40 SANTAREM. Chap. I. 



In the lower part of the Mahica woods, towards the 

 river, there is a bed of stiff white clay, which supplies 

 the people of Santarem with material for the manu- 

 facture of coarse pottery and cooking utensils : all the 

 kettles, saucepans, mandioca ovens, coffee-pots, wash- 

 ing-vessels, and so forth, of the poorer classes through- 

 out the country, are made of this same plastic clay, 

 which occurs at short intervals over the whole surface of 

 the Amazons valley, from the neighbourhood of Para to 

 within the Peruvian borders, and forms part of the 

 great Tabatinga marl deposit. To enable the vessels to 

 stand the fire, the bark of a certain tree, called Caraipe, 

 is burnt and mixed with the clay, which gives tenacity 

 to the ware. Caraipe is an article of commerce, being 

 sold, packed in baskets, at the shops in most of the 

 towns. The shallow pits, excavated in the marly soil at 

 Mahica, were very attractive to many kinds of mason 

 bees and wasps, who make use of the clay to build their 

 nests with. I spent many an hour, watching their 

 proceedings : a short account of the habits of some of 

 these busy creatures may be interesting. 



The most conspicuous was a large yellow and black 

 wasp, with a remarkably long and narrow waist, the 

 Pelopseus fistularis. It collected the clay in little 

 round pellets, which it carried off, after rolling them 

 into a convenient shape in its mandibles. It came 

 straight to the pit with a loud hum, and, on alighting, 

 lost not a moment in beginning to work ; finishing the 

 kneading of its little load in two or three minutes. 

 The nest of this species is shaped like a pouch, two 

 inches in length, and is attached to a branch or other 



