INTRODUCTION. 



93 



afterwards by overlapping. It remains for several 

 days exposed to the weather before it is fit for use. 

 Though the pakasse is so crank that the slightest 

 motion, when once in, renders it liable to upset, I 

 have seen pakasses among the Tarumas, in the 

 Cuyuwini, with five or six Indians in them. Their 

 great advantage is, that being flat, they can float, 

 where a common corial of the smallest description 

 cannot pass ; and are so light, that in crossing cata- 

 racts, one man can easily carry his boat on his head. 

 When propelled by one man, he squats in the mid- 

 dle and paddles on either side. Great care is re- 

 quisite in stepping in or out of them, as, if upset, 

 they sink almost instantly, owing to the great spe- 

 cific gravity of the peculiar bark of which they are 

 built. 



