102 INTRODUCTION. 



position, and then vanishing, is a proof that his 

 aim has been correct, and that the fish is of con- 

 siderable size, to sink with the arrow in its body. 

 However, it lasts not long before it is obliged to 

 make its appearance again on the surface. If the 

 fish is very powerful, this is the opportunity to 

 discharge a second arrow into its body, and even 

 a third or fourth if its size demands it. I have 

 seen an arapaima or pira-rucu (Sudis gigas) with 

 upwards of twenty in its body before it could be 

 secured. 



The bow of the Indian is generally from five 

 to six feet in length, and is made of hard and 

 elastic wood, which is rounded below and slightly 

 concave above; in this we have to admire his 

 ingenuity; if it were perfectly round above, the 

 woody fibres of the bow, when bent, would split. 

 The string is made of silk grass (the fibres of 

 Bromelia karata)^ and is equal in durability to 

 our best bowstrings. There is sometimes a dif- 

 ference in the form of these bows, which indi- 

 cates the tribe by whom they are made. The 

 most serviceable of the Indians of Guiana are 

 made of wamara, a tree which belongs to the natu- 

 ral family of lecythidew ; and for ornament, they 

 likewise choose the latter, or snake- wood, no dcubt 

 one of the costliest ornamental woods which Guiana 

 possesses. 



The most common arrow which the Indian uses 

 for shooting fish, is the takusi or poya. The shaft 

 of the arrow is from five to five and a half feet 



