48 IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 



It follows, therefore, that Indian towns, or even 

 villages, are practically unknown. A settlement 

 may be kept up for twenty years or even longer, 

 and again it may be abandoned at any time. 

 For some reason or other, perhaps from an impulse 

 which is more instinctive than anything else, the 

 inhabitants leave one creek and go to another. 

 All their movables can be carried in their canoes, 

 or, if necessary, on the backs of the women. It 

 almost seems as if their absolute necessaries are 

 exactly fitted to their means of conveyance. A 

 hammock, an earthen pot, a cassava plate, strainer 

 and sifter, and one or two water bottles, make up a 

 load which is by no means light, but which as nearly 

 as possible reaches the point where only the " last 

 straw " is wanting. Of course the man carries 

 nothing except his weapons and the few orna- 

 ments he has on. His wife would despise him if 

 he should demean himself by helping her in what 

 belongs to her special province, as he would 

 equally resent her bearing his weapons. If there 

 is a baby, the woman carries it in a little hammock 

 slung over one shoulder, so that it comes in front, 

 and does not interfere with the load, which is 

 borne on the back, and supported by a band 

 across the forehead. 



If it be true that "the boy is father to the 



