196 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



in the form of a square, support the rafters upon which 

 either palm-branches or the long broad leaves of the wild 

 banana are strewn. Such a ranclio can be constructed 

 in less than half an hour, and when the hammocks are 

 slung between the trees, beneath the thick covering of 

 branches, with a big log-fire outside, the place looks quite 

 snug and comfortable. 



As I have already described the Caura as far as the 

 mouth of the Nichare, any further description would be 

 tedious. We reached the hut we had built opposite this 

 affluent on February 26. Maite said that it would take 

 three days to get to the falls of Para. Above the mouth 

 of the Nichare there are numerous sandbanks and many 

 rocks. The season had been a very dry one and the 

 banks were in consequence fully exposed. At this time 

 of the year these sandbanks are resorted to by numbers 

 of water tortoises for the purpose of laying their eggs. 

 These tortoises are called Terecays by the natives and 

 are a favourite article of food. Different methods are 

 employed for catching them. When the river rises con- 

 siderably, so that the waters reach the vegetation on its 

 banks, the Terecay may be speared while feeding off the 

 leaves and young shoots of certain plants which are then 

 partially submerged. Although the Terecay is shy, and 

 to get near enough to use the spear requires a good deal 

 of caution and skill, the Indians were usually successful 

 whenever they went out spearing during the creciente, as 

 the rising of the river is called. These tortoises are also 

 caught with fish-hooks baited with meat. During the 

 laying season on bright moonlight nights the tortoise 

 hunters conceal themselves in the bushes at the river's 

 edge adjoining some sandbank, where they await the 

 arrival of the Terecays who come to lay their eggs. The 



