American Geographical Society

The Land of the Maquiritares

Author(s): Leo E. Miller
Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 3, No. 5 (May, 1917), pp. 356-374
Published by: American Geographical Society
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 THE LAND OF THE MAQUIRITARES*
By LEO E. MILLER

Despite the great heat of the tropical lowland, the sight of the wine-
red river hurrying silently past on some mysterious mission of its own was
enough to chill the blood with an uncanny sense of dread and foreboding.
Each foam-flecked wave, each racing whirlpool, the water itself, stained
an ominous red, spelled treachery and a frenzied desire to engulf every-
thing within its grasp. A wild mantle of row, gloomy jungle invested
both banks far as the eye could see. Such was the Rio Atabapo when we
saw it, a short distance above the point where it merges its terrifying
character with that of the mighty Orinoco.
For the present, however, there was nothing to fear. The water tore
at the granite battlement, against which our craft had been securely tied,
with impotent fury. Above, forlorn and deserted, stood the fifty-odd adobe
huts of San Fernando de Atabapo, almost the entire population having
gone up-river to the scattered rubber camps, as this was the season for
collecting the valuable latex. This last settlement in the Orinoco country
was indeed a town in name only.
From the top of the granite eminence, the elevation of which is only
370 feet above sea-level, we could look across the broad sweep of the Atabapo
and up the muddy Guaviare, coming from the southwest, which joins it
on the side opposite the settlement. The mean temperature of the region
is about 80? F., although in the suii the mercury ascends to 1120 F. or
more, but the town is not particularly unhealthful. There are few fish,
no crocodiles or sandflies, and practically no mosquitoes, all of which is
attributed to the discolored water. Two small springs near the town
furnish an abundant supply of potable water, and, when during the rainy
season these are covered with the overflow from the river, it is necessary
to paddle across the Atabapo and fill the water jars from the Guaviare.
To secure a crew of men for our trip up the river was a difficult under-
taking and required a great deal of time. This gave us an opportunity
to explore the surrounding country.
In the immediate viciniity of San Fernando the forest has been cut down
and tall second-growth sprouts form dense thickets; this is the favorite
resort of many small birds, and several species of nicrhthawks make it
a daytime rendezvous. The basic granite crops ouit in many places, the
* This is the second of two articles dealing with the author's zoological reconnaissance trip in 1912-13
up the Orinoco to the -Mount Duida region in southern Venezuela. The first article, published in the
April Ret,ieiv,pp. 258-277,carried the expedition as far as San Fernando de Atabapo. The present article
takes up the narrative at that point. For location of places see the inap in the first article,
356

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 LAND OF THE MAQUIRITARES 357

ledges occasionally standing on end, and it is often streaked with narrow

seams of quartz. There is no cultivation of any kind; the inhabitants
lack all initiative for work and eat tinned foods and manioc received in
exchange for trinkets from the Indians.
When we returned a few months later, a changed town confronted us.
The rubber collectors had returned from their several months' isolation in
the interior and were spending the fruits of their labor as rapidly as
possible. Dance halls, gaming dens, and almost every conceivable device
for relieving men of their money had sprung up like mushrooms, and there
was drinking and merry-making day and night. Then suddenly and with-
out presage a tragedy occurred; it will never be forgotten by the few
who survived.
Governor Pulido, so it was rumored, had imposed a new tax on all
rubber collected in the district and had come to San Fernando personally
to collect the extortion. Naturally, there was a good deal of dissatisfac-
tion, and one night, just after we had been provided with a canoe and
secretly advised to leave as soon as possible, the storm broke. A band of
men, said to be under the leadership of one Colonel Funes, an Indian and
the most notorious man in the district, attacked the town, killed the gover-
nor and practically the entire male population, and rifled the shops and
dwellings. If one may believe the tales of the few who escaped the bru-
talities committed that night, the deeds rival those of the most barbaric ages.
Perhaps some of those who perished deserved their fate; others
assuredly did not; but it is a fact that government offices had been con-
ducted abominably. In the post-office, for example, stamps were sold for
twice their face value, and if one did not purchase them there and place
them on the letters in full view of the postmaster, the mail was destroyed.
The physician who chanced to be there, named La Page, and who appar-
ently belonged to the military organization, as he wore the regulation
uniform, tried to collect over four hundred dollars, gold, for a few injec-
tions of quinine; and so the robbery went on until the whole band was
exterminated.
Having engaged a captain with some experience on the upper Orinoco
and a crew, we on February 3 loaded the low river-boat and started on our
mission, reaching a point called Puerto Ti Ti that night; from this spot
a wide trail leads through the magnificent forest to the clearing wherein
stands San Fernando.
For six days we made slow but steady progress up the river and then
entered the formidable Raudal de Santa Barbara, a rapid which extends
across the entire delta of the Ventuari.
The Orinoco here is wide and, with few exceptions, so shallow that
we pushed ahead with long poles. Where the water was deep and the
current swift, long-handled hooks were used to catch the overhanging vege-
tation and pull the boat along. This mode of travel was always slow and

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360 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

dangerous, and the swarms of wasps anid other insects living amonlg the
leaves, which were shakenidown by this procedure, made far froim agreeable
travelinig companions. The banks were covered with denise, virgin forest;
but there were extensive sandbaiiks aind flat ledges of rock at conivenienit
initervals, and one of these was always chosen for a night's cam-lpingsite.
If we chanced to be on a playa, the early houirs of the eveniing wJerespenit
in fishinig. Armed with machetes, a bag, anid acetylene lamiips,we waded
out in the shallow water anid "'shiied'" the shoals of fish much in tlhe
manniierthat frogs are cauglht in parts of this country. At night the fish
swam near the surface, anid by directing the rays of the stronig white light
upon them onle could approach to withini a short distance anid then strike
with the kniife: in this manner large numibers were taken. Occasionially
a large sting-ray, electric eel, or crocodile was suddenily enicountered, and
then there enisued a hurried scraiimblein the other direction; this gave
the pastimiiea decided element of sport. We also became more familiar
with the dreaded carribe, or caninibal fish, kniown as the piranha in Brazil,
with which the water teemed. In the Oriiioco they attain a weight exceed-
ing three poulnds and are formnidableindeed. The natives will not go in
bathing except in very shallow water, and I know of two instances where
men were attacked and severely bittenl before they could escape. The fisl
somewhat resembles a bass in shape, although the mouth is smaller; the
jaws are armed with triaiigular, razor-edged teeth, and as these fish travel in
immense shoals they are capable of easily devouring a man or large animal
if they catch him in deep water. FlouLderiing or splashilng in the water
attracts themn,but they seldom attack unlless their appetite has been whetted
by a taste of blood, anid theii woe to the unifortuinatecreature that falls into
their power. To catch them, we used a stronig hook secured to a lonig wire
leader and baited with anly kind of raw meat, anid they always put up a
good fight. Without a wire, a lin-e would be bitten in two everv timiiea
fish struck. When taken from the water they are first killed by a blow on
the head with the machete and then removed from the hook.
At night there was always a heavy dew, and it rainied intermittently
each day. On dark niiglhts,anid ofteli after a shower, the banks of the river,
where there was forest, glowed with twinkling phosplhorescence. Examui-
nation showed that the decayinig vegetatioin was filled with myriacds of
small, wriggling insects, greatly resembling our well-known cellar-biig
(isopod), and on-eday we paddled for mianyhours through a mass of flyinig
ants which had come to grief in the river. The water was covered with
them, and the waves had tossed them up on the banks to a depth of several
inches. Another thing that attracted our attention was the large number
of bats. On one occasion we heard a duill rumnbling among the granite
ledges nlear camp, and, not long after, a stream of bats began to emerge
from the cracks; from a distance they resembled a clou-d of smoke. There
must have been many thousands, for the black masses continuled to rise

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 LAND OF THE MAQUIRITARES 361

until darkness obscured them from our view. Spruce1 records that on
one occasion he saw not less than a million under similar circumstances.
This brings up an interesting problem; the individual range of these bats
is probably nlot very great, the result of which is that immense numbers
of them are distributed over a comparatively small area. Now, if the
struggle for existenee is as keen as it is often supposed, how can the female,
encumbered with her offspring fully three-fourths as large as herself, com-
pete successfully with the unhampered males and secure enough food nlot
only for herself but also for her young? The fruit-eating varieties might
not suffer seriously from this handicap, but it does seem as if the agility
of the insectivorous kinds catching their food onl the wing would be greatly
affected.
There are numerous geological features along the river which cannot
fail to attract the interest of the traveler, no matter what his particular
mission may be. One of these is the Cerro Yapacana, a square block of
granite not over 6,500 feet high, an outlier of the Guiaina highlands, that
mass of ancient rocks which extends across eastern Veiiezuela and the
Guianas and alolng whose base the Orinoco describes its semi-circular
course. It is a very conspicuous landmark, as it towers above the forest
like a gianit moiiolith and can be seen many miles away. We did not come
abreast of it until eight days after first sighting it.
There are few rubber camps along this part of the river, but several
Indian families had come to spend a number of weeks collecting turtles
and eggs on the sandbalnks. At night absolute quiet reigned on the playas
so long as the moon shone; but no sooner had the brilliant orb disappeared
below the horizon than the water was broken into ripples as numbers of
turtles emerged to deposit their eggs in the loose, warm sand; and jaguars
came from the dark forest to feast on the defenseless creatures and rend
the still night air with ugly coughs and grunts.
In returning from fishing excursiolls we usually cut across the several
miles of sanidy waste toward camp, guided by the bright fire which the
cook was required to keep burning, and in this way learned a good deal
about the turtle 's habits. After leaving the water, the creature makes
its way toward the highest point oln the island or plact, and with a few
powerful strokes of the flippers excavates a deep hole; the eggs, twenty
to a hundred in ilumber, are then deposited, after which the sand is
scooped back into place and patted down so carefully that it takes a very
experienced eye to locate the spot. The turtle then hurries back to the
water, where it apparently remains until the following year. When the
eggs, warmed by the sun 's rays, finally hateh, the pla?yas swarm with small
turtles, which are eagerly collected by the natives, cooked entire, and eaten.
The egg contains a great deal of oil and, although boiled a long time,
1 Notes of a Botanist on the Amazoni and Andes ...., 1849-64,edit. by A. R. Wallace, London, 1908.

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 0

362

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 LAND OF THE MAQUIRITARES 363

always remains soft. Iguana eggs are taken also and boiled and eaten even
when about to hatch.
Besides the turtles there were many other signs of life on the sand-
banks. Waterbirds, squatting low in some cup-shaped hollow, looked
stupidly at the dazzling light of the gas lamps and could be approached
to within a few feet; downy young birds waited quietly until nearly touched
with the hand and then ran away into the darkness like puff-balls rolling
before a breeze.
The Raudal de Santa Barbara is a wicked stretch of water. The Ven-
tuari, coming from the neighborhood of the Brazilian border, forms an
extensive delta at its mouth. There are many islands, some of great size,
and all heavily forested. The Orinoco is very wide, and hundreds of sharp,
tall rocks protrude above the water, causing a series of rapids which are
hard to ascend. It took us three days of the most trying kind of work
to traverse this stretch of agitated water and finally to haul the boat up
the falls, which come as a sort of climax at the end. A strong wind blows
from the north almost constantly, whipping the water into a choppy sea.
On the bank stands a good-sized rubber camp, and extra hands can usually
be secured to help pull the boat through the rapids. The men from this
place had just returned from a hunt in the forest, bringing two jaguars
and an armadillo weighing sixty-five pounds. One of the jaguars was
black. All of these animals were eaten, and of the two species the flesh
of the jaguars was the better. One night, not long after, one of these
animals invaded our camp. As the sandbank we had selected was a nar-
row one, the crew chose to sleep on the forest side; they greatly feared
the crocodiles in the river. Early in the morning I was awakened by a
jaguar's roaring, mingled with frightened wails, and upon investigation
discovered that the men had come to our part of the camp near the water,
leaving the captain's wife in their former location. They had reasoned
that she was the least useful member of the party and had compelled her
to remain as "bait." Maria was sent back to San Fernando in the next
canoe we met bound down the river.
The abundance of the big, spotted cats and their harmlessness under
ordinary circumstances is astonishing, although at times they will attack
human beings. At one of the rubber camps we were shown the skin of a
recently killed animal which had stalked a two-year old child at play not
far from the hut; the mother, a negress, seeing the animal in time, attacked
it with a machete and killed it.
The next river of any importance to be encountered was the Rio Lao,
reached on February 17. Up to this time the strong north wind had con-
tinued to blow without interruption, and the course of the river was strewn
with islands. Rubber camps dot the river bank; and we had our first
glimpses of the Maquiritare Indians. Owing to the frequent rains, the
year had been a bad one for the patroitcs, or managers of the camps; also,

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364 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

a kind of malady had broken out among the peons and Indians which killed
many and frightened others away. Nevertheless, those who remained
seemed quite contented, and, if we chanced to spend the night at a camp,
or barraca, our men always joined them in their pastime of drinking, play-
ing the guitar, and singing songs about one another far into the night.
Some of the nmenwere clever at improvising songs apropos of the occasion.
At one place, for instance, they heard of the jaguar's visit to the sandbank
and that the captainl's wife had been selnt back to San Fernanido. Without
hesitation, olne of the peons sang:
Que tristeza ecl nuestro cam pamceto!
Pobr-ecito lidefoniso esta 1lorando.
A caramba, nadie est4 alegre!
Ser( porqi Mar-ia fit6 d Sait Fernando.

The largest barraca, by far, which we saw was owned by an old Turk
named Parraquete. He received us cordially, shook our hands, and em-
braced us, apologetically explainling that a slight fever prevented his rising
from the hamminiock; later we founld out that he was a leper in the last stages
of the disease. He had fifteen Maquiritares in his employ, each of whom
collected the latex from several hulndred rubber trees every morning; in
the afternoon the milk was smoked, one hundred pounds of the liquid yield-
ing about forty or fifty pounds of crude rubber. A kind of heavy, deep
red wood called rmazarandiilwas used to produce the dense smoke neces-
sary to coagulate the latex. Hevea only was gathered here, although balata
was also collected farther dowln the river alnd on the Guaviare. The gover-
nor of the district told me that about fifteen million trees of the baltta
had been cut down along the latter river during the last ten years, as the
method of securing this class of rubber necessitates the felling of the tree.
The proprietors of the rubber camps use the same system of keeping
their helpers that the purchasers at Ciudad Bolivar employ; namiiely,they
keep them constantly in debt by advalncing large quantities of merchan-
dise at exorbitant prices. It is not unusual for one patron to sell some of
his men to another for the amount of their debt, or more, if he can get it,
and sometimes an unsatisfactory peon is turned loose in the wilderness
to shift for himself. We picked up one such man who had been abandoned
on a sandbank, in a half-starved condition.
Proceeding farther up the river, we passed the Cerro Cariche, another
granite mass similar to Yapacalna, but not quiite so high. It stands on the
south bank of the river, between the mouths of the two small streams called
Cariche and Trocoapure.
Early on February 21 we had the first distinct view of the Cerro Duida,
looming, faintly outlined, in the distance. From afar it resembled a high,
level plain; but as the vapor clinging to the huge, dark mass slowly dis-
solved itself a well-defined, short range appeared, with twin peaks showing
high above the rest of the mountain.

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FIG. 5-Wild cane along the bank of a tropical river. The paths have been made by wild animals
365

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366 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWV

The Orilloeo steadily decreases in width, until the distanlce across is

not more than half a mile; in maily plaees the banks are high aiid com-
posed of pink and white clay streaked with layers of dark blue. On both
sides the jungle presenits all unlbroken-wall of taingled verdure; occa-
sionally a sleinder palni rears its delicate head high above the riotous mass
as if gaspingc,for oile iiore breath of air before beingc,strangcled by the figs
and creepers slowly entwiningicits steim with their death-dealing tentacles.
Amonig the lower growth are vast areas of palmusknown as coco del niono,
with long fronids resemblinigthose of the Seaforthia,, and bearing small, hard
nuts; the leaves are used in thatching huts anid the caroso, or covering, of
the boats. Another palm, tall and thorniy, resembles the well-known chonita
of Colombia; it bears large elusters of red nuts which are very palatable
when thoroughly boiled.
The heat was always intense and most oppressive; even the cool nights
brought no respite, and in the early morning a thick vapor slowly rose
from the water, to be later wafted above the tree-tops and disappear.
Flocks of hoatzbts, or lizard-birds (Opisthocomuis cristatus), were seen
almost daily. They fussed and fluttered among the dense vegetation but
could not be induced to leave their dark retreat. There were also nesting
trees of the black an-d yellow orioles, better knowln as cassiqgies, which are
about the size of a bluejay; sometimes a single tree contained thirty or
more nests placed close together; invariably there were also a number of
large wasp nests in the same tree. The nests of these birds differed fronm
those of the giant orioles (Ostinops) in being smaller and having the open-
ing at the top instead of at the side of the swinging bag.
At the end of the twentieth day we reached the mouth of the CuIu-
cunuma and camped uponl its sandy banks for the night. This river is
approximately 500 feet wide at its mouth, shallow, with dark, clear water,
and flows southward, joining the Orinoco at right angles, as the course
of the latter river at this point is westward: a low, forested hill called
Ventana rises to the north. One mnaycover the distanee from the miouth
of the Cunueunuma to the Cassiquiare in a day, and reach the plains on
which was located Esmeralda by continuing the journey an additional day.
Not far above the mouth of the river is the dry bed of a stream, said
to have been the former course of the Cunucunuma; short, soft grass now
covers the ancient, sandy route, and the lines of trees on each side present
such clean-cut edges as to suggest well-kept hedge-rows. Tapirs and
capybaras have worn many paths through the luxuriant sward; apparently
these animals come out into the open at night to feed.
The current of the river is so strong that we could not average more
than four or five miles a day. Through the clear water we could see shoals
of fish and numbers of large sting-rays darting about over the bottom.
One fish, resembling a beautifully spotted trout, rose eagerly to a trailing
hook baited with a strip of white cloth; it weighs about a pound and is

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 LAND OF THE MAQUIRITARES 367

called pabon by the natives; oin two occasions members of this species leaped
clear of the water anid into the boat as we poled along after nightfall.
Another kind greatly resembled a flying fish; leaving the water singly or
in pairs, it skimmed over the surface for a distance of twenty yards or
nore, and then dropped with a splash; when "flyinig" it left a train of
ripples in its wake, as if long appendages were trailing after it.
There now followed a series of low, disconnected mounitains which
might be called the foothills of Duida. The first of these is the Cerro
Piapoco, 1,300 feet high; parts of it are covered with low, scrub growth,
and the river winds around three sides of it. Next comes the Cerro Tapi-
cure, a rounded granite mass approximately 1,400 feet high. At the base
of the latter is a large Maquiritare plantation of yuca (Maiwihot Aipi),
pineapples, and plantains, on the edge of which stood the communal house,
conical in shape and 100 feet in diameter. The place was temporarily
dleserted, as the Indians were down-river gathering the rubber harvest.
Near by also grew a palm new to us, the tamtiche; it is thirty feet high,
with erect, undivided leaves, and the crown resembles a huge, green, open-
ing tulip.
While tramping in the forest across the river from the Indian planta-
tion we came suddenly upon a Maquiritare woman and her four little chil-
dren, squatting around a small fire built under a rough lean-to. She was
roasting a curassow and tearing off pieces for her young brood, who were
devouring them with the voracity of wolves. The frightened glances of
these wild people and their gnawing at the half-cooked flesh were quite in
keeping with their surroundings and stamped them immediately as a per-
fect part of the virgin wilderness.
Rapids are not wanting in the Cunucunuma. The first is the Raudal
del Muerto, formed by a wide ledge of rock which extends across the river
and over which the water rushes with a deafening roar. Next comes the
Raudal del Sina, which is longer but inot so difficult to navigate. Just
above this we entered the Sina, a small stream coming from the direction
of Duida, and ascended to its highest navigable point; this, however, was
only a few miles above its mouth.
The Ciinucuniuma, it may be stated, rises in the viciinity of the little-
known Cerro Cauchamacari, and may be ascenided to the foot of the Cerro
Maravaca. On some maps its course has been traced oin the eastern side
of Duida, while in reality it is on the western side. Its tributaries from
the east are the Tabarl, Sina, Cua, and Rio Negro; and from the west the
Yacare and Cumichi. There are numerous rapids. Besides the two men-
tioned, the Indians described the San Ramon, Rayado, Chacherito, Vaquiro,
Alapaco, Chipirima, Picure, and Cuilebra, all of which must be passed
before reaching the Maravaca.
The scenery along the Cunucunuma is the wildest imaginable and
excelled in splendor anything I had heretofore seen. There nature, unre-

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370 THE GEOGRAPIIICAL REVIEW

stricted by the hand of man, attains its utmost development. Palms, ferns,
lilies, and shrubbery are woven into an exquisite living tapestry by delicate
creepers which, festooning each possible hand-hold, twine ever back and
forth, up and down, in their tireless efforts to conquer their more vigorous
rivals, and all unconsciously produce one of nature's loveliest masterpieces.
When rocks and low water barred further ascent we made camp on the
high bank and began the arduous work of cutting a trail to Duida, about
six miles distant. We had secured the services of a number of Maquiritares,
two men, two women, and a boy, and these, together with the members of
our crew, were immediately put to work on the trail. While this was in
progress, we devoted ourselves to the exploration of the forest and its
inhabitants.
Apparently the Indians, who, in common with many South American
tribes, seek the smaller streams for their habitations, and who live in small
groups all along the Cunucunuma, rarely visited this locality. Game was
so abundant and so tame that it is certain that the animals had not been
persecuted to any considerable extent. We also visited the house of the
chief of the tribe, named Antonio Yaracuma, whose cunuco (clearing) was
on the Cunucunuma, a few miles above the mouth of the Sina (Sina is a
Maquiritare word meaning wolf). This place he chose to call Yacare.
Surrounding the great, conical house was a small patch of yucas and pine-
apple plants, walled in on all sides by the interminable forest. The edge
of the roof came down to within five feet of the ground, and there were
eight fire-places, equal distances apart, showing that eight families occupied
the dwelling. A perfect network of poles and beams supported the ragged
grass and palm-leaf canopy, and, from these, various articles were sus-
pended: drums, made of sections of hollow tree-trunks and covered with
the skin of a red howler monkey on one side and of a peccary on the
other; long tubular baskets of wicker-work, used to express the poisonous
juice of the yuca root in making manioc; blowguns ten feet long, ham-
mocks, and fishing tackle. Everything was immaculately clean and well-
arranged. On one side two small rooms had been built of adobe, one for
the chief, and the other for storing baskets of manioc, each of which held
about a hundred pounds.
A walk around the edge of the clearing disclosed an obscure trail which
zigzagged and wound through the forest about a mile and then opened
into an immense plantation. This we estimated contained not less than
a hundred acres. The trees had been cut down and burned, and yucas
neatly planted in hills stretched to the very edge of the clearing. Through
the center ran lanes of plantain and banana plants, bordered by rows of
pineapples, sugar-cane, and cashews. The ground was carefully cultivated,
and there were no weeds; the stalks of uprooted plants had been piled
around the edge of the field, forming a thick fence. The reason for main-
taining such large plantations is that the women make a good deal of

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 LAND OF THE MAQUIRITARES 371

manioc to sell to the traders for cloth, matches, perfume, and trinkets.
The men clear the ground; the women plant and care for the crops. From
the juice of the yuca a very intoxicating drink called casiri is made, and of
this great quantities are consumed during the wild orgies that take place
at frequent intervals.
We found the forest around camp to be all but impenetrable on account
of the underbrush and creepers. Also, there were a number of windfalls
where cyclones had cut wide, clean swaths through the forest, leaving an
upheaved barrier that could not be crossed without the liberal use of ax
and machete. Small birds were abundant and traveled in large, raixed
flocks. Of the bigger birds there was an unfailing supply; guans and
curassows strutted unconcernedly about, or flew into the lower branches
of the trees to look with surprise or resentment at the intruder; large
tinamous ran about in pairs like chickens and were slow to take wing.
Occasionally we ran into a flock of trumpeters (Psophia) that stared at us
in curiosity for a few moments and then flew into a tree and raised an
unearthly din, cackling and screaming until dispersed by a few shots.
The Indians told a curious story about a trumpeter and a curassow.
In the very beginning of things, two of these birds decided upon a matri-
monial alliance, but domestic troubles soon broke out and there was no
possibility of a reconciliation; it was thereupon decided to lay the case
before the gods who live on the summit of Mount Duida. The wise gods
ordered them to fight it out; in the course of the combat that followed,
the curassow pushed the trumpeter into the fire, burning off the feathers
of the latter's tail; the trumpeter promptly retaliated by pushing her mate
into the fire, silngeing his crest. Thereupon the gods decreed that they
should remain in this humiliating plight for the rest of their days, and
so even to this time the curassow wears a curled crest anld the trumpeter
has a very short tail.
No matter how far we chanced to go during the morning's hunt, it was
always easy to determine the exact location of our camp. A large colony
of cassiques had built their nests in the top of a tree near the tent, and
quarreled and chirped so noisily all day long that we could not get out
of hearing of them.
After the trail had been completed for a distance of several miles, hunt-
ing was rendered much easier. It was a delight to wander noiselessly
along the clean path and watch the wild things pursuing their daily
activities. Tapirs slid quietly across the narrow lane, like shadows; but if
disturbed crashed through the brush and thundered away like frightened
horses. Large red squirrels frisked in the trees or fed in the nut-bearing
palms. Monkeys were always about; there were red howlers, cebus, and
small black woolly monkeys with gold-colored hands; the latter traveled
in small troops and raced through the tree-tops at great speed, making long
jumps from branch to branch; at frequent intervals during the morning

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372 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and evening they raised their voices in shrill little cries of distress resem-
bling a series of quickly repeated Oh's.
The river was teeming with fish. At night, after their work had been
completed, the Indians, who camped on the water's edge, threw in their
lines and never failed to catch a goodly supply. While in our presence the
men always wore blue cotton trousers and the women loose dresses of the
same color; but when alone they threw aside all clothing.
Occasionally a light canoe containing women and children passed our
camping site, but they always remained as near as possible to the opposite
bank and paid no attention to us whatever if we chanced to call to them;
in fact, they could not even be induced to look in our direction.
The nights were always sultry and it rained frequently. If the weather
permitted, a huge fire was built; into this a steady stream of fireflies or
click-beetles winged their way to destruction. Late one night we heard
a queer pattering on the top of the tent-fly; back and forth raced little,
scurrying feet, and up and down the sloping roof. Our acetylene lamps
revealed a family of opossums which had discovered an ideal playground.
Often, too, we heard cautious footsteps near by, and the suddenly flashed
light disclosed the glowing eyes of a deer, tapir, or jaguar which gazed
stupidly a moment into the dazzling brilliance and then darted away.
On account of the dampness, mould formed so rapidly that cameras
and all leather goods had to be cleaned daily, and there was great difficulty
in drying specimens.
We had frequent views of Duida. Each morning at about ten the mist
drifted from the summit and revealed the jagged, rocky peaks; our calcu-
lations placed the altitude of the mountain at approximately 5,500 feet
above the river. Toward the Orinoco, the mass presents a bold front, the
sheer walls of granite rising to a height of several thousand feet. The
western slope is gradual, and any attempt to ascend the mountain should
be made from that side.
Cutting the trail required more time than we had anticipated. It was
our intention to remove the equipment to the very base of Duida, and
this was impossible until a suitable way had been prepared. The inter-
vening country is rolling and the hollows are filled with a network of
deep, water-filled canyons; across these, trees had to be felled to provide
a means of crossing. Neither the Maquiritares nor the Venezuelans proved
to be very industrious; in fact both were about as poor a class of assistants
as could be found. However, work progressed steadily, and there came the
day when the last bridge had been placed across the winding river, and we
were able to proceed to the foot of our goal.
Near the mountain, the vegetation assumes a different aspect. Instead of
the tall forest, there are vast groves of palms which form suich a dense
canopy that the sunlight never penetrates to the ground; for this reason
there is no undergrowth, but the earth is covered with a soft carpet of dry

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 LAND OF THE MAQUIRITARES 373

leaves. Some of the palms attain such giant proportions, with fronds
thirty or forty feet long and fifteen feet wide, that they form great tent-
like shelters.
As we neared the mountain the Indians became restive and finally
refused to go any farther. They firmly believe that it is the abode of
spirits, who will be quick to resent any intrusion into their sacred domain.
Besides, the rainy season was fast approaching, and at night blinding
flashes of lightning played among the crags, and the dull boom of distant
thunder pierced the sultry blackness. Wind swept through the forest in
fitful blasts, and it rained frequently. Sometimes the gales attained the
velocity of a cyclone and sent tall trees crashing down on all sides. The
Indians could endure the strain no longer; so one night tlley quietly dis-
appeared, taking the boat with them. At first thought this loss seemed
anything but pleasant; but a raft was soon constructed, and two of the
men were sent down to the nearest rubber camp on the Orinoco for another
craft. We never saw the Indians again; but one afternoon two men of
the tribe visited our camp. They emerged silently from the forest, having
concealed their canoe somewhere above or below, laden with baskets of
plantains, sweet potatoes and bananas, and several cakes of cassava bread;
also, a large, freshly killed curassow-enough provisions to keep two men
a week. I thought they wanted to stop with us for the night and showed
them the fire-place. They paid no heed to my implied invitation but
dropped their burdens at our feet, reluctantly accepted a few fish-hooks
which were offered to them, and then departed as mysteriously as they had
come. Perhaps they had been sent by our erstwhile companions, who may
have been conscientious enough to make some reparation for the theft
of the canoe.
The rainy season advanced with such rapid strides that further work
was impossible. Vapor hung over the forest like a pall for days at a
time, and the river, rising with each passing hour, was quickly inundating
the lowlands. The sight of the new canoe coming up the river was there-
fore a welcome one, and it did not require many days to pack our collec-
tions and outfit, stow them aboard, and steer a course downward with
the rapid current. It required only nine days to reach San Fernando
de Atabapo.
The results of the expedition are surprising and interesting. Duida
is not the isolated "mountain island" it was commonly supposed to be,
but is connected with the mountains of the Ventuari and Parima by a
series of hills, some of which reach a height of over a thousand feet. Its
elevation is comparatively low, being less than that of the Maravaca; to
attempt its ascent from the Orinoco side seems hopeless on account of the
frowning precipices facing the plains near Esmeralda. The proper placing
of the Cunucunuma and an elaboration of the map of the region were
further results.

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374 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

It should be remembered that the dry season is much shorter on the

upper Orinoco than on the lower river, and work must be pushed with
the utmost speed. The tributaries of the Orinoco as well as the main
river leave their banks soon after the beginning of the steady downpours,
and the whole country is flooded many miles inland; all the rubber camps
we had seen on the upward trip were totally deserted when we passed
them going down, and of some of the huts the roofs only showed above
the water; others had vanished with the yellow flood.
The collections of birds and mammals were large and interesting; they
yielded a number of species and one genus new to science.
Finally, a word about assistants; under no circumstances should Vene-
zuelans or Indians be depended upon. It is possible to secure experienced
river-men in Trinidad, and, with proper treatment, they make faithful and
efficient companions.

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