390 WAKEFUL HABITS OF THE INDIAHS. 



do iiot eat the ants as a luxury, but because, according to 

 the expression of the missionaries, IHP fat of ants (the white 

 part of the abdomen) is a very substantial food. When 

 the cakes of cassava were prepared, Father Ze&, whose fever 

 seemed rather to sharpen than to enfeeble his appetite, 

 ordered a little bag to be brought to him filled with smoked 

 vachacos. He mixed these bruised insects with flour of cas- 

 sava, which he pressed us to taste. It somewhat resembled 

 rancid butter mixed with crumb of bread. The cassava had 

 not an acid taste, but some remains of European prejudices 

 prevented our joining in the praises bestowed by the good 

 missionary on what he called * an excellent ant paste.' 



The violence of the rain obliged us to sleep in this 

 crowded hut. The Indians slept only from eight till two 

 in the morning; the rest of the time they employed in 

 conversing in their hammocks, and preparing their bitter 

 beverage of cupana. They threw fresh fuel on the fire, and 

 complained of cold, although the temperature of the air 

 was at 21. This custom of being awake, and even on foot, 

 four or five hours before sunrise, is general among the 

 Indians of Guiana. When, in the entradas, an attempt is 

 made to surprise the natives, the hours chosen are those 

 of the first sleep, from nine till midnight. 



We left the island of Dapa long before daybreak ; and 

 notwithstanding the rapidity of the current, and the acti- 

 vity of our rowers, our passage to the fort of San Carlos 

 del Bio Negro occupied twelve hours. We passed, on the 

 left, the mouth of the Cassiquiare, and, on the right, the 

 small island of Cumarai. The fort is believed in the 

 country to be on the equatorial line ; but, according to the 

 observations which I made at the rocks of Culimacari, it 

 ; s in 1 54' 11". 



We lodged at San Carlos with the commander of the 

 /ort, a lieutenant of militia. From a gallery in the upper 

 part of the house we enjoyed a delightful view of three 

 islands of great length, and covered with thick vegetation. 

 The river runs in a straight line from north to south, as 

 if its bed had been dug by the hand of man. The sky 

 being constantly cloudy gives these countries a solemn and 

 gloomy character. We found in the village a fewjuvia- 

 trees which furnish the triangular nuts called in Europ* 



