240 PACU OF GUIANA. 



and the bark, leaves, and fruit of which is extremely 

 bitter, their flesh has a bitter taste, but otherwise 

 it is much sought after, and large numbers of it are 

 occasionally brought from the mouth of the Orinoco 

 to Georgetown. It forms the chief support of the 

 TV^arrau Indians who inhabit the coast regions in 

 the vicinity of the estuaries of the Orinoco and the 

 mouth of the Guainia and Barima. They possess 

 great skill in securing them with bait, for which 

 purpose they employ the fruits already mentioned, 

 or they shoot them with the arrow, in which they 

 are equally expert as the other Indian tribes. It is 

 amusing to see the stratagem the Warrau uses to 

 ensure his success. Acquainted with the predilec- 

 tion the morocoto has for the caramacata fruits, the 

 Indian, after having provided himself with a num- 

 ber of those fruits, selects a spot where no trees of 

 the description are growing along the banks, and 

 having selected his place, he throws a few of the 

 fruits as an allurement on the water where there is 

 little or no current, and while the morocoto rises to 

 the surface in order to seize the fruit, which it can 

 only effect by turning itself partly round, the skilfiil 

 archer pierces the fish with his arrow. 



*' The palometo^ which is about fourteen inches 

 long and seven inches in depth, its body compressed 

 and flat, with a thin sharp belly, is equally well 

 flavoured as the morocoto and pacu, and frequents 

 similar haunts as the morocoto. 



" I observed a species, different from the pacu, 

 which inhabits the falls of the Essequibo and Maza- 



