104 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



queso de cinclio is exceedingly simple. To an arrangement 

 consisting of four poles tied in the form of a square to 

 uprights planted in the ground, a hide is sewn loosely so 

 that it assumes a bowl-like shape. Into this receptacle 

 the milk is poured and a piece of rennet thrown in. The 

 whey having been skimmed off, the curd is kneaded for 

 some time, after which it is transferred to baskets of 

 reeds, where it is subjected to pressure by winding thongs 

 of bull-hide around the baskets in the form of girdles, 

 and tightening them from time to time. Hence the name 

 queso de cinclio, the word cincho meaning a girdle. One 

 rarely sees such a thing as a piece of rope on the hatos, 

 the sagas ' as they are called, being made of twisted bull- 

 hide well greased so as to be pliable. The above is a short 

 description of how stock is reared and handled on a hato 

 like 'La Aurora.' As far as I have been able to judge, 

 the same system prevails over the region of the llanos. 



It had been my misfortune to descend the Caura in 

 May 1898, when the news of Crespo's death reached his 

 people at ' La Aurora.' The tonca-bean crop was just 

 over, so that besides the regular inhabitants of the place, 

 there were a good many men at Temblador and Suapure 

 and at the smaller stations on the banks of the Caura, 

 who had come from the surrounding country and Ciudad- 

 Bolivar. They were preparing to descend the river when 

 the steamer ' Apure ' arrived with the unwelcome news 

 that a revolution had broken out in the Guarico. It 

 appears that upon the first intimation of a rising the 

 ' Apure ' had been taken possession of by the Government, 

 and the authorities, aware of the presence of a large 

 number of men on the Caura, had sent her up on a 



' Soga is a general term for rope, halter, cord ; and is also used to 

 designate the lasso. 



