44 JOURNAL OP THE TRINIDAD 



water snail* many of which were larger than a man's fist. Of 

 these we gathered a dozen or so and Mr. Carr informed us that 

 country folk call these huge freshwater molusks "congs," and 

 cook and eat them. He could not tell us, however, what their 

 gastronomic merits were and we did not feel brave enough or 

 sufficiently enthusiastic to ascertain them for ourselves. Of the 

 fish we collected several species, among them the ubiquitous 

 "guabin/'f with his formidable teeth ; the " cascarab," a pretty 

 little fellow rather deep in the body with a dark spot on either 

 side near the tail, reminding one of the marks on the John Dory 

 of European seas, piously attributed to the finger and thumb of 

 St. Peter in some quaint old legend almost now forgotten. The 

 river catfish with their fiat beads and long feelers were also picked 

 up in numbers, and one of these which we opened contained a 

 dozen and a half of small fry the size of a minnow, which are 

 known in Caparo as sardines. The poison, it was sagely supposed, 

 had affected the small fish first and the catfish seeing their 

 stupid, half-drunken condition, had gorged himself with them, 

 later to fall a victim himself towhat he doubtless at first considered 

 a piece of rare good luck. Then we got a queer little fellow 

 which is called a " Ma-nan Cascarado," which holds on to the 

 stones in the river bed, by the sucking action of its specially 

 adapted mouth. Several other kinds were noted, duly taken and 

 docketed and consigned to spirits for the examination of wiser 

 heads than ours. The sun, which had shone brightly for the past 

 hour, was now obscured by black clouds and a few large drops of 

 rain, the precursors of a heavy tropic shower, drove us to find 

 refuge in a half ruined hut of which only the carat thatch, the 

 corner posts and southern wall (also of palm leaves) were stand- 

 ing. But although so ruinous the house was far from uninhab- 

 ited. In one corner the wood antsj had constructed a mighty 

 nest undisturbed. Spiders of many kinds had suspended their 

 snares from the roof and no doubt had we examined the thatch 

 we should have found much to interest us. As it was in its apex 

 we saw the ancient slough or cast skin of a large "tigre,"^ or 

 as he is called at the British Museum the " South American rat 

 snake." Apropos of this skin, the owner of which we were told 

 was caught months previously, we expressed our doubt of the 

 tigre eating rats at all but Mr. Carr assured us that it was so. 

 One Sunday afternoon as he lay in his hammock he saw a tigre 

 come out of the long grass a little way off, cross the road and 

 make for the house. It ascended one of the supports of the 



* Ampullaria urceus. 



f Pronounced " Wawbin." 



J Termes sp. 



§ Coluber variabilis. 



