S2 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



liold in the highest esteem a quahfication which they do 

 not possess in nearly so great a degree as many of the 

 lower animals. 



There is no village, however poor, throughout the 

 length and breadth of Venezuela, that does not boast of 

 a cockpit of some sort. In these cockpits every man is 

 equal, and it is no unusual thing to see a barefooted peon 

 pitting his favourite bird against that of the most influen- 

 tial man in the state. At times mains or series of fights 

 are arranged between different towns or districts, but this 

 is not the rule, the cock-fights one witnesses usually on 

 Sundays being conducted in the following manner. A 

 man steps into the pit holding a cotton bag in which is a 

 cock. He may be, as I have already said, a barefooted 

 peon or a general in a frock-coat and patent-leather boots. 

 He holds up his bag and says, ' I have got a 3.10 for 

 fifty pesos.' ' Someone is almost sure to answer from 

 among those present, ' I will match you,' and a few 

 moments after he also steps into the ring, holding a bag 

 similar to that of the challenger. In every cockpit an 

 ordinary pair of scales, from which the pans have been 

 removed leaving only the bar, hangs from the roof, and 

 on this arrangement the cocks are weighed, or rather 

 matched, the bags being attached to each end of the bar. 

 An ounce is allowed as a rule.^ The birds, having been 

 declared a match, are removed from their bags, when the 

 spectators are able to see them and make their bets. 

 While the spurs of the cocks are being sharpened, for 

 artificial spurs or gaffles are not in use in Venezuela, betting 



' The amount quoted is the minimum amount the owner intends to pit 

 his bird for. Winners of several fights are fought for large sums. 



- When the birds are so evenly matched that the needle of the bar 

 remains perfectly perpendicular, the weights aie said to be oro, literally 

 Kold. 



