THE MAQUIRITARES' LAND 177 



any attempt to ascend the mountain should be made from 

 that side. 



Cutting the trail required more time than we had antici- 

 pated. It was our intention to remove the equipment to 

 the very base of Duida, and this was impossible until a 

 suitable way had been prepared. The intervening country 

 is rolling and the hollows are filled with a network of deep, 

 water-filled canyons; across these trees had to be felled to 

 provide a means of crossing. Also, neither the Maquiri- 

 tares or the Venezuelans proved to be very industrious, 

 and were about as poor a class of assistants as can be found. 

 However, work progressed steadily, and there came the 

 day when the last bridge had been placed across the wind- 

 ing river, and we were able to proceed to the foot of Duida. 



Near the mountain the forest assumes a different aspect. 

 Instead of the tall trees there are vast groves of palms 

 which form such a dense canopy that the sunlight never 

 penetrates to the ground; for this reason there is no under- 

 growth, but the earth is covered with a soft carpet of dry 

 leaves. Some of the plants attain such giant proportions, 

 with fronds thirty or forty feet long and fifteen feet wide, 

 they form great tent-like shelters. 



.As we neared the mountain the Indians became restive 

 and finally refused to go any farther. They firmly believe 

 that it is the abode of spirits who will be quick to resent 

 any intrusion into their sacred precincts. Besides, the 

 rainy season was fast approaching, and at night blinding 

 flashes of lightning played among the crags, and the dull 

 boom of distant thunder pierced the sultry blackness. Wind 

 swept through the forest in fitful blasts, and it rained fre- 

 quently. Sometimes the blasts attained the velocity of a 

 cyclone and sent tall trees crashing down on all sides. The 

 Indians could endure the strain no longer, so one night they 

 quietly disappeared, taking the boat with them. At first 

 this loss seemed anything but pleasant, but a raft was soon 

 constructed, and two of the men were sent down to the 

 nearest rubber-camp on the Orinoco for another craft. We 



