WE BEGIN TO STARVE ^61 



a reddish stinging-ant which is one of the plagues of the 

 region. 



May 7. — We shared the last of the coffee this morn- 

 ing. The men went on ahead as usual, the rest of us 

 starting about an hour after. A short while after leaving 

 camp we saw an inga-bush laden with fruit close to 

 the water's edge. Freddy climbed into its branches and 

 threw the long pods to us. We greedily devoured the 

 insipid pulp covering the large seeds of this bean-like 

 fruit. Waited for the men, who joined us at about eleven 

 o'clock. They said they had just passed a cahiman tree, 

 and that they would return and bleed it. Maite told me 

 that the milk of this tree is much used by the Indians, 

 and that it is very nourishing. When the men, who had 

 taken a large pan with them, returned they had almost 

 filled it with a white coagulated stuff like clotted milk. 

 This was the sap of the tree. Water was mixed with it 

 and everyone took his turn at the pan. I drank but little 

 of this liquid, finding it quite tasteless. Drifted down 

 stream for about an hour, when we came to a creek which 

 the men would have been unable to cross had we gone 

 on without noticing it. While we were waiting for the 

 others Maite cut down some palm-trees and we boiled 

 the core, or cabbage as it is called. On the banks of the 

 creek were some small trees covered with a purple berry 

 in bunches. Maite called this berry fortin, and when 

 the men reached us they also used the same word to 

 designate it. We ate quantities of these berries, and as 

 they happened to be very plentiful we filled our boat with 

 them. When we stopped at night they served us for 

 dinner. This day we passed many picturesque spots, of 

 which Jacobson had taken views on the up trip, and this 

 revived the bitterness I felt whenever I recalled the 



