TO THE MAQUIRI TARES' LAND 



359 



of creepers. Myriads of palms, tall and slender and of many species, rear 

 their heads above the dark green canopy. The water of the stream is of a 

 deep reddish color and so clear as to permit an unobstructed view of the 

 teeming life that flits like shadows over the sandy bottom. Notable among 

 these are rays and electric eels of formidable size, adding very materially 

 to the dangers of navigating the smaller streams. 



A number of Indian plantations which we visited were entirely deserted, 

 but the large conical huts furnished convenient stopping places for the nights 

 and the fields provided an abundance of fruits and vegetables. 



We made slow headway on account of the swift current and numerous 

 cataracts. After seven days of the most strenuous kind of work we reached 

 Yacare, the encampment of the Maquiritare chief, Antonio Yarecuma, a 



Duida stands some seven miles from the river. A trail was cut across the intervening 

 low Mils with foot-bridges of felled trees over the small streams to our base of operations at the 

 foot of the mountain. Duida is not an isolated mountain " island " as supposed but connected 

 by hills with the Ventuari and Parima ranges 



short twenty miles from the mouth of the river. Finding the place deserted, 

 we descended a short distance to near the mouth of a small creek known to 

 the Indians as the Sina. Here a tract was cleared and a temporary camp 

 pitched. 



Duida, which was usually visible a few minutes at or near ten in the 

 morning, rose boldly but a short distance away. Between us lay a series 

 of low hills covered with comparatively open forest and swampy valleys 

 intersected with small streams. A short time after our arrival our captain 

 succeeded in recruiting five Indians and the entire force was at once set to 

 cutting a trail to the foot of the mountain, where the base of supplies and 



