214 THE UPPER AMAZONS. Chap. III. 



family fishes only for itself, and has no surplus for sale. 

 An Indian fisherman remains out just long enough to 

 draw what he thinks sufficient for a couple of days' 

 consumption. Vacca marina is a great resource in the 

 wet season ; it is caught by harpooning, which requires 

 much skill, or by strong nets made of very thick ham- 

 mock twine, and placed across narrow inlets. Very 

 few Europeans are able to eat the meat of this animal. 

 Although there is a large quantity of cattle in the 

 neighbourhood of the town, and pasture is abundant all 

 the year round, beef can be had only when a beast is 

 killed by accident. The most frequent cause of death 

 is poisoning by drinking raw Tucupi, the juice of the 

 mandioca root. Bowls of this are placed on the ground 

 in the sheds where the women prepare farinha ; it is 

 generally done carelessly, but sometimes intentionally 

 through spite when stray oxen devastate the plantations 

 of the poorer people. The juice is almost certain to be 

 drunk if cattle stray near the place, and death is the 

 certain result. The owners kill a beast which shows 

 symptoms of having been poisoned, and retail the beef 

 in the town. Although every one knows it cannot be 

 wholesome, such is the scarcity of meat and the uncon- 

 trollable desire to eat beef, that it is eagerly bought, at 

 least by those residents who come from other provinces 

 where beef is the staple article of food. Game of all 

 kinds is scarce in the forest near the town, except in 

 the months of June and July, when immense numbers 

 of a large and handsome bird, Cuvier's toucan (Ram- 

 phastos Cuvieri) make their appearance. They come in 

 well-fed condition, and are shot in such quantities that 



