244 FISHES OF WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA 
The dangers to man are not greatly exaggerated, for we do have numbers of 
well-authenticated stories of their attack: im Thurn tells of one of his rowers having 
his toes stripped of flesh. The well-known Colonel Rondon lost a toe to one of 
them. Many Indians are seen with the extremities of fingers and toes missing. 
Miller (page 164) relates the loss of a piece of finger while washing the blood of a 
specimen from his hands at the water’s edge. Cherrie (page 265) repeats the Miller 
story and that of the loss of a finger by Mrs. 8. The latter while idly dangling her 
hand overboard in a canoe, thought one of her oarsmen had struck her with his 
paddle. She began to rebuke him for his awkwardness when she discovered that 
the finger was gone. Mr. Cherrie himself while baiting piranha from a limb over- 
hanging the water, fell into the stream beside them. Although he thrashed the water 
furiously, he was unable to escape without numerous lacerations. 
Conversely, Miller tells of a native who, in fishing for piranha, dropped his 
purse overboard among them. By wading out cautiously from shore without 
agitating the water, he recovered the purse with his feet, and was not molested. 
Other observers report that the tribesmen of the forest know where, and under what 
circumstances, it 1s safe to enter streams without fear of lurking piranha, although 
known to be near at hand. 
McGovern relates an observation: (page 42) a sheep carcass was completely 
consumed in two and one-half minutes. Im Thurn knew personally several cases 
of drownings in which only the bones of the victim were discovered after more or 
less immediate search. Hartt tells of a half-wit who, sitting on a river-bank, was 
frightened by the discharge of a cannon, fell into the water, and parts of whom were 
recovered in the stomachs of piranha taken next day. He also tells of a young 
woman, who, venturing to bathe in a stream, was devoured. Lange (1914, 213) 
relates that he killed a wild-pig in a river, and that its flesh had all been removed 
before the carcass could be hauled ashore. 
I was frequently cautioned by my associates to keep specimens which we had 
caught, and which were floundering about on the bottom of our dugout, at a safe 
distance from my feet. In fact I had to guard my specimens from mutilation, so 
great was their fear of them. When handled, they did in fact always attempt to 
snap at us, even though out of water. Beebe mentions this necessity of constant 
vigilance, but one author spoils all other accounts by saying that he was snapped 
at by a bodyless head. 
That such capable raptores should have a special place in relation to their 
biological environment goes almost without saying. Their great numbers and 
complete dominance might indicate a one-sided balance of nature, except that we 
find such numbers of species and individuals of many kinds. Castelnau, im Thurn, 
and others relate the observation of birds, iguanas, turtles, and alligators with feet 
and tails trimmed. White (Beebe) comments on the general attractiveness of 
tails, and tells of finding fragments of ducks, kingfishers, and kiskadees in the stom- 
achs of fishes. Bird collectors report shooting specimens which they are unable 
to recover in time to save them. Duguid (page 37) says that cattle drovers of the 
“Green Hell’? were accustomed to reckoning the loss of a steer at every ford from 
the attacks of piranha. 
