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from the flowering stalk of the giant cane (Gynerium) ; threaded 
with native tree-cotton, glued and waterproofed with chicle, and 
dyed almost any color with the numerous vegetable dyes. His 
wife desires a ring, whereupon another species of chonta palm 
furnishes him a black palm-nut, and he sits down on his doorstep 
or under a tree and makes his gift—a gift so unique and artistic 
that our own women may well envy the brown-skinned, barefoot 
possessors. 
About the first of February we left Rurrenabaque and made a 
new base under the hospitable roof of the Suarez Brothers’ finca 
at Rio Ivon. Mr. Hansen, the superintendent, gave us every 
facility possible for our work and through him we were able to 
spend about a week collecting along the Ivon River in a covered 
boat. At this base we first came into intimate contact with the 
rubber country, although we did see rubber collecting on a small 
scale as far up the Beni as a day or so below Rurrenabaque. Here, 
too, we first saw the Brazil nut tree at home. 
The first two weeks in March found us still farther down the 
Beni, this time at Cachuela Esperanza, the main depot and head- 
quarters of the Suarez Brothers, to whom we were again indebted 
in many ways. Don Nicolas Suarez, the head of the firm, as well 
as his employees, took a personal interest in our work and showed 
us many courtesies. 
It was here that I first secured the deere information concern- 
ing Caapi or ayawasca that eventually led to my securing a small 
supply. Ayawasca, or aya-huasca, as it is called on the lower 
Beni, is a vine 30 to 40 feet or more high, first described by 
Richard Spruce in 1853 under the name Banisteria Caapi Spruce. 
He found it common, both wild and cultivated (that is, planted in 
the mandioca patches), on the upper tributaries of the Rio Negro, 
perhaps 1,500 miles at least from the region where I secured it. 
According to the information I obtained from the natives, the vine 
is not milky-juiced, grows to grand proportions, has greenish- 
white flowers, large leaves, and blooms in April. The cinnamon- 
colored, woody, “ elbow-knotted” stem is the part generally used, 
though I was assured several times that every part of the plant 
could be utilized with effectiveness. Leaves of a small tree or 
shrub with cranberry-like, reddish-yellow fruits, called chaco by 
— 
—y 
