NARCOTICS AND STIMULANTS 439 



with flowering bushes, so that I reasonably hoped 

 to make a fine collection there. But the first ni^ht 



o 



of our downward voyage (Jan. 7) the rains came 

 on, out of their time, and continued daily for many 

 days, until the river had risen to its winter level, 

 and the forest-margin was mostly flooded. There 

 are only two small pueblos on the Casiquiari above 

 the outlet of Lake Vasiva, and at the lower of these 

 I halted nine days, hoping the floods might subside. 

 This pueblo was of only recent formation, and was 

 peopled by Pacimonari Indians, who had named it 

 Yamadu-bani, that is, Wild Man's Land, because the 

 adjacent forests were said to be haunted by the 

 Yamadu. I explored them as much as the heavy 

 rains permitted, and never encountered any Yamadu; 

 but on the very first day I was myself taken for it 

 by two girls whom I met suddenly at the turning of 

 a large buttressed tree, on a forest trail, and who 

 threw down their baskets, laden with manioc, and 

 fled affrighted. At length the weather seemed to 

 take up a little, although the river was still high, 

 and I determined to go on to Vasiva. \Ye accord- 

 ingly re-embarked early on the 2ist, and eight oars, 

 aided by a strong current, brought us to the lake at 

 4 KM. ; but in vain we coasted along to find a bit of 

 dry land whereon to encamp, for the trees and 

 bushes were all in water up to 4 or 5 feet ; so that 

 we had to return to the narrow winding channel 

 forming the outlet of the lake, where there was a 

 scanty strip of terra firme and a rancho left by a 

 party that had gathered turtles' eggs there the 

 previous year. Here we remained four days, but 

 the weather was dreadfully rainy, the sun never 

 once appeared, and all I could do was to creep 



