FISHERIES AND GUANO INDUSTRY OF PERU. 343 
three logs well lashed together, but each log is only a bundle of totora, which 
tapers slightly toward the forward end, where it is gently curved upward. The 
diameter at the stern is about 25 centimeters. The bundle’consists of an inner 
core or heart (‘‘corazon”’) and a thin outer shell, so that as the exposed reeds 
decay under the action of the water and the sun they may be removed and 
replaced without disturbing the entire balsa. 
The most elaborate boat of reeds” is the balsa used in Lake Titicaca, where 
it is fashioned in a more boat-like form. (Fig. 6, pl. xtv.) The squarish sail is 
woven of the same reeds and somewhat in the fashion of a Venetian blind. 
These balsas are broad, and excavated so that they may accommodate an entire 
family bringing their various products to market. Though we are not at this 
point immediately concerned with the fisheries of the lake, an allusion should 
be made to the use of these totora reeds in the construction of fishing weirs. 
At the small end of the funnel-like weir there is set a net fixed on a conical 
framework of poles which can be raised or lowered from the balsas. 
These boats of reeds could not have sufficed for the longer fishing voyages 
and the commerce from port to port, but this need was supplied by the intro- 
duction of the balsa wood growing in Ecuador. This exceedingly light wood 
possesses the merit of not absorbing water, so that it will float indefinitely. 
From these logs, rafts or balsas are constructed in all sizes, from the small ones 
of about 6 feet length to the large 30 or 40 foot balsas, which have an upper 
deck and are fitted with a large squarish sail. On these the Indians with their 
families will live for weeks. The fishermen of Paita and Sechura find their 
most profitable fishing grounds about the islands of Lobos de Tierra or Lobos 
de Afuera, at distances of 70 to 100 miles from port. Living on the commo- 
dious balsas, the fishermen navigate along the coast, fishing where it is desirable, 
or moving to their camps on the islands, to remain until a cargo is salted away.” 
Some type of canoe is found at every port. Most of these are made from 
wood brought from the region of Guayaquil. ‘‘Canoas” of the commoner 
woods are said to last only a few years; ‘‘figaroa” is a much better wood; 
“‘huachapeli,”’ however, is most highly esteemed, and it is said that canoes of 
this wood have a life of a hundred years or more. One of these canoes was 
nearly 15 yards in length, but the ordinary length is from 6 to 9 meters. The 
canoe is usually strengthened with timbers and given greater freeboard by the 
addition of a pine plank on each side. They may be fitted with a large squarish 
sail called a “‘ vela cuadrada”’ or a ‘‘ banda.” 
Boats of good modern types are to be found at almost every port. When 
the first foreign fishermen (Italian and Spanish) came over, Mediterranean 
@ Malacochete totora is used for boats, sails, pontoons, weirs, thatching, etc. 
bOn the brief trip to Mollendo the writer did not have opportunity to examine a balsa made of 
the hides of sea lions, the description of which must, therefore, be omitted. 
