TTTXTKRT.AND NOTES 461 



water is shallow, the Indians pole-stick, oi' punt: this assures 

 hetter progress than the paddle. From tlie depots up to 

 liewa. and sometimes, np to i\nai, a sail may, upon occa- 

 sions, he used with great advantage. 



Our down trip from the .Mission occupied exactly four- 

 teen (lavs. When the river is in flood, this trii) mav be ac- 

 comj)lishe(I in nine days. The best time for either journey, 

 up or down, is just after the heavy rains — August and early 

 September. 



General Health: (rood healtli may be maintained if 

 thi-ee grains of (piinine be taken regularly, daily, whether 

 one feels ill or not. When a feeling of lassitude comes on, 

 double the dose. Avoid constipation carefully. The water 

 of the main rivers is, generally, harndess. That of the creeks 

 and of the ponds should be boiled and allowed to cool. The 

 new arrival should not expose himself to the heat of the sun 

 between the hours of eleven and two. After six months, the 

 ordinary person, who eschews liquor, may move about, at 

 any hour of the day, with impunity. In fact, he may roam 

 the open savannahs from six A. JNI. to six P. M., without 

 taking harm. Should dysentery attack, while on the river, 

 the bark of the taparauu, resembling the bark of a guava, 

 may be boiled, and drunk. If upon the savannahs, it is well 

 to know that the inner bark of the sand-paper tree, which 

 is common everywhere, treated in a similar way, is an almost 

 instantaneous cure for the dread disease. The Indians know 

 over a dozen emetics. I woidd strongly recommend every- 

 one to carry the pocket lancet, in a case, with a ready supply 

 of permanganate potassium, at the opposite end, which may 

 be bought for eightpence, or a shilling. 



MAMMALS 



]My task is, to afford something in the nature of a 

 dhoby's list: not to pretend to a scientific description of the 

 wild life of the district. Some little service may be rendered 

 by mentioning the localities, thus affording some idea of 



