16 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



Mateo, and not an Indian name, as one might suppose 

 on first hearing it. Sylvestre, who had come from one 

 of the Waiomgomo villages on the Parime mountains 

 only a month or so before my arrival, had been named 

 immediately by the others. I never could induce Isidor or 

 any of the others to tell me their Indian names. All the 

 Indians of Guiana appear to have the same objection to 

 divulging to strangers the names by which they are 

 known to their immediate relations. It was about nine 

 when we passed the last house at the edge of the 

 clearing and entered the forest, and we agreed not to 

 stop before reaching a place called Esperanza, where the 

 tracks of the sarrapieros end, and the trail opened by our 

 Indians began. By the time we got to the Laja de los 

 Perros * the rain had increased to a steady downpour. 

 Near to this laja a huge slab of rock resting on two up- 

 right masses forms a natural shelter. Old Guachee, one 

 of the La Prision sai'rajpieroa, and his wife had taken 

 possession of this rocky protection from the weather. 

 They were collecting tonca-beans, for the crop was then 

 at its height, and most of the people from the settlement 

 were staying in the forest. We stopped at this natural 

 rancho and had a chat with the old man and his wife. 

 They were a dilapidated pair. In the days of his youth 

 the man, who, I was told, had been of a turbulent dis- 

 position, had had frequent misunderstandings with his 

 neighbours, especially on feast-days when the rum-bottle 

 had been circulated more freely than wisely. In one of 

 his encounters he had suffered considerable damage, not 

 the least of which had been the loss of an eye. The 

 woman was a victim to that curse of the Caura, ulcers 

 on the legs. One of these ulcers had eaten deep down 

 ' ' The Rock of the Dogs.' 



