing in search of fresh
material for their gardens, for these little workers are
agriculturists of a high type. The ants hurrying to and
from the mounds are the foragers. Those who have
made a close study of the habits of these ants say that
each forager drops her portion of leaf in the nest, which
is taken up as required by the small workers, and carried
to a clear space in the nest to be cleaned. This is done
with their mandibles, and if considered too large it is cut
into smaller pieces. It is then taken in charge by the
larger workers, who lick it with their tongues. Then
comes the most important part, which almost always is
done by the larger workers, who manipulate it between
their mandibles, mostly standing on three legs. The
portion of leaf is turned round and round between the
mandibles, the ant using her palpi, tongue, her three legs,
and her antennae while doing so. It now becomes a small,
almost black ball, varying in size from a mustard-seed to
the finest dust-shot, according to the size of the piece of
leaf that has been manipulated. The size of the piece
of leaf is from one-eighth by one-eighth of an inch, to one-
quarter by one-quarter of an inch. It must not be under-
stood that only one class of workers manipulate the leaf,
for all seem to take to it very kindly on emergency.
Even the smallest workers will bring their tiny ball to
where the fungus-bed is being prepared. These balls,
really pulp, are built on to an edge of the fungus-bed by
the larger workers, and are slightly smoothed down as
the work proceeds. The new surface is then planted
by the smaller workers with slips of the fungus brought
from the older parts of the nest. Each plant is planted
separately, and they know exactly how far apart the
plants should be. It sometimes looks as if the plants had

ANTS AND ANT-THRUSHES 149

been put in too scantily in places, yet in about forty
hours, if the humidity has been properly regulated, it is
all evenly covered with a mantle, as of very fine snow.
It is this fungus they eat, and with small portions of it
the workers feed the larvae.

The habits of another species of ant (Eciton) which
may be observed in the vicinity of the clearing, present a
striking contrast to those of the agriculturist CEcodoma
cephalotes, although exhibiting a similarly high develop-
ment in the direction of organisation. I could always
tell by the sharp contented chirp of the ant-thrushes,^
whether the hunting ants were out foraging. Of these
ant-thrushes, I think one of the most conspicuous is
the white-crested Pi^/j.T/s albifrons, a bird common enough,
but rarely seen except when the hunting ants happen to
be abroad.

It is interesting to sit on some log close to the living
stream of destruction as it hurries along and observe the
doings of these hunting ants and of the birds who have
learnt to take advantage of their foraging expeditions to
procure food for themselves. No leaf is left unturned, no
crevice unexplored, by these terrible hmiters. For yards
in advance of the invading army the ground is alive with
crickets, moths, lizards — in fact, with every creature whose
home is the rotting leaves and damp earth of the forest.
Few living things escape. Those not overtaken by the
ants fall a prey to the birds accompanying them. Now
and again the army throws out battalions from the sides
which hurry forward and meet ahead, enclosing a number
of victims for whom there is no escape. All the time
the ant-thrushes display great activity, flying rapidly
down to the ground to return almost immediately and
' Formicariidae.

150 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

alight on some low shrub whence they perform the
same operation repeatedly. The movements of some of
these thrushes are so quick that it is difficult to follow
them. In the stomachs of those birds I shot I found
fragments mostly of soft-bodied insects such as moths
and crickets. In spite of the vast numbers of various
kinds of insects destroyed by the combined efforts of the
ants and birds, these tropical forests teem with an insect
life which appears to suffer no diminution.

To the inquirer into the marvellous ways of Nature
nothing can be more interesting than to compare the
habits of various animals with those of the most highly
developed of them all — man. The Guaco is the solitary
hunter relying on himself alone, cunning and relentless,
and with an insatiable thirst for slaughter. In the flocks
of rice-birds who have learnt how to make use of sentries
in order to guard against surprise while they are com-
mitting their depredations, we have an instance of an
understanding such as exists between the members of
small savage tribes for mutual protection. The densely
peopled colonies of Parasol Ants, with their foragers and
growers of food, are the counterparts of those civilised
communities where each person follows some particular
occupation with the view of obtaining greater skill in
special branches than if the same individual had to
undertake a variety of employments. Everyone who has
read 'The Naturalist in Nicaragua' will remember Mr.
Belt's exhaustive account of the habits of these and other
ants of the tropics, in which he concludes as follows :
' When we see these intelligent insects dwelling together
in orderly communities of many thousands of individuals,
their social instincts developed to a high degree of per-
fection, making their marches with the regularity of

UTOPIA 151

disciplined troops, showing ingenuity in the crossing of
difficult places, assisting each other in danger, defending
their nests at the risk of their lives, communicating in-
formation rapidly to a great distance, making a regular
division of work, the whole community taking charge of
the rearing of the young, and all imbued with a strong
sense of industry, each individual labouring not for itself
alone but for all its fellows — we may imagine that Sir
Thomas More's description of Utopia might have been
applied with greater justice to such a community than to
any human society. " But in Utopia, where every man
has a right to everything, they do all know that if care
is taken to keep the public stores full, no private man can
want anything ; for among them there is no unequal
distribution, so that no man is poor or in any necessity,
and though no man has anything yet they are all rich ;
for what can make a man so rich as to lead a secure and
happy life, free from anxieties, neither apprehending want
himself, nor vexed with the endless complaints of his wife.
He is not afraid of the misery of his children, nor is he
contriving how to raise a portion for his daughters, but is
secure in this, that both he and his wife, his children and
grandchildren, to as many generations as he can fancy,,
will all live both plentifully and happily." '

152 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

CHAPTER XI

FAUNA AND FLOBA OF LA PRISION — THE FOREST

Bejucales — Curassows, grullas — Tinamus — Habits of curassows— The king-
tody and other flycatchers — Scarcity of snakes in the forest — The
jaguar — Orchids— The laj as — The evenings at La Prision.

The Caura runs along the southern side of the clearing
at La Prision. On the north, east, and west the latter is
bounded by forest. This forest, as I have already said,
forms part of that vast stretch of woodland which includes
within its limits the most interesting yet least known part
of the tropics. The tonca-bean collectors have cut tracks
from the settlement to the lajas, in whose vicinity they
build their huts during crop time and where they dry the
beans they may have collected. The most important of
these tracks reaches a spot called Esperanza, and is, I
should say, about fifteen miles in length. Here the tracks
of the sarrapieros end, and this was the farthest point
reached by anyone at the settlement until March 1898,
when I cut a path to the mountain of Turagua. These
tracks of the tonca-bean gatherers proved very useful to
us in our collecting expeditions in the forest. I usually
left the house at daybreak accompanied by one of my
boys, who carried my twelve-bore breech-loader and a
haversack with our midday meal and collecting imple-
ments. For killing birds there is no more convenient
weapon than a muzzle-loader of small gauge. I only
used my breech-loader for large birds of prey or for big

BEJUCALES 153

tough game-birds like curassows and penelopes. On our
way to the forest through the provision gardens we
almost always succeeded in securing a few specimens.
They would be mostly finches, tanagers, tyrant flycatchers,
and those humming-birds found in the clearings or at the
edge of the woods. Silently we would enter the gloomy
stillness of the forest, for it was an understood thing that
we were not to speak except in whispers. If we were
separated we communicated with each other by imitating
the call-notes of the small owl.^ This is the bird of ill-
omen of the Trinidad negro, for is not the uncanny come,
come, come of the bird of night the call of death ? And
did not the boding bird which haunts the ruined piles
and hallowed urns round unhappy Turnus fly when he
had his last stand-up fight with the pious hypocrite who
is credited with having humbugged the queen of Carthage
and founded the Eoman Empire? The Trinidad bird-
butcher who helps to supply the hat market with feathers
is an adept at hooting like an owl. He knows that
hummers and other small birds, with generations of
grievances against the midnight murderer, will mob him
in numbers during the day if they can find him out.
So he sits under a tree and hoots in the dismal fashion
that freezes the marrow in the bones of superstitious old
women, and he puts a premature end to the life of many
a feathered beauty attracted by the spirit of revenge to
the hiding-place of the wily dealer in bird-skins.

With the exception of those belts or tracts of tangled
creepers and bush called bejucales, the virgin forest,
although possessing an undergrowth, is not difficult to
get through. The bejucales are the dread of all those
wanderers in the woods who make a living either by

' Glaucidium phalcBttoides.

154 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

hunting or collecting forest products. Woe to the wretch
who gets lost in one of these mazes of interminable
creepers — creepers from the size of one's leg to the thin-
ness of thread — running along the ground, climbing up
over the tops of the tallest trees to return again striking
their roots into the damp spongy soil, and with renewed
vigour branching away in every direction, a regular
spider's web for the poor devil lost in its interminable
toils. The bejucales are the favourite haunts of tortoises
and armadillos. Peccaries, also, are fond of visiting these
cool damp resorts, where the ground is spongy and soft
and they can dig as much as they please in search of the
roots which constitute so large a part of their diet. Many
of the larger game-birds are also in the habit of frequent-
ing the bejucales. By scratching in the thick bed of
rotten leaves covering the ground they obtain the worms
and insects which form part of their food, while the trees
with their dense overgrowth of creepers afford them good
hiding-places. Some of these creepers are fruit-bearing.
Of a kind of fruit about the size of a coffee berry, and
yellow in colour, which hangs in clusters from a species
of bejuco, both Paujis and Pavas are particularly fond.
Pava is the native name of one of the penelopes, and it
is as common as the Pauji in this region. But of all the
larger birds none affects these densely wooded parts of the
forest more than the Crrulla,^ one of the Psophiidce. There
are few birds more striking in appearance than this
trumpeter. It is generally met with in flocks, which at
times consist of quite a large number of individuals.
If a flock be disturbed while the birds are feeding close
together on the ground, as is their habit, they usually
make off in a body and go a considerable distance before

' Psophia crepitans.

TINAMUS 155

again alighting ; but if they be scattered, each individual
on being alarmed flies up to some branch of a tree near
by, where it utters its call-note almost incessantly, so as
not to be separated from the other members of the flock
to which it belongs. A wild rush into the midst of the
flock, if it be a large one, is the best way to scare and
divide the birds, when they can be killed singly. In this
manner it is possible to secure a good many of the birds
before they unite and get away. The flesh of the Grulla
is very tough, almost as tough as that of an old parrot ;
but this did not prevent the Indians from eating these
birds whenever I killed any. The tinamus, of which
there appear to be two or three varieties in this part of
South America, are also in the habit of frequenting the
bejucales. Although these birds are far from being rare,
we obtained but few specimens. Living entirely on the
ground, and at the least suspicion of danger hiding in the
dense undergrowth, it is easy to understand why this bird
is rarely seen. If surprised at close quarters the tinamu
rises with a loud whirr, uttering a few quick notes of
alarm. At times these birds rise from almost under one's
feet, and they make so much noise that one cannot help
being startled. A glimpse of a large dark bird as it
disappears in the dense foliage is all that the hunter gets,
and before he has had time to recover from his surprise
the tinamu has vanished for ever. Although there is
considerable difference in the size and markings of the
members of this family, there is a great deal of similarity
in their habits. Early in the morning and late in the
afternoon the long-drawn plaintive notes of the tinamus
can be heard. Towards sunset, on a gloomy rainy day,
these birds appear to utter their call more frequently than
at any other time. The flesh of all the tinamus is tender

156 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI ANAS

and delicate. In this respect no other South American
birds can compare with them.

Two varieties of curassows which I have men-
tioned as frequenting the bejucales are met with in
these forests. Both varieties are called without distinc-
tion Pauji ; but when the natives wish to draw attention
to the different kinds they speak of them as Culo bianco
{Crax alector), and Cido Colorado (Mitua tomentosa), on
account of the difference in the colours of the feathers of
the belly in each species. These two curassows appear to
have similar habits. Both utter the same shrill note of
alarm on being disturbed, and they make the same deep
humming noise when calling to each other. I have never
been able to notice any difference in the humming of the
two kinds, although the native hunters pretend that they
can tell one bird from the other by its call-note. But as
it has happened on more than one occasion that a hunter,
after declaring, upon hearing a bird calling, that he was
going to kill a Culo bianco has brought back a Culo
Colorado, I have come to the conclusion that the natives
cannot, as they pretend, always distinguish between the
call-notes of the ' white ' and ' brown ' posteriors, as they
have, with more reason than delicacy, elected to dis-
tinguish the two varieties. During the mating season, in
the unfrequented parts of the forest, especially along the
banks of the streams, the deep hum of the Pauji may be
heard at almost any time of the day. But it is just
before sunrise, and in the early hours of the morning, that
the Pauji appears to be most disposed to hum. It is
impossible to describe in writing the peculiar noise which
these birds make. The native hunters imitate the Pauji
by sajing, ' El muerto esta aqui ' — * The corpse lies here.'
It is while uttering in a deep tone this lugubrious chant

HABITS OF CURASSOWS 15T

that the Pauji usually meets its death, for the hunter can
then easily track it to its retreat, when it falls a victim, as
the people of the place say, to its own death-song. If the
Pauji gets suspicious it immediately ceases humming, and
that is an indication to the hunter that the bird has seen
him or scents danger. In such a case the only thing for
the sportsman to do is to remain perfectly still. The
bird may get reassured after a while, when it again begins
to call, and it can be then stealthily approached and
killed. If wounded only, the Pauji usually succeeds in
getting away. As these birds pass a part of their lives on
the ground they are fleet of foot, and as they are more-
over of muscular build and plucky disposition, if not killed
outright, or very dangerously injured, they make good
their escape in the dense undergrowth of the forest. The
food of the Pauji is very varied in its character. It con-
sists principally of the fruits and berries of the forest^
of certain kinds of which the birds are passionately fond.
Like the domestic fowl the Pauji is also much given to
scratching among the decayed leaves on the ground in
search of worms and insects. On more than one occasion
I have seen these birds on the rocky islands in the rapids
and on the banks of the rivers apparently feeding on the
small snails which in certain places are fairly abundant.
During the mating season the males are prone to be
pugnacious and they engage in combats which sometimes
result in the serious injury of one or both combatants.
Isidor assured me that he had once come across two male
Paujis engaged in one of these encounters. So engrossed
were they with their fight that they paid no atttention to
him, and he was able to observe them for some time.
Eventually he secured both. They were so exhausted
and injured that they made no attempt to escape when he

158 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

put a stop to their duel. The same Indian told me that
another but very much rarer Pauji inhabits the forest on
the Caura, but as it is nocturnal in its habits, and retires
during the day to some deep hole which it has burrowed
in the ground, it is but rarely seen. No serious attempts
appear to have been made to domesticate any of the
curassows, although they take very easily to captivity
and become quite tame. I have not heard of any case of
their having been induced to breed in a state of domesticity.
It is a great pity that persistent and intelligent efforts
have not been carried on in this direction, as the addition
of these handsome and valuable birds to the other regular
denizens of the poultry yard would be most desirable.

Of the smaller birds frequenting the gloomy depths of
the forest the most gorgeously coloured are the callistes,
the trogons, the jacamars, and that rare bird the king-
tody.^ The bright scarlet or yellow breasts of the trogons
appear to have been specially designed for attracting the
flies and other insects on which these birds subsist. What
is more likely than that an insect in search of food should
mistake the patch of red adorning the collared trogon for
the crimson flower of the rose of the forest, as the natives
call the Broionea ? And the brilliant crest of the king-
tody may it not be a useful appendage rather than an
article of dress? Trogons may be easily observed in
tropical American forests, for they are far from being un-
common, but it is otherwise with the king-tody, which is, so
far as my experience goes, an exceedingly rare bird. On
two occasions I had the good fortune to see this beau-
tiful fly-catcher in the haunts he affects. In both in-
stances I met with him in the same surroundings though
in localities a thousand miles apart. Shaded ravines
' Muscivora coronata.

MUSCIVOR/^. CORONATA

\lt\cttnJiBco'i^riH,- .tSojiLI^U*

\

KING-TODY AND OTHER FLY-CATCHERS 159

where there are pools of water, would appear his favourite
resort. Perched on a twig above one of these pools, the
king-tody awaits his prey. He raises or depresses his
brilliant crest according as he wishes it to be seen or
is desirous of concealing himself ; the rest of his body,
although beautifully marked, being of a dusky hue, is
difficult to distinguish in the gloom of his retreat.

At times, numbers of birds of different species will be
seen together going from tree to tree, probably in pursuit
of insects. On occasions like these it is possible to obtain
in a short time more different kinds than are met with in
a whole day's tramp. By sitting patiently on a log in
the low scrub clothing the banks of the water-courses in
the forest, one may obtain many a rare specimen. It was
in such a spot that I saw for the first time, but failed to
secure, a bird of a new genus,' which Dr. Hartert has
named after me. This occurred in November 1897. I
had been seated for some little time in a patch of brush-
wood such as I have described, when there appeared on a
twig so close to me that I dared not move or fire, the bird
of which my boy Pedro succeeded in obtaining a speci-
men in February 1901, and which forms the type of the
genus. Only he who has been a collector himself will
understand how I felt when this strange bird, after look-
ing at me in amazement for a few seconds, disappeared in
the shelter of the scrub. I waited, it must have been for
hours, on the chance of his returning, and for days I visited
the spot, but without success. Singularly enough the
specimen obtained three years after was killed in the very
same patch of scrub by Pedro, to whom I had related the

' Taeniotriccus Andrei, No. 132 of Novitates Zoologicce, vol. ix., April
1902.

160 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

incident when we were out shooting together in the
locality.

There is a general impression among Europeans that
tropical forests teem with venomous snakes. Although
I have spent the greater part of the last ten years in the
forests of Venezuela and Colombia, I am ashamed to
confess that I am not the hero of any thrilling snake
adventure. As a matter of fact I never give snakes a
thought, and I will crawl through brushwood on hands
and knees in search of any bird I may have killed with
as little concern as if I were in my own garden. But I
respect wasps, hornets, and ants. I do not say that I
have not met with and killed venomous snakes, but the
danger of being bitten by them may be left out of
account when we consider how rarely we hear of
accidents from snake-bites in the region of the woods.
In dry, arid, stony country covered with cacti and thorny
bushes venomous snakes appear to be ever so much
more plentiful than in the humid forests. Such a tract
of country, for instance, as that on which the town of
Cumana is situated, a place where it scarcely ever rains,
appears admirably suited to certain forms of reptile life,
including snakes. A gentleman who possesses a country
seat a couple of miles distant from the town told me that
some of his men, while clearing a piece of ground some
two acres in extent, killed no fewer than seventeen rattle-
snakes. All along the northern coast of Venezuela the
rattlesnake is exceedingly common in the dry arid
districts, but it is not met with in the virgin forest.

Of the mammalia of La Prision the most interesting
are, of course, our blood-relations the monkeys.'

' Do not the results of Dr. Nutall's fascinating researches entitle
monkeya to claim a blood -relationship with us ? ' The New Biological Test

THE JAGUAR 161

The capuchins or ring-tailed monkeys, and the
vociferous howlers, were the ones we met with most
frequently during our rambles. On more than one
occasion I observed capuchins perform an acrobatic feat
in the style of the leaping somersaults from the spring-
board one sees at a circus. If a troop of these monkeys
while travelling through the tree-tops came to a spot
where the trees were some distance apart, they would run
out to the end of some thin, pliable, but strong branch,
and leap up and down until they caused it to sway
violently : then, taking advantage of the momentum of
the swinging branch they v/ould clear the intervening
distance one after the other, a feat they would have been
unable to perform from a stationary object.

We never met with any of the larger carnivora in the
vicinity of La Prision, although I learnt from the people
of the place that they suffer from time to time from the
depredations of jaguars. These animals are particularly
destructive where there are pigs, donkeys, and dogs. The
jaguar appears to have either a strong aversion for the dog
or a great liking for his flesh.

In our daily excursions we were sure to visit one of
the lajas. I always experienced a feeling of pleasure, or
rather of relief, when, after having tramped for hours
through the twilight of the forest, we would reach some
open space gladdened by the brightness of the sun.
These lajas and the rocky islands of the rapids appear
to be excrescences of one immense substratum of granite
of which they are the highest points. Where the rock is

for Blood in Relation to Zoological Classification.' By George H. F. Nutall,
M.A., M.D., Ph.B., University Lectui-er in Bactei-iology and Preventive
Medicine, Cambridge. Communicated by Sir M. Foster, K.C.B., Sec. R.S.
Received November 2; read November 21, 1901.

M

162 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

of smooth or rounded surface no vegetation exists, but
wherever there are hollows in which a bit of mould has
collected there is sure to be some sort of growth, and in
proportion to the depth of this layer of vegetable matter
is the luxuriance of the growth which covers it. The
flora of these open masses of plutonic rock is so different
to that of the surrounding country, that the traveller
might well believe himself to be in another region
thousands of miles away from the gloom of the forest
with its huge trees, through which he had passed but a
few minutes before. Several kinds of orchids are met
with in such places. Some grow on the rocks alone,
while others occur only on the moss-covered branches of
the stunted trees, all knotted and gnarled peculiar to this
vegetation, Cattleya superba and Epidendrum Stam-
fordianum, both of which are abundant in these places,
attach themselves to trees and rocks. In the case of the
former orchid, however, only a small number of plants
are seen on the rocks, by far the greater proportion
being found on the branches or trunks of trees. It is the
opposite with Epidendrum Stamfordianu^n, which grows
in such luxuriant profusion all over the rocks in certain
parts of the lajas, that thousands of plants might be
collected in the course of a single day. A very fine
Oncidium and a large Catasetum also form part of this
flora, but while the Catasetum is fairly abundant the
Oncidium is rather rare. Epidendrum elongatum is
another orchid which grows in large masses on the
lajas, some of the masses being several square yards in
extent. As this Epidendrum is very free in blooming,
and its flowers vary in shade from light pink to the
darkest scarlet, the effect produced by the brightness of
colour against the sombre background of black granite is

THE LAJAS 163

striking. I seldom saw any orchids in the forest itself,
but wherever there happened to be open spots of granite
or sandstone formation, orchids and flowering shrubs
were plentiful. But it is not only in their flora thai;
the lajas differ from the surrounding country. Their
fauna is distinct. The birds we killed, the butterflies we
caught, the lizards we saw, are peculiar to these places
and are not met with in the forest. A species of jack-
rabbit is abundant on the lajas, but as they are nocturnal
wanderers only, we never saw any. They spend the day
in the clefts of the rock and under the layers which peel
off from the blocks of granite scattered over the surface
of the main mass.

It is close to the Laja de los Perros,^ which being the
nearest to the settlement was the one most frequently
visited by us, that there exists a huge slab of rock resting
on two upright masses forming a natural shelter Imown
to the tonca-bean collectors as La casa del viejo Guachee
(the house of old Guachee). When collecting in 1898 I
used to stop before the old man's house and have a chat
with him and his wife. The pair had departed and the
house was tenantless, a heap of ashes where the woman
had been in the habit of cooking being all they had left
behind them.

The track which runs before old Guachee's house
connects all the larger masses of open rock. After leav-
ing the Laja de los Perros the first of these masses to be
reached is the Laja Grande} Many rancJios are built in
the vicinity of the laja during the tonca-bean crop, for
its size and the flatness of its surface offer great conve-
nience for the preparation of the beans. About a mile
beyond in a north-easterly direction is the steep Laja

' The Rock of the Dogs. - The Great Eock.

M 2

164 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Conchera,^ which forms part of the hill of La Prision.
Here there are two tracks, one leading over the crest of
the hill, the other skirting it. Both of them meet at the
most westerly of the lajas, Los Gallitos (' The Cocks-of-
the-Rock '), so called because once upon a time these
beautiful birds fought, paired, and reared their young
amongst the huge blocks of granite covered with orchids
and flowering shrubs which adorn the black surface of
the open mass. The blocks of granite are there still, but
the cocks-of-the-rock have departed. Like the bell-birds,
the presence of man appears distasteful to them, and if
their domain be encroached upon by human beings they
abandon it to retire to some distant recess where they can
enjoy the solitude they love so well.

From Los Gallitos to the house at La Prision is a
good stiff walk of a couple of hours, so that whenever we
lingered until late in the afternoon in the vicinity of this
laja engrossed in the work of collecting, we used to have
to hurry up on our way home if we did not feel inclined
to pass the night in the forest.

After dinner I would examine the specimens brought
in by the other hunters, and this always gave me great
pleasure, especially when I recognised some rare bird or
butterfly, or saw for the first time some species unknown
to me. With Jacobson's help I would put the butterflies
in envelopes and label the birds for the taxidermist. Then,
if we had no negatives to attend to and we happened to be
too tired to speculate on the progress of the Boer war,
or the results of the crisis in China, we would do a very
sensible thing — go to sleep.

' The Shell Kock.

165

CHAPTER XII

EXPEDITION TO THE NICHARE, DECEMBER 22, 1900, TO
JANUARY 28, 1901 — FROM LA PRISION TO THE MOUTH
OF THE NICHARE

Indians — Preparations for our departure — Departure from La Prision — Dug-
outs— Rapids of Mura — Water plants and tapirs— Burrowing birds —
Indian settlement at Mura — Strange-looking trees — Christmas on the
Caura — Facundo returns to La Prision — The Nichare.

We spent several days at the settlement, during which,
as I have said, we made excursions into the forest as far
as the lajas, and to the Waiomgomo houses at Mura.
We were forcibly detained by Facundo's illness. Since
our departure from Puerto Antonio Liccioni he had been
suffering from a severe irritation of the intestines, brought
on by the quantity of freshly distilled rum he had con-
sumed on the occasion of his parting from his friends. I
decided to await his recovery before starting, because he
was the most intelligent peon I had with me, and the only
one, with the exception of the Indian woman from the
Rio Negro, who thoroughly understood the collecting and
preparation of rubber. I felt also that it would be an
advantage to secure as many Indians as possible from
the settlement at Mura. These men are indispensable as
pilots in difficult parts of the river, but they are slow
at deciding upon a journey, especially in the company of
Venezuelans, for whom they entertain a strong feeling
of dishke. To obtain the services of the men whom I

166 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

required it was necessary to display the treasures I had
brought in the shape of beads, gorgeously coloured cloths,
knives, fish-hooks, and such other articles as appeal
strongly to an Indian's fancy. With this end in view,
about a week after our arrival I got three families from
the Indian settlement to spend a day with us at La
Prision. It was amusing to observe the excitement of the
women, and even of the younger girls, when piece after
piece of bright print was produced. The sight of so
much finery so puzzled them that it was a long time
before they could make up their minds. Finally I
succeeded in securing the services of the three best pilots,
or patrons, as they are called, of the Mura settlement,
and they and their wives returned to their homes to await
the day of our departure. When I compare the pleasur-
able excitement shown by these people at the sight of
such articles as cloth and beads, with the behaviour of
one of their number who had been to Trinidad with me
after my first visit to the Caura, I cannot help thinking
that that lack of surprise at seeing for the first time the
greatest works of civilisation, which has been attributed
by many writers to the Indians' aversion to show surprise,
as being undignified, comes from an entirely different
cause. In the case of Maite, the Indian who remained
with me in Port of Spain, and whose emotions I had a
great many opportunities of studying, I noticed that he
expressed no wonder at seeing for the first time those
things which one would have expected to have surprised
him most. The steamers in the harbour, the locomotives
on the wharf, were barely noticed ; but when I took him
to one of the large shops he expressed wonder and delight
at the enormous quantity of cloth, beads, fish-hooks, and
knives which he saw. In this instance he was able to

WAIOMGOMO CHILDREN

PREPARATIONS FOR OUR DEPARTURE 167

institute comparisons and take an intelligent interest in
articles of which he knew something. It was different
with those more complex works so far beyond his simple
experience.

When the Indians left for their settlement at Mura
it was arranged that they should return on the 21st
(December), the 22nd being the day we had fixed upon
for om* departure from La Prision. To have allowed the
men to spend Christmas at the settlement would have
entailed a delay of several days, perhaps of a couple of
weeks, for the Christmas drunk of the jpeoii, once started,
is not to be interfered with. The Indians came on the
morning of the 21st as they had promised, and we spent
the whole day making up the provisions and our other
things into packages of convenient sizes for loading the
dug-outs. It was while this was being done that I
realised to some extent the extraordinary aptitude for
consuming food possessed by the men, who looked upon
me as their purveyor for the time being, and for so long
as I could supply them with all they wanted and their
day's pay. The ten days spent at La Prision had been
expensive ones. While we had been waiting for Facundo
to get better, the men, finding that time hung heavily on
their hands, whiled the hours away by cooking and eating.
The Trinidad men and myself, who left the house early
in the morning on our collecting excursions to return
only late in the afternoon, had had no opportunities of
observing the proceedings of the Venezuelan contingent.
' The eye of the master fatteneth the horse.' In the
absence of the master the servant fatteneth himself, was
the improvement my men had made on the old proverb ;
and if there were any who had not succeeded in gaining
flesh at La Prision it was not through lack of trying.

168 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

When we were ready to load the boats we found that
it would be impossible to do so in the stream where we
had left them on our arrival, as the month had been a
very dry one and there was but little water at the landing-
place. In addition to the three dug-outs we had brought
with us, I had purchased a large one on my arrival at
La Prision, and Medina had lent me his small curiara.
They were all taken out to the Caura itself, and there
the tedious operation of loading was performed. At ten
o'clock on the morning of the 22nd we were ready to
start. We shook hands with the people of the settlement
who had come to the river to see us off, and then we took
our places in the boats, this being a matter that had been
discussed and definitely arranged beforehand. The ex-
pedition consisted of twenty persons in all, nineteen men
and one woman. The introduction of this apple of discord
into the elements of the expedition was an experiment
of my partner in the rubber venture of the Nichare.
' This woman,' he told me when I left Ciudad-Bolivar,
' is the one thing you want to make the rubber business
a success. She was born and bred in rubber surroundings.
Besides,' he added, * she can cook and wash clothes. I
have written to my agent at Puerto Antonio Liccioni
about her. She will be ready to accompany you when
you get there.' And this was how the expedition came
to possess a female expert in rubber. Her Spanish name
was Juana, and she was supposed to be the goods and
chattels of one Pio, whom she had brought with her.
Having presented the lady I will introduce the gentlemen,
who might be specified as belonging to three categories :
those without clothes, those with the remains of clothes,
and those with clothes of a sort. We, that is Loiigacre,
Jacobson, the taxidermist, the men from Trinidad, and

DUG-OUTS 169

myself, belonged to the last division. The Indians, Isidor,
Maite, and Vicente, were in the first. The Venezuelan
contingent was the borderland of these extremes. Its
constituents affected a compromise in rags, and this
assisted in toning down to a certain extent the strong
contrast between the Indians and ourselves. This general
introduction will, I trust, serve to convey some sort of
idea of the living material of which the expedition was
composed.

The pilots of the large boats were the three Indians,
Isidor, Maite, and Vicente. Luis Urbana, whom we
had christened * the Pirate ' on account of his villainous
expression and the old red handkerchief he was in the
habit of tying around his head, was in charge of the
medium-sized boat. Pancho Montenegro and the Indian
woman from the Eio Negro managed Medina's small
curiara, which carried the cooking utensils, and the
bananas, yams, and sweet potatoes for the journey. All
the traffic on the tributaries of the Orinoco, and on the
upper reaches of the main stream, which do not allow
of steam communication, or where the trade is too insig-
nificant for the employment of steamers, is conducted by
dug-outs. These dug-outs are of all sizes, from the small
narrow canoe barely twelve feet long, that requires an
education like that of a rope dancer before one can
venture to travel with anything like safety in it, to the
lumbering bongo of several tons burden, which will carry
a whole family with comfort. All over Venezuela these
dug-outs are called curiaras ; the larger ones are known
as bongos. Some of the largest dug-outs I have seen are
used at Buenaventura on the Pacific coast of Colombia.
The shipping and loading of passengers and cargo to and
from the steamers calling at this port are done almost

170 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

entirely by these large dug-outs hollowed out of the titans
of the forest which clothes the banks of the Dagua. On
the Caura the trees mostly employed in the construction
of dug-outs are cedar and sassafras. On account of its
lightness and its not being attacked by insects, cedar is
the best of all woods for this purpose. Very large dug-
outs are worked with sails and oars ; smaller ones with
paddles. In the navigation of rapids and narrow channels
only paddles can be used. The post of honour for a
paddler is at the stern. Next in importance is the man
at the bow, whose duty it is to look out for rocks and
sunken logs, and while advising the pilot of danger ahead
assist in avoiding it. The man at the bow is the proel,
the pilot is the patron. "Whenever we left any spot
where we had stopped, if even only for a short while, the
proel would call out, Vamos con Dios, patron,^ to which
the pilot would answer, Vamos con la Virgen? Judging
by our experiences during the journey, I have come to
the conclusion that my men were not in the good graces
of the Powers to whom these appeals were addressed.

On the day of our departure from La Prision we made
but little progress. It was ten o'clock when we started,
and I expected to be able to reach the head of the rapids
of Mura by sunset, but the boats having been badly
loaded, and the men distributed without judgment, so
that the best paddlers were all in one boat and the worst
in the others, I decided, after we had gone about a mile,
to stop and put matters right. For this purpose the boats
were moored alongside a large slab of granite at the foot
of the channel by which the guides had determined, after
consulting each other, to ascend the rapids. They said

' ' May God be with us, cockswain.'
- ' May the Virgin be with us.'

WITH THE WAIOMGOMOS-VICENTE

RAPIDS OF MURA 171

that the other passage, called Cinco mil pesos,^ although
very much shorter, was too dangerous. Quite close to the
spot where we landed is the site of an abandoned settle-
ment, probably the collection of houses mentioned by
Humboldt under the name of Ciudad de San Carlos.
There were many cocoa-trees in the second forest growth
which has sprung up where the old settlement stood,
showing that the families who had taken up their abode
at this spot cultivated the land to some extent, and had
intended making a permanent stay, for the cocoa-tree
does not yield any return for several years. The people
of La Prision and Temblador are in the habit of
coming in their dug-outs to pick the crop of these
trees, the beans of which they grind between stones into
a coarse kind of chocolate. We often drank this choco-
late when our own cocoa gave out. While the boats
were being reloaded some of the men had been wandering
about over the site of the old settlement. They found a
broken apothecary's mortar, and an old silver coin
stamped ' Cundinamarca.' These I have kept as memen-
toes of the first attempt to found a town on the picturesque
but turbulent passage of Mura.

Crossing the rapids in heavily laden boats such as
ours is risky work. A moment's carelessness or hesita-
tion on the part of any of the men may cause disaster ;
the breaking of a rope, if the boats are being hauled up
where the current is too strong for paddling, may have
equally dire results. In ascending rapids long strong
ropes are of the greatest use. In fact, without them it
would be impossible in certain places to make any pro-
gress. By one o'clock we were in the middle of Mura

' ' The passage of five thousand pesos,' so called on account of the loss
of a boat at that spot during a tonca-bean crop, with a large sum on board.

172 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI ANAS

opposite to the Indian settlement on the left bank. The
roar of the water rushing between the masses of coal-
black rock, joined to the shouting of the men, tended to
make the scene an exciting one. Several times we landed
on the islands and walked along the banks while the boats
were being towed up. Some of these islands are simply
masses of bare rock, others resemble the lajas of the forest
and are covered with a similar vegetation. Fields of a
kind of wild pineapple occurred on many of the islands.
On this occasion the pineapples were green, but during
my first visit I tasted ripe fruit once or twice ; they were
so sour that I could never eat more than a small piece at
a time. The blocks of rock and stunted trees are in places
quite covered with festoons of the vanilla-vine. I never
saw this orchid in such abundance anywhere else. Any-
one living in the vicinity of the rapids who would take
the trouble to fertilise the flowers of the vanilla and pre-
pare the pods, would, I am certain, be able to obtain
hundreds of pounds of this valuable product during the
year. I explained this to Medina on my return to La
Prision, but although he appeared interested in all that I
told him concerning the vanilla, I do not expect that he
or anyone else at the settlement will take up the syste-
matic working of the wealth of vanilla at the rapids of
Mura and on the lajas of the forest.

The river had fallen a good deal within the last few
days, so that many rocks that had been under water for
months were exposed. Some of these rocks were covered
with an aquatic plant which Isidor told me is much eaten
by tapirs. This plant (Neolacis corymhosa) was particu-
larly abundant in places where the current was strongest.
At first sight this neolacis, so soft and delicate, appears
out of place, growing as it does, exposed to the full force

WATER PLANTS AND TAPIRS 173

of rushing water, in places where a man can barely stand
if he attempt to wade up to his knees. But if the plant
be closely examined it will be seen that while the stems
and leaves are soft and pliable and yield to the force of
the current, the roots are hard and wiry and cling with
such tenacity to the surface of the rocks that it is almost
impossible to remove the entire plant. Any attempt to
do so resulted, as I found, in the breaking of the stem at
the point where it springs from the roots. This neolacis
exists only under water. With the falling of the river
the exposed plants die, leaving a network of white thread-
like roots with sharp points where the stems had dried
up. If tapirs feed largely on these aquatic plants, as the
Indians affirm, their elongated snouts would be of great
use in tearing off the succulent leaves and stems from the
uneven surface of the rocks to which the plants attach
themselves.

Some of the slabs of granite upon which we landed
were quite honeycombed with pot-holes. In many of
these pot-holes there were either single stones or a
number of pebbles, while others were half full of sand
sometimes mixed with fresh-water shells.

Although it was quite early when we reached the
Indian settlement at Mura, the men asked me to camp
for the night. We chose a spit of sand along the bank
not far from the settlement. The men planted poles,
either in triangles or quadrangles, between which they
slung their hammocks. ' The Pirate ' said he preferred
to sleep wrapped up in his blanket on the sand, so he
made no preparations for passing the night, but went
with the Indians to their settlement. Pancho Mon-
tenegro, the cook, and his assistant, Freddy, had made a
big wood-fire, and the large iron pot full of vegetables

174 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

and salted meat for the sancocho ^ was soon simmering
above it, with a batch of hungry men hanging around
chaffing each other or cracking coarse jokes to while the
time away. I wandered along the bank with my fidus
Achates, Pedro Hospedales, the best hunter and bird-
collector I have ever employed. In places where the
sloping bank was of soft sand there were holes resembling
those made by the land-crab, but these holes were not
the work of crabs, but of a species of flycatcher with a
short tail, not uncommon on the islands in the rapids.
I made Pedro dig along one of the tunnels with his hunt-
ing-knife, but although he followed it for more than three
feet he did not reach the bottom. I would have liked to
have seen what sort of nest the birds make at the end of
the tunnels. The Indians, although well aware of this
habit of these birds of burrowing into the ground for the
purpose of nesting, could not say whether the holes were
used only once or repeatedly. I am inclined to believe,
judging by the labour the excavation of these deep
tunnels must entail, that they are used more than once
by the same birds. This strange habit of excavating deep
tunnels in the ground at the end of which they build
their nests and lay their eggs is shared by the jacamars,
kingfishers, and motmots. Parrots act in a somewhat
similar manner, for although they do not dig burrows in
the ground for nesting purposes, they always lay their
eggs in the hollows of trees. The unsightly vulture,'^ pro-
tected by law in Trinidad because it is supposed to assist
in scavenging the town of Port of Spain, also builds its
nest in hollow trees like the parrot, and for this purpose it
usually selects some tree in the forest far from the town.

' The national dish, a soup made of vegetables with meat or fish. In
the northern mountain range and along the coast where beef is scarce or
.ez23cnBive the sancocho is usually made of fish. In the llanos beef is used.

* Cathartcs atrata.

INDIAN SETTLEMENT AT MURA 175

It was getting dark when Pedro and myself returned
from om" ramble. Dinner had been served out to the
men, and they were sitting in groups over their large tin
platters discussing the merits of Pancho's cooking. At
this time of the year camping in the open air on the
banks of the rivers is quite pleasant. Kain falls but
rarely, and even then the showers are of short duration.
It is quite different during the rainy season, when scarcely
a day passes without its raining in torrents. After dinner
some of the men went with me to Isidor's house, where
besides Isidor, his wife, and children, we found Maite,
Vicente, and ' the Pirate.' They were drinking yaraque^
and relating hunting-stories.

Of course the conversation turned upon tigers, and for
the twentieth time my Indian companions treated us to a
long series of stories illustrating the cunning and audacity
of the tiger, as the jaguar is called by these people. I
believe Isidor used to tell these stories with the view of
terrifying my Trinidad men, and I cannot help admitting
that his efforts were crowned with success, as none of
them appeared to relish the idea of an encounter with
the king of the American carnivora. After we had had our
fill of tiger-stories we bade our Indian hosts good-night
and returned to our camping-place on the sandy shore,
lighted on our way by one of the men carrying a torch.

I was awakened long before daybreak by the noise made
by the men who, squatted around the fire, were telling
stories or chaffing each other while Pancho was preparing
coffee. Most of my followers appeared to be very early
risers, but I do not believe that they merited much praise
for this seemingly extraordinary display of energy, the
true reason of their leaving their hammocks in the early

' A fermented drink made from cassava.

176 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANxVS

hours of the morning to hang around the kitchen fire
being that they felt cold or hungry. With the first
streaks of Hght the Indians joined us and we started, as
we all wished to get through the trying channels of the
upper reaches of Mura in the cool of the morning. We
had to land repeatedly while the boats were being hauled
against the powerful current, and I was able to study the
vegetation we were passing by. I noticed that most of
the trees on the islands, and along the banks where they
are rocky, present a peculiar appearance. Imagine a
trunk of the girth of a large forest-tree crowned by a few
insignificant branches out of all proportion to the rest of the
tree. These trees looked every bit as ridiculous as human
dwarfs. In many instances the trunks were quite hollow, and
they were moss-covered and full of knots. The conditions
under which they had had to struggle for an existence had
no doubt contributed to these peculiarities in their growth.
By noon we passed through the last channel of the
rapids of Mura. Facundo, who had been complaining the
whole morning of a severe pain in the intestines, begged
me to allow him to have an hour's rest in the shade. He
appeared to be very ill. The previous day's exposure to
the burning rays of the sun had redoubled the inflam-
mation from which he had been suffering. I was anxious
to send him back in the small boat which could have
rejoined us afterwards on the Nichare, but he insisted
upon accompanying me for at least a couple of days.
Between the rapids of Mura and those of Piritu there is
no serious obstruction to the navigation of the river,
which for a good part of the way is divided into two
channels by a long island named Isla Larga. We stopped
at three o'clock at an abandoned clearing of some tonca-
bean collectors, who visit this spot regularly during the

VICENTES WIFE

CHRISTMAS ON THE CAUllA 177

crop every two or three years. The frail huts they had
built were tumbhng to pieces, and a rank growth of bush
had sprung up where they had cut the forest trees down.
A large tree that had been stripped of its bark stood as
a sentinel in the middle of the clearing. Many parrots
were on its bare branches when we arrived, and towards
sunset two hawks perched close together on its very top,
evidently with the intention of passing the night, but
Pedro disturbed their calculations by killing both with
a single shot from my twelve-bore. These birds were
smaller than the large dark-coloured hawk I have already
described as being the terror of the poultry yards.

We spent Christmas afternoon on an island opposite
to the hill of Cangrejo, the farthest point visited by tonca-
bean collectors. Maite caught a large catfish, and as a
Christmas dinner the men had roasted fish in addition to
their sancoclio. The only delicacy we were able to allow
ourselves in honour of the day was a tin of kippered
herrings brought by Longacre. Jacobson took a photo-
graph of our camping-place in commemoration of the
occasion.

All night long Facundo, who had been so unwell
during the day that he was unable to stand, complained of
acute pain in the intestines. He appeared so ill when
day broke that I decided to send him back without delay.
The small dug-out having been hastily unloaded of its
cargo of provisions, a thick bed of palm-branches was
made in its bottom. Upon this the men spread his
blanket and then placed him gently on top. Two of my
best paddlers, Benito and Pio, went with him, with
instructions not to stop until they reached La Prision.
After leaving him there they were to return with a fresh
load of provisions and meet us on the Nichare. I bade

N

178 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Facundo good-bye just as the boat was being pushed
off, and they were soon carried out of sight aided by the
swiftness of the current. It was a last good-bye, for the
poor fellow died a few days after, as I learnt when the men
returned. Even when he left us I could see that his life
was ebbing fast away, and as the little boat which bore
him hurried down the stream I felt that his journey lay
towards the river of oblivion.

It was late when we left Cangrejo, Facundo's depar-
ture having delayed us. Between this spot and the
mouth of the Nichare, the river, although rapid in places,
does not present such difficulties as at Mura and Piritu.
•Curassows and penelopes were more plentiful than lower
down, and several were shot. Longacre killed two water
snakes, measuring nearly eleven feet each. These water
snakes appear to be common enough on the Caura and
its tributaries, and some of them, according to the stories
of both Indians and Venezuelans, grow to an enormous
size. There is a widespread belief among the inhabitants
of Venezuela and Colombia that there are snakes forty feet
long and as big as a barrel, and that these huge reptiles
can crush and swallow an ox.

At nine o'clock on the morning of the 27th we reached
the mouth of the Nichare. On the right bank of
the Caura, opposite to the spot where the Nichare joins
it, masses of rock piled up in heaps, with large slabs
between, adjoin the shore, which is steep and densely
wooded. During the rainy months these rocks are under
water, but they were at the time of our visit fully exposed.
The boats were soon discharged of their cargo, as it was
my intention to leave everything not absolutely required
for the Nichare expedition at this spot, to be taken on our

THE NICHARE 179

return. The men spent the rest of the day building a hut
on the bluff above. In this hut the provisions and other
articles destined for the Journey above the falls of Para
were stored. The boats were then loaded v^^ith the things
we meant to take with us, and our departure fixed for the
following day.

180 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANA S

CHAPTEK XIII

EXPEDITION TO THE NICHAEE, DECEMBEE 22, 1900-
JANUARY 28, 1901. THE NICHABE

My first tapir — Morocotos — Otters— The rubber industry — The rubber
on the Nichare — Establishment of settlements— New birds obtained —
News of Facundo's death — Eeturn to La Prision.

The Nichare is wide at its mouth, but beyond the rapids
of La Raya it narrows to a breadth of about 150 yards.
I did not notice any appreciable diminution in its
volume at Pozo Bravo, the farthest point reached, so
that the river must be navigable for a considerable dis-
tance beyond.

My boat, with Isidor as pilot, was the first to reach
La Baya. The ascent of this rapid is arduous and risky.
The number of rays which infest the Nichare, and which
appear to be particularly abundant at this spot, make the
navigation of the river doubly difficult ; for the men, being
afraid to get into the water at critical moments when it is
necessary that the boats should be pushed off any shallow
spot where they may have grounded, lose so much time
in jumping overboard that the boat is generally swamped
before it can be floated. These rays, so dreaded by both
Venezuelans and Indians, belong to the family of the
sting-rays whose tails are armed with spines secreting
a poisonous mucus. Maite described most graphically to
me how he was once wounded by a sting-ray, and how

MY FIRST TAPIR 181

for weeks after he was confined to his hammock unable
to move. From the caution he displayed whenever he had
to get into the water where sting-rays might be expected,
he must really have suffered severely.

We landed on some rocks on our right just below the
rapids, where tufts of stunted trees grow from between
the rubble forming the banks at this spot. The men
having got on shore were preparing the ropes for hauling
the boats up stream, when Isidor, who was in front,
crouched close to the ground, and, pointing ahead,
whispered loud enough for me to hear, 'Don Andre,
Danta.' ^ Not 100 yards away, under a clump of small
trees, was a large tapir. He did not seem to have noticed
us, for he moved slowly out into the open, biting off
leaves here and there from the small bushes as he strolled
along, I had an old Winchester rifle I had picked up as
a bargain, and a very bad bargain it turned out to be, for
the rifling had been destroyed by its having been used
as a shot-gun. With this wretched weapon I fired four
shots at the tapir, who continued to graze without paying
any attention to the loud reports of the shots. Throwing
down the rifle I took my twelve-bore, and, creeping
stealthily to within a few yards of my victim, I let him
have both barrels. He fell on his haunches and I put an
end to his sufferings by firing at close quarters into one
of his ears. This was my first tapir, and one is generally
proud of his first kill of any particular wild animal, but
the slaying of this miserable-looking beast was not a feat
to boast of. He was wretchedly thin, and his hind-
quarters, deeply scored, showed that he had but recently
escaped from the claws of a jaguar. The wounds had not
healed and were full of worms. He had escaped from

' ' Don Andr6, a tapir.

182 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

one beast of prey only to fall a victim to the most destruc-
tive of all animals. We left the carcase where it was and
returned to the boat.

During the ascent of the Kaya one of the boats filled
with water, wetting the cargo, and rendering many of the
articles useless. The river was actually swarming with
fish. As our boat had got through first, Isidor, while we
were awaiting the arrival of the others, exhibited his skill
in fish-spearing. Considering the rapidity of the current
his performance was a marvel of dexterity. The fishes
caught were all Morocotos and some of them were of quite
a respectable size. The Morocoto is one of the most
esteemed of fresh-water fish on the Orinoco and its
tributaries. It is not so plentiful on the lower reaches of
the Caura, where much fishing has been done, but above
the Indian settlement at Mura it is abundant. When
certain forest-trees are in fruit the Indians catch many
Morocotos with rod and line. The tackle used is of the
most primitive description, but it gives excellent results.
A strong green rod cut from some sapling on the river's
edge, about ten feet of coarse line, and a large hook — that
is all. A piece of fresh meat or bird-flesh serves as bait.
This fishing is done by two men, one at the bow who
casts the line, and one at the stern who paddles and
steers. The boat is allowed to drift with the current,
the paddle being used as a rule only for steering. Deep
pools close to the bank, especially where there are over-
hanging branches of the copaiba-tree in fruit, are the
best spots for casting. The bait is thrown with a splash
in front of the boat, and this is repeated every few seconds
until a fish is hooked. The Morocoto is a powerful and
plucky fish, and would afford capital sport with a regular
rod and reel. What more exciting sport could any

OTTERS 183

adventurous angler desire than fishing for Morocotos from
a small dug-out in dangerous rapids ?

After leaving the rapids of La Eaya we saw a good
many otters. Some were basking on the rocks, others
were swimming about. These animals are excellent
divers ; whenever they saw the boats coming they would
raise their heads above the water and snort loudly, but
they did not allow us to get close before diving. In any
case it would have been useless to shoot them in the
water, for their bodies sink and cannot be recovered.
Isidor told me that they destroy large quantities of fish ;
in this they resemble the other members of the familv
found in different parts of the world.

We stopped early, and the things which had got wet
at La Kaya were spread out to drj^ The bag of salt was
quite saturated. This was serious, as salt happened to
be very scarce when we left La Prision, and I had to
be content with a quantity barely sufficient to meet the
requirements of the trip. At night I had a strong attack
of fever preceded by rigor and accompanied by violent
headache, pains in every bone and muscle, and difficulty
in breathing. I knew from the symptoms that I had
contracted the dreaded malarial fever of the Caura which
had very nearly squared all my terrestrial accounts in
1898.

At ten o'clock on the morning of December 31 we
reached Pozo Bravo, our destination. An island occupies
the middle of the stream, and there we pitched our camp.
The small hut built by Eichard on our first trip, when he
explored the Nichare whilst I was at La Prision, was still
standing, although in a somewhat dilapidated and leaky
condition. The men repaired it and used it as a store-
house for our effects ; it served in addition as an hospital

184 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

for me during the twent3^-one days we remained on the
island. As I was far too unwell to look after anything,
Longacre took my place and superintended the work
of exploration of that part of the rubber region on the
Nichare discovered and opened up by Kichard in 1897
and 1898. The object of our expedition was, in the first
place, to find out whether the rubber-producing trees
existed in sufficient numbers to warrant the investment
of capital in their exploitation ; in the second, to ascertain
what quality of rubber they produced and in what
quantity.

In our experiments the system employed for obtain-
ing the latex or milk is the one in vogue amongst
the seringueiros of the Amazon. The seringiieiros, or
caiicheros as they are called, usually work in families or
parties of several individuals. Their first care when they
discover some locality possessing within its radius a suffi-
cient number of trees to render a remunerative return, is
to cut tracks from tree to tree, so that each tree may
be visited daily without difficulty. They then clear away
the creepers and undergrowth surrounding the trunks of
the trees, after which they clean the bark thoroughly by
rubbing it with leaves. Everything is now ready for the
process of tapping. This is done by torchlight before
daybreak or with the first streaks of dawn, for it is at
this time that the flow of latex is most abundant. The
seringueiro goes from tree to tree armed with a tiny
hatchet and carrying on his back a basket full of small
tin cups with a tack-like protuberance on one side which
is flat. He makes several incisions with his little hatchet
in the bark of the tree, and he pins a cup under each
so that the escaping sap may run into it. A novice at
tapping obtains but a poor result. The old hand, on the

ON THE NICHARE-TAPPING A RUBBER TREE

THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 185

contrary, who can tell from long experience where the
arteries run, makes his incisions only in such places as
yield an abundant flow. It was chiefly for the purpose
of instructing the men in this branch of rubber collecting
that my partner had given us the benefit of the female
expert's company. But her lord and master, who had
resented the attentions paid her by the cook and others
on the way, objected strongly to her serving as school-
mistress to her admirers in the solitude of the forest ; so
that she was more like a firebrand in a village of thatched
huts than the peaceful lamp of learning my partner had
intended her to be. And that is why I spoke of her,
when referring to the composition of our party, as the
apple of discord ; not an apple of the choicest variety it
is true, but good enough in the wilderness where there
were no other apples, to cause dissensions which gave me
a great deal of trouble and hampered our experiments.

The seringueiro having treated his batch of trees in
the manner described, returns to the hut where he and
the rest of the party eat and rest until nine or ten o'clock,
when they revisit the trees, remove the cups, pour their
contents into larger vessels, and then replace them under
the incisions, taking care to keep the latter clean and
open by removing any coagulated milk that may obstruct
the flow of fresh latex. There remains to be performed
the operation of smoking the milk, so as to produce the
ordinary raw rubber of commerce known when it comes
from the Amazon region as Para rubber. Certain nuts,
especially the seeds of a kind of palm, are preferred for
smoking, but where such nuts are not obtainable branches
and twigs are used. The seringueiro, having prepared his
fire, dips a paddle-shaped piece of wood into his vessel of
latex, so that a thin coat of the milk adheres to the blade

186 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

of the wood, which he holds over the smoke for a few
moments, turning it round and round in order to expose
every part of the surface to the action of the smoke.
When he considers the first coat to have been smoked
sufhciently, he again dips the paddle into the raw milk,
obtaining a second coat, which he treats in the same
manner. The operation is repeated until a mass of
rubber of the size desired is obtained. This is removed
from the paddle-shaped instrument by cutting it open
with a sharp knife, and in this form it is exported after
having been dried gradually by being hung up in the
shade, under the branches of trees.

I have described in detail the process employed by
the Brazilian collectors for obtaining and preparing their
rubber, because it was the one adopted by us in our
experiments. There is a cruder system where the tin
cups, or, to give them their name, the tigelinhas, are
replaced by a belt of bark, fastened tightly around the
tree in an inclined direction. Wherever there are inter-
stices in the belt they are filled with clay. The incisions
are made above the belt so that the milk is barred in its
downward progress, and running along the incline, falls
into a calabash or some other receptacle placed to receive
it. This system of obtaining the latex, although easier
than working with tigelinhas, suffers from certain dis-
advantages. A strong shower of rain will wash away the
clay after the belts have been prepared, in which case the
whole work has to be done over again. The waste is ever
so much greater, and the milk in its course along the trunk
of the tree and the belt picks up many impurities that
detract from the value of the rubber. Moreover, the belts,
if not re noved, cut through the bark, stop the circulation
of sap, and eventually kill the tree.

THE HI BBEU ON THE NICHARE 187

While I was laid up Longacre made excursions in
different directions, so as to determine whether the
rubber-producing trees existed in abundance in the
locality. He also carried on a regular system of tap-
ping, obtaining samples of rubber and herbarium
specimens of the tree producing it. I gathered from
him on our return to La Prision, for I was too ill to
think of or discuss any subject while we were on the
Nichare, that the rubber- trees exist in numbers, especially
in the low-lying lands, which would appear to be partially
flooded at certain seasons of the year, but that the yield
of milk per tree was disappointing. What surprised both
of us was, that although in his experiments he had
obtained as I have said but a poor result, yet he daily
met with proofs that the trees must at times produce
ever so much more latex than when he carried on his
operations. Large flakes of coagulated milk were
observed where accidental injuries had happened to
some of the trees. In the Amazon region it does not
pay to tap the trees except at a certain season ; it is
probable that the same conditions exist on the Nichare^
but it is unlikely that the seasons coincide. That is a
matter to be settled, so far as the Nichare is concerned,
by a series of experiments extending over the greater
part of the year. Regarding the tree producing the
rubber Dr. L. Britton says :

' Referring to the samples of rubber gum, and the
accompanying specimens of the foliage and flowers of the
tree which you described to me as producing them, I
would say that I am informed by Dr. John K. Small,
Curator of the Herbarium of Columbia University, that
the tree is a species of the genus Micrandra, natural
family, Euphorbiacese, closely related to the genus

188 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Hevea. It appears from Dr. Small's studies that the
species come nearest to Micranclra siphonioids of Brazil,
but that it is probably different, and most likely is an
undescribed species. All the Micrandras hitherto known
are Brazilian.'

With respect to the rubber itself the following report
was sent us : —

' Keport on Three Samples of Orinoco Eubber, by
John Murphy, Supt. Gutta Percha and Rubber
Mfg. Co., Factory, Brooklyn, New York.

' This rubber is of good quality and clean, and if
properly cured would class very nearly with medium
Para. At present I consider it fully equal to good coarse
Para.

* The rubber vulcanises readily and well ; I find no
material difference between the samples as to quality,
but there is a difference in regard to shrinkage, as
follows : —

' Sample A lost 17 per cent.
C 21

„ B „ 32 „
Sample A represents the pressed thin sheets.

„ B ,, „ wet clean unpresscd sheet or

ball.
„ C „ „ scrappy ball.'

I have entered into all these details here because
rubber is to-day required for so many important indus-
tries that the discovery of fresh sources of supply cannot
fail to interest a large number of people. Unfortunately,
under existing circumstances 1 do not believe that the
successful exploitation of the forests on the Nichare

ESTABLISHMENT OF SETTLEMENTS 189

would be possible. How can any enterprise be expected
to give satisfactory results in a country which might
well be called the Land of Strife, where, during the last
five years, there have been no fewer than three serious
revolutions resulting in changes of government, without
taking into account risings of a less important nature ?
Let us assume that a change would come over the spirit
of this restless race, and that most of the men would
make up their minds to work, leaving the question of
government in the hands of a few — and this is a bold
assumption — then the profitable development of the
country's resources would become possible. But even
then it would be some time before a forest product,
even so valuable a one as rubber, situated in a region
devoid of population and difficult of access, could be
made to pay.

The first step towards the successful working of the
rubber on the Nichare would be the establishment of a
settlement or settlements like La Prision and Temblador,
which are practically self-supporting, on the banks of the
river. Expeditions such as ours, where every necessary
has to be carried over a great distance, are far too costly to
give profitable results. Considering that it takes ten days
to reach Pozo Bravo from La Prision and two to return,
some idea can be formed of the expense incurred where a
large number of men have to be paid and fed for utterly
unremunerative work. Besides, the men after days of
paddling against the strong current, and the still harder
work of hauling the boats through the rapids, are tired
and disheartened when they reach their destination. But
the greatest of all the benefits to be obtained by the
establishment of settlements such as La Prision and
Temblador in an uninhabited and unexplored region.

190 A NATURAIJST IN THE GUI AN AS

is that the settlers wander about in their leisure
moments, undertake hunting excursions into the forest,
open tracks in all directions, and explore the rivers and
creeks, so that with time they come to know the country
thoroughly and are able to move about with confidence
and rapidity, which is not the case with those taking
part in casual expeditions. I am convinced that at some
future period the rubber industry on the Nichare, and in
other hitherto unexplored parts of the basin of the Caura,
will form an important source of revenue to whomsoever
may then possess that part of Venezuela.

While Longacre and his gang attended to the
commercial part of our expedition, the Trinidad men were
employed collecting birds and butterflies, but they suffered
so much from fever that, although they did their best, we
did not obtain the results I expected. Jacobson attended
to the labelling of the specimens ; Villegente prepared
the skins. My men collected some good Callistes, among
which were two males and one female of the beautiful
Calliste paradisea. They also obtained the new Micro-
cerculus caurensis ^ and Bamphastos haematorhynchus,'^
and a king-tody.

On the 6th the Indians, Isidor and Vicente, left us
without warning. They must have sneaked out of camp
at dead of night, for no one was aware of their departure
until it was discovered that the small boat was missing
and that they had disappeared. I was very ill on that
day and on the three or four following ones, so ill, as I
learnt from Jacobson afterwards, that he and Longacre
had fixed upon a nice cool spot at the foot of a large tree
as a suitable resting-place for my fever-stricken remains.

' No. 12 of Novitatcs Zoologiccd, voL ix., April 1902.
2 Ibid., No. a38.

CALLISTE PARADISEA

■VSnoenfcBjsooWsD^fi^San LefJiOi

NEAVS OF FACUNDO^S DEATH 191

I have no doubt that my illness was the cause of the
Indians abandoning us, for these people have a horror of
being in the presence of death. Strangely enough, Maite
did not accompany them, but remained vi^ith us.

The men who had gone with Facundo to La Prision
returned on the 17th (January). Isidor and Vicente came
with them, having decided, I suppose, that I was either
dead and buried or convalescent ; so that in either case
they had nothing to fear. Their arrival was the cause of a
good deal of commotion in our camp, as they reached Pozo
Bravo late at night, long after the men had retired to rest,
and they bore down upon the island shouting and yelling
in true warlike fashion. The men, awakened from their
slumbers in this unceremonious manner, believed that we
were being attacked by all the Taparitos on the Nichare,
and they rushed about looking for their guns and cut-
lasses in the wildest confusion. Isidor and his companions,
when they realised that they were being mistaken for a
hostile invasion, promptly and emphatically declared who
they were, which was a thoughtful proceeding on their
part. After the commotion occasioned by the return of
the Waiomgomo prodigals had subsided, Isidor paid me
a visit and gave me the news. Of course no allusion was
made to his defection. Even if I had had the desire I
did not have the strength to quarrel with him over the
matter, and what does one ever gain by quarrelling with
a man over his religious scruples or superstitious fears ?
Besides, he had wisely thought of bringing a present of
eggs and fresh provisions tastefully arranged in a basket,
which he handed me with so much grace while he came
to my hammock and anxiously asked how I felt, that I
could not do anything else but thank him for his present.
He told me of Facundo's death and related incidents of

192 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI ANAS

his trip : how he had killed a pauji at one spot and seen
a tapir at another ; and how he and Vicente had committed
havoc among the vwrocotos at Piritu ; to all of which I
listened in a dreamy sort of way, until seeing that I was
tired he went outside and slung his hammock between
two trees close to the entrance of the hut.

During the three following days I improved sufficiently
to be able to stand for a few seconds at a time. On the
20th (January) the boats were loaded. Early on the
morning of the following day I was carried down to the
boat prepared for me, and placed on the blankets arranged
so that I might lie down comfortably. Then we bade
adieu to Pozo Bravo and our island camp, and hurried
down the stream aided by its powerful current. At two
in the afternoon we reached the Caura and took possession
of our hut on the bluff opposite the Nichare. That night
the two Indians, Isidor and Vicente, and one of the
Venezuelans, took the smallest boat and left us. We
stayed three days at the hut, during which I improved
slowly. On January 25 we left for La Prision, which we
reached on the 28th.

mi

CHAPTi!R XIV

La Prision, January 28-February 22, 1901 — Peccaries — Method of camping
— Water tortoises — Eggs of the water tortoise — Para — Orchids — Indian
method of carrying loads — flies and ants — Above the Falls of Para —
Tapir hunting.

We reached La Prision, as I have said, on January 28.
As I realised that it would be at least two or three weeks
before I would be able to attempt a second Journey,
I dismissed the Venezuelans. I decided also to take
advantage of Longacre's return to Ciudad-Bolivar to send
two of my Trinidad men with him, one of whom, the
East Indian, was suffering from abscesses, the other from
chronic laziness. Maite remained with me and kept our
larder supplied with water tortoises and fish by spending
his days on the river in Medina's small curiara. Pedro
Hospedales and Asoque, who went hj the name of Chichi,
continued collecting birds. Freddy spent most of his
time with a butterfly-net in his hands, adding to our
entomological specimens. By February 10 I was strong
enough to walk. Longacre was eager to get to Ciudad-
Bolivar, and as nearly all our provisions had been exhausted
I determined to send some men with him to Puerto
Antonio Liccioni to purchase the necessaries for our
voyage beyond the falls of Para. For this purpose I
engaged ' the Pirate,' Pancho Montenegro, and Ramon
Ramirez. On the morning of the 12th the party left

0

194 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

La Prision. I bade adieu to Longacre with feelings of
genuine regret, for in addition to being a good companion
he had nursed me through my illness with rare devotion,
spending many a sleepless night near my hammock after
a hard day's tramp through the forest. * The Pirate ' and
his companions were instructed to return as quickly as
possible after completing the purchase of the articles
required for the trip. As Medina had an ox he wanted to
get rid of, I bought it, and we prepared our own meat.
The doomed beast having been tied by the head to the
trunk of a mango-tree near the house, was stabbed behind
the horns, dividing the spinal column. When his throat
was cut some of the women caught the blood in gourds
in which a little pepper and salt had been put. The
clotted mass was fried and eaten as a delicacy. The tripe
was thrown away. So far as I have been able to judge
tripe is rarely eaten in Venezuela. After the meat had
been cut into strips and salted it was dried for several days
in the sun. Only one incident worth recording occurred
after I had sent to Puerto Antonio Liccioni for supplies.
One day at noon the clearing was invaded by a band
of peccaries numbering at least 100 individuals. In a
moment the whole settlement was in an uproar. The
peccaries scampered about, grunting and uprooting the
provisions ; the men shouted ; the women shrieked ;
while the boys and girls yelled. Had the settlers been
properly armed quite a number of the animals might have
been killed. As it was four were secured before they took
to flight. Some of the men followed them into the forest
and slew three more. That day and for a couple of days
after we feasted on peccary.

' The Pirate ' and his companions returned from
Puerto Antonio Liccioni on the 20th. The 21st was

METHOD OF CAMPING J 95

spent repairing the boats and getting everything ready
for our start on the following day.

When we left the settlement on the 22nd our party
consisted of fourteen men with three boats. The Indians
who had formed part of the expedition to the Nichare,
with the exception of Maite, refused to go with me on
this occasion. They said the dry sesaon was coming to
an end, and should the rains set in early we would be
unable to cross the falls of Para on our return, which
would mean death from starvation. Although I realised
that there was a good deal of reason in their arguments,
I determined to make the attempt. Besides Jacobson and
Villegente there were in this expedition the three men
from Trinidad, Pedro Hospedales, Freddy Hospedales,
and Pedro Asoque; the Venezuelans from La Prision,
Pancho Montenegro, Epifanio Munoz, Juan Silva,
Laureano Kodriguez, Bamon Kamirez, Mateo Ramirez
and his son, and Luis Urbana, alias 'the Pirate.'

The river was so low that we were able to ascend the
rapids of Mura by the channel of Cinco mil pesos. Maite
told us that he did not remember ever having seen so
little water in the Caura. At night we encamped on an
island at the head of the rapids. For Jacobson and
Villegente, and the other men whom I had brought from
Trinidad, pitching camp was an easy matter not occupy-
ing more than a couple of minutes. In addition to his
hammock each man had a long oil-cloth. By tying a
pole between the two trees to which the hammock was
slung, the oil-cloth could be placed so as to afford complete
protection from rain. The Venezuelans who were not
similarly provided were in the habit, if the weather
happened to be rainy, of building ranclios under which
they passed the night. Poles being lashed to four trees

o 2

196 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

in the form of a square, support the rafters upon which
either palm-branches or the long broad leaves of the wild
banana are strewn. Such a ranclio can be constructed
in less than half an hour, and when the hammocks are
slung between the trees, beneath the thick covering of
branches, with a big log-fire outside, the place looks quite
snug and comfortable.

As I have already described the Caura as far as the
mouth of the Nichare, any further description would be
tedious. We reached the hut we had built opposite this
affluent on February 26. Maite said that it would take
three days to get to the falls of Para. Above the mouth
of the Nichare there are numerous sandbanks and many
rocks. The season had been a very dry one and the
banks were in consequence fully exposed. At this time
of the year these sandbanks are resorted to by numbers
of water tortoises for the purpose of laying their eggs.
These tortoises are called Terecays by the natives and
are a favourite article of food. Different methods are
employed for catching them. When the river rises con-
siderably, so that the waters reach the vegetation on its
banks, the Terecay may be speared while feeding off the
leaves and young shoots of certain plants which are then
partially submerged. Although the Terecay is shy, and
to get near enough to use the spear requires a good deal
of caution and skill, the Indians were usually successful
whenever they went out spearing during the creciente, as
the rising of the river is called. These tortoises are also
caught with fish-hooks baited with meat. During the
laying season on bright moonlight nights the tortoise
hunters conceal themselves in the bushes at the river's
edge adjoining some sandbank, where they await the
arrival of the Terecays who come to lay their eggs. The

EGGS OF WATER TORTOISES 197

reptiles like to get well away from the water's edge before
they begin to dig the nest in which the eggs are to be
deposited, so that the men are able to rush out and
intercept them. The jaguar employs exactly the same
method when hunting the water tortoise and other turtles.
The Indians on several occasions called my attention to
the fresh footprints on the sand of this beast of prey, and
once we came across the remains of a tortoise torn open
and devoured only a few hours before our arrival. Con-
sidering how" strongly joined together are the carapace
and plastron of the tortoise, some idea may be formed
of the strength required to tear them asunder, a feat the
jaguar performs apparently with ease. The Terecay is a
ferocious brute, snapping viciously at anything that comes
in its way. This habit, joined to the distinctly snake-like
appearance of its head, gives the creature a fierce repulsive
aspect. Its flesh is however excellent, and I was always
glad to have stewed Terecay for dinner. In all the
Indian houses the carapaces of water tortoises and turtles
are used as utensils for keeping various articles of food.

In hunting for eggs on the sandbanks the Indians are
marvellously expert. I have often seen them stand up in
the boat and point out spots M'here eggs were likely to be
found. They rarely made mistakes. We obtained large
quantities of eggs all the way as far as Para. Many of
them were in the embryo state, some being far advanced,
but this made no difference to the men, who ate every
egg they found in a nest, whether fresh or not. There
are times when the eggs of the Terecay are quite bitter.
This is due, the Indians told me, to the tortoise feeding
on a certain berry having an intensely bitter taste. The
eggs are like a pigeon's in size and shape. As they get
spoilt in two or three days, the Indians boil them for a

198 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

long time and then spread them out in the sun. Thus
treated they last much longer, but they lose in flavour.

B3' midday on March 1 we got to a part of the river
having ranges of hills running parallel to the banks.
These hills are offshoots of the plateau from which the
Caura falls at Para. At some remote period this plateau
must have extended to the spot where we were, perhaps
farther, but the river had cut back to where the falls now
are. Whenever the wind blew from the direction of Para
we could hear the dull roar of falling water, which grew
louder as we got nearer, until at last we were in sight of
a foaming cataract tumbling and rushing through a deep
gorge. Just above the falls the Caura divides to form an
island of between seven and nine miles in length. By
a succession of cataracts the two streams rush through
gorges at each side of the island, to meet at its foot in
a deep pool. The right-hand stream is of much greater
volume than that on the left, which, after a severe drought,
dries almost completely up. When the river is low the
pool where the streams meet is calm, and its banks are
stretches of beautifully white sand, with backgrounds
consisting of coal-black rock supporting in places a
vegetation of flowering shrubs and orchids. It is then
a very lovely, peaceful-looking spot, even the roar of the
falling water being subdued. I must confess that when
I saw the falls for the first time I was disappointed.
Although the scene was beautiful, it was not the picture
I had conjured up when the Indians had described, with
bated breath, the grandeur of Para.

We pitched our camp on the stretch of sand at the
foot of the island. The weather was so dry that the men
did not build any huts : they simply planted poles in the
ground in triangles and slung their hammocks between

IVMIA 199

them. It was truly an ideal spot for a camp. While I
lay on the sand enjoying the beauties of the scenery,
Maite, who like old Nestor delighted in telling stories of
his youth, sat beside me, and related how his brother and
four others of his tribe had perished in the pool many
years before when he was but a boy. They had started
from their home in the mountains at the sources of the
Erewato with the intention of reaching San Pedro, where
they expected to obtain knives, beads, and such other
trifles as gladden an Indian's heart. "When they got
to Para they found that the river ^vas in flood and the
whirlpool looked dangerous ; still five of the party
determined to make the attempt in their boat. In
describing the incident Maite made use of a series of
impressive gestures. He pointed to the middle of the
pool ; he swept his arms round wildly ; then he made a
movement as of one about to dive, and he gasped like a
drowning man ; finally, he lay his head upon his hands
and closed his eyes. The boat had been drawn into the
whirlpool, had been swept round and round, and had
then been sucked in. The men had struggled awhile,
fighting wildly for that life we prize so dearly, but their
efforts were vain. They had gone to rest with those who
sleep eternally.

Perhaps some day the falls of Para will be put to a
remunerative use. Considering that in the forest around
are many valuable tropical woods, the erection of a saw-
mill in this spot might be a paying concern, but I do
not believe that there is any chance of this occurring
in the near future. Personally I prefer to think of Para
in its wild uninhabited beauty, than to conjure up the
picture of some hideous timber building surrounded by
hovels at the foot of the falls.

^00 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

On the day after our arrival Jacobson and I went with
Pancho in the small boat as far into the main gorge as
we could with safety. We landed on an immense mass
of rock up whose slippery sides we clambered. From
this spot we had a splendid view along the defile. Huge
fragments of rock like the one we were standing on form
the bed of the gorge. These fragments are of a shining
black colour, and smooth and slippery, looking as if they
had been polished with plumbago. With a continuous
dull roar like the rumbling of thunder the water dashes
down the defile, hurling itself against the masses of rock
and breaking in foam over them. Jacobson took several
views of the gorge, after which we returned to our camp.
I noticed on the way many logs of from four to five feet
in length, with their ends as regularly rounded as if they
had been cut with some sharp instrument. In their
passage down the gorge they had been ground against the
rocks into this regular shape. We used some of these
logs as rollers when we hauled the boats over the stretch
of sand to the foot of the hill.

During the first three days after our arrival the men
were occupied cutting a track through the dense forest
which clothes the island up to the river above. On the
morning of March 5 the tedious operation of hauling the
boats overland was begun. We had two large boats,
much of the same size, and a small one. Of the larger
boats one was exceedingly heavy, having been dug out of
very hard timber. The lighter of the larger boats was
the first carried over the stretch of sand to the foot of the
hill where the portage began. Then with a long stout rope
and a pair of double pulleys, one attached to the head of
the boat, the other to a tree some twenty or thirty yards
in front, the boat was slowly hauled up over round logs

ORCHIDS 20J

placed crosswise on the track. The men sang lustily all
the time, but this did not appear to aid them to any great
extent in overcoming the difficulties of the first part
of the portage, which is the steepest. By midday, when
they came for breakfast, they had covered not more
than 200 yards. Day after day the men toiled with
the boats, Pancho, the cook, taking their sancocho to
them in a large tin, so that they would not have to
waste time by coming down to the camp in the middle of
the day to eat, I did not accompany them but stayed in
camp, suffering from fever almost every alternate day.
Pedro Hospedales shot a good many birds, some of which
had not been obtained in the collections made at La
Prision and on the Nichare, and Chichi killed a male
and female cock-of-the-rock ^ both in beautiful plumage.
Hawks were plentiful, and we secured many fine speci-
mens. Attracted by the refuse from Pancho's kitchen
they would come quite close to the camp, where they
generally met with a violent end.

My rambles were limited to the foot of the hills that
surround the pool and end in places in a perfect jumble
of rocks. Many of these rocks supported magnificent
masses of Cyrtopodmm Andersonii and Epidendrum elon-
gatum. Both orchids were in full bloom at the time of
our visit, so were many plants of Gattleya superba, which
is exceedingly abundant on the stunted moss-covered trees
on the rocky islands and banks of the Caura. Our camp
was in consequence always gay with flowers brought in
by Pedro and Chichi, who were aware of my passion for
orchids. Many lizards, several different kinds of insects,
and a queer little frog inhabit the fissures of the rocks.
These queer little frogs were particularly interesting to

' Rupicola crocea.

202 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

me. I did not observe them anywhere else except here,
although they probably exist in other places on the river,
but as v^^e did not remain long in any other spot except
Ameha, I did not have the same opportunities of studying
the smaller forms of animal life as at Para, where we
stayed seventeen days. These sprightly little reptiles are
from one to one inch and a quarter in length. They are
jet black underneath, with the upper part of the body and
head irregularly marked with orange-yellow bands and
spots. What struck me most was that no two individuals
appeared to be marked in the same way, each one having
a pattern or design of its own, as it were. They make a
chirping noise like a small bird, and they move about with
extraordinary rapidity, protruding their long tongues for
the purpose of catching small insects. If alarmed they
disappear with a quick leap into some crevice, where they
remain until they consider the danger over.

On March 9 the men told us that they had got two of
the boats to a spot about midway between where we were
and the river above. They said that it would save time and
be less fatiguing for them if we would remove our camp to
that spot, as they would not then have to make two long
journeys every day. The heaviest of the larger boats had
been dragged only to the top of the hill. On the morning
of the 10th, the provisions and our other things having
been made up into convenient packages so that they might
be carried by the men, we all walked to our new camp,
which we reached at about ten o'clock. Maite carried
his load in true Indian fashion. As he had done when
we explored Turagua, he constructed two oval frames,
about three feet in length, of thick pieces of pliable
creeper, with strips of bark woven between. Having
placed one of these frames on the ground, he spread the

FLIES AND ANTS 20JI

articles that went to form his load on it, after which he
lashed the other frame securely to the one beneath. A
broad band of bark was tied to the package and this he
stretched across his forehead, allowing the pack to rest on
his shoulders and back.

The method of carrying loads by a broad band across
the head is, as I observed during my first visit, common
to most of the American tribes ; even men and women
being carried across the mountains in chairs in this
manner. The carriers throw the body slightly forward
and proceed at a sort of trot, covering long distances with
a considerable weight.

During the afternoon the men made another journey
and brought the rest of our effects up. The whole of the
island was so densely wooded that we had to make a
clearing by cutting away the shrubs and smaller trees
before we could pitch our camp. This was a simple
affair, consisting of a low hut for storing our provisions,
clothing, and other effects. For ourselves, as we expected
to remain only a few days at this spot, we did not build
any ranclio. We merely spread oil-cloths over our
hammocks, slung between two trees. When we arrived^
and while the undergrowth was being cleared, we were
kept hotly engaged brushing off the ants with which the
place swarmed. A thick bed of rotten leaves lay on the
ground, and this harboured vast hordes of these disagree-
able insects, so that it was only after the place had been
well cleaned that we were able to enjoy any rest. Even
then not a day passed without our being stung several
times. This damp gloomy forest teems with insect life.
Besides ants, swarms of flies of different kinds used to
visit the camp daily. So assiduous were they in their
attentions that I often heard Jacobson, who is far from

204 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

being a profane man, swearing vigorously in English and
German alternately at everything connected with flies
and ants. This abundance of insect life attracted a large
number of insectivorous birds ; ant-thrushes especially
were plentiful, and we managed to secure a good many
specimens. Of these ant-thrushes I think one of the
most conspicuous is the white-crested Pithys alhifrons,
a bird common enough, but rarely seen except when the
hunting ants {Eciton Sp.) happened to be abroad.

As I have already described these ants and the ant-
thrushes in one of the chapters on the fauna of La Prision,
there is no need to refer to them in detail here.

We stayed on the island from March 10 to 17, the
men being engaged hauling the boats through the forest.
It rained a good deal, particularly during the nights, and
once we heard peals of thunder in the distance. If our
things got wet it was next to impossible to dry them, as
the little sunlight which reached us through the branches
and leaves of the trees gave no heat. Even our bird-skins
and other specimens were with difficulty kept from spoil-
ing in the humid atmosphere of this dense forest. Jacob-
son, some of the men and myself, had frequent attacks of
fever, due, I suppose, in a great measure, to the damp-
ness of the locality. We were all glad when on the
morning of March 17 we started in single file for the
river, where the two boats had been launched. We had
been forced to leave behind the heaviest of the dug-outs,
as it would have taken too much time to have carried it
across also. At midday we reached the place where the
boats were. The river at this spot is 1,000 feet above
sea-level, and its bed for several miles beyond is one
immense mass of rock. Some of the men remained in
camp washing their clothes ; Ramon Ramirez completed

TAPIR HUNTING 205

the repairs to the large boat, which had had a hole
knocked through its bottom during the portage ; ' the
Pirate ' and several others went out hunting with the
dogs ; Maite fished for Aymaras in the pool close by the
camp, using pieces of meat for bait. He caught several
of these voracious fishes, some of which were of a large
size. The Indians say that the Aymara is never caught
in the river below. On the other hand the Morocoto is
not found above the falls ; nor are electric eels. The
large alligator is replaced by a much smaller species
called Baba by the natives. In fact the falls of Para
appear to constitute an effectual barrier between distinct
forms of river life. The word Baudales as applied to
Para is to my mind misleading, for the same word cannot
be used indiscriminately with reference to Mura, Piritu,
and Para. The former are rapids, but the latter is a
succession of falls or cataracts. All the maps to which
I have had access give no idea whatever of the country
through which the Caura flows, although the course of
the stream is tolerably correct. At Para the land rises
abruptly some 800 feet to a plateau about 1,000 feet
above sea-level, and this plateau in its turn rises
gradually to 1,500 feet at Ameha and to some 2,000 feet
at the foot of the Merevari range. This tract of elevated
country must be of considerable extent ; it probably
constitutes the whole of the most northerly portion of
Brazil drained by the Branco and its tributaries.

It was almost dark when the men who had gone out
hunting returned. They brought the welcome news that
they had killed a fat tapir, which they had left on an
island some distance up the river. Three of them went
in the small boat to bring the meat into camp. In about
an hour's time they came back with the head and the

5506 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

four legs cut off at the joints where they meet the body.
The trunk they had sunk in a pool, placing heavy stones
■on it to prevent it from floating. They said that the
meat would be all the better for having soaked for a night
in water. A big log-fire had been made when the men
brought the news that a tapir had been killed, so that by
the time those who had been sent for the meat returned
everything was ready for the intended feast. The head,
with the skin left on, and v^dthout any preparation what-
ever, was placed on a sort of large gridiron made of green
sticks. The meat was cut off the other portions in strips ;
through these strips green twigs were stuck, and the twigs
being long enough were planted in the ground in a slant-
ing position so that the strips of meat hung over the fire.
The men sat around and recounted the day's hunt.
Although they had seen many fresh traces of tapirs after
leaving our camp, it was only late in the afternoon that
they succeeded in surprising and killing the one whose
flesh was simmering before us. Taken unawares the
poor beast, it appears, had leaped into a small but fairly
deep pool, where he was immediately surrounded bj^ the
hunters. Some of the men were armed with shot-guns,
others had cutlasses, and * the Pirate ' carried a lance.
The tapir, bewildered by the shouts of the men and the
barking of the dogs, made no attempt to break through
the circle and escape. Those who had guns discharged
them at close quarters into his body ; then the whole
band closed in upon him and hacked him to pieces after
the fashion of Brutus, Cassius, and company. ' The Pirate '
claimed the honour of having administered the death-
stroke, but he never succeeded in proving his case to the
satisfaction of his co-assassins, so that the point remained
a disputed one ; and, as it was never definitely settled, it

TAPIR HUNTING 207

gave rise to a good deal of contention whenever tapir
hunting formed the subject of conversation.

The men remained avv^ake nearly the vi^hole night
gorging and talking. It vi^as a weird scene — the ruddy
log-fire surrounded bj' half- naked men, the uncouth head
of the tapir on the huge gridiron, the bits of meat stuck
on twigs hanging over the flames. Anyone coming
suddenly upon us would have believed that he had
lighted on some cannibal feast. All the hard work of
the past three weeks was forgotten, even the grumblers
being happy. It is incredible what amount of food my
men could consume. The four legs of a tapir represent
a good deal of meat, yet in the morning nothing remained
of what had been brought in but the head, reserved as a
tit-bit — to me, massive and unsightly ; to the men, delicate
and savoury. The rest of the carcase was brought in
early, and having been cut in strips and salted, was
stretched on poles to dry in the sun. Meanwhile the
boats were loaded and it was arranged that we should
start immediately after the midday meal, so as to reach
before nightfall a difficult spot necessitating a portage.

208 A NATURALIST IiN THE GUIANAS

CHAPTEK XV

Guayarapo — Ayaima — Block-houses on the Ere wato — Tapir hunting-
Strange superstitions— Achaba— The sun-bittern— Suraima — Dining
under difficulties.

The dry season had been such a severe one that there
was but little water at the spot where the boats had been
launched, and in order to reach the main stream we had
to get out frequently and walk along the banks while the
men hauled the boats over the shallows. It was late
when we got to the mass of rock that runs right across
the river, forming a natural dam. Through this dam the
Caura flows by several channels, but by none of these
channels was it possible, at the time of our visit, to ascend
the river. The boats were unloaded so that everything
might be in readiness for the following day. Where we
had pitched our camp was a very picturesque spot. Below
the immense mass of rock over which the river rushes lay
a smooth deep pool of considerable extent, with banks of
white sand dotted with clumps of trees surrounding it.
Flocks of small parrots and numbers of macaws, always
in pairs, were flying across the river repairing to their
roosting-places. To see the macaw in all his beauty is
when the setting sun strikes with its rays the rich reddish
bronze of his outspread wings while he wends his way
with his constant partner to the leafy bower where he
passes the night.

It took the men the whole of the day (March 19)

GUAYARAPO 209

to get the boats and cargo over the dam. Pedro Hospe-
dales and Chichi were in the meantime most profitably
engaged adding specimens to my ornithological collection.
They had come across an inga-tree ' in full flower where
they obtained, besides other hummers, ten specimens of
one of the amethystine humming-birds {CallipMox ame-
thystina). Although I had spent eight months on the
Caura collecting birds, in 1897 and 1898, we never obtained
any examples of this humming-bird, nor did we during
the whole of this expedition meet with any except on
this occasion. The rocky bed of the dam over which the
river rushes was covered with a thick growth of Neolacis
conjmbosa. Wherever there were pools of greater depth,
other aquatic plants, including a Nipnjjhcea, existed. Small
flocks of noisy jacanas had taken possession of these pools
far from the haunts of men, and here many of them
might have ended their days in peace had not my ' boys '
decided that the cackling jacana deserves a place in every
collection of birds.

We paddled steadily for a whole day, passing many
sandbanks on which were families of terns of three or
four individuals. These birds build no nest ; they simply
scoop a shallow pit in the sand where they lay their eggs,
upon which they sit fully exposed to the burning rays
of the sun. It was late in the afternoon when we reached
that part of the river called Guayarapo. At this place
the Caura widens out considerably and flows through
hundreds of islands by a perfect labyi'inth of channels.
Many of the islands are of rock, with shrubs and stunted
trees growing in the hollows like those at the rapids of
Mura and Piritu ; others of larger size are of earth, and
they support a much more vigorous vegetation. While
' Inga ingoides.

P

SIO A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

on the moss-covered trees of the rocky masses Cattleya
superha and some other orchids are abmidant, none are
to be found on the larger forest trees growing on the
islands of alluvial formation. Curassows and penelopes
vsrere plentiful, and we saw tracks of tapirs everywhere.
So abundant were the former that it was no unusual
thing for us to kill ten or twelve of these large game-birds
before we stopped for our midday meal. After leaving
Guayarapo, the loveliest spot on the Caura is reached.
The whole volume of the river rushes through a gorge
not more than thirty feet wide, hemmed in by walls of
shining black rock. The Indians call these narrows
Ayaima. Above and below the passage, lake-like sheets,
dotted with islands, add to the beauty of the scene. One
can imagine that the stream gathers all its strength to
force a passage through the iron barrier in front of it and
then rests awhile before cutting its way through the
tortuous channels of Guayarapo. While our midday
meal was being prepared I wandered along the sand
which forms a dazzling fringe to one side of the lower
pool, the opposite bank being cliffs of dark rock mottled
with grey patches. I felt that I would never tire of
viewing from different spots the beauties of Ayaima.

Quite close to these narrows the Erewato falls into
the Caura. The main stream above this point as far as
its source is called the Merevari. Maite was unable to
explain why the same river should be known by names
so different, but he was very particular all the same, from
the moment we passed the mouth of the Erewato, never
to make use of the word Caura when speaking of the
river. '\\Tiile we were in the vicinity of the tributary at
whose head-waters our old Indian guide had passed the
days of his boj'hood, he described the country where he

BLOCK-HOUSES ON THE EUEAVATO 211

had been born and the village which he had left so many
years before. From his accounts the Erewato must be
an exceedingly difficult and dangerous river to navigate.
As far as I could understand, this river rises in very
mountainous country; yet his people were in the habit,
he told me, of crossing over to the Manapiari, one of the
tributaries of the Ventuari, for the purpose of trading
with the Indians who reside on the banks of that river.
This agrees with Humboldt's statement that in going
along the River Padamo he noticed a road across the
forests and savannahs which he was informed was the
length of ten days' journey from Esmeralda to the sources
of the Ventuari ; and from those sources, by the Erewato
the missions on the Eio Caura were reached. The history
of this road is interesting, for on it had been established
a chain of military forts consisting of block-houses, called
casas fuertes, mounted with swivels and occupied by small
bodies of troops.

The soldiers, left to themselves, exercised all kinds of
vexations on the natives {Indians of peace), who had
cultivated pieces of ground around the casas fuertes ; and
the consequence was that, in 1776, several tribes formed
a league against the Spaniards. All the military posts
were attacked on the same night, on a line of nearly fifty
leagues in length. The houses were burnt and many
soldiers massacred ; a very small number only owing
their preservation to the pity of the Indian women.
This nocturnal expedition is still mentioned with horror.
It was concerted in a most profound secrecy, and exe-
cuted with that spirit of unity which the natives of
America, skilled in concealing their hostile passions, well
know how to practise in whatever concerns their common
interests. Since 1776 no attempt has been made to

p 2

212 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

re-establish the road which leads by land from the Upper
to the Lower Orinoco, and no white man has been able
to pass from Esmeralda to the Erewato. It is certain,
however, that in the mountainous lands between the
sources of the Padamo and the Ventuari (near the sites
called by the Indians Aurichapa, Ichuana, and Irique),
there are many spots where the climate is temperate, and
where there are pasturages capable of feeding numerous
herds of cattle. The military posts were very useful in
preventing the incursions of the Caribs, who from time
to time carried off slaves, though in very small numbers,
between the Erewato and the Padamo. They would
have resisted the attacks of the natives if, instead of
leaving them isolated and solely to the control of the sol-
diery, they had been formed into communities governed
like the villages of neophyte Indians.

A few hours after leaving the Erewato we came across
a rude Indian rancho or hut. It had all the appearance
of having been abandoned only a few weeks before.
Maite, without hesitation, pronounced it to have been the
temporary dwelling-place of a party of hunters from the
"Waiomgomo village on the Merevari range. He said that
when Isidor, some other Indians, and himself lived for
several years at a spot a few miles higher up, which
he subsequently pointed out to me, the Waiomgomos in
their hunting expeditions had never, to his knowledge,
wandered so far from their village. From the number of
tapir and fish bones, and the quantity of feathers scattered
about in the vicinity of the abandoned hut, the Indian
hunters must have had quite a fine time of it.

On March 25, while getting through a short rapid,
we very nearly lost the small boat and her cargo.
Luckily the articles with which she was loaded were not

TAPIR HUNTING 213

of a kind to be spoilt by water. Almost immediately
after leaving what had very nearly been a scene of
disaster, we surprised a large tapir on some rocks in
the middle of the stream. * The Pirate's ' dogs sprang
overboard, and swimming to the spot forced him into the
water. The men paddled vigorously, keeping the boats
quite close to him while he headed for the shore, some-
times swimming, sometimes diving, and in his terror
making frantic efforts to out-distance us. Whenever he
rose to the surface the dogs would cling pluckily to his
ears, rendering it difficult for me to fire. He was only
a few yards from the bank when I got a good chance at
the back of his neck, wounding him mortally. He turned
right round and swam out into deep water, but his
strength was failing fast, and all he could do was to keep
his nose above water. The men determined to secure
him before he sank. Maite caught him by the ears,
' The Pirate ' made a slit through his snout, and Epifanio
deftly passed a piece of rope through it and secured him
to the stern of the boat. He was dead when we reached
land.

The cutting up of a tapir's carcase was about the
only piece of work over which my men did not waste
time or grumble. In this instance the dressing of the
meat was performed on a slab of rock close to the river's
edge, two of the men standing up to their knees in the water.
Attracted by the pieces of offal and clotted blood which
floated from the carcase, many large fishes kept darting
about, fighting for the dainty morsels. ' The Pirate ' was
severely bitten in the calf by one of these fishes. Judg-
ing by the howl he gave when the fish mistook his leg for
a piece of tapir, and the agility he displayed in getting
out of the river, I should say that the Ay?iiara is blessed

214 A NATURALIST IX THE GUIANAS

with a powerful pair of jaws. The men for hours after-
wards unfeehngly chaffed the sufferer, and laughed at his
lamentations. Close to the spot where the tapir was killed
an island, consisting of open stretches of rock with patches
of wood between, divides the stream into two channels.
"We stopped upon this island for the day, so that the men
might salt the meat and spread it out to dry. The scene
of gluttony T had witnessed at Para was repeated, the
men eating as if they had bets on the result. I
noticed also that the hoofs of this tapir, which happened
to be a male, were divided, marked, and carefully stowed
away, as had been done in the case of the other animal.
The men explained that the scrapings of the tapir's hoofs
possess extraordinary medicinal properties, but that par-
ticular attention must be paid to sex when administering
this wonderful remedy. On no account should the scrapings
from the hoofs of the male tapir be given to a man, nor
should those from the female animal be administered
to a woman. All the virtue possessed by this strange
medicine is annulled if the important question of sex be
disregarded. That is why the men were always careful to
mark the hoofs so as to be able to distinguish between
the masculine and feminine remedies afterwards. Many
other supernatural properties are attributed to these
worthless scrapings ; such, for instance, is the belief that
when a dog will not hunt he ought to be given a dose
of tapir medicine. I was unable to find out how these
absurd superstitions had arisen.

On the following day we were again lucky in killing
another tapir. We had left our camping-place early and
had paddled for about an hour against the strojig current,
keeping to the left, when we saw a tapir standing in
shallow water on the opposite bank. The men lost no

ACHABA 215

time in getting the boats across the river, but when we
were within 200 yards of our prey he scrambled up
the bank and disappeared in the bushes, to the intense
disgust of my companions, who had looked upon him as
good as dead. We continued paddling slowly towards
the spot where the tapir had entered the forest until we
were within sixty yards of the shore, when to my surprise
and the joy of the men, the doomed creature walked
slowly down the bank and stood on the open sand staring
stupidly at the boats. Who were these strange beings
who had invaded the unfrequented solitudes of his abode ?
His curiosity was the cause of his death. He fell where
he had been standing, and died without a struggle. A
few hours after his flesh, cut into long strips powdered
with salt, was spread out to dry on a rocky island at
the foot of the rapids of Achaba. Like Lot's wife he
had fallen a victim to his curiosity ; like Lot's wife a
thorough salting was the punishment he suffered for
wanting to know too much.

Our first camp at Achaba was at the foot of the
rapids, where the river after forcing its way through a
narrow gorge expands to the left, forming a deep calm pool
bounded on one side by an open stretch of sand rising
gradually to the hillock behind, and on the other by a
ledge of rock separating it from the main stream. The
scenery reminded me of that below the falls of Para, but
the hill at this place is of much smaller dimensions. It
had rained during the day, and when we arrived the sky
was still overcast, so the men built several ranclios in
which they slung their hammocks. Early on the follow--
ing morning the work of getting the boats through the
gorge was begun. We crossed over to the right, the
bank on that side being less precipitous than that on the

916 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

left, and the current not nearly so strong. At the upper
end of the gorge the river tumbles over a ledge of rock
in a fall of about four feet. The landing-places on both
sides of this small waterfall are expanses of rock covered
with fragments of all sizes and shapes, scattered about
or jumbled together in the most complete chaos. It was
a difficult bit of portage for a large heavy boat, and
although the distance to the river above where the boats
could be launched again did not exceed sixty yards, it
took us until late in the afternoon to get them over. We
encamped at the foot of another waterfall necessitating
a longer portage, but this time the portage was through
the forest over almost level land. From our camp we had
a good view of a part of the mountain of Achaba. This
was the first we saw of these solid square-shaped fortress-
like masses which are so peculiar a feature of the land-
scape on the Merevari. From a high rock close to the
waterfall above us there is a magnificent vista, the river
dashing in white foam through the dark gorge to glide
along the densely wooded banks beyond. The sombre
mass of Achaba looming in the distance is a fitting back-
ground to the mixed beauty and grandeur of the scene.

I made a rather cmious find at our camping-place.
The same hunting party of Indians who had preceded us.
of whom we had come across traces above the Erewato
and at other spots, had left behind a queer hat of the
exact shape of an ordinary straw hat, with the difference
that it was not plaited of straw but of the stalk of the
tirita {Ischnosiphon arouma), used in basket work, and the
holes of the plaiting were quite as large as those of an
ordinary cane-bottomed chair.

The day following our arrival at Achaba was devoted
to cutting a track through the forest and laying logs on

THE SUN-BITTERN 217

the ground for the portage of the boats. "While this was
being done Pedro and Asoque collected birds, and Jacob-
son wandered about taking photographs. By the after-
noon of March 31 the men had got the boats and their
cargoes overland to the head of the rapids, whither we
removed our camp in order to be in readiness to start at
daybreak. We left Achaba on All Fools' Day, as we were
reminded by the Trinidad men, who tried all sorts of
practical jokes on each other. We could have shot dozens
of penelopes on our way had we landed on any of the
islands, where whole flocks of these fine game-birds could
be seen sitting on the branches of the trees or running
about on the rocks.

Above Achaba the river for a considerable distance is
smooth, broad, and deep. To the men this was always a
welcome change to working in the rapids, which neces-
sitated their being in the water the greater part of the
day. In these deep parts of the Caura the banks are of
earth densely wooded to the very water's edge, or with
only a narrow stretch of muddy beach. These narrow
stretches of mud are frequented by sun-bitterns ^ and a
species of ibis ^ named horo-koro, after its call-note. On
one or two occasions we also saw in such localities a pair
of water-hens ^ or a solitary heron of the variety known
to the natives as pajaro vaca,^ the cow-bird, on account
of its cry recalling by its depth of tone the lowing of
a cow. Somehow the sun-bittern when in flight always
reminded me of the hundred-eyed Argus and his un-
pleasant job of keeping watch over lo in her aimless
wanderings through that part of the world known to the
Oreeks. On the Caura the sun-bittern is called Pavito

' Euryjnjga helias. - Harpiprion cayennensis.

^ Aramides cajanca. * Tigrisoma liiieatum.

218 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

real, but it is better known all over Venezuela as Tigana,
Sun-bitterns are easily domesticated and get quite tame.
I have often seen them wandering about the houses and
flying up on the dinner-tables to catch flies. They are
expert insect catchers, rarely missing their prey. They
have a curious habit of swaying their bodies from side to
side in a listless monotonous manner, but the sight of
an insect within range will at once call forth all their
energies. A steady aim, a quick lunge of the pointed
beak, and the victim is caught and swallowed. The horo-
koros interested us because they are such delicate eating.
These birds appear to be naturally of a very shy dis-
position, for although they are never shot at on the Caura
it is not easy to get within range of them. They have a
peculiar jerky manner of moving their wings when flying,
uttering at the same time the koro-koro from which they
derive their name.

Four days' steady paddling brought us to Suraima,
another difficult place to get through when the river is
low. All day long the men hauled the boats up through
narrow rapid channels or over masses of rock. It was
terribly hard work, and we were all glad when late in the
afternoon we camped above the rapids. On the following
day we had our first view of Arawa, and where we stopped
for the night on a shelving mass of rock the mountain
loomed ahead of us in forbidding grandeur. Just before
sunset the heavy bank of clouds which had been hanging
over its summit cleared up, revealing the height of its
precipitous sides and the fantastic shapes into which the
plateau above had been cut. Maite caught an enormous
Aymara, the biggest secured during the trip. He was
such a monster that the men, after gorging themselves

DINING UNDER DIFFICULTIES 219

with fish, actually left a piece over for the following day,
a very unusual thing for them to do. We were forced to
dine in the dark, any attempt to use a light attracting
myriads of flies, which got into our eyes and dropped into
our food. A steady drizzle fell the whole night and we
had to use our oil-cloths.

A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

CHAPTER XVI

Colonies of hang-nests — We push on to Am^ha — The tapir — Accident to
the large boat — First sight of Amdha —Insects and a bright light — We
kill another tapir — Iguanas — Amdha.

When we awoke in the morning the same sort of
weather prevailed. Arawa was completely hidden by
clouds, so that nothing could be done by Jacobson in the
way of taking photographs. With the exception of one
stretch where the current is strong, we found the river
easy for navigation. Whole flocks of penelopes were on
the open rocks, but in such places it was difficult to get
within range. On landing on some of these rocks I saw
a good many small slugs in the crevices and under the
loose stones scattered about. Perhaps the penelopes feed
on these slugs, and that would account for their visits to
places which would otherwise appear to offer no attraction
for such birds. The trees on the islands were in many
instances used by colonies of hang-nests, who were rearing
their yoimg at the time of om' visit. In fact, some of
the trees were literally covered with nests placed so close
together that it would be impossible to find room for an
additional one. The biggest colonies were those of the
yellow cassique {Gassicus alhirostris) and the scarlet-
backed cassique (Gassicus hcemorrJious) . It is a curious
fact that these birds almost always hang their nests in
close proximity to the hives of the marabunta. There
must be some understanding between the birds and these

COLONIES OF HANG-NESTS 221

terrible insects, otherwise how can we account for the hives
and nests being sometimes so close together that the birds,
in the frequent visits they make to their nests while feed-
ing their young have to brush past the marabunta hives ?
There is moreover a good deal of resemblance between the
nests and the hives. Both cassiques are favourite cage-
birds in Venezuela, but the yellow variety, being commoner,
is seen much more frequently in houses than the other.
While in Venezuela the yellow cassique is called Arrendajo,
it is known as OropSndola in Colombia. Singularly
enough many of the commoner birds are known under dif-
ferent names in the two republics, although the people of
both speak the same language and are of common descent.
At about ten o'clock on the morning of April 7 we
reached the mouth of the stream which flows from the
direction of Mount Arawa, and bears the same name. It
had rained steadily from daybreak and we were all wet to
the skin. The men built a substantial hut and stored our
things in it, as I determined, if it were possible to get
close enough to the mountain by the stream, to make this
spot a basis for its exploration. After breakfast Maite,
Pedro Hospedales, Pedro Asoque, and myself ascended
the stream in a small boat. At the end of about an
hour's paddling we reached a shallow rapid which pre-
vented our going any farther. From the foot of this
rapid we had a magnificent view of the stupendous preci-
pice forming one side of Arawa. We were still at a con-
siderable distance from the mountain, and I felt that with
the limited time at our disposal we would never be able
to cut a track through the forest to its base, and have
time to go to Ameha afterwards. With more water in
the stream in which we were I have no doubt that it
would be easy to get over the rapids and probably reach

222 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

the foot of the mountain itself, but, as matters stood, it
was necessary to decide between cutting a track through
the forest to Arawa and abandon the trip to Ameha, or
push on to the latter mountain. Maite, who knew the
country well, advised our going without delay to Ameha.
He said that although it would take us four or five days
to paddle up the river we would have fewer difficulties
to encounter in exploring Ameha than if we remained
where we were and attempted to get to Arawa. While
returning to our camp I was attacked by strong fever,
which lasted the whole night.

The Merevari, above where the Arawa joins it, has
cut its way through beds of conglomerate, the banks being
walls of masonry, as it were, with pebbles inserted in what
appears to be a sort of cement. These pebbles are mostly
of a dark slate colour, and are fairly uniform in size and
shape. In the bed of the stream itself were banks of large
round stones of a reddish-brown colour, over which the
current rushed with such force that the men had to get
out, and, wading up to their knees in the water, push the
boats up. We saw Arawa several times during the day.
At sunset we encamped at the foot of the rapids of Arichi.

Beds of large round stones similar to those seen on
the previous day encumbered the river and made it diffi-
cult for us to get the boats over the shallow parts. There
are three places in the rapids of Arichi where the river
falls over ledges of from one to three feet in height.
Every time we got to one of these ledges the boats had
to be unloaded and the cargo carried overland. At mid-
day we reached the last of these small waterfalls. The
men were taking the things out of the boats preparatory
to hauling them up, when there strolled out of the bushes,
^uite close to where Jacobson and myself were sitting

THE TAPIR 223

under a tree, a small tapir. I called out to Epifanio to
get me my rifle, but in his excitement and haste he
slipped and fell, and made so much noise floundering
about in the water that the animal took fright and bolted
back into the forest. He came out a little higher up and
plunged into the rapids, where such an animal as a horse
or a donkey would have been drowned in a moment. I
could not but admire the ease with which he crossed the
stream, avoiding the most dangerous parts, yielding to
the current where he could not make any headway against
it, and tumbling over the falls as if he were actually enjoy-
ing himself, and not swimming for his life. Finally he
clambered up the opposite bank, and disappeared in the
forest. It always struck me as strange that an animal so
clumsy in build and apparently so unfitted for swimming
should be so much at home in the water. The tapir is a
singularly timid and harmless quadruped much preyed on
by the jaguar. Were it not for the safety this powerful
but defenceless creature can obtain by taking to the water
whenever it happens to be attacked by some beast of prev,
it is not unlikely that it would be very much rarer, if not
actually extinct.

After the men had hauled the boats over the last ledsfe
we found that it would be necessary to drag them for some
distance across a stretch of shingle bristling with sharp
pointed rocks firmly embedded in it. At this spot there
was nowhere more than a foot of water, while in certain
places the depth was much less, being a matter of inches.
I pointed out to the men that it would be unsafe to
attempt to get the boats over so dangerous a spot without
lajring logs under them to prevent their being injured
by the rocks. I felt particularly anxious about the
large boat, the one that had given us so much trouble

A NATURALIST L\ THE GUIANAS

at Para, and as I had noticed when we had repaired it after
the portage that it was worn quite thin below, I could not
help thinking that the least strain would cause a rent
entailing a delay of days to make good. The men insisted
that they would get the boats over without accident, and
vvhenever they agreed on any point and made up their
minds in a body I knew that it was useless to argue wich
them, so I let them have their way, praying devoutly all
the while to the Goddess of Fortune to give us some luck.
The trouble came when they had got about half-way
through, and I had the grim satisfaction of having proved
a true prophet. I had, in addition, the unsatisiactorj'^
pleasure of swearing at all 2^^ons in general and at mine
in particular in the choice vernacular employed by them-
selves when they exchanged courtesies during a misunder-
standing. The afternoon and the greater part of the
following day were employed repairing the damage caused
by the lack of foresight and prudence for which my
followers were distinguished. It was fortunate that I had
brought some carpenter's tools, nails, oakum, and pitch.
We overhauled the old dug-out thoroughly and did the
best we could with it, but I could not help noticing how
worn and thin and rotten in places was the shell which
carried us and our belongings.

On April 10, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, we
not to the mouth of the Arichi. This affluent, like the
Arawa, takes its name from the mountain where it rises.
What ought to have been our midday meal was cooked
on a large bare mass of granite so situated that we had a
good view up the Arichi on one side and down the Mere-
vari on the other. A sharp bend in the course of the
main stream prevented our seeing anything in the direc-
tion of Ameha ; the grey cliffs of Arichi, however, were

FIRST SIGHT OF AM:^HA 225

plainly visible, but this mountain is not nearly so imposing
in appearance as Arawa.

It was nearly four o'clock when we finished our meal,
and although the spot where we were would have made
a good camping-place, I determined to paddle up stream
until dark. I was eager to get a first glimpse of our
destination, so long looked forward to, so difficult to reach.
We took our places in the boats and I hurried the men
on, setting the example by paddling vigorously myself.
Almost suddenly we shot round the curve well out into
the stream, and this gave us a clear view ahead for a
considerable distance. Maite stood up in the stern and,
pointing in front of him, said in a deep solemn tone,
' Ameha.' Veiled in bluish haze the outline of the object
of our journey could be dimly discerned in the distance.
We might have taken it for some fantastic cloud had we
not been told that it was a mountain. We stopped for
the night at an abandoned camp of the Indians who
had preceded us. It was by far the most elaborate of
the many affairs of the kind we had seen on our journey,,
so that it would appear that the Indians had sojourned
longer here than anywhere else. All the other huts we
had passed on our way were flimsy constructions rapidly
put together, but the three at this place had evidently
been built with more care. An additional evidence of
the Indians' stay at this place having been a prolonged
one, was the large quantity of bones and feathers
scattered around the huts. Jacobson, who wanted to
change his plates, converted the smallest of the huts into
a dark-room by tacking blankets on to the uprights.
He afterwards took several flashlight photographs of the
men sitting round the camp-fire roasting some large
Aymaras caught by Maite. A curious result of Jacobson'e

Q

S26 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

use of the magnesium light was the invasion of our camp
by numbers of moths and other nocturnal insects,
of which I secured more than 100 specimens. On the
following morning I observed around our camp-fire
the singed and mutilated remains of many of these
moths and insects. They had evidently visited us in
numbers during the night and had perished miserably,
lured by that strange spell which a bright light casts
upon them.

It is exceedingly interesting to observe what takes
place when a bright light is used for the first time
in some locality. When the electric light was installed
in the streets of Port of Spain, the ground under the
lamps used to be strewn with various kinds of insects.
Of a sort of giant water-bug ' in particular, such numbers
were destroyed that the insect came to be generally
known as the electric beetle. In fact, I am not quite
certain but that there were some people who connected
the establishment of the electric light with the genera-
tion of this bug. These bugs no longer visit the lamps
in numbers, so that either the species has got scarce
through the destruction of the greater part of its members,
or the survivors have learnt that visits to the lamps end
fatally. It may be, also, that certain individuals are
exempt from the fascination a bright light has for the
rest of the species.

Another very curious result of electric lighting in
Trinidad is that the bats have learnt to make use of
the lights for catching moths and other insects. They
fly about in the vicinity of the lamps, having discovered
that their prey is more abundant there than elsewhere,
and they intercept their winged victims on their way

' Ncpa grandis.

WE KILL ANOTHER TAPIR 227

to the dazzling goal that so strangely attracts them.
During several consecutive nights I observed one of our
small owls ^ hunting in this fashion. He had taken up
his quarters in a tree close to one of the arc-lamps. From
time to time he would dash out and capture a moth,
returning rapidly to his place of concealment so as to be
ready for the next comer.

Shortly after leaving the abandoned Indian camp we
saw a tapir disporting himself in shallow water close to
the shore on our right. He saw us also and scrambling
up the steep bank disappeared into the forest before I
could fire a shot. ' The Pirate ' landed with his dogs
and started in pursuit. We on board could tell by the
yells of the hunter and the furious barking of his four-
footed assistants that they had come upon their quarry
suddenly. We could distinctly hear the snapping of the
boughs as the terrified animal dashed wildly through
the dense undergrowth clothing the banks of the stream.
For 200 yards he ran along the river. Then he came
into view with a bound and stood for a moment on
a projecting mass of rock overlooking a deep pool. The
dogs, now thoroughly excited, did not give him much
time to think, and the pursued and his pursuers
leaped into the river together. The Merevari is broad
and deep at this part, so that we felt certain of head-
ing our victim off before he could reach the opposite
shore. The men bent to the paddles with a will, shouting
and encouraging each other. In our excitement we lost
all control over ourselves, possessed by one passion, the
desire to kill, and this caused me in my eagerness to fire
while the tapir was still some distance from the shore.
I must have killed him outright, for he sank at once,
' Glatccidium phalanoides.

a 2

228 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

leaving only a few bubbles and a blood-stained patch
where he had disappeared. In a few moments these
fleeting traces of his existence had melted away and no
vestige remained of the''- bloody scene in which we had
taken part. The men cut long poles and paddled slowly
up and down trying to locate the carcase, but after manj-
unsuccessful attempts they decided to sit on the rocks at
the edge of the pool and await the floating of the body,
which they said would take place in an hour or two.
The dead tapir came to|the surface at some distance from
the spot where it had sunk, so it must have drifted with
the current. The men lost no time in cutting the meat
up, and we then continued paddling up stream with
Ameha in view almost all the time. At night we
encamped at some abandoned Indian huts similar to
those we had used so frequently during our journey, but
these having been constructed hastily were already falling
to pieces. We were now so near to Ameha that we could
plainly distinguish the details of the cliffs and the bare
streaks along them showing where the water falls during
the rainy season. "With one exception, and that a mere
thread of silver, the watercourses were all dry at the
time of our arrival.

For several days I had had occasion to notice how
abundant a certain kind of iguana is all over this region.
These reptiles appear to live mostly on the branches of
leafy trees overhanging the river. In colour they are so
much like the foliage in which they conceal themselves
that, were it not for their habit of leaping into the water
just in front of the boats, we would, in nine cases out
of ten, have passed by them without suspecting their
existence. When they dive they do not rise to the
surface, but return under water to the shore and hide in

AMEHA 229

the tangled roots and dense undergrowth of the banks,
I had many opportunities of observing the iguana at
Panama, where it is used as a regular article of food by
the natives. In fact, the principal occupation of the man
in whose hut I lived when I was collecting birds on the
Isthmus, was the catching of iguanas. He used to tie
them all over the place until he had a sufficient quantity
to take to town. Many were females literally bursting
with eggs. These eggs may be seen in any of the shops
in Panama tied by the middle in long strings, looking
somewhat like small heads of garlic.

On April 12 at noon we stopped for breakfast on an
open stretch of rocks with Ameha in front of us. From
where we were the slopes leading to the precipice seemed
to begin quite close to the river's bank opposite to us,
but when we subsequently explored the mountain we
found that this was not so, there being a wide stretch of
low-lying land between the river and the mountain itself.
The top of Ameha is almost flat and is densely wooded.
Between this forest growth and that on the slopes below,
the cliffs, with the exception of some projecting ledges
which support a few shrubs and grasses, are bare and of
a yellowish-grey colour, with reddish streaks or patches
where the surface has been freshly exposed by the break-
ing off of pieces from the main mass.

After breakfast we continued our journey up stream
in search of a suitable camping-place, the men having to
wade in the shallow water and haul the boats after them.
Finally we fixed upon an open mass of rock at the mouth
of a small stream, and on this we landed our provisions
and effects and prepared to pass the night. It was
arranged, as we intended to spend several days at this

230 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANA S

place, that the following day should be devoted to the
construction of some substantial huts. At night we had
our first experience of the weather at Ameha. It
thundered repeatedly and rained in torrents. Maite told
us in the morning that the spirits of the mountain, aware
of our arrival, had warned us to go away.

%? 4^^A!]pv

MAITE, THE GUIDE WHO AFTERWARDS DIED
OF STARVATION

CHAPTER XVII

AMEHA

Inaccessible mountains -The koa bird— Concerning our taxidermist —
Journey to the cliffs — At the foot of the cliffs— Storm at night — We
return to our camp — Further attempts to scale the mountain — We leave
the mountain.

We may imagine that at some remote period in the past
the greater part, if not the whole, of the region through
which the Merevari flows was one vast mass of sand-
stone of considerable thickness overlying a formation of
granite now exposed all along the river's banks and in
various parts of the forest. A vague idea is all that we
can form of the incalculable length of time during which
this stratum was deposited grain by grain. When we
consider that there must have been a subsequent upheaval
of this immense bed extending over ages, followed by slow
denudation which has removed the greater part of its
mass, we find it difficult to form any conception of those
epochs of time in the life of our planet that may not be
expressed by figures. Ameha, Arawa, and Arichi stand
as monuments of what can be effected by the agency of
water ; they are evidences of the great changes that have
taken place gradually on the earth's surface ; they have
remained as proofs of the alterations brought about, inch
by inch, on the face of our globe during periods of time
appalling to think of. One is tempted to believe at first
sight that the awe-inspiring precipices and forbidding
chasms of these inaccessible mountains must have been

^32 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

the work of titanic forces at a time of violent change, but
if we speculate calmly on the erosive power of the streams
in this region of heavy rains, we can imagine how
immense areas of the country have been washed away,
leaving these strange mountains as mementoes of an
incalculable past.

The best known of these so-called inaccessible
mountains scattered over a large extent of the Guianas
is undoubtedly Eoraima. Since the Spectator for April
1877 wrote : ' Will no one explore Eoraima, and bring
us back the tidings which it has been waiting these
thousands of years to give us ? ' the mountain has been
ascended and the secrets of its summit laid bare. To the
Quelch-McConnell expeditions is due the honour of having
performed the most valuable scientific work in the
exploration of this interesting mountain. Considering
that Koraima is only one of a whole series of such
masses, the existence of some of which may not even
be suspected, we can form some idea of what yet remains
to be done in the exploration of this little known part of
South America. When we consider, moreover, that the
summits of these masses are plateaux isolated from the
surrounding country during countless ages, we cannot
help thinking that each of them must be a field of absorb-
ing interest to the naturalist and botanist.

Where we had pitched our camp it was impossible to
see Ameha on account of the height of the trees of the
forest which stretches to the mountain and clothes its
slopes as far as the clififs. The day after our arrival and
a part of the 14th (April) were devoted to the construction
of our huts, which were completed a little before noon.
We then had our midday meal, and as three of the men
had been employed cutting n track through the forest

THE KOA BIRD 23i3

while the others were building the huts, I determined to
follow the track for some distance and see the sort of
country that lay between us and the object of our journey.
Pedro Hospedales and Maite, who had been out hunting
the day before, told me that to reach the base of Ameha
it was necessary to traverse a belt of low-lying tangled
growth of much greater extent than would be supposed
when the mountain is viewed from the river. The trees
of this growth are stunted, and their trunks and branches
twisted and unshapely. They are covered with mosses
and parasites and appear to be always dripping with
moisture. Besides other plants I noticed two varieties
of begonia, some caladiums, and a Sobralia. Hillocks
shaped like mounds are scattered irregularly over this
low-lying strip of land. Although the elevation of these
hillocks above the surrounding country is but slight, the
vegetation which clothes them is different, and they are
free from the deep holes covered with rotten wood and
leaves which make walking in the low-lying part difficult
and even dangerous. It was late when we started to
retrace our steps to what we used to call home. We
hm'ried along in the gathering darkness, stumbling over
the matted roots and broken branches which impeded our
march through this wilderness of weird ghost-like trees.
We were all glad when we caught sight of the glare of
our camp-fire. Hastening on we were soon seated within
the bright circle of light where the men, squatting in
groups, were eating their dinner. For the first time I
heard in the gloom of the forest on our way home the
strange cry of the bald-headed cotinga.^ Maite told me
that the Waiomgomos call this bird Koa, which sounds
very much like the Demerara name Quow. The unearthly

' Gyvmocephalus calvus.

234 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

note of this queer-looking bird is in accord with the
misshapen trees, all twisted and turned, he has fixed upon
as his abode.

Up to a late hour at night we discussed plans for the
projected exploration of the mountain. Finally it was
decided that five men, including Maite, should accompany
me, and that we would take provisions for three days,
our blankets and hammocks, and a change of clothing.
Pedro Hospedales, his son Freddy, and Pedro Asoque
were to go out collecting birds every day until my return.
I entrusted the labelling of the specimens to Jacobson,
the preparation of the skins being Villegente's work. I
never cared to leave my taxidermist to his own devices,
for if ever a man required strict supervision in his work
it was this apathetic creature, whose existence appeared
to be divided between eating and sleeping. The owner
of an insatiable appetite, he was possessed by a drowsiness,
with lucid intervals at meal-time only, when he would be
more wideawake and active than any other member of
our party. With the last mouthful the yearning to return
to his hammock would take possession of him, and if
I happened to be away or engaged in some occupation
other than watching him, he would hm-ry through his
skins, spoiling most of them, so as to be able to get back
to his beloved resting-place and doze the time away.
Jacobson, who had a weakness for bestowing pet names
on the members of the expedition, had christened this
strange compound of hunger and sleep the ' Bird Car-
penter.' For the eight long months I had him with me
I racked my brains for some epithet capable of designating
in a concise manner his abhorrence of work, his devotion
to rest, and his capacity for absorbing food in any shape
or form, but as I could not hit upon any one word

JOURNEY TO THE CLIFFS 285

significant of attributes so different, combined in one
individual, I had to employ many forcible adjectives
when I wished to encourage him to do some work.

We filed out of our camp a little after sunrise on the
morning of the 15th (April) and by ten o'clock we reached
the stream which flows at the base of the slope where we
may say Ameha actually begins. The men having opened
a good track through the low-lying stretch of forest as
far as this spot, we had performed the journey in fairly
quick time. The water of the stream was clear and cool,
and this tempted us to sit on its banks and have some-
thing to eat. We did not waste much time over our
meal, and the men were soon busy ahead cutting a path
up the incline. This was comparatively easy work, as the
forest growth on the slopes is not of the tangled nature of
that covering the almost level stretch we had left behind
us, nor is there a dense imdergrowth to contend with.
I noticed that the ground was covered with a thick bed
of leaves, and that branches, some of which were of con-
siderable size, were scattered about in profusion. From
time to time we caught glimpses of the cliffs towering above
us. The wall of rock seemed so near that I expected at
any moment to have the satisfaction of standing face to
face with it and touching its cold bare surface. In this^
however, I was deceived, for although we toiled all day
long, when at last we pitched our camp late in the after-
noon, that deluding wall appeared as near, or I should
say rather, as far off, as when we had sighted it early in
the day. The men attached poles to four trees in the
form of a square, and upon them they spread palm-
branches as a covering. They then slung their hammocks
and mine between the trees, and so we passed our first
night under the very shadow of Ameha.

236 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Maite was quite disappointed in the morning that
nothing had occurred during the night. He had vaguely
prophesied that some dread calamity would be sure to
happen to one, if not to the whole, of us, for having dared
to violate the sanctity of the mountain of spirits, and
now he had to admit he was at fault. This he did
with a bad grace when the others laughed at his fears,
and from the way he kept muttering to himself and
shaking his head I felt that he was not at all satisfied
that we had escaped the danger which he seemed to
believe threatened us.

The morning was so foggy that we could not see very
far in any direction, and the cliffs were completely hidden
by the veil of mist which enshrouded us. This did not
prevent us, however, from making a start. The incline
was in places so steep that we had frequently to crawl on
our hands and knees, helping ourselves up by holding on
to the twigs and ferns forming the undergrowth of the
forest. A peculiar feature of the vegetation was a small
but very graceful palm not met with lower down. In
fact, most of the shrubs and small plants I observed were
different to those seen on the previous day. Where our
camp had been pitched there were a few masses of rock,
but as we now saw such masses everywhere, I inferred
that we could not be far from the wall of rock off which
they had been precipitated. We came almost suddenly
upon the cliffs. For some time we remained at one spot,
gazing up at the stupendous wall that barred our way.
The fog had cleared up, so that we had a good view for
some distance on each side, but what we saw was not
encouraging. As far as the eye could reach the im-
passable barrier extended in awe-inspiring grandeur.
' Thus far shalt thou go and no farther.'

AT THE I'OOT OF THE CLIFFS 237

I have seen many lofty peaks in the Colombian Andes.
The double crest of the Sierra Nevada, clothed in perpetual
white, is an imposing sight ; but none of these peaks can
inspire that sense of awe I felt, standing a helpless and
insignificant atom at the foot of that mighty wall, beside
which the most imposing monument erected by the
arrogance of man would be but a toy. What epochs of
time must have elapsed since the solid rock before which
we stood had been deposited grain by grain at the mouth
of some mighty river or in the bed of the ocean !

For hours we walked along the base of the cliffs, until
we came to a deep narrow gorge with a small stream
running along its bottom. The gorge ended abruptly in
a perpendicular wall of rock down which the stream,
along whose banks we had picked our way, dashed in an
unbroken fall of considerable height. This was probably
the thread of water we had noticed when we viewed the
mountain from the river on the day of our arrival. As it
was getting late we decided to return to our camp, so we
followed the stream for some distance until we came to
a part where its banks widened out. Maite said that
if we cut across parallel to the cliffs we would hit our
camping-place. For hours we scrambled over rocks and
fallen trees, and I was beginning to fear that we had lost
our way, when we struck the track we had cut in the
morning about half a mile above our destination. The
men had left their blankets and hammocks hanging
around the huts. "When we arrived myriads of flies
which had settled upon them arose and kept buzzing
around us until it was almost dark. These flies had
deposited their disgusting larvae on everything that had
been left exposed, so that the men were busy until late
passing their things over the fire. At dusk I shot a

2158 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

beautiful cock-of-the-rock which had alighted on a tree
quite close to us, evidently with the intention of passing
the night.

The spirits of Ameha again allowed us to sleep peace-
fully, much to the surprise and disappointment of our old
Indian guide.

Another long day was spent in a fatiguing but useless
tramp along the base of the precipice, which confirmed
the opinion we had formed on the previous day that the
mountain could not be climbed anywhere in the vicinity
of our camp. As we were quite fagged out, and it was
too late to think of getting to the Merevari, where
Jacobson and the others were awaiting us, we decided on
spending the night where we were, to leave at dawn on
the following day. On this last night of our stay at the
foot of the cliffs we witnessed one of those terrific storms
which, during the rainy season, are of almost daily occur-
rence on these mountains, and which have doubtless
contributed to the widespread belief amongst the Indians
that the craggy heights of Ameha, Arawa, and Arichi are
the abode of spirits whose weapons are the lightning, the
thunder, and the storm.

The night, up to about one o'clock, had been oppress-
ively still, so still that there was not even a rustle
amongst the leaves. In the fitful sleep I had had up to
then I had noticed every time I awoke how black and
quiet it was. The first intimation we got of the approach-
ing storm was a blinding flash of lightning accompanied
by a clap of thunder so loud that we all sprang out of our
hammocks. Almost simultaneously with the thunder
came strong gusts of wind, causing our huts to sway
from side to side, so that I expected to see them blown
down at any moment. Flash of lightning followed flash

STORM AT NIGHT 23<)

with scarcely an interval between them. All the time
there was a continuous roar of deafening thunder that
made the ground tremble beneath us. The rain came
down in torrents and the wind had increased to such a
gale that heavy branches were being blown off in every
direction, while now and again some old monarch of the
forest, unable to withstand the force of the storm, would
come down with a terrific crash. The men assembled in
the largest and strongest of the huts. All we could do
was to remain in one place and hope that no tree would
fall upon us. Old Maite was in a terrible fright. AVhen-
ever there was a lull in the storm which allowed his voice
to be heard he would tell us stories of the wicked spirits
who inhabit these mountains, and how they got angry
whenever men invaded their precincts. It would have
been folly to have tried to explain to this hardened
believer in gnomes and demons the phenomena of a
thunderstorm. How long this battle of the elements
lasted would be hard to say. Probably we exaggerated
its duration. The storm ceased almost as suddenly as it
had commenced. A few gusts weaker than the others
and the work of destruction was being carried on lower
down, the thunder dying away in the distance. When I
first explored the mountain I was struck by the size and
number of the branches strewn about the ground, but
after having witnessed one of these storms I found no
difficulty in accounting for this state of things.

The rainfall at Amelia and in its immediate neighbour-
hood is, I should say, very much greater than that of the
surrounding country, and that i§ saying a great deal,
considering that in these equatorial forests the rainfall
is heavy. In fact, the vigorous vegetation existing over a
great part of tropical America depends for its luxuriance

240 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

on the torrents of rain which for nearly three-fourths of
the year are of daily occurrence.

When we returned to our camp on the Merevari on
the morning after the storm the leaves were dripping
with moisture and the hollows were pools through which
we had to tramp sometimes up to our knees in water, so
that by the time we reached our collection of huts on the
river we were wet through and through.

Things had not gone smoothly during my absence.
Jacobson said that he had had a severe attack of fever,
and that the * Bird Carpenter ' had given him a good
deal of trouble. I examined the specimens collected. Of
mammals the men had secured several adouries (Dasy-
procta acuchi), and some capuchin monkeys. Amongst
the birds were four skins of the bald-headed cotinga, and
some other species quite new to me. Two game-birds,
a kind of partridge and a tinamu, were to my mind the
most interesting things obtained.

It rained heavily from midday to about four in the
afternoon. Jacobson, two of the men, and myself went
in the small boat a little w^ay up the river to a spot from
which a very good view of Ameha could be obtained.
Several photographs were taken of different parts of the
mountain, as we found it impossible to get the whole of it
on to one plate.

Ameha was in all its glory. The cascades which
dwindle away to mere threads after several days of dry
weather were broad sheets of silver. Although we were at
a considerable distance from the mountain we could hear
the roar of the falling water as it dashed over the cliffs
into the abyss beneath. I noticed from where we were
standing that there is a narrow cleft towards the southern
end, cutting right into the very heart of the mass. I

ATTEMPTS TO SCALE THE MOUNTAIN 241

determined to explore this gorge on the following da5\
As far as I could judge, if it were possible to get to the
plateau above from this side, our only chance of success
was up this opening. Everywhere else Ameha presents
an impregnable front that no human being can ever hope
to conquer.

On the morning of the 19th (April), Mateo, Epifanio,
and myself ascended the river in a small boat until we
got to the mouth of a stream opposite to the chasm we
had seen the afternoon before, and which appeared to
flow from it. We found on the following day that this
stream really did come from the gorge. We were unable
to get our boat any distance up the little affluent on
account of the quantity of logs lying from bank to bank
across it, so we spent the afternoon cutting a track in the
direction from which it appears to come. At night I
suffered from an attack of fever so violent that in the
morning I was unable to accompany the men in their
journey to the mountain. When they returned late in
the afternoon they told me that they had succeeded in
getting to the gorge and had ascended it for some distance.
They seemed to think that it would be possible to get
to the summit of the mountain by this route. I passed
another wretched night, alternately roasting with fever
and shivering with ague, and was so unwell on the follow-
ing morning that I determined to return to our camp,
which we reached at ten o'clock. The men who had
remained behind had been occupied on a small dug-out.
It had been shaped and hollowed and was ready for firing,^
the final operation in the construction of these canoes.
Unfortunately the men had chosen for this work a tree
they did not know, with the result that all attempts to
open the canoe met with failure, so unyielding was the

R

542 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

timber they had hit upon. This was a really regrettable
incident, as we were badly in need of an extra boat,
our large dug-out being in such a leaky condition when
heavily loaded, that one of the men had to be kept
continuously occupied baling out the water which forced
its way in through the numerous crevices in the sides and
bottom of our worn-out craft. I would have liked to have
built another boat, did I not feel that it would be unsafe
to spend any more time at Ameha. We had but few pro-
visions remaining. The rainy season had set in almost
suddenly and the river was rising daily. The men, afraid
that we might be cut off at the falls of Para, had become
openly mutinous. We did the best we could with the old
boat, stuffing bits of cloth into the cracks and holes, and at
nine o'clock on the morning of the 24th (April), we pushed
off from the shore into mid-stream, with the massive bulk of
Ameha frowning upon us. We had tried to ascend it and
had failed. The day was a fine one, so that we were able
to distinguish every detail of the summit stretching to the
south, serene and unconquered, in the bright sunshine of
that April morning, and this added to the bitterness I felt
at having failed in my attempts to scale it.

243

CHAPTEK XVIII

Our last tapir — Arawa and Arichi — The fatal April 27— Loss of the large
boat — We arrive at a decision — A night of misery — Mateo bitten by a
snake — Treatment of snake-bite — Slow progress through the forest —
The men build a raft— The kosoibo — Sufferings of the men — Suraima
— We begin to starve — In desperate straits — The men decide to separate.

The men, who had been sullen for days, became quite
pleasant. Maite told us all sorts of stories about the
mountain. On its summit, surrounded by giant trees,
was a lake so deep that no one could fathom it. Strange
creatures, unlike anything existing in the country below,
inhabit its waters. Hidden in the clefts and caves of its
inaccessible crags were the gnomes and demons who keep
watch over its sacred precincts. They were probably
looking down upon us, rejoicing in our failure to reach
their abode. For hours our old Indian guide beguiled us
with the legends of his tribe regarding the mysterious
mountain we had left behind us.

We had been paddling for some time and were looking
for a suitable spot for cooking, when a curassow uttered
its deep note quite close to the river's bank on our right.
We determined to try to kill it, so we landed Pedro
Asoque, who disappeared in the bushes with the idea of
securing what would be a welcome addition to our break-
fast. We were anxiously waiting to hear him fire, when
one of the men shouted out ' Danta, don Andre, Datita.'
Within a few yards of our boat, swimming rapidly with

B 2

244 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

the current, was a full-grown tapir, which we afterwards
found out to be a female. "Where she had come from
none of us could tell ; but she had probably been disturbed
by Asoque and had taken to the water for safety. To
have killed her where she was would have been to have
lost her, as the current was strong and the river deep.
When she got some distance beyond the boat she turned and
made a dash for the shore. Just as her neck and shoulders
were well out of the water I fired. There was a splashing
and floundering for a few seconds. Then she managed
to scramble up the steep bank, and as she bounded into
the bushes I fired again. She fell, and we heard her
struggling on the groimd, but by the time two of the
men clambered up after her she had galloped away into the
forest. ' The Pirate ' landed with his dogs and they were
soon in hot pursuit. I felt certain that she would take to
the water again, as the tapir invariably does when hard
pressed. She came out a good distance ahead of us, but
as the stream is almost straight for a long way at this
part, we were able to keep her in sight while she swam
across, but we did not get near enough to fire, nor did we
succeed in heading her off. In the long swim the tapir
had across the river she had out-distanced the dogs, so
we picked them up and, paddling to the spot where she
had landed, we placed them on the fresh trail. In a very
short time they bayed furiously, and we knew that they
had come up with the wounded animal, now unable to go
far. When she took to the water some distance below us
we could see that she was being closely pressed by the
dogs. She did not attempt to cross the stream but kept
near to the bank, h^re densely wooded. Meoro, a big
tawny nondescript mongrel of poor scent, but a very devil
to hunt by sight, kept close to her head, biting at her

OUR LAST TAPIR 245

ears. It was plain that she would not be able to go very
far, so the men made a final spurt to head her off and kill
her close to the shore. The terrified brute now saw the
boat, and, shaking the dogs off, turned into a small creek,
diving as she reached its mouth. It was the work of a
few moments to get to the creek, only to find that there
was no tapir, and to meet the dogs swimming aimlessly
about, evidently puzzled as to vfhat had become of the
animal they had been following. Where had the creature
gone to ? Had she died below, or, rising beneath the
bushes, had she eluded the dogs and got into the forest '?
Suddenly Epifanio, forgetting in his excitement all respect,
clutched my arm and whispered in my ear, 'Andre, la
Danta.' Close to the steep bank, hidden by drooping
leaves, was the large uncouth head of the animal we were
looking for, so motionless that it might have been a rock
sticking out of the earth. Finding her strength fail, she
had tried stratagem and had very nearly outwitted us. A
moment after she was dead and we soon had her on the
rocks. While the men were sharpening their knives,
Jacobson was adding her to his collection of sporting
pictures. He was more than usually careful. He did not
let the carcase lie in the undignified position the men
generally chose for the dead bodies of the animals he
wanted to immortalise. In this case the old artist in-
sisted on having her placed according to his own ideas,
while he himself put a stone to keep her head steady.
All this he did as a tribute to her pluck. When he moved
away with his camera I thought I heard him murmur,
* After Landseer.'

The tapir we had killed was big with young. I was
quite struck with the colour of this unborn animal, so
different from that of the parent. The skin of the adult

9A6 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

tapir of this region is covered with short, hard, mouse-
coloured hair, of uniform tint. In the young one I
noticed that its skin was soft and its fur striped. Un-
fortunately I cannot remember the exact shades of colour,
the original notes having been lost, but there was one
thing which struck me very much at the time, and that
was the bright lilac hue of the intestines of this young
animal. The men were delighted at having obtained a
becerro,^ as they called the unborn tapir. They evidently
meant to have a feast when we should camp for the night.
We fared sumptuously off tapir steaks. Then we turned
our backs on Ameha, with Arichi and the dark mass of
Arawa in front of us. During the whole afternoon we
had both mountains in view, and the day being a very
clear one the contour of the masses was well defined,
showing in bold relief the gigantic scale of their perpen-
dicular cliffs.

We encamped at night at the abandoned Indian huts
where Jacobson had committed such havoc among the
moths when he burnt his flashlights. The men roasted
the young tapir whole and feasted late into the night.

Early on the following morning we passed the mouth
of the Arichi. Just before we reached this point I had
my last look at Ameha, an almost indefinable mass in
the distance behind us. Arichi was partly covered with
dense white clouds, and Arawa could not be seen from
where we were. We shot the first set of rapids success-
fully. Then we got through the channel where we had
had to stop for repairs on the up jom^ney. We still had
to face the difficulties and dangers attending the lowering
of the boats down the three ledges in front of us. In
spite of all our precautions we had a mishap at the very

' Calf.

Till: FATAL APRIL 27 247

first of the ledges, and again we had to repair the large
boat, an operation which lasted until late into the night.

On the following morning we were astir early. The
large boat was hastily reloaded, and it did not take us
long to get to the second ledge. The men were in high
spirits, for we were now well on our way homeward ; in a
couple of weeks we expected to be back at La Prision, to
which place most of my companions belonged. On that
fatal morning of April 27 no one of us suspected that in
a few short seconds the work of months would be lost,
and that for weeks we would have to struggle to reach
that settlement which some were doomed never to see.

The following is an exact copy of the journal I kept
from this eventful day, to that on which eight starving
human beings, hardly able to walk, dragged their way
into the settlement at La Prision twenty-eight days after,
what happened during that time having been jotted down
while the incidents were still fresh in my mind.

April 27. — Left early and reached the spot where we
had had to unload in the afternoon and drag the boats
over a shallow part encumbered with rocks when we
ascended the river. The large boat was let down first,
ropes being used at the bow and stern. Afterwards the
small boat was also successfully passed over. It was
about nine o'clock. The morning was so gloomy that
Jacobson, although he intended to take pictures of the
lowering of the boats at this spot, which is very pic-
turesque, thought it useless to expose any plates. About
300 yards lower down there is a narrow channel through
which we had passed without much difficulty on the up
trip. Beyond, the passage is dangerous, and it was our
intention to unload at least a part of the cargo before
attempting the more rapid channel lower down. So free

248 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

from danger did the part where we were then appear,
that Jacobson and myself remained in the boat, when the
men, having as usual got on to the rocks, proceeded to
slacken the stern-rope while the bow was being graduall^y
drawn down stream. How it happened it is now diffi-
cult, if not impossible, to say. Whether the men under-
estimated the force of the current, or whether the front
man at the stern-rope slipped and dragged the other after
him, they themselves have been unable to explain. I
suddenly felt that the boat was veering round rapidly,
while ' the Pirate,' who had fallen forward, was flounder-
ing in the water. The other man, unable to hold on
alone, had let the rope go. It was over in a few seconds.
With incredible speed we were whirled along into the big
channel, the most dangerous part of Arichi, and I knew
that all was lost. I felt the heavy crash as the boat was
jammed against the double rock which divides the
channel, and I was hurled out with violence, falling into
the water beyond the rocks. When I rose to the sm-face
I was some distance from the wrecked boat. The men
from the smaller boat who were on shore were making
frantic efforts to throw me a rope, but it always fell short
and was carried away by the force of the current. I
reached shore lower down. My first thoughts were about
Jacobson. I knew that he could not swim a stroke, and
that if he had fallen into deep water nothing short of a
miracle would save him. But there he was, clinging on
to the rock in front of which the boat was wedged, and
thus protected from the full force of the current. The
men after several trials succeeded in getting ropes across
the channel and rescued him from his perilous position.

Then it was that I realised the magnitude of the
disaster which had befallen me. It was in the large boat

LOSS OF THE LARGE BOAT 249

that everything of vahie had been placed for greater
safety. The collection of birds made on the journey up
and at Ameha, the first ever taken from that interesting
mountain ; my plants on v^^hich I relied to pay me for the
expenses of the trip ; the seeds, insects, herbarium speci-
mens, samples of rock, and, most valuable of all, the
writing-case with my journal containing extensive notes,
the work of months, had all been in the wrecked boat.
Jacobson's series of views of Ameha, Arichi, and Arawa,
with numerous plates of scenes in the rapids and in camp,
were gone for ever. The work of destruction had been
thorough. The men were doing all they could to recover
such articles as floated within their reach. Among other
things they managed to get the large camera, a fine
instrument, but when we examined it I found that it
would be useless. The plate-holders, of course, had been
ruined. Not a single piece of clothing did I save, not
one of my blankets, nor my hammock. ' The Pirate,'
whose things had been in the small boat, lent me an old
jersey and a pair of drawers. We then turned our atten-
tion to the wrecked boat. Was it possible to save her "?
Through a long rent in her side a perfect cascade of
water was pouring, showing how thoroughly she had
been cleaned out. By using the long ropes we had, some
of the men managed to reach the rocks against which the
boat was jammed. All attempts to get off what was left
of her proved fruitless. To crown our troubles it rained
in torrents all the time. I did my best to reassure the
men, who were thoroughly scared, although they probably
did not realise the gravity of our position. We had but
the small boat to depend upon. The few provisions we
had saved could not possibly last for more than eight
or ten days, and we were 200 miles at least from the

250 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS

nearest station where we could expect help. Between
the scene of our disaster and that distant station which
we meant to try to reach lay a stretch of impenetrable
forest devoid of any human habitation. The river was
rising daily. We would have to traverse many dangerous
rapids. Assuming that we should succeed in reaching the
falls of Para, might we not find that we had laboured in
vain ? I thought that it was fair to the men in a matter
which concerned them as nearly as it did myself that
they should be consulted. So I called them together and
put the question before them with the view of getting
the opinion of the majority. I pointed out that we might
try to build a boat, as we had saved a couple of axes in
the small boat, but that as this work would take us
several days we would find by the time we were ready
that our few provisions had been exhausted. There was
another plan, which appeared to me to be the best.
Besides the two men required to work it and the pro-
visions and effects which it could hold, the small boat
could carry two persons. The rest of the party would
walk along the banks, the boat meeting them at meal-
time and at night. As the men would have nothing to
carry we expected to be able to make fairly rapid progress.
Finally it was arranged that Kamon Kamirez with Maite
as patron should work the boat. As the Winchester rifle
and my twelve-bore had been saved, with some cartridges,
and as the men said that I could use these weapons better
than anyone else, they decided that I should go in the
boat along with Jacobson, who was unable to walk. A
horn which ' the Pirate ' had brought had been saved,
and it was agreed upon that we in the boat should blow
the horn at intervals so that the men cutting their waj'
through the forest might not wander away from the river.

A NIGHT OF MISERY 251

Of the articles recovered a tin box containing paper
intended for wrapping butterflies, and a piece of pencil,
proved the most useful. Had we not saved these things
I do not know how I could have kept a record of what
occurred after the loss of the large boat. While we had
been discussing our plans for the future, Pancho had been
cooking some rice and beans. We made a hasty meal
and then loaded the small boat with the few things we
had left. There was still a stretch of rapids to get
through before leaving Arichi. Kamon, Mateo, and
Maite went with the boat, with instructions to meet us
at the foot of the rapids. We walked through the forest,
reaching an open spot at about five o'clock, where we
decided to await their arrival. But they did not come^
and when darkness set in we could tell by the glare of a
large fire on the opposite bank that they had encamped
for the night. There we were on the bare rocks without
food or blankets, and there we spent the night in a per-
fect deluge of rain, a fitting end to such a day. Jacobson
and myself, huddled together, passed the night at the foot
of a tree. It was our ' Arbol de la noche triste ' — our
* tree of the night of sorrow.'

April 28, — Day broke on a miserable dejected crowd,
benumbed with cold and weak from fasting. The boat
arrived early and the men made a big log-fire, around
which we sat while coffee was being prepared. We dried
the clothes clinging to our bodies by hanging over the
fire, warming our chilled hands and feet at the same
time. We had some boiled beans with our coffee, and
then, as had been arranged, the men started on their
tramp through the forest along the river's bank. Jacob-
son, myself, and the two paddlers pushed off into the
stream, allowing the boat to drift with the current. We

252 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

scanned the banks as we went along for any articles
arrested by the branches or roots of the trees. We
recovered a box and a bag. The box was one of those
which had contained bird-skins, but as it had not been
nailed up it was quite empty. The bag had cotton- wool
with a few Winchester cartridges packed in it. We passed
several birdskins floating down the stream, but it would
have been waste of time to have picked them up. It
rained heavily most of the time, the gloom of the morn-
ing adding to our depression. I landed in the rain and
managed to kill a curassow, the only one we heard for
the day. At midday we stopped on an open stretch of
rubble and cooked the curassow I had killed. The men
straggled in from the forest about an hour after our
arrival. After we had eaten we continued our journey.
I realised with dismay that our companions in the forest
could barely keep up with the drifting boat. At meal-
time they had described the difficulties of their march
through the dense undergrowth clothing the banks of the
river, rendered more difficult and fatiguing by the uneven
nature of the ground. If on this first day of our journey,
when the men were fresh we could cover but a short
distance, how could we hope to reach La Prision !

When we were quite close to the mouth of the Arawa
I shot a large capybara, which Maite prepared, whik;
Jacobson and I went up to the rancho built on the up
trip to await the arrival of the rest of our party. It was
getting dark when we heard shouts in the distance. I
despatched the small boat, which returned after some
time with a part of the men, including Mateo Kamirez,
who was lying down supported by one of them. The
men lifted him out and placed him on a blanket on the
ground, where he lay groaning and trembling. He had

TREATMENT OE Sx\AKE-BITE 258

been bitten by a snake just above the ankle. The
punctures made by the fangs were plainly discernible,
but I noticed that there was no swelling whatever, so
that I suspected he must have been bitten by a non-
venomous species, or that the penetration of the fangs
had been so slight that no poison had been injected into
the wound. To my mind the man appeared to be suffer-
ing from acute fright only, but his companions thought
otherwise, and he certainly behaved as if his last hour
had come. The friends of the terror-stricken man
subjected him to the approved treatment for snake-bite.
It was a regular torture. Eamon Eamirez directed the
operations, assisted by the others, who seemed to take a
cruel delight in the pain they inflicted. A strong creeper
was wound round the sufferer's thigh above the knee, the
binding being so tight that the creeper actually cut into
the flesh. Then with a live coal one of the operators
cauterised the injured spot until the patient howled with
pain. A mixture of chewed tobacco and crushed garlic
was rubbed into the wound, which was then bound up.
After such severe handling it is not to be wondered at
that the poor devil moaned throughout the night.
Although he evidently suffered intensely, he had become
quite easy in his mind, so strong was his faith in the
treatment he had undergone.

Api'il 29. — Mateo obstinately refused to be moved,
although I offered to make a comfortable place in the
boat for him. He said that everyone knew that to travel
over water on the day after having been bitten by a
snake meant death. The other men backed him up, so
there was no help for it but to remain where we were,
wasting valuable time, to suit the whims of my super-
stitious companions. By dint of arguing with the men

254 A NATURALIST IN THE GITIANAS

I succeeded in getting them to start at midday. They
took some rice and beans and those who had hammocks
and blankets carried them. It was arranged that they
should push on, covering as much ground as possible,
and we would meet them on the following day. This I
knew we could easily do, as we could travel ever so much
faster in the boat than they on land. I spent the after-
noon in my hammock, thinking over the disastrous occur-
rence of the 27th (April). Every moment some fresh loss
would be brought home to me, intensifying the bitterness
I felt when I recalled the events of that fatal day. At
night I had an attack of fever which lasted until morning.

April 30. — When Maite went down to the spot where
the boat had been moored he found her high and dry on
the rocks, the river having fallen considerably during the
night. We had to take all her cargo out, and after much
trouble we succeeded in floating her. Jacobson was too
weak to give a hand. Mateo either could not or would
not assist. Ramon had gone on with the others, so as to
make room for the sick man. Maite and myself were
therefore the only ones able to work. It must have been
past one o'clock when, everything being ready, we helped
Mateo down to the boat. I could not help noticing how
swollen his leg was, and as I felt certain that this was
due to the tightness with which the creepers had been
bound round his thigh, I insisted on cutting the ligature.
There was much inflammation around the cauterised part,
which had become an ugly wound.

When we started the sky was overcast and there was
a slight drizzle which increased, after we had paddled for
about an hour, to a steady downpour. We passed one of
the spots where we had slept on the up journey. This was
the place where Maite had caught the large Aijmara and

SLOW PROGRESS THROrGH THE FOREST 255

which commanded so fine a view of Arawa. There is a
small rapid just below it, which we shot without difficulty.
Although I did not expect to come up with the party in
the forest so early, I told Maite to blow the horn. To
our surprise we were answered by a faint halloo from
the shore a little ahead of us. Was it possible that the
men had only travelled that distance, or had something
happened to one of them, and had he been left behind for
us to pick up ? Maite blew another blast, and again we
were answered, this time by several shouts from different
parts, showing that the men were not together, but were
straggling loosely through the forest. We paddled on
until we got well in front of the foremost of the
stragglers, then we made for an open mass of rock, where
we landed. Maite blew the horn several times to let the
men know we had stopped and were waiting for them.
' The Pirate ' was the first to arrive ; the others dropped
in singly or by twos. They described the march through
the forest as having been most trying. Steep hills and
deep gullies clothed with thorny shrubs and a tangled
growth of creepers was the sort of country they had
traversed. They were fagged out and disheartened.

May 1. — Many of the men complained of being so
footsore this morning as to be unable to walk any distance.
They said that we would never reach Para at the rate we
were going, and I could not but agree with them. They
then held a consultation and decided to build a raft.
Although I felt certain that no construction of the kind
would have the barest chance of getting through the
rapids and over the falls ahead of us, I did not like to
offer any adverse opinion on a matter upon which they
appeared to have made up their minds. From where we
were we could see on the opposite bank some Yagrumo

256 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

trees, which the men said would suit our purpose. We
crossed over in batches, the boat making three trips, and
we estabhshed ourselves at the mouth of a small stream
which the men considered a good place for constructing
the raft. A party, headed by Kamon Eamirez, went into
the forest and were soon engaged, as we could tell by the
sound of the axes, cutting down trees. Jacobson, Ville-
gente, Mateo, Maite, and Pancho the cook, remained in
camp with me. Maite fished at the mouth of the stream
and succeeded in catching four Aymaras, so for that day
we had sufficient food. To add to our troubles it rained
heavily the whole afternoon, and our camp was invaded
by swarms of flies, which fell into our food and got
into our eyes. It was impossible to drive them away.
Although we killed hundreds their numbers increased
until dark, when they went away almost suddenly, to
return with daylight on the following morning. Heavy
rain with lightning and thunder the whole night. The
rainy season had broken upon us in full force.

May 2. — The men continued working at the raft,
which was completed at midday ; they then floated it out
of the stream and moored it along the bank of the main
river. It was arranged that we would make a start
immediately after breakfast, so the men loaded the small
boat, after which we ate some boiled beans, and those
who intended going on the raft went down to the water's
edge while we took our places in the boat. It did not
take long for the men to find out that the clumsy affair
they had put together would never float them down the
river. As soon as they pushed off, the raft, unable to
bear their weight in the strong current, began to sink
slowly. Luckily this happened quite close to the shore,
so that those on board reached land without difliculty,

BEJUCALES ON THE MEREVARI 257

while the mass of logs floated away to be broken to pieces
at the first rapids. The men, thoroughly convinced that
their only chance of reaching Para was by walking, con-
tinued cutting their way through the forest, while we
drifted with the current as we had been doing since we
lost the large boat. Several shots were overheard in the
forest, and when we camped for the night the men
brought in three curassows and two penelopes.

May 3. — This morning we finished the little bit of
sugar we had. There is still some coffee and tea left, a
few pounds of beans and rice, and six or seven ounces of
salt. In order to economise this very necessary article
Pancho puts only a pinch or two in the soup made from
the game we obtain. The food is so unpalatable that it
is with difficulty I manage to swallow a few mouthfuls,
Jacobson and Villegente, on the contrary, continue to
enjoy excellent appetites. We remained in camp a long
while after the men had started to walk through the bush,
as we knew that we would easily catch them up. It
must have been eleven o'clock when we paddled out into
the middle of the stream, so as to get the full benefit of
the current. Here the Merevari flows through densely
wooded banks, rising to hillocks some distance inland.
Shot a penelope with the Winchester : a lucky shot, con-
sidering the distance at which I fired. As we drifted
along close to the shore I noticed many deep gullies
partially filled with water. The sides of these gullies
were clothed with a tangled undergrowth consisting
mostly of creepers running along the ground and cover-
ing the small trees. These are the bejucales so difficult
to get through. We came across the men struggling
through one of these hejucales, and as there was an open
stretch of shingle close by, we landed and waited for

s

258 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

them. We were glad to get out and stretch our cramped
limbs, while Pancho lighted a fire to cook the penelope I
had killed. The men brought quantities of a yellow fruit
called kosoibo. They had come across a tree laden with
ripe fruit, and after eating as much as they could they
had very thoughtfully filled their hats and the bosoms of
their shirts. It was the first time I had seen this fruit,
which in appearance is much like a lemon, but the rind
is hard and cracks easily on being squeezed, exposing a
soft white pulp enveloping two large flesh-coloured seeds.
The pulp possesses an agreeable taste, being sweet with a
slightly acid flavour. At the time I thought the kosoibo
the most delicious fruit I had ever eaten. We also ob-
tained at this place the core of a species of palm which
is a very eatable vegetable when boiled. This palm does
not appear to exist in the immediate vicinity of Ameha.
In fact, since leaving the mountain this was the first day
on which we saw any, but I knew that we would be pretty
certain to meet with it from time to time on our way. It
rained all the time breakfast was being prepared, and as I
was suffering from fever one of the men slung a hammock
between two trees so that I might rest, and to keep the
rain off he spread a couple of blankets over me. We
hurried through our meal and again the men went on
ahead, we in the boat following afterwards. My com-
panions had recognised that if we meant to reach Para
we could not afford to waste time on the way. We drifted
down, stopping from time to time so as not to outdistance
those who were cutting their way through the bush. It
was quite late when we stopped for the night, those who
had to tramp through the forest dropping in shortly after-
wards, bringing four curassows they had killed on the way.
Most of the men passed wretched nights. Having lost

<s ,

EUGENE ANDRE, AT LA PRISION MAY 1901 (AT THE END
OF THE EXPEDITION)

SUFFERINGS OF THE MEN 259

their hammocks and blankets they are forced to lie on the
damp ground or hard rock, so that they do not obtain the
rest they are so much in need of.

May 4. — Pieces of the raft my companions had built
floated past our camp. Started early, drifting with the
current, the rest of our party cutting their way through
the forest. At about nine o'clock we reached our camp-
ing-place of the 4th of last month. How different it
looked ! When we had stopped here on the up trip the
men had built several huts on the open stretch of sand
and rock which then formed the river's bank. The whole
place is flooded now, only the roofs of the huts being above
water. It had been a cheerful-looking spot a month ago ;
now it has a desolate appearance. As we had heard no
firing in the forest, nor any shouting, we dropped down
stream a little ; then we landed and blew the horn at
intervals, so as to let the men know that we were waiting
for them. When they joined us they brought no game.
The Trinidad boys went into the bush and returned in
about an hour's time with a curassow. This was boiled,
and the water and bits of half-cooked meat divided up.
The men would not go any farther to-day. They said
they were tired and chilled, and that they wanted to build
ranchos, so that they might have a dry night with fires.
Some of the men have borne their hardships and priva-
tions well. Others have lost flesh and look quite haggard,
Pedro Asoque and Juan Silva have their faces quite
swollen, Freddy went out with my twelve-bore and
killed a Marimunda,^ which Pancho roasted whole. It
was then divided up and the men devoured the limbs like
so many cannibals. At night Maite and some others
tried to catch fish off the rocks, but without success.
' A species of monkey.

260 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

May 5. — We start without having eaten, as we can-
not afford to use the few beans and the rice we have
remaining except once a day. No tapirs have been seen
since the one killed on the day we left Ameha. I suppose
that, as there is water everywhere in the forest now, the
animals do not require to come to the river. Curassows
and penelopes, seen in such numbers a month ago, are also
getting scarce, and as the mating season has come to a
close the birds do not call frequently, so that the procuring
of game has become difficult. It rained all the morning,
wetting us to the skin. Shot a small set of rapids,
and passed an island I had named the Isle of Palms, on
account of its vegetation consisting almost entirely of
clumps of very graceful palm-trees. We waited for the
men at the mouth of a small stream, Pancho cooking our
midday allowance of beans. Maite blew the horn, as he
was in the habit of doing whenever we stopped to wait for
the others. The men had not obtained any game, but
they brought a lot of kosoihos, and to me this was more
welcome than the tasteless diet of meat and beans we
were reduced to. The men always carried an axe with
them in their tramp through the forest, so that they might
cut down any large fruit-bearing trees they came across.
It was still raining when we stopped for the night close
to Suraima. The men were more fortunate in the after-
noon than they had been in the morning. One of them
had killed a curassow.

May 6. — Shot the rapids of Suraima, and stopped on
an island to wait for the others. They did not come up to
us until three o'clock in the afternoon, but they brought
two curassows, and this made matters a little better. The
spot we had hit upon was the only open one in the locality,
but the ground and the scrub around were infested with

WE BEGIN TO STARVE ^61

a reddish stinging-ant which is one of the plagues of the
region.

May 7. — We shared the last of the coffee this morn-
ing. The men went on ahead as usual, the rest of us
starting about an hour after. A short while after leaving
camp we saw an inga-bush laden with fruit close to
the water's edge. Freddy climbed into its branches and
threw the long pods to us. We greedily devoured the
insipid pulp covering the large seeds of this bean-like
fruit. Waited for the men, who joined us at about eleven
o'clock. They said they had just passed a cahiman tree,
and that they would return and bleed it. Maite told me
that the milk of this tree is much used by the Indians,
and that it is very nourishing. When the men, who had
taken a large pan with them, returned they had almost
filled it with a white coagulated stuff like clotted milk.
This was the sap of the tree. Water was mixed with it
and everyone took his turn at the pan. I drank but little
of this liquid, finding it quite tasteless. Drifted down
stream for about an hour, when we came to a creek which
the men would have been unable to cross had we gone
on without noticing it. While we were waiting for the
others Maite cut down some palm-trees and we boiled
the core, or cabbage as it is called. On the banks of the
creek were some small trees covered with a purple berry
in bunches. Maite called this berry fortin, and when
the men reached us they also used the same word to
designate it. We ate quantities of these berries, and as
they happened to be very plentiful we filled our boat with
them. When we stopped at night they served us for
dinner. This day we passed many picturesque spots, of
which Jacobson had taken views on the up trip, and this
revived the bitterness I felt whenever I recalled the

262 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

events of that disastrous day in the rapids of Arichi. How
different was the scenery to that of a few weeks ago ! When
we had passed through these rapids on the up journey the
day had been a hot sunny one. The river was then low,
with exposed rocks and snags everywhere, through which
the water rushed in foaming channels. The same place is
now a flood of yellowish brown stretching from shore to
shore, and is quite tame when compared with the scenery
we had admired when the river was low.

May 8. — It was only towards morning that I man-
aged to sleep a little. Up to about three o'clock I lay
awake thinking, and the subject was food. All the
markets I had ever visited were brought back to me with
extraordinary vividness, from meat-laden Leadenhall to the
little market at Panama, with its piles of bright yellow pine-
apples and its heaps of vegetables. Even when I dozed off
it was to dream of food. Again it rained heavily towards
daybreak, and this caused the men to discuss our chances
of being able to pass the whirlpool below the falls of Para,
should we succeed in getting so far. I tried my best to
reassure them, although I could not help feeling anxious
myself about such a contingency. By eight o'clock it
cleared up and we paddled out into mid-stream to drift with
the current, the others having started about an hour
before. It was not long before we overtook them, but
we did not stop until we reached the mouth of the small
affluent, the Maivi. We landed on some rocks on the
opposite bank as the men would require the boat to cross
the stream, and we spread our soaked things out to dry.
As we had heard four or five shots in the forest Pancho
lighted a fire and put the pot full of water to boil, so that
everything might be ready for cooking if the men brought
any game. Mateo is much better now and can walk a

IN DESPERATE STRAITS 263

little. It was nearly one o'clock when the first man to
arrive called to us from the opposite bank. Maite and
Mateo paddled across to meet him. Within half an hour
all the men with the exception of Epifanio were in camp.
It appears that he would persist in wandering away from
the track the others were cutting in search of fruit.
They had to wait for him repeatedly, they said, but
eventually they had gone ahead and had not seen him
for about two hom'S. Only one curassow had been killed
and this was boiled in a good deal of water, so that there
might be enough soup for everyone.

During the whole afternoon the men discussed our posi-
tion, which we all felt was growing more desperate every
day. I sent Pedro Asoque, Maite, and Freddy to look for
Epifanio. They were to ascend the Maivi for some dis-
tance, the chances being that the lost man had reached the
stream at some distance from the main river and was unable
to cross. I told them to try to catch some fish or shoot
something at the same time. When they returned it was
quite dark. They had met Epifanio at some distance from
the mouth of the stream, sitting in despair on a log of wood
utterly at fault as to where he was. He told me that
he thought he had been abandoned. As a matter of
fact, Maite and my Trinidad boys were the only ones who
were disposed to wait, even another day, if it had been
necessary to search for him. The others, rendered
unreasonable by hunger and anxious to be on the way,
were for leaving him to his fate. Pedro Asoque had shot
a duck in the Maivi. This was roasted and divided, each
of us getting a small piece. The men sat around the
camp-fire up to a late hour at night and held a consulta-
tion. They then came in a body to me with Ramon
Kamirez as spokesman. He said that it would be im-

264 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

possible to reach Para as we were going, and that even it*
we did get there, we would be so weak by that time that
we would never be able to get the large boat we had left
at the top of the hill to the river below. The men had
decided that the best thing would be for those who were
unable to walk and who were keeping the others back to
hurry on in the boat so as to try to reach La Prision as
quickly as possible, from which place a relief party could
be sent back to meet the men left behind. By abandon-
ing everything except the few hammocks and blankets
remaining, one pot for cooking, and the guns, the boat
might hold nine persons, leaving five to walk through
the forest. Jacobson, Villegente, Mateo, his son, and
myself would have to go in the boat, as none of us could
walk any distance. Maite was the only one who knew
the river sufficiently to act as guide, so that it had to be
determined which would be the four to accompany us.
At first the men spoke of drawing lots to decide who
should remain behind, but they finally arranged amongst
themselves that Pedro Hospedales, Pedro Asoque, Pancho
Montenegro, Juan Silva, and Epifanio Mufioz should
continue walking through the forest, and that ' the
Pirate,' Laureano Kodriguez, Eamon Eamirez, and Freddy
Hospedales should go with us. After we had arrived at
this momentous decision we tried to get what rest we
could. For the last time we slept together.

265

CHAPTEE XIX

We separate — Achaba — The giant armadillo — Dogs attacked by a puma —
Guayarapo— Maite loses his reason — Death of our guide — Para — We
leave Para — We reach Mura — Back at La Prision.

We were all up before daybreak. The men went to
work silently, the impending separation appearing to have
.affected the whole of us. We drank some unsweetened
tea, our only luxury, and we divided the few remaining
pounds of beans and rice, leaving the greater part with
those who were to continue marching through the forest.
We shook hands with the five men, and then took our
places in the boat. Laureano, ' the Pirate,' and Eamon
paddled in front, Maite was steersman, the rest of us
packed close together occupied the middle of the boat,
sitting on the blankets and hammocks. Freddy had my
twelve-bore handy in case we should come across any
game on the way. For this reason and for safety we
kept close to one of the banks all the time. So laden was
our small dug-out that when we pushed off the slightest
movement to either side on the part of any of us caused it
to ship water. Hallooing a last adieu to the poor fellows
standing on the rocks to see us off, who had many a
weary mile of fever-breeding forest to tramp through, we
were carried away by the swift current and soon lost
sight of them. The river at this place is smooth and
deep and its banks densely wooded to the water's edge.
Although there was not much cause for alarm in such

me A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

parts, yet we had to exercise the greatest care in handling
our cranky boat. Jacobson, ' the Pirate,* and Villegente
could not swim a stroke. With the exception of Maite
and myself the others were very poor swimmers. Freddy
landed several times after game-birds, and fired ten or
twelve shots in all, but he only secured two curassows.
Perhaps nervousness or hunger had something to do with
his bad shooting. Stopped at noon to cook one of the
curassows Freddy had killed. By way of a change the
meat was roasted on the glowing coals, but although I
ate my full share I could not get over the sensation of
emptiness from which I had been suffering during the
last few days. I had read somewhere that the Kaf&rs
and other savage tribes use hunger-belts when pressed
for food, so I wound a strong creeper several times round
my waist. This certainly gave me a good deal of relief
from the dull gnawing pain I experienced. Kiver con-
tinued broad and deep. Landed once to try to get a
shot at two red howlers I had noticed on a big tree, but
was unsuccessful. Weather gloomy with strong gusts of
wind and showers at intervals. Procured no game. At
about three o'clock heard the distant roar of Achaba and
half an hour afterwards passed through the first channel
of these formidable rapids. It was time to look for a
camping-place, so that the men might be able to
build before nightfall some sort of covering against
the threatening weather ; so we moored the boat along-
side of a thinly wooded island where were many fine
Cattleyas in full bloom. We ate the curassow left over
from the morning. Heavy rain, with lightning and
thunder, all night.

May 10. — Suffered so much from fever during the
night that I can scarcely stand this morning. Started

ACHABA 267

without having eaten anything, not even wild fruit.
Shot a large heron, the kind known by the natives as
Garza morena. How glad we all were ! If we get
nothing else there is still something to eat. Three times
we had to land and walk or rather crawl through the
forest while the boat was being carefully let down by
ropes. We have to be ever so cautious now. If anything
should happen to our small dug-out we are lost. What
hard work it was getting through the forest ! Every two
or three minutes we had to sit down and rest. Jacobson
and Villegente appear to be even weaker than I, although
they can eat more whenever we have food. Toiled on
the whole afternoon until we staggered out on to the open
beach where our camp had been pitched and where the
boats had been launched after the portage. We threw
ourselves on the ground and rested awhile. * The Pirate '
reminded me that I had shot a venomous snake at this
spot, quite close to him. It was only a short distance
to our camping-place of March 30, and as we had then
cut a good track through the forest when the boats were
carried overland, we walked slowly across, leaving the
boat securely moored to a tree to be dragged over on the
following day. We hoped to be able to utilise the huts
built on the up journey, but when we reached our old
camping-place we found that it was flooded, the water
almost reaching the forest growth, so we slung our ham-
mocks under some detached trees fringing the beach. This
part of Achaba is very picturesque. During the two days
we had spent here some six weeks previously Jacobson had
exposed several plates from which we expected fine results.
The boats being hauled up through the rapids, our camp,
the portage through the forest, the falls of Achaba, were
all interesting subjects, but the plates lay buried in the

«68 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

sand at the rapids of Arichi. Again it rained all night,
and when day dawned we found that the river had risen
so much that there was nearly a foot of water under our
hammocks.

May 11. — By ten o'clock the men had got the boat
over the portage and we were ready to continue our
journey. It would have been impossible to get the boat
through this last part of the rapids with the whole of us
in her, so * the Pirate,' Maite, and myself took our places,
paddle in hand, while the others started to walk over
the hills so as to meet us lower down. We had to take
Jacobson with us. Not only was he unable to move
about, but if he attempted to stand he would topple over
in the most ridiculous fashion. In spite of our sufferings
and the gravity of our position, we could not help laugh-
ing at his strange performances. We crossed over to the
right, and then lowered the boat for some distance along
the bank, keeping close to the shore. In this manner we
managed to get below the ledge which is at the head of
the gorge forming the last channel of the rapids. When
we had ascended the river this gorge had not given us
much trouble, but we saw that it would be impossible to
get the boat through the lower end of it in its flooded
condition, as the last stretch was like a seething cauldron
through which no boat could pass without being swamped.
We noticed, however, that there was a narrow channel on
the left, a few yards above where the big waves commenced.
If we could reach this channel, it might be possible to
get the boat through it. So far as we could judge from
where we were this was our only chance. AVe paddled
across with all our strength, starting at a point at the
head of the gorge, yet so powerful was the current that
we only just succeeded in making the channel. A second

THE GIANT ARMADILLO 269

more and we should have been dragged into the whirlpool.
Then another difficulty arose. ' The Pirate ' refused to
shoot the small channel to the deep pool beyond, on the
banks of which the others were awaiting us. He said
that he preferred to walk over the hill, and that as both
Maite and myself were good swimmers we were the proper
persons to get the boat through. It was not so dangerous
as it looked, although I took my clothes off in case we
should get swamped. In a few seconds we joined Ramon
and his party. ' The Pirate ' came in about an hour after,
having had to help Jacobson over the hill. Eamon had
been lucky. He had taken my twelve-bore with him and
had killed a large quail and a giant armadillo.^ During
the whole of our trip this was the only one obtained, so
that it must be rare enough on the banks of the Caura.
Although it was only midday when we had breakfast, and
we could have covered many miles in the course of the
afternoon, the men refused to go any farther for the day.
They said that it was necessary to smoke the armadillo,
that there was plenty of meat, and that they meant
to have a good feed and a thorough rest. And so many
precious hours were wasted, while my thoughtless com-
panions gorged and lazed. The thunders of Achaba did
not allow us to get much sleep.

May 12. — The difference in the appearance of the
river as it is now and as we had seen it a month and a
half ago is most noticeable. Where our boat is tied was
a large sloping tract of sand. Here our camp had been
pitched and the men had built huts of which only the
tops are now above water, so that the place has a desolate
appearance. The men spent the early hours of the
morning trying to finish what was left of the smoked
' Dasypus gigas.

270 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

armadillo. At last we managed to make a start. The
river being easy of navigation v^e made a very good
day's journey, passing our camping-places of March 26,
25, and 24. On each of the two last mentioned dates
I had killed a tapir. How well the men remembered
every detail of the two hunts ! They dwelt with regret
upon the remembrance of those days of feasting. When
we stopped for the night we ate the last piece of the
smoked armadillo, and as we killed nothing for the
day, we shall have to start without food to-morrow
morning.

May 13. — Shortly after starting Ramon shot a curas-
sow and Freddy a penelope, so that we have something
to eat. Passed through the Baudales Pauji,^ and stopped
to cook on some open rocks below it. Have suffered
so much from fever lately that Maite offered to prepare
some Indian medicine for me. He went into the bush
and returned with some bunches of a purplish fruit,
somewhat larger than a coffee berry, but round. Between
the skin and the seed there is a thin pulp of slightly
sweetish taste. These bunches of fruit, which are the
seeds of a sort of slender palm covered with spines, were
boiled in water until it assumed the appearance of claret.
The liquid was then, Maite said, fit for drinking. I was
glad to try anything, so for the rest of the day I kept
the pan containing it near to me in the boat, and drank
nothing else. Curiously enough the fever left me at
night, but this may have been merely a coincidence.
Passed a spot where a peculiar incident had occurred on
the up journey : "We had decided to stop for cooking
our midday meal, and chose a large slab of rock adjoining
the steep densely wooded bank. No sooner had the boats
' The Curassow Bapids.

I

DOGS ATTACKED BY A PUMA 271

touched land than the dogs sprang on shore and bounded
up the bank barking furiously. To our astonishment
they came back howling and running as fast as they
could, closely pursued by a large puma. So intent was
he on the dogs that he took no notice of the boats, the
smaller one of which he actually reached at the same
moment that he struck Meoro, the large dog, tearing the
skin off his ribs, and very nearly killing him. Pancho
pluckily hit him over the head with his paddle, and it
was only then that he found out his mistake and bolted
back into the forest. The whole incident was the affair
of a few seconds. None of us had time to get one of the
guns out of the boat. Some of the men, headed by ' the
Pirate ' carrying my Winchester, started in pursuit, ably
assisted by the dogs, who felt they had protection and
were eager for revenge. They did not, however, succeed
in coming up with the puma, who, after the shock he had
received, had evidently made up his mind to put a good
bit of country between the boats and himself.

We came across two hosoiho trees laden with fruit over-
hanging the river. Eamon climbed one and Laureano the
other, and while they stayed above eating they shook the
branches so that quantities of fruit fell into the water.
We must have spent an hour under these trees. As it
was getting late we encamped close by on a steep patch
of sand, the only spot we could find fit for camping.
To-day we passed the last of the several Indian ranclios
seen on the journey. After dark, Laureano and Maite
fished and one of them caught an Aijmara, which they
roasted. If we only had salt ! I find any game or fish
we get so loathsome devoid of salt or any condiment.
What an awful thing it is to be craving for some necessary
to which our systems have become accustomed ! How

272 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIAxVAS

I longed for salt and after salt for sugar ! I feel I could
swallow handfuls of both.

May 14. — If we kill nothing to-day we shall have to
go without food. Started at daybreak and at about nine
o'clock reached Guayarapo. In our weak state the
navigation of these dangerous rapids is most trying. In
many places we have to get out and haul the boat over
masses of rock or beds of shingle. Consequently we
make but slow progress. At midday we rested for some
time in the shade of a tree on one of the islands.
Laureano tried to catch a fish off the rocks, but he had no
luck. Cattleya superba is very abundant in these rapids
and most of the plants were in full bloom, so that every-
where there were crimson blotches amongst the foliage.
We worked the whole afternoon, yet when we stopped
for the night we were not half-way through the rapids.
The last two days have been fine ones with cool winds,
an agreeable change from the almost continuous rains
experienced since leaving Ameha. Yet the blankets and
hammocks are soaking wet from the water the boat ships
at every moment. Maite was quite useless as a guide
to-day. He appears to be losing his reason. Slept but
little and suffered from violent headache and gnawing
pains in the stomach.

May 15. — We got through Guayarapo by nine o'clock,
after having twice filled with water ; everything wet.
Heard no curassows and we have not a morsel of any-
thing to eat. Chewed some green wild guavas. Passed
our sleeping-place of March 20, now flooded. Near to
this spot are many curious rocks, mostly pinnacle-shaped.
Up to midday nothing had been killed and it looked as
if we were going to pass another day without food when
we heard a pauji humming about 100 yards ahead of

MAITE LOSES HIS REASON 273

us. How we did take care not to make any noise, and
how we tried by signs to impress Freddy, who landed to
kill it, to be careful. After what seemed hours of waiting
we heard a shot. Two of the men scrambled on shore,
and when they returned a few moments after they had
plucked the bird. We lighted a fire on the spot and in a
short while nothing remained of the half-roasted bird but
its bones. The river being flooded, the place was quite
different in appearance to what it had been some two
months ago. It was about five o'clock when we decided
on stopping for the night. We had all landed, and those
who had hammocks were slinging them between trees,
when the dogs who had wandered into the forest began
to bark furiously. Almost immediately a large tapir slunk
through the bush and plunged into the river quite close
to us. Before the men could pick up their paddles and
loose the boat he had got half-way across. Eamon and
Laureano, who went with me, being weak from hunger,
were unable to gain on him, so that the two shots I fired
just as he landed were long ones and I missed. The
men insisted on following his track for some distance in
the hope that he might have been wounded, but they
retm*ned without having seen him. This was the only
tapir we had come across since the one killed the day we
eft Ameha.

May 16. — It rained heavily the greater part of the
night and when day broke it was still pouring. We
waited for some time to see if the weather would clear up,
but no change taking place, we started. Maite, although
he complained bitterly of cold and weakness, insisted on
taking his place at the stem. He was terribly emaciated
^nd his eyes had a fixed stare unlike anything I had seen
before. After we had gone 100 yards it was evident that

T

S74 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

he could not steer, so ' the Pirate ' took his place, and
we put him in a reclining position in the bottom of the
boat. We were in an exceedingly difficult part of the
river to navigate and twice we shipped water. Maite,
who was singing catches of Indian songs and laughing
wildly, was unable to direct ' the Pirate,' as he had become
quite incoherent in his answers. I knew, however, that
above all things it was necessary to avoid the channels on
the right, which rush towards the big fall. After a while
our old Indian guide ceased singing and laughing, and we
thought that he had fallen asleep. All the time the rain
poured on us in such torrents that the boat had to be
baled out every quarter of an hour. At noon we reached
one of the most intricate parts of the Caura, where the
river spreads into a perfect network of channels before
■dividing to form the island over which is the portage.
We went astray several times, but at last we reached the
ledge of rock beyond which there is only one channel on
the left. It was then we found out that Maite was dead.
The whole of the afternoon was spent in dragging the
boat across the rock, the men being so weak that they had
to lie down from time to time. It was sunset when we
reached our old camping-place of March 18. I shot a
courlan ^ with the Winchester rifle — one of two that had
alighted on the rocks at some distance from us. It was
boiled and divided up, and was the only bit of food we had
tasted for seventy-two hours, with the exception of yester-
day's pauji. The men said that it was too late to bury
Maite, and that they were moreover too tired to dig a
grave.

May 17. — The men scooped out a shallow pit in the
sand and placed the corpse of our old Indian guide in it,

' Aramus scolopacctia.

PARA 275

We covered the grave with stones and hurried away from
this ominous scene of death, which every one of us looked
upon as a foreboding of our doom. On the up trip hours
had been spent hauHng the boats over the shallows ; now we
were borne rapidly through the channels by the swiftness
of the current. As we neared our old camping-place, the
remains of the ranchos we had built on the up journey
came in sight, and this appeared to inspire the men with
hope, for they shouted in chorus ' Para ! Para ! ' It was
' The Sea ! ' ' The Sea ! ' of the Ten Thousand.

As soon as we landed the men rummaged about our
old encampment and succeeded in finding a large yam
we had left behind because it had the spot. It had kept
remarkably well, having thrown out a few roots only. A
fire was immediately lighted and the yam, half -boiled, was
greedily devoured. The men recalled every detail of the
tapir hunt on the up journey when at this spot they had
feasted sumptuously, and they compared our starving con-
dition with that time of plenty. We found a couple of
empty tins at this place. In one of them I put a letter
addressed to Pedro Hospedales, and having tied it to the
end of a long pole, planted the pole in an open place
where the men could not fail to see it when they would
reach Para. In my letter I tried to encourage them to
hold out until help would reach them from La Prision.

The boat having been unloaded and securely moored
to a tree, we walked to the hut in the middle of the island,
the men carrying as many things as they could. I went
on in front with the rifle, on the chance of killing some
game. Jacobson and the taxidermist came next, and the
men afterwards. I reached the hut just in time to avoid
getting wet by a heavy shower which lasted for over an
hour. The men dropped in one after another, soaked to

T 2

a76 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

the skin. We found at the raiicho two bags of beans left
behind because they were so old and hard that we thought
them uneatable. We were delighted to get them, bad as
they were, and the men soon had a potful simmering on
the fire. We also found about ten pounds of rice, half a
pound of tea, a small tin of lard, and a demijohn of sour
molasses, but not an ounce of salt. For the first time for
days we enjoyed the luxury of sweetened tea. In spite of
all that we tried with the beans, they remained almost as
hard and heavy as buckshot. I found them so tasteless
without salt that I tried them mixed with molasses, but
this was not an improvement. For dinner we had a little
boiled rice and some tea. ' The Pirate ' and Ramon, who
had gone to the foot of the falls to see what they could
pick up, returned with some yams. These fried with a
little lard were the best food we had eaten for days. In
spite of all my remonstrances the men sat up to a late
hour eating beans and drinking molasses and water, so
that by morning the greater part of the syrup had been
consumed. It rained heavily from midnight until day-
break, the rain being accompanied by vivid flashes
of lightning and deafening claps of thunder. The roar
of the falls joined to the thunderstorm rendered sleep
impossible.

May 18. — We went early to the spot where the
heaviest of the boats had been left on the up journey,
Eamon carrying the pulleys and rope. Although we
tried our best we could not get the wheels of the pulleys
to work ; not only were they so water-logged as to be
useless, but the rope in its sodden state could not be
made to run. Where we were it would have been waste
of time to have attempted to dry this gear, so I de-
spatched two of the men to the foot of the falls to spread

PARA 277

the ropes out on the rocks in the sun. I sent the rest
back to bring the things we had left above yesterday.
Jacobson, Villegente, and myself stayed at the j-anclio,
wasting the little energy we still possessed in defending
ourselves against the attacks of the ants and flies. When
the men returned they brought but a small part of the
articles we had left behind. They were surprised, they
said, when they reached the spot where the boat was
moored, to find that the river had risen several feet and
had carried away the greater portion of our few remaining
things. It was too late to think of walking to the foot
of the falls, so we spent the few remaining hours of day-
light in the ranclio ; the men brooding over the almost
utter hopelessness of our position, I trying to devise some
means by which we might get the boat to the river,
should we not succeed in getting the pulleys to work.

Mag 19. — Started early and walked to the foot of the
falls, the men carrying what remained of our things. On
the way the dogs, having wandered from the path into the
forest, barked furiously for some time ; we then heard
them howl, and when they returned they were terribly
lacerated. They had probably been mauled by a puma
or jaguar. After what appeared to me to be hours of
painful tramping we reached the stretch of sand forming
the banks of the pool below the falls. The long walk in
my starved and weakened state had brought on a severe
attack of fever, so that I was glad to throw myself on the
soft white sand, where I lay panting until the paroxysm
of the attack was over. How changed was Para ! Was
that raging whirlpool the placid pond with scarcely a
ripple we had crossed on the up journey, when I had felt
so disappointed with the falls? Could we hope to get
through that seething cauldron without being swamped ?

278 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

The men, who had been dejected and sullen, were now in
despair. They refused to try to get the pulleys to work,
but retiring in a body to some distance from where I was
lying they sat close to each other, evidently concocting
some plan. It was almost night when Jacobson, who
had lagged behind, crawled into camp. Villegente did
not turn up. At about midnight my boy Freddy woke
me and whispered that he had overheard the Venezuelans
arranging to steal away at dawn, with the idea of aban-
doning us and walking to the settlement at Mura. I
immediately went over to where they were sitting, for
they had not gone to sleep, taking my rifle with me as
a precaution, I reproached them for their ingratitude
and cowardice, and then pointed out to them the utter
impracticability of trying to get to Mura through the
forest. After a good deal of talking I left them, satisfied
that they would not attempt to walk to Mm'a.

May 20. — As it was a question of life and death to us
that something should be done with the pulleys, and as
the men did not know how to take them to pieces, I set
about trying to get them into worldng condition myself.
I succeeded in knocking the pin out and separating the
wheels from the blocks, but it took me fully an hour to
do this, as I was so weak that I had to stop repeatedly so
as to lie down and rest. At this part of the proceedings
the men got interested, and they willingly helped to scrape
the wheels and the inner sides of the blocks. By eleven
o'clock the hauling gear was in beautiful working order,
and the men, as hopeful and enthusiastic as they had been
dejected a few hours before, scrambled up the hill to make
a first attempt at getting the boat down. A fortuitous
coincidence had helped to buoy their spirits up. The
river had fallen during the night some three feet, so that

PARA 279

in the morning the whirlpool did not present that terrify-
ing appearance which, more than anything else, had contri-
buted to the men's mutinous and unreasoning behaviour.

The Caura is remarkable for the height to which its
waters will rise in a few hours, to fall at times just as
rapidly. After the departure of the men I lay down and
rested during the afternoon. Villegente did not reach us
to-day, so I sent Freddy with some boiled beans to meet
him in the forest. When my boy returned he told me
that the old taxidermist would not be able to overtake us
until the morrow, as he could only crawl on his hands
and knees. The men had refused to help him, probably
because he had made himself exceedingly unpopular with
them, although they gave as a reason that they wanted
all their strength to get the boat to the water. They
returned late, with the welcome news that they had hauled
the boat forward a part of the way, and that they hoped,
if things went well, we would be able to leave Para the
day after to-morrow.

May 21. — Passed so bad a night that I can scarcely
move to-day. "We have some tea and about as much
mouldy beans remaining as will last us until we leave
Para to-morrow afternoon — that is, if we can succeed
in doing so. I am subsisting almost entirely on strong
unsweetened tea, all I can get dowa at a time of the
mouldy beans without salt being a mouthful or two. Of
this unpalatable food the men devour whole platefuls, yet
they complain of hunger and weakness. When the men
came in during the afternoon, they said that they expected
to launch the boat at noon on the following day. Felt
terribly hungry the whole night, and could think of
nothing but food. Dull gnawing pains in the stomach.

^0 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

accompanied by fever and headache, rendered sleep im-
possible.

Maij 22. — When day broke I noted that the river had
risen slightly during the night and appeared to be still
rising. I had fixed upon a rock in the pool for my obser-
vations, and I could always tell whether the water was
rising or falling. As the men did not appear to have
noticed the change I did not enlighten them, and they
started up the hill in a more cheerful spirit than they
had shown for weeks. I fainted twice this morning. On
both occasions Jacobson brought me round by pouring
alcohol, a bottle of which had been left at the rancho,
down my throat. At about noon, when we were beginning
to despair of getting away, we were gladdened by the
shouts of the men, who had got the dug-out to the brow
of the steep declivity at the back of our camp. An hour
afterwards we had the satisfaction of seeing the boat
moored alongside of the sand at the edge of the pool. The
men loaded her hastily with the few miserable things we
still possessed, and we pushed off into the stream. The
passage of the whirlpool was not without danger. Twice
we shipped water and nearly got swamped, but when at
last we issued from the whirling waters we knew that we
were saved, and with joy in our hearts we allowed the
boat to drift with the current until nightfall, the men
being too spent to paddle. On the way the men had cut
down some palm-trees growing at the water's edge, and
had removed the tender shoots from the crown. These we
ate when we stopped for the night on a rocky island in
the middle of the stream.

May 23. — Started early in a heavy shower of rain,
feeling terribly weak, cold, and miserable. The men
recalled the pleasant times we had had on the up journey,

WE REACH MURA '2H\

when we used to stop on the sandbanks in search of
turtle-eggs. Jacobson reminded me of his omelettes.
The sandbanks are now all covered, and the river is one
stretch of brown water from shore to shore. At two
o'clock we reached our old rancho opposite the mouth
of the Nichare. This was a spot full of unpleasant
memories. Here we had stopped for a day on the eve
of our unfortunate expedition to the Nichare. Here on
our return I had spent three days of suffering, and here
Isidor, Vicente, and Laureano had left us at night, taking
the small boat when they thought that I was too ill to
move.

May 24. — Left very early. A terribly hot morning,
without a breath of air. Suffered from such a severe
attack of fever that the men stopped at midday so that I
might rest in the shade awhile. Many years before, Isidor
had lived at this spot, but the clearing was at the time of
our visit quite choked with second forest growth. The
men cut their way through this and explored the place
thoroughly. They were rewarded by finding some tubers
resembling tanias, and a bunch of bananas. They also
brought palm-seeds, which, when roasted, were not unlike
pistachio-nuts in flavour. Altogether we fared better than
we had done for days. We stopped for the night on the
Isla Chaparro. One of the men caught a large fish, so
that on the whole this was one of our luckiest days since
the accident at Arichi.

Ma2j 25. — We reached Augustin's cane piece at ten
o'clock in the morning. This is the last bit of cultivated
ground at Mura. Although it would have taken only
about a quarter of an hour more to reach the Indian
settlement, the men insisted on landing in order to fill
themselves up with cane-juice. They remained over an

282 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

hour chewing canes, while Jacobson, Villegente, and my-
self were sweltering in the sun. When we reached the
settlement none of the men were there. They had gone,
Isidor's wife told us, on a hunting expedition, and she
did not expect them to return until late. The women
brought us cassava bread, yaraque, and coffee, which was
all they had. The provision gardens had suffered from
the prolonged drought, they said, in consequence of which
there were no bananas, yams, or sweet potatoes. They
had been subsisting for weeks almost exclusively on
cassava. They appeared to take but little interest in the
story of our misfortunes, and they showed no feeling over
Maite's death, although one of the women said she was
his sister. What had happened was just what might
happen to any Indian at any time. Why worry over the
inevitable, why grieve over a being that was dead and
gone?

On our departure I left word for Isidor and the others
to join us on the following day, so that the relief expedi-
tion might be arranged with all despatch. At one o'clock
we paddled into the stream at La Prision. We tied our
boat to a tree at the landing-place, and then we crawled
up to Doiia Antonia's house. We must have been a
miserable-looking lot, for our kind-hearted hostess could
hardly restrain herself from bursting into tears while she
alternately hugged Jacobson and myself. All was bustle
and excitement at the settlement, and we soon had such
delicacies as soft-boiled eggs and fried bananas placed
before us. The men gorged the whole afternoon, as a
result of which they were sick for days after.

Hh^^B'"'

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^^^HB

1

I

1

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'ZSS

CHAPTER XX

Departure of the relief party — Juan Silva's wife — With the Waiomgomos —
Cotton-spinning — A primitive dark-room— Orchid collecting — Cassava —
Yaraque— Basket-making — Eeturn of the relief party— Canoe-build-
ing—Agriculture — Treatment of children — The blow-pipe — Isidor —
Departure from La Prision — On the Orinoco again.

The first thing I had to think of was the rehef party.
Unfortunately Medina had gone to Puerto Antonio
Liccioni for supplies and had taken several men with him,
so that I experienced a good deal of difficulty in obtain-
ing the hands I required. In Medina's absence Juan
Saba was the chief man at the settlement, and he agreed
to go as head of the relief expedition if I would give him
a gun on his return. Having at last obtained the men
required, my next difficulty was with regard to provisions
and a small boat. The clearing at La Prision, like the
settlement at Mura, had suffered severely from the long
drought, and that was the reason why Medina had been
forced to go to Puerto Antonio Liccioni for supplies.
By sending to the settlements of Temblador and La
Union, I succeeded in getting together sufficient yams,
sweet potatoes, and rice for the trip, and at the latter
place I also procured a small dug-out. For these things
I had to pay three or four times their value ; for the people,
having realised that I was in urgent need of provisions,
had agreed to make the most of the opportunity. I
bought a steer from Juan Saba and it was slaughtered and
the meat salted. Of the Indians only Isidor consented

284 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

to accompany the expedition : the others said that as
the rainy season had set in they -v^ere planting up their
gardens and could not leave. On the afternoon of the
third day of our arrival I had the satisfaction of seeing
the relief party off. It was not a very sober lot of men
I shook hands with, when I tried to impress upon them
at the last moment the importance of the mission they
were going upon. But I knew from long experience that
it would have been useless to have attempted to prevent
the peons from getting drunk on the day of their departure
on a trip of several days. Their instructions were to get
beyond the falls of Para if possible, and to do everything
in their power to rescue those who had remained behind.
It was only after they had left, that ' the Pirate ' ven-
tured to express an opinion on their chances of success.
' I do not like to meddle with what does not concern
me,' he said, ' but I believe it is waste of time to have sent
a boat to meet the men, because I am pretty certain that
they have not followed the river. I did not care to tell you
this before,' he continued, 'because it may be that after we
separated they changed their minds ; but Pancho told me
privately the last night we spent together, that he had
discussed the matter with the others and that they were
thinking of leaving the river and striking through the
forest in the direction of the Chawarro where the
Camaracotas dwell.' I learnt in addition that it appeared
to be Pancho's belief that the savannahs were not far
from where we were at the time, and that it would be
much easier to reach them than to get to La Prision
by the river. This had been one of those occasions on
which the men had made plans and kept their intentions
secret from me. The same thing happened afterwards at
Para, where my followers had deliberated as to the advisa-

JUAN SILVA'S WIFE 285-

bility of abandoning the boat and walking through the
forest to Mura. If Pancho and the others had really left
the river in the hope of reaching the savannahs, I could
not help thinking that we should never hear of them
again. In any case there was no help for what had
occurred : all we could do was to await the return of
Juan Saba and his companions. On the day after their
departure Juan Silva's wife came from Temblador. We
were apprised of her arrival by her loud waihngs, which
she kept up for hours after reaching the house, Dona
j^ntonia doing her best in the meantime to comfort her.
Finally she quieted down sufficiently to discuss the busi-
ness side of the question. Was poor Juan entitled to any
balance in cash, and how much was it ? Would I hand
her over the amount if he did not come ? I felt relieved.
No woman who takes so sensible a view of the loss of a
husband is ever going to die of a broken heart. I put
her in possession of the facts and she became compara-
tively cheerful. I was glad of this, as some men who had
been engaged cutting cedar in the forest were leaving in
the afternoon for Puerto Antonio Liccioni, and I wished
to take advantage of the opportunity to write letters to
friends in Trinidad, to my wife and daughters in London,
and to my agents Messrs. Hugh Low & Co. It would
have been impossible for me to have attended to any
correspondence had Juan Silva's wife proved incon-
solable. After all, the woodcutters did not leave until the
following morning, so that I had ample time to write all
my letters.

By June 1 Jacobson and I were well enough to
walk about with ease, if not with energy. Singularly
enough the men who had been ever so much stronger
than both of us on the day of our arrival were all laid up,.

«86 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

some of them having their limbs and faces quite swollen.
They had made themselves ill by continuous gorging
from the moment of our reaching the settlement.

As there was nothing to be done at La Prision, I
decided to spend the time during which we should be
waiting the return of the relief party with the Waiom-
gomos at Mura. There I would be able to collect
Cattleya superba, observe the Indians at home, and
take photographs of interesting subjects. We had the
small hand-camera, which had luckily been left at La
Prision when we went to Ameha. On the morning of
June 2 we packed all the things we required, intending
to start in the afternoon, so as to spend the night at
Mura and begin our work early on the following day.
From noon to nightfall, however, it rained so heavily that
we were forced to postpone our voyage until the following
morning. We left at nine o'clock, reaching the site of the
old settlement a couple of hours afterwards. I was quite
surprised to meet here with a man from Trinidad, who
recognised me the moment he saw me. He had come to
Mura a couple of months before, he said, and had hit
upon the old settlement, where there were already some
cocoa-trees, as the best spot for a conuco or small plan-
tation. He had cleared a part of the land and planted it
in rice, which was then sprouting. The mango-trees left
by the former settlers were laden with fruit and we
bought a quantity for a few cents. By midday we
reached the Indian clearing on the opposite shore and,
having had our things landed and brought up to
Vicente's house, where we intended to put up, I sent
the men with the boat back to La Prision, keeping only
Freddy Hospedales with us. When we arrived one of
the Indian women was spinning cotton-twine for making

('OTrON-SPINNING 287

a hammock. We were able to observe the operation,
which lasted a week and afforded Jacobson opportunities
of taking photographs of the process at different times.
The cotton having been freed from seeds is roughly
pulled into loose bands, the ends of which are stuck to
other similar bands by pinching them together so as to
form a longer band. This is wound loosely round the
wrist of the left arm and then the first part of the
operation of spinning is performed. The spindles used
are the simplest of simple affairs. A thin round stick
made of hard wood, with a disc placed about three inches
from one end, that is the whole apparatus. The woman
squats on her haunches with one of these spindles on the
right, and she wraps the cotton on it as fast as she has
made it into a rough sort of twine by rubbing it between
the palm of her hand and her thigh. When the spindle
has got as much cotton as it will hold, its contents arc
twirled on to a second spindle, the woman in this case
lying in her hammock with one end of the spindle, which
she turns rapidly round with the finger and thumb, placed
between two of her toes. By passing the cotton in this
manner from spindle to spindle several times a thinner,
stronger, and more regular thread is obtained, but for the
making of hammocks two spinnings are usually con-
sidered sufficient. The cotton-twine is rolled up into a
big ball, which is beaten from time to time with a little
round club of hard wood. From long experience these
people can tell by looking at a ball whether it contains
sufficient twine to make a hammock. Two poles are now
planted in the mud-floor of the hut, at a distance of from
five to six feet, and the actual making of the hammock is
begun. The woman walks round and round the poles
with the big ball of cotton in her hands, and as she goes

iim A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

she unwinds the twine and draws it tightly and regularly
from one pole to the other, until the desired width has.
been obtained. The cross-bars are then woven in and the
hammock removed from the poles, after which the sus-
pending lines are added and the work is complete.

On the day after our arrival I engaged Augustin and
his two sons, with Isidor's boy, to build a dark-room for
Jacobson, so that he might develop his plates from day to
day. It was made entirely of palm-branches and the
broad leaves of the wild banana, and was altogether. a
very primitive affair, but it answered our purpose
admirably, although Jacobson used to say every time
I let him out, for the door could not be closed or opened
from the inside, that he felt as if he had been rescued
from the Black Hole of Calcutta. Having satisfied
Jacobson's photographic requirements, I turned my
attention to orchid collecting. For this purpose I
employed Vicente, Augustin and his sons, and Isidor's
boy. I had collected extensively in 1898 both at Mura
and Piritu, so that I felt it would be difhcult to get
together on this occasion a quantity of fine plants. On
my first visit, our collecting expedition had been an
enjoyable picnic. When we went to Piritu, where we
remained three weeks, Isidor had taken his whole family
with him, including the dogs and poultry. We had
encamped on a lovely islet in the middle of the rapids
and this we made the base of our operations. In the
morning we would visit the various islands or explore the
river's banks, the finding of large well-shaped masses of
Cattleyas being to me a source of daily pleasure. Even
the men after a time entered into the spirit of the enter-
prise and took a keen interest in obtaining fine plants.
It was then the height of the dry season and the water

ORCHID COLLECTING 289

tortoises were laying. In the afternoons we would visit
the sandbanks in search of their eggs, or we would fish
for Morocotos in the placid pools under the copaiba-trees,
returning at sunset to our island home, where we would
sit on the rocks within the ruddy circle of our camp-fire
close to the whirling waters, while Isidor's wife served our
dinner out to us.

Under what different circumstances was I collecting
now, sick and disheartened ! — anxiously awaiting the
return of those sent to the rescue of the rest of our party,
harassed by the contmuous rains and depressed by the
gloomy aspect of the sky and scenery. Although we
worked hard we obtained but few plants. To make
matters worse we were restricted, on account of the
scarcity of fresh provisions, to a diet of cassava and tough
salted meat. The cassava-plant was the only one that
had not suffered much from the protracted drought, so
that the women were engaged almost every day in pre-
paring cakes and yaraque for the use of the household,
there being nothing else to eat at the settlement. The
cassava-plant (Manihot utilissima) is of the same family
as the tree ^ that produces the rubber shipped from Brazil
under the name of Ceara rubber. It is a woody plant,
with large tubers possessing a bitter taste. In the raw
state or when boiled only the juice of these tubers is
highly poisonous, which is due to the presence of hydro-
cyanic acid. In Trinidad, where both the sweet ^ and
bitter cassava are grown, deaths occur occasionally through
one root being mistaken for the other. It is a curious
fact that the agouti (Dasyprocta aguti) can eat the
poisonous root of the bitter Manihot with impunity. In
fact, wherever there I are clearings planted with this tuber,

' Manihot Gwaziovii. ^ Manihot Aipi.

U

S90 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

it forms the staple food of this rodent. Hunters are
always careful to remove every part of the intestines of
the agouti, which they say are poisonous, and they take
care to bury, or in any case to throw away, this dangerous
delicacy so that their dogs may not be able to partake
of it. Other curious instances of animals enjoying the
privilege of being able to take certain poisons without
evil effects are those of the goat and hemlock, the horse
and aconite, and the rabbit and belladonna.

But to return to the manufacture of cassava-cakes.
The women carry the tubers from the field to the house
in deep baskets, by means of a broad band of bark passed
over the head. After the contents of these baskets have
been heaped into a pile on the ground, they sit around
and peel the skin off the roots with knives. The roots
having been peeled are washed thoroughly, after which
they are grated into pulp. In the far-away districts the
graters are of board into which sharp bits of stone have
been cemented ; but at Mura, where it is possible to obtain
pieces of tin from the cans that have contained kerosene
oil, the Indians make their graters, by driving a nail
through the tin in the form of small squares. The tubers
are rubbed up and down over the graters, placed in an
inclined position in the carapace of a water tortoise.
The pulp is then transferred to the squeezer, a long
cylinder of wicker-work which hangs by the loop at the
upper end from one of the beams of the house or from
a post with a cross-bar planted in the ground outside.
Through the loop at the lower end a pole is passed and
to this heavy stones are attached, in addition to which
the women and children sit on it, so as to apply as much
pressure as possible to the cassava in the cylinder. The
poisonous juice is by this means forced out through the

YARAQU]^ 291

interstices of the squeezer and trickles along its sides to
fall into some receptacle placed to receive it. It is from
this juice that the thick black syrupy liquid known as
cassareep is made. The dry cassava when taken out of
the cylinder is in the form of big lumps. These are
broken up and passed through a sieve, after which the
coarse flour so obtained is spread in the form of a large
thin circular cake on the baking plate. A woman with
a fan in one hand and a knife in the other attends to this
part of the operation, which is performed in a very short
space of time. After the cakes have been baked on both
sides they are thrown on the roof of the house to dry in
the sun. From the odds and ends of the cakes and the
coarser parts of its meal a fermented drink called yaraque
is prepared. Ordinarily this drink is made only in suffi-
cient quantities every three or four days to meet the
requirements of the household. Banana-leaves are placed
on the ground in a corner of the hut, and upon these
leaves the cassava, thoroughly damped with water, is
spread in layers. On each layer a powder of a sage-green
colour is sprinkled. This powder is called yaraquero
and is prepared from the leaves of a plant of the same
name {Trema micrantha) . The preparation of this powder
is simple. The leaves having been dried on the large
slab used for baking cassava, an operation which does not
take long, are then reduced to powder by being rubbed
between the hands. This powder is kept in well-stopped
gourds, as there is a minute red ant that is very fond of
it and will find it out wherever it may be hidden. The
mass of damped cassava and yaraquero is then covered
over with the banana-leaves and allowed to ferment. At
the end of two or three days the mass becomes slightly
sour. In this state it is either eaten or drunk mixed witli

u 2

292 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

water and cane-juice. If allowed to ferment for more
than three days it becomes intoxicating. Large quantities
of yaraque are consumed during the dances that form
part of almost every) celebration among the Indians. On
these occasions the stuff is prepared on a big scale,
generally in dug-outs. The cane-juice used in sweetening
the yaraque is obtained by pressing pieces of cane with
a long pole let into the stump of a tree, the pole being
used as a lever. Sometimes the juice is boiled until it
thickens into a syrup, but as a rule it is used in the raw
state.

The work in which the Indians excel is the making
of baskets. At Mura all basket-work is made of the split
stalks of a plant closely allied to that producing arrow-
root. This plant is called tirita and belongs to the
order of the Scitaminese. Its stem is arundinaceous,
terminating in several rosulate leaves. It is this arundi-
naceous stem that is used in the manufacture of the baskets
and sieves one sees in every Indian house. Quantities of
these stems having been collected are split in the first
place into four long strips by running two pieces of thin
wood through them crosswise. Each strip is then split
into two so that every stem produces eight long strips,
which are ready for use after the pith adhering to them
has been removed by pulling them along one of the finger
nails. The baskets are made on frames and are of
different sizes and shapes. There are shallow ones used
for storing cotton, beads, and other ornaments, as well as
the fish-hooks, lines, and arrow-heads used by the men in
their fishing and hunting excursions. The Indians always
carry their loads in a deep basket by means, as I have
already said, of a broad band of pliable bark passed over
the head. If they go on a long journey the cassava and

RETURN OF THE RELIEF PARTY 293

tananas for the trip (with a small pot for cooking) are put
at the bottom of the basket, the hammock being placed
above. For carrying cassava, sweet potatoes, and even
firewood to the huts these baskets are invariably used.
Whenever we went out orchid collecting the Indians
always brought their baskets Math them for packing and
•carrying their plants.

On the afternoon of the 7th (June) at about three
o'clock, Isidor's wife came running to the house in a state
of great excitement, a rather unusual frame of mind
for an Indian woman to be in. She said she had been
standing on the rocks which command a good view of
the rapids for a considerable distance, when she had seen
for a moment what appeared to be a boat shoot across
one of the narrow channels. We accompanied her back
to the spot, but for some time we saw nothing but the
boiling bubbling waters forcing their way through the
rocky channels, and I was on the point of telling her she
must have made a mistake when a boat came into sight
in the distance. It was impossible to say how many
persons were in it, but it did not appear overcrowded,
which would have been the case had the relief party been
successful in its mission. By degrees, as the boat came
closer, we could distinguish its occupants : they were
Juan Saba, Isidor, and the two men despatched ten days
before. Evidently the expedition had failed. Isidor re-
lated how they had reached Para and had tried repeatedly
but in vain to cross the whirlpool so as to get to the
island. They had then attempted to scale the wall of
rock on the right bank of the fall in order to reach the
river above, but in this again they had failed. They had
met with no sign of the men anywhere, so that they had
come to the conclusion that it was useless to remain at

294 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Para and had returned. In reply to my suggestion that
another attempt should be made to get beyond Para, they
declared with one voice that any such attempt would be
madness, and that they would not undertake it. Isidor
added that he felt certain the men had not followed the
river, as they would have reached the island had they
done so, and he would have been able to see them from
the opposite bank. Where were those poor men at the
moment we were discussing their fate? Had they
perished or were they still struggling through the forest
in the hope of reaching some human habitation ? In
spite of the terrible misgivings I felt regarding them,
I determined to wait two or three weeks more on the
chance of their reaching us.

On the day after Isidor's arrival Augustin informed
me that he would not be able to continue to help me in
my orchid collecting. He had promised to deliver by the
middle of the month a ciiriara on which he had been
working when I arrived, and if he did not attend to it
daily he said he would not be able to meet his engage-
ment. He took me to see his handiwork and detailed
the process of making curiaras or dug-outs. Cedar and
sassafras are the best timbers for making these boats ;
preferably the former, as it is lighter and more durable.
A suitable tree having been selected is felled and the
portion for the dug-out cut away. This is rounded and
shaped into the form of a canoe, after which it is hollowed
out. With a gimlet or a hot iron holes are bored in the
shell so that the builder may be able to regulate its
thickness as he proceeds. When the curiara is con-
sidered sufficiently hollowed out a fire is made through-
out its whole length with sticks and logs of wood. Finally
the glowing coals are removed and the dug-out forced

CANOE-BUILDING 295

open while the wood is steaming hot. This is an opera-
tion requiring to be done rapidly yet carefully. Strong
pieces of wood of different lengths having been placed
between the sides of the dug-out in an oblique direction
are struck by a heavy log until they are forced straight
across. Then with longer pieces the operation is repeated
until the boat is sufficiently opened out. Bars of hard-
wood are then let in and fixed firmly between the sidesr
and these, while they serve as seats, keep the canoe
permanently open.

First operation after firing

After the pieces of wood have been forced straight across

Method of Opening Dug-out

Isidor agreed to assist me in collecting orchids up to
one or two o'clock every day : he devoted the rest of
the afternoon to preparing the ground and planting his
portion of the clearing. Among these Indians agriculture
is carried on in the most primitive manner. When a
family or several families have hit upon some spot in the
forest as suitable for a clearing, the men proceed to cut
down the trees and undergrowth, using axes for the former
and their cutlasses for the latter. (I may mention here
that any traveller visiting the Indian tribes of Guiana
would do well to remember when bringing articles for
barter vdth him that heavy axes or cutlasses are difficult

296 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

to dispose of. I noticed that the Indians cannot bear to
work with any but the lightest of implements. So far as
axes are concerned they should not weigh more than
three pounds.) The leaves and smaller branches of the
felled trees and brushwood are allowed to wither and dry,
after which they are set on fire, and this helps to clear
the ground to a certain extent ; but the trunks and larger
branches, though they get more or less charred, are hard
to burn, and they remain for years lying about with their
bare and blackened stumps sticking up in the air, giving
anything but a picturesque appearance to the clearing.
With the first rains planting is begun. In the case of
cassava, slips of the woodj'^ stem of the plant are inserted
into holes around which the soil has been slightly loosened.
For sowing grain, such as maize or rice, a pole sharpened
at one end is used. From my hammock I often observed
Isidor planting up the fields he had devoted to these two
cereals. As he walked along he would plunge the pole
he carried into the ground at regular intervals. He was
followed by his son, who dropped a few seeds into each
hole and then, as he passed, pressed the earth over them
with one of his feet ; and here I may mention that I was
repeatedly struck by the dexterity these Indians display
in the use of their lower limbs, employing them even for
picking up any small article they may have dropped.

At Mura, besides cassava, maize, and rice, the Indians
had planted sugar-cane, bananas, yams, pumpkins, sweet
potatoes, and a little cotton and tobacco, so that except on
occasions of excessive drought they are well supplied with
provisions. For animal food they depend entirely on
hunting and fishing, and they almost always smoke what-
ever game or fish they may have obtained. They can
eat enormous quantities of food when it happens to be

TREATMENT OF CHILDREiN 297

plentiful. In fact, they have the disagreeable habit of
getting up frequently during the night to eat, and thus
it happens that anyone staying with Indians will be
awakened repeatedly during the night by the movements
of one or other of the party. This habit of gorging is
acquired during early youth, when the children are
allowed to eat as much as they can — that is, when food
is abundant. Neither are the children interfered with
much in other matters, nor are they punished in the
way Europeans punish theirs, I do not remember ever
having seen the Indians at Mura beat or in any way
ill-treat their little ones. It may be this freedom in the
method of his bringing up which makes the full-grown
Indian impatient of any sort of control.

Of the numerous tribes which dwelt on the Caura and
its neighbourhood, only the Waiomgomos have survived,
and they also, although so far removed from civilisation,
have, according to Isidor's accounts, decreased to an
appalling extent within a comparatively short period.
To-day the compound on the Merevari range does not
contain more than fifty or sixty people, of whom about
two-thirds are women. They are polygamous, some of
the men having two or even three wives. In the few
books I have read dealing with the Indians of Guiana,
ihese people are referred to as Maionkongs. They call
themselves, however, Waiomgomos. I was particularly
careful to satisfy myself on this point, and I even
mentioned the word Maionkong to Isidor as being the
name by which his tribe was known abroad. He told me
that the Indians through whom his tribe received such
articles as knives and fish-hooks from British Guiana,
spoke dialects so different from that of the Waiomgomos,
that they would probably find it almost impossible to

298 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

pronounce certain words correctly. To this must be
added the difficulty attending the rendering of names
from a language entirely different in structure to any
European one, without taking into account the careless-
ness with which names and words are very often jotted
down by travellers.

The Waiomgomos at Mura, who come in frequent
contact with Venezuelans, have added something in the
way of dress to what they were accustomed at the head-
waters of the Merevari. The women are very fond of
bright coloured cloth, a piece of which they wear tied
over one shoulder so that it hangs down and covers the
breasts. The men, while working, wear nothing but a,
strip of blue cloth passed between the legs and fastened
to a string tied round the waist. To receive us they
always dressed, if the wrapping of a piece of cloth around
the body can be called dressing. A long strip of the
same cloth is sometimes passed over the shoulders and
under the arms in manj^ folds. Both men and women
paint their faces and bodies a brick red, using anatto, and
the effect produced when they are well painted is pleasing.
The Indians of the distant village on the Merevari do not
use anatto, but a pigment obtained from a creeper unknown
on the Lower Caura. The colour of this pigment is a
bright scarlet, much brighter than that of the anatto. In
many other matters the Indians of the small settlement
of Mura have been forced by circumstances, not the least
of which is their frequent intercourse with Venezuelans,
to alter their mode of life, and to make changes in their
implements and ornaments. Not being able, for instance,
to obtain on the Lower Caura the reeds from which blow-
pipes are made, they have been obliged to abandon
the use of these deadly weapons. Yet the blow-pipe is

THK B]/)AV-PIPE 299^

essentially a Waiomgomo arm, for the other tribes of
distant parts of the Guianas get their supply of blow-
pipes or of the reeds for making them from the comitry
near the sources of the Merevari, and these articles form
the principal object of barter the Waiomgomos have to
dispose of in their trade relations with other settlements.

The reeds are obtained from some mountains not far
from the compound where Isidor was born. Humboldt^
when he was at Esmeralda, witnessed the return of an
expedition of Indians who had gone in search of reeds
and other forest products. He says that when he and
Bompland arrived at Esmeralda, the greater part of the
Indians were returning from an excursion which they had
made to the east beyond the Bio Padamo to g&thei juvias,
or the fruit of the bertolettia, and the liana which yields
the curare. One of the four canoes was filled in great
part with that species of reeds (carices) of which blow-
pipes are made. They were from fifteen to seventeen feet
in length, but without trace of any knot for the insertion
of leaves or branches. They were quite straight, smooth
externally, and perfectly cylindrical. These carices come
from the foot of the mountains of Yumariquin and
Guanaja, and are much sought after even beyond the
Orinoco, by the name of reeds of Esmeralda. It will be
observed by looking at a map of Venezuela that the
Padamo, of which Humboldt speaks, rises either in or
close to the country of the Waiomgomos ; but, as I have
said before, the courses of the rivers and positions of
mountains as marked on the maps of this part of the
world must be considered to be approximate only, no
accurate survey work ever having been performed in these
regions.

In the manufacture of blow-pipes the reeds are

300 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

enclosed in the stems of a slender palm, and this again is
an article of barter, for the particular palm used for this
purpose is not found in the country of the Waiomgomos.
Isidor used to regret that he did not have a blow-pipe to
show me how skilful he was in its use. He was always
ready to speak of the distant compound whence he had
come, and of his uncle Simon, who was the headman of
the place, but I never succeeded in getting from him
Simon's Indian name or the names of the others at the
settlement. As I observed during my first visit all the
Indians of Guiana appear to have the same objection to
divulging to strangers the names by which they are
known to their immediate relations ; and this is why, I
suppose, Isidor had bestowed on his uncle the name
Simon, although the latter had never had any inter-
course with Venezuelans. Im Thurn, in his work
' Among the Indians of Guiana ' draws attention to the
strong objection the Indians whom he visited have to
the telling or using, even among themselves, of the name
bestowed upon a child by the peaiman or medicine-man
soon after birth, which is his proper name and is supposed
to form part of himself.

Every evening Isidor would spend a couple of hom'S
with me and speak about his people and the journeys he had
made to the Paragua and Caroni, where the Camaracotas
and Guaicas have settlements. He would dwell with
delight on every detail of the yaraque feasts and dances
that took place on the return of one of these trading
expeditions. He described the ornaments worn on these
occasions — the gorgeous feather crowns, the strings of
beads and peccary teeth, the bands of braided hair worn
above and below the calf of the leg and around the arm
under the arm-pits. Then he spoke of the music — the long

WITH THE WAIOMGOMOS— AUGUSTIN THE FLUTE PLAYER

ISIDOR 301

pipe, the big drum, the songs, and the dance. In spirit
he was at his old home on the Merevari mountains and I
was with him. Suddenly he would start up as if from a
dream, and saying a curt ' good-night ' would disappear
into the darkness to tread his way between the spectral
stumps to his hut in the centre of the clearing.

On the 10th (June) a boat came from La Prision with
the news that Medina had returned from Puerto Antonio
Liccioni and had brought supplies. To Jacobson and
myself this was welcome news, as we were badly in need
of a change of diet, and this decided me on returning to
our headquarters, where we would be more comfortable
than in the wretched hovel we occupied at Mura. On the
morning of the 12th we left for La Prision, the Indians
having promised to continue collecting orchids for four or
five days more.

For several days after our return to La Prision I did
scarcely any work, spending most of the time in my
hammock, overpowered by a drowsiness I had never
experienced before. Medina told me that this was the
result of malaria and that it was called tiricia. It rained
daily in torrents, flooding that part of the house where
our hammocks were slung and causing us a good deal of
discomfort. During the day the air swarmed with flies of
different sizes, which got into our eyes and ejected a liquid
producing a burning pain that lasted several minutes.
With the setting of the sun we had to take refuge under
our hammock-nets from the clouds of mosquitos that
invaded the house ; and even then, if we incautiously
allowed any part of our bodies to touch the net, we would
be attacked by them. On June 17 the Indians brought all
the orchids they had got together. It would not be worth
while, they said, to continue collecting, as plants were

302 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

very scarce and the inclemency of the weather made
the work doubly difficult. The plants were hung up on
creepers under the eaves of the house, where the pigs and
other animals could not get at them. Every day I
prepared a few for packing by cutting away the old roots
and bulbs, and we also made the crates to hold them. By
the 25th we were ready to depart, but I determined to wait
until the end of the month in the vague hope of the men
turning up. For the first time I ate Indian corn prepared
in a fashion quite new to me. The corn having been
soaked in water is dropped into boiling lard. The grains
expand and burst and become white in colour, looking
somewhat like jasmine buds. This was one of the few
delicacies these people prepare. On June 29 at three o'clock
in the afternoon we bade adieu to our hospitable hostess
and the other inhabitants of La Prision, with the inten-
tion of passing the night at Temblador and reaching
Puerto Antonio Liccioni on the following day. One of
the boats was in such a terribly leaky condition that by
the time we reached Temblador ail the articles placed at
the bottom were wet. We had to land everything, and
again the greater part of a day was spent in repairing and
caulking the thin rotten shell which bore us, so that we
only left in the afternoon, arriving at Suapure after eight
o'clock at night. On the following day we reached
Puerto Antonio Liccioni. There we got some slight news
of what had happened since we had been cut off from
the civilised world eight months before. We learnt that
Queen Victoria was dead, and the Boer war was still in
progress. We read and re-read every bit of printed
matter we could lay our hands on while we were awaitin,g
the arrival of a large bongo which was to take us down
the Orinoco to Ciudad-Bolivar. At last, on July 4, the

ON THE ORINOCO AGAIN 303

anniversary of the declaration of American Independence,
we shook the dirt, or rather the mud, of Puerto Antonio
Liccioni from our feet and drifted slowly down with
the current. It was our last night on the dark waters of
the Caura. When we awoke on the following morning
we were on the broad yellow expanse of the Orinoco.

304 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

CONCLUSION

It is now over eighteen months since the survivors of
the expedition to Ameha reached the settlement at La
Prision. Since then nothing has been heard of the other
members of this ill-fated expedition.

Although the photographs taken above Para, and the
collections of birds, minerals, and plants from Ameha were
unfortunately lost, still the expedition cannot be said to
have been a failure, considering that we now have a
definite idea of the country traversed. The birds obtained
on the Nichare and on the lower reaches of the Caura,
which were sent to the Tring Museum, have been the
subject, in conjunction with collections made by Mr.
Cherrie and Mr. Klages, of a work by Count Hans von
Berlepsch and Dr. Ernst Hartert. This work will, I
understand from Dr. Hartert, be included in vol. ix. of
' Novitates Zoologicae.' I was fortunate enough to
obtain some new species and a good many rare and inter-
esting birds, and have thus been instrumental in adding
something to our knowledge of the ornithology of this
interesting region. If I succeed in fulfilling the promise
I have made myself of revisiting Ameha and of reaching,
if possible, the distant villages on the Parime mountains,
I shall have satisfied the keenest desire of my life.

TiuNiPAD : November 15, 190-'.

INDEX

AcAKU island, 100
Achaba mountain, 216

— rapids, 215-217, 266-269
Alligators, 94, 95, 136, 138, 205
Amazon river, 56, 184-187
Amazonas forest, 92

Ameha, mountain, 28, 32, 139, 202,
205, 246, 249, 258, 260, 272, 273,
286, 304 ; expedition to, 221-242

Andes mountains, 62 -64, 92, 236

Andre, Mrs., 285

— Misses, 285

Angostura, 55-56, 101. See also

under Ciudad-Bolivar
Anson, Lord, 77
Ants, habits of, 122-123, 141, 147-

151, 203, 261
Ant-eaters, 144
Ant-thrushes, 149, 150, 204
Antonia, Doiia, 121, 123, 140-145,

282, 285
Apure river, 2, 62, 64, 94
• Apure ' steamer, 104-106
Arauca river, 64, 94
Arawa mountain, 28, 139, 218-224,

231, 288, 246, 249, 255

— river, 221, 224, 252
Araya, 68-72
Argentina, 90-91

Arichi mountain, 28, 224, 225, 231,
238, 246, 249

— rapids, 222, 251, 262, 268, 281

— river, 224, 246, 248, 251
Aripao village, 100, 101, 109-111
Armadillo, 269, 270
Arrichapa, 212

Arromaia, 6

Aruy river, 100

Asoque, Pedro (Chichi), 193, 195,

201, 209, 217, 221, 234, 243, 259,

263. 264

Atahualpa, 3
Atures, 63

Augustin, 281, 288, 294
Ayaima narrows, 210
Aymara (fish,) 213, 218, 225, 254,
256, 271

Balata gum-tree, 66-67

Bald-headed cotinga, 233, 240

Bank of Venezuela, 68

Bark, uses of 127

Barquisimeto, 111

Barrancas, 13, 43, 44

Basket-making, 292

Battistini, Aurelio, 33, 34, 108

Bees, instincts of, 133-134

Beetles, 132

Belt's 'The Naturalist in Nicaragua,'

150-151
Benito (native paddler), 177
'Bird-carpenter.' See under Ville-

gente, taxidermist
Bleekrod, Professor, 66
Blowpipes, 299, 300
Bohn's Classical Library, 130
• Bolivar * steamer, 13, 36-38
Bolivar, Simon, 49, 56 w, 60 ; ' The

Land of,' 62
Bompland, explorer, 100, 299
Branco river, 205

Brazil, 1, 40, 65, 109, 188, 205, 289
Briceno, General Barroeta, 58
Britten, Dr. L., 187
Bromelias, 27-29
Brown, Hon. Vincent, 36
Buenaventura, 169
Bullfighting, 83 seg-
Bush-ticks, 30
Butterflies, 141-142
Byron, Lord, 84

306

A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Callao Company, 51-52
— Mines, 50, 108

Calliste x>aradisea, 190

Camaracotas tribe, 284, 300

Canaracuna river, 5

Cangrejo, 7, 9, 177, 178

Cauo Guayapo, river, 9, 136

Canterbury, 77

Canuri, 6

Caracas, 61, 68, 95

Carenage, 38

Cariaco, gulf of, 70, 74, 114

Caribbean Sea, 114

Caribs, 212

Caroni river, 1, 2, 53-54, 100, 101,
300

Cassava plant, 289-292

Cassiquiare, 100

Castro, General, 61, 91, 95 n

Cattle-rearing, 75, 102-103

Caulin, Father, 100

Caura, river, 1, 2, 7, 33, 178, 182-183,
195, 201, 208, 209, 269, 274, 303,
304 ; source of, 4 ; tribes on the, 5-7,
297-298 ; missionaries on the, 6 ;
tonca-bean industry on the, 7-11 ;
first visit to, 12 seq ; rubber in-
dustry on the, 33-34 ; expedition
up the, 90 seq ; diseases prevalent
on the, 110-111, 183; rise of the,
135, 137, 196, 279 ; limits of the,
210. See also U7ider Merevari

' Caura ' steamer, 13, 34, 91 seq.
106 seq

Cayenne, 34

Centurion, Governor Don Manuel,
101

Chawarro, 5, 284

Cherrie, Mr., 304

• Chichi ' (native). See under Asoque,
Pedro

Christiansen, Brothers, 95

Cinco mil pesos channel, 195

Ciudad-Bolivar, 8-14, 33-35, 41, 44,
51-64, 69, 72-78, 84, 90, 91, 98,
104, 105, 112, 119, 129, 168, 193,
302

Ciudad de San Carlos village, 101,
171

Coche, 68

Cockfighting, 78 seq

' Cock of the Hock ' bird, 201, 238

Cocoa-plantations, 171

Codazzi, quoted, 5

Colombia, 39, 63, 78 seq, 160, 169,
178, 221

Columbia University, 187

Columbus, quoted, 40

Cormorants, 114-115

Coro, 68

Cosmer, Captain, 48

Cotton-spinning, 286-288

Creepers, 257 ; uses of, 125, 202,
253-254 ; dangers of, 153-154

Crespo, Mrs., 102

— President, 102-106

Croney, Corporal, 36

Cuchivero river, 2, 7

Cucurital, 118

Cumana, 68, 69, 73, 74, 114, 160

Curassow rapids, 270

Curassows, 153-158, 210, 243, 252,
257-260, 263, 266

Customs ; native blood-feuds, 4, 20 ;

serenades and feast-days, 11, 129 ;

pack carrying, 15, 127-128, 202-

203, 292-293 ; Indians assuming

Spanish names, 15, 300 ; protection

of snakes, 21 ; buildings in South

America, 57, 125; dances, 71, 119,

! 292, 300 ; modes of fishing, 75, 97,

j 135-136, 182-183, 205 ; cockfight-

I ing, 76 seq ; bullfighting, 83 seq ;

\ tilting the ring, 84 ; gambling, 41,

85, 129 ; life of the natives, 123-

125, 290 seq ; hospitality, 120, 130-

131 ; building ranches, 195-196 ;

painting the body, 298

Cuyuni river, 101

Dagua river, 170

Darwin's ' Fertilisation of Orchids,

133?!.
de Aguila, Garcia, 48
de Grados, Geronimo, 45-48
' Delta,' steamer, 34, 39-41, 54, 56
Demerara, 34, 233
Derby, Earl of, 77
Dug-outs, 169-170, 294-295

Edwabd'8 ' Life of Sir Walter

Ralegh,' 45
Egret feathers (ospreys), 64-66, 96
El Callao, 53
El Muelle village, 114
El Potrero cattle-ranch, 93
Emecuni river, 5
Epifanio. See under Munoz
Erewato river, 6, 19. 101, 199,

210-212, 216

i

INDEX

307

Erinetta (Spaniard), 46-47
Esmeralda, 100, 211-212, 299
Esperanza, 16, 18, 152
Essequibo, 100
Ewaipanoma tribe, 6

Facundo (native), 165, 167, 176-178,

191, 192
Fever, 49, 58-60, 183, 201, 204, 222,

241, 254, 258, 266, 270, 277, 280
Fishing, modes of, 75, 97, 135-136,

182-183, 205
Fitt, Hon. George, 37
Fitzsimons, Mr., 36
Flies, 237, 256, 301
Fly-catchers, 153, 158-159, 174
Forests, submerged, 101
Foster, Sir M., 161 n
Fowler, Hon. H. 36
Freddy. See imder Hospedales
Freitas, 37
Frogs, 201-202

Gatacee, William, 77

' Gates of Hell, The,' 94, 98

Giblan, Sergeant-Major, 36

Gold-mining, 50-54

Grillet & Co., 34

Guachee (native bean-collector), 16,
163

Guaharibos tribe, 92

Guaicas tribe, 300

Guanaja mountains, 299

Guaraguaraico village, 100

Guaraunos tribe, 42

Guarico, 104

Guaviare river, 92

Guayana la Vieja, 35

Guayarapo, 209, 210, 272

Guianas, 2, 4, 16, 41, 55-56, 92,
' Discovery of,' 5 ; dialects in the,
19-20 ; tribes of the, 297 ; ' Among
the Indians of the,' 300

Gutta Percha and Bubber Manufac-
turing Co., 188

Guy (native), 15, 18, 20, 24, 29, 30

Hajimocks, origin of, 40-41 ; manu-
facture of, 287-288
Hammond, 45
Hampden, John, 45
Hancox, Mr., 34-35
Hang-nests, 220

Harragin, Mr., 36-37
Hartert, Dr. Ernst, 159, 304
Hawks, 145-146, 177, 201
Henderson, Jesse, 56-58

— Robert, 56-58
Hernandez, General, 102
' Hero ' steamer, 35
Heron, 106, 267
Hilaria mountains, 136 n
Hornets, 140-141

Hospedales, Freddy, 173, 193, 195,
234, 259-266, 270, 273, 278, 279,
286

— Pedro, 159, 174, 177, 193, 195,
201, 209, 217, 221, 233, 234, 264,
275

Humboldt, explorer, 4, 69, 100, 171,

211, 299
Humming-birds, 153, 209

Ibis, 217-218

Iguana (reptile), 228-229

Indian corn, cakes, 123

— boiled, 302
Inga bush, 261

Insects, instincts of, 132-134 ; influ-
ence of a bright light on, 219,
226-227

Isidor (Indian), 15-32, 157, 169,
172, 175, 180-183, 190, 191, 212,
281-283, 293-300; wife of, 282,
289, 298 ; son of, 288

Isla Chaparro, 281

— Larga, 176
Isle of Palms, 260
Iwararaqueri tribe, 6

Jacobson, Mr., 39, 44, 119-123, 138-
139, 164, 168, 177, 190, 195, 200,
203-204, 217, 220, 222, 225, 234,
238, 240, 245-257, 261-269, 275-
301

Jaguars, 19, 161, 175, 181, 197, 223,
277

' John of Morocco,' 46

Journal Soc. Arts, 66 n

Juan Griego, 69

Juana (Indian woman), 165, 168,
185

Ketmis, — , 45, 47, 49
Klages, Mr., 112, 304
Knevitt, 45

308

A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Koro-koro (ibis), 217-218
Kosoibo-tree3, 258, 260, 271

• La Aurora ' cattle-ranch, 102-106

La Ceyva island, 48

La Guavia, 69

La Plata river, 56

La Prision, 7, 9, 14-21, 31-32,
120-172, 177, 183, 187-193, 201,
204, 247, 252, 264, 275, 282-286,
301-304

La Eaya rapids, 180-183

La Union, 283

Laja Conchera, 163

— de los Perros, 16, 163

— Grande, 17, 31, 163

— Los Gallitos, 164
Laureano, Don, 71
Leon, General Perez, 38
Liccioni, Don Antonio, 108
Longacre, Mr. Orleans, 39, 119, 121,

123, 168, 177, 178, 184, 187, 190,

193-194
Los Castillos, 44, 49, 58
Low, Hugh & Co., 285
Lowther, Mr., 77
Lucy, Sergeant, 36

Macareo channel, 42, 61

Madeira river, 56

Madrid, 65, 84

Maipures, 63

Maite (Indian guide), 15, 18, 19, 26,
30, 166, 169, 175-180, 191-243,
250-273, 282, 300 ; death of, 274

Maivi river, 262-263

Manapiari river, 211

Manoa, city of, 3

Manufactures, &c. : tonca-bean in-
dustry, 7-11, 14, 104, 110, 119,
129, 152, 163, 176; hammock
making, 40-41 , 287-288 ; gold-min-
ing, 50-54 ; egret-feather industry,
64-65, 95 ; saltpans, 68-72 ; fish-
ing, 75, 97, 135-136, 182-183, 205 ;
salted beef, 90-91 ; alligator-skin
industry, 94-96 ; cattle rearing,
75, 102-103 ; cheese-making, 103-
104 ; rice cultivation, 108, 147 ;
sugar, 122, 12(;-127 ; uses of
creepers and bark, 125, 127, 202,
253-254 ; rum, 129-130 ; cocoa-
plantations, 171

Mapire, 98, 99, 117

Maquiritares tribe, 92
Maracaibo, 74
Maravaca, 92
Margarita island, 41, 114
Maripa village, 14, 105-112
Mateo. See under Eamirez
Mato river, 113, 115
Medina, Jose Gregorio, 124-130,

168, 169, 172, 193-194, 283, 301
Meoro (dog), 244, 271
Merevari mountains, 5, 28, 205, 212,

297, 301
— river, 4, 5, 139, 210, 216, 222-227,

231, 238, 240, 257, 298-9. See

also under Caura
Merida mountains, 92
Meta river, 2, 62
Mexico, 95

Monkeys, 160-161, 240 ; roasted, 259
Monos, 38
Montenegro, Pancho (cook), 169,

173, 175, 193, 195, 200-201, 251,

256-264, 284-285
Monteverde's compound, 119
Montezuma, 3
More, Sir Thomas, 151
Morocoto fishing, 182-183, 205, 289
Moths, 132, 139, 226
Mucurapo, 37
Mufioz, Epifanio, 195, 213, 223, 241,

245, 263-264
Mura rapids, 5, 7, 9, 32-33, 101-102

121, 138, 165-167, 170-178, 182,

195, 205, 209, 278, 281-301
Murphy, John, 188
Muscivora coionata, 158

'Nicaragua, The Naturalist in,' 150
Nichare river, 6, 7, 13, 33, 195-196

201, 281, 304 ; expedition to the,

165-192
Night-jars, 143-144
' Novitates Zoologicae,' 159, 190,

304
Nutall, Dr., 160-161 n
' Nutrias ' steamer, 35

Orchids, 162-163, 172, 201, 210, 266,

272, 295; 'Fertilisation of,' 133-

134
Orchid-hunting, 14, 32-33, 286, 288,

293-294, 301-302
Orinoco river, 1-7, 35, 43-44, 50-73,

92-99, 106, 108, 117, 129, 138, 166.

182, 302-303

INDEX

309

Orinoco delta, 42, 44

— Lower, 52, 212

— Upper, 12, 62-63, 212

— Shipping and Trading Co., 34,
62

Orinocoponi tribe, 6

Ospreys (egret-feathers), 64-65, 95

Otters, 183

Owls, 153

Pacabaima mountains, 4, 5, 19, 13

Padamo river, 211-212, 299

Paisley, Dr. C. B., 36

Palm-trees, 75, 131, 261, 280

Palomeque, Diego, 46-48

Panama, 143, 146, 229, 262

Pancho (cook). See under Monte-
negro

Para, 7, 65

Para falls, 6, 101-102, 139, 179, 193-
197, 202, 205, 214, 215, 224, 242,
250, 255-258, 262, 264, 275-281,
284, 293-294, 304 ; described, 198-
199

Para rubber, 65, 185, 188. See also
render Rubber

Paragua river, 300

Paria, gulf of, 70

Parime, lake of, 3

— mountains, 1, 4, 16, 91, 300, 304

Paris, 52

Parrots, habits of, 8, 174

Paru falls, 101-102

Peccaries, 134, 194

Pedro. See under Asoque and Hos-
pedales

Penelopes, 217, 220, 257-260

Pepys, Samuel, 77

Piaroas tribe, 28, 92, 113

Pio (Indian paddler), 168, 177, 185

' Pirate, the.' See wider Urbana,
Luis

Piritu rapids, 9, 32, 102, 104, 176,
178, 192, 205, 209, 288

Pizarro, 2

Plessington, John, 45-46

Point Araya, 45

Poisonous plants, 289-290

Port of Spain, 12, 34-37, 40, 56, 97,
144, 166, 174, 226

Pozo Bravo, 180, 183, 189-192

Puerto Antonio Liccioni, 106-108,
112-113, 117, 130, 136 71, 165, 168,
193-194, 283, 285, 301-303

Puerto Cabello, 69

Pulleyn's 'Etymological Compend,'

40
Puma, 271, 277

Qdelch-McConnell expeditions, 232
Quito plateau, 3

Ealeqh, George, 47

— Sir Walter, 3, 14, 49, 53 ; ' The
Discovery of Guiana,' 5 ; ' Life of,'
45

— Walter (the younger), 45-48
Eamirez, Mateo, 195, 241, 252-256,

263-264

— Eamon, 193, 195, 204, 250-256,
263-265, 269-273, 276

Raudalos Pauji, 270

Eeid, Capt. Mayne, 96

Eice, cultivation of, 108, 147

Eice-bird, 145-147

Eichard, J. B., 11-32, 183-184

Eio Negro, 56, 165, 169

Eivas, General, 105

Eock, Sergeant, 36

Eodriguez, Laureano, 195, 264, 265,

271-273, 281
Eoraima mountain, 232
Eoseliano, 119
Eubber industry, 33-34, 65-67, 184-

189, 289
Eum, manufacture of, 129-130

Saba, Juan, 283, 285, 293

St. Thomas village, 46-49, 55

Salt, manfacture of, 68-72

Salt beef, preparation of, 90-91

San Felix, 13, 44, 50, 53-54

San Fernando, 97, 144

San Isidro, 102, 106

San Luis mission, 101

San Pedro, village, 100-101, 199

Sandfly, 108

Sarare, 111

Sefton, Lord, 77

Serrania de Mato, 8, 28, 113

— de Parime, 1

Seville, 84

Shelton, Sergeant, 36

Sierra Nevada, 237

Silva, Juan, 195, 259, 264, 285;

wife of, 285 -
Simon, Father, 49
Simon (native), 300
Sipapo river, 2

310

A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS

Slavery, 109

Small, Dr. John K., 187-188
Smuggling salt, 68, 72-73
Snakes, 160
Snake-bite, 252 seq
Socidt^ du Haut Or^noque, 12
Soledad, 55

' Spectator ' quoted, 232
Spence's ' The Land of Bolivar,' 62
Suapure river, 2

— station, 7, 9, 14, 104-108, 113, 302
Sugar-industry, 122, 126-127
Sun-bitterns, 217-218
Suraima, 218, 260

Sylvestre (Indian), 15-20, 23, 26,
300

Taeniotriccus Andrei, 159 n

Taparitos tribe, 6, 7, 191

Tapirs, 134, 172-173, 181-182, 205-

207, 210, 213-215, 223, 227-228,

244-246, 260, 270, 273, 275
Temblador, 7, 9, 91, 104-105, 115-

120, 171, 189, 283, 285, 302
Terns, 209
Themistocles, 77-78
Thurn's ' Among the Indians of

Guiana,' 300
Tiger stories, 175
Tinamus, 155-156, 240
Tocantins river, 56
Tonca-bean industry, 7-11, 14, 104,

110, 119, 129, 152, 163, 176
Topiawari (native chief), 6
Torno, 94
Torquemada's ' De la Monarquia

Indiana,' 65 n
Tribes, extinct, 5, 14, 139, 297
Tring Museum, 304
Trinidad, 10, 13, 21, 33-34, 51-52,

61-62, 72, 75, 91, 97, 131, 143-145,

153, 166-168, 174-175, 190, 226,

285, 289
Tucumay, 146
Turagua mountain, 8, 13, 14, 21,

23-32, 152, 202
Turban, Ilaoul (taxidermist), 15, 24,

29, 30

Uebaxa, Luis ('the Pirate'). 135,
169, 175, 193-195, 204, 206, 213,
227, 244, 248-250, 255, 264-271,
274, 276, 284

Urbani village, 100

Urrutia, General, 37

Vanilla-vixe, 172

Venezuela, 1, 8, 12, 21, 38-44, 56,
61, 64, 66, 77, 90, 93, 109, 124 seq ;
risings in, 34, 63, 95, 105 ; export
and import duties of, 67-68 ; salt
industry in, 68-70 ; diet in, 73-
74 ; leprosy in, 74 ; cockfighting,
78 seq ; bullfighting, 83 seq ;
gambling in, 85 seq ; maps of,
1-2, 299

Ventuari river, 1, 2, 101. 211, 212

Vicente (Indian), 169, 175, 190-192,
281, 286, 288

Villegente, Mr. (' the Bird-carpen-
ter'), taxidermist, 39, 190, 195,
234-235, 256-257, 264-267, 275-
279, 282

Von Berlepsch, Count Hans, 304

Vultures, 174

Waiomgomos tribe, 5, 6, 16, 165,
191, 212, 233. 286, 297-300

Water-snakes, 178

Water-tortoises, 193, 196-197, 288-
290

Water-vine, 27

West India Islands, 66, 66, 109

Wild-duck shooting, 93-94, 107

Yapecuna river, 5

Yaraqu6, 175 ; preparation of, 291-

292
York, 77
— Dean of, 77
Yumariguin mountains, 299
Yuruari mines, 41, 50

Zamora, 111

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