CH. xxvn INDIAN ROCK-PICTURES 475 



the Barre nation, to point out to me any engraved 

 rocks which lay in our way. On reaching the Pedra 

 de Culimacari, a bed of granite a little beyond the 

 mouth of the Pacimoni, we found it still under water, 

 so that the figures seen there and copied by Hum- 

 boldt in the beginning of the century were not 

 visible. The pilot consoled me by saying that when 

 we reached the Laja de Capibara he would show 

 me there ten times more figures than I had missed 

 seeing at Culimacari. On the 9th of December we 

 passed the mouth of Lake Vasiva, and on the iith 

 reached a modern Indian village called Yamadu- 

 bani (Wild Man's Land), or more commonly Pueblo 

 de Ponciano, having been founded by an Indian 

 named Ponciano, who was not long dead. Early 

 on the morning of the i3th \ve came upon the 

 deserted site of another village called Capibara, 

 being the nom de guerre of its founder, after whose 

 death it has become depopulated. It is on the left 

 (S.E.) side of the Casiquiari. Leaving here part 

 of the crew to cook our breakfast, I took with me 

 the rest, and under the guidance of the pilot struck 

 into the forest in quest of picture-writing. After 

 walking about half a mile, we came out on large flat 

 sheets of granite rock, naked save where in fissures 

 of the rock there were small oases of vegetation, 

 the first plants to establish themselves there being 

 a few lichens and mosses, and, rarely, some stunted 

 shrubs. The bare places, one of which was an acre 

 in extent, were covered with rude figures, the out- 

 lines of which were about half an inch wide, and 

 were graven in the rock to nearly an inch deep. 

 The figures were in perfect preservation except that 

 in rare cases they were obliterated by the shaling of 



