262 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



their bites, and they were constantly dropping upon us in 

 scores. Several times we blundered into maribundi nests, 

 and in each instance the outraged wasps promptly retali- 

 ated. Large iguanas jumped out of the trees into the water 

 with a loud splash as we passed underneath, and troops of 

 woolly monkeys deserted the wild cashew-trees in which 

 they fed and beat a hasty retreat. The swamp was full 

 of life, but we rarely recovered anything we shot; the cay- 

 mans and piranhas with which the water was infested usu- 

 ally snapped up our specimens before we could reach them. 

 At night we set throw-lines and caught the great pacu, a 

 fish of the piranha family; but unlike its bloodthirsty rela- 

 tive it prefers a vegetable diet. A pirarucu, six feet long 

 and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, was also taken ; 

 this is the largest fish that inhabits Amazonian waters; the 

 scales are an inch and a half in diameter and of a silvery 

 color, those of the latter half of the body being margined 

 with deep scarlet. It is delicious, either fresh or salted. 



The forest back of Calama contained about as much 

 game as is ever found in one spot in South America. There 

 were deer, agoutis, and peccaries, but it was impossible to 

 penetrate far into the interior on account of the Parintintin 

 Indians, who make this region their stronghold. These 

 Indians have always maintained a hostile attitude toward 

 the settlers. An attack was made on Calama one day at 

 noon just as luncheon was being served; from out of the 

 dead silence of midday there suddenly came a shower of 

 arrows; this was promptly answered by rifle-shots from 

 the house, and the Indians immediately fled. Thirty bam- 

 boo arrows were gathered up, many of them five feet tall, 

 with barbs on each side of the head; some of the shafts 

 were wrapped with hair and skin taken from the victims 

 of previous raids. 



The Parintintins are of medium stature and well built; 

 they are frequently at war with their near neighbors, the 

 Mundrucus; when hostilities are in progress, which is nearly 

 always, the front of the head is shaven, leaving only a round 



