EIGENMANN: the freshwater fishes of BRITISH GUIANA 57 



river. Near the head of the bayou and connected with it by a few inches of water 

 there is a pool toward the river side. It is not more than fifty feet in diameter 

 and perhaps six feet deep in its deepest part. Trees overhang it from tlie river 

 side. The Indians pounded hiari roots into shreds. They were tied into bundles 

 and two Indians boys swam through the pool with them to mix in the poison. 

 I have described the effect in the introduction. First one species and then another 

 came to the surface, and then they came indiscriminately. A stingaree came 

 fluttering to the surface toward the last, while the little Corydoras punctatus with- 

 stood the poison to the end. Catoprion mento, a Mylinid characin with a projecting 

 chin, was particularly acceptable. The fish that created the greatest interest was 

 Moenkhausia dichrourus, of which I had seen dozens of specimens, hailing from dif- 

 ferent localities all the way from Paraguay to Para, and all of them conveyed about 

 as much idea of the appearance of the living fish as a dead and plucked Baltimore 

 Oriole would give of the living bird. The base of the tail is bright canary-yellow, 

 the lobes are crossed with jet-black bands and the tips are milk-white. 



I do not know how long we stayed here, not over two hours, in which we 

 caught fifty-five different species of fishes, six of which were not secured elsewhere. 

 The uniques were Bunocephalus mnaurus, Ochmacanthus flabelliferus, Odontostilbe 

 vielanditus, Aphyodite grammica, Hyphessohrycon minor, Dormitator gymnocephalus, 

 all of them new. Several other new or rare things were taken in only one other 

 locality : Porotergus gymnotus, Catoprion mento, Hemiodus semitceniatus. 



We continued our row to the Warraputa Cataract. The river is divided 

 here into several branches by wooded islands. The two older Indians started 

 out to shoot pacu, but bagged nothing. The rest of the crew and myself set to 

 work to poison a branch of the cataract, where we were again quite successful, 

 securing a series of specimens that recalled the Amatuk cataract. We also got a 

 series of the young of the pacu, the first which were obtained or recognized as such. 

 The color changes in the young can be seen in plate LIX. After the poisoning Cum- 

 mings went to the sand-bank to prepare supper, while I browsed about the cataract 

 with the two young Indians. 



On my return at dusk I found that no provision had been made for my ham- 

 mock. The Indians declined to go into the bush at night to secure palm- 

 branches and I did not like to risk a drenching rain so soon after having had 

 the fever. I insisted that the Indians either build me a shelter or take me 

 back to their camp. Giving them an alternative was a mistake. They de- 

 cided to take me back. It did not rain that night. It was all very well to come 

 up through the gaps in the dikes in the day time. It was quite another matter 



