fallen fruit attract certain mammals like deer, peccary, paca, 
monkey, and agouti; turkey birds, like the pauji, are also 
fond of them. Traditionally, however, the Warao avoid the 
large species of mammal, like deer and peccary, and refrain 
from eating monkey altogether; but they like agouti, paca, 
and pauji. The agouti and the paca are ambushed at sunrise 
by the hunter ice hides in the vicinity of the palm. The 
birds are best shot in the early afternoon hours, when they 
give themselves away by the crashing noises that they pro- 
duce moving around among the leaves of the plant. 
I have mentioned the important protein supplement to 
the diet of these Indians provided by the rich supply of 
fatty larvae that are laid in Mauritia and in Manicaria by the 
palm borer 
amen of sago. In the summer of 1974, while collecting 
data on Warao ethnomedicine in the forests of the Orinoco 
Delta, one of my informants volunteered that, in addition to 
providing the Indians with a remedy against fever, catarrh, 
and diarrhea, Manicaria also produced a starch similar to 
that from the Mauritia. He added that the extraction of 
temiche sago had fallen out of practice, but that it had 
formerly hece common, Realizing that when a Warao speaks 
of palm starch he knows what he is talking about, I asked 
him to produce some temiche starch for me when I returned 
the following summer. What follows is a report on the 
process of sago recovery from Manicaria saccifera as wit- 
nessed by me in August 1975. PLatres LXXX-XCVIII 
illustrate the process. 
Throughout an area of dense pluvial forest scattered in- 
dividuals of Manicaria grew at distances from each other of 
4to6m. Their trunks (akabaho) were mostly erect and of 
varying heights, from 2 m. to 8 m. They were dark brown 
with very prominent circular leaf scars 2 to 3 cm. thick. 
Most of the palms seemed to be growing on small mounds 30 
to 50 cm. high, but their roots (ya ahokonamu) were not 
exposed, or only minimally so. 
After felling the palm, the Indian established how. far 
[ 304 | 
