170 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS 



entirely by these large dug-outs hollowed out of the titans 

 of the forest which clothes the banks of the Dagua. On 

 the Caura the trees mostly employed in the construction 

 of dug-outs are cedar and sassafras. On account of its 

 lightness and its not being attacked by insects, cedar is 

 the best of all woods for this purpose. Very large dug- 

 outs are worked with sails and oars ; smaller ones with 

 paddles. In the navigation of rapids and narrow channels 

 only paddles can be used. The post of honour for a 

 paddler is at the stern. Next in importance is the man 

 at the bow, whose duty it is to look out for rocks and 

 sunken logs, and while advising the pilot of danger ahead 

 assist in avoiding it. The man at the bow is the proel, 

 the pilot is the patron. "Whenever we left any spot 

 where we had stopped, if even only for a short while, the 

 proel would call out, Vamos con Dios, patron,^ to which 

 the pilot would answer, Vamos con la Virgen? Judging 

 by our experiences during the journey, I have come to 

 the conclusion that my men were not in the good graces 

 of the Powers to whom these appeals were addressed. 



On the day of our departure from La Prision we made 

 but little progress. It was ten o'clock when we started, 

 and I expected to be able to reach the head of the rapids 

 of Mura by sunset, but the boats having been badly 

 loaded, and the men distributed without judgment, so 

 that the best paddlers were all in one boat and the worst 

 in the others, I decided, after we had gone about a mile, 

 to stop and put matters right. For this purpose the boats 

 were moored alongside a large slab of granite at the foot 

 of the channel by which the guides had determined, after 

 consulting each other, to ascend the rapids. They said 



' ' May God be with us, cockswain.' 

 - ' May the Virgin be with us.' 



