34 BIG GAME FIELDS 



of interest to know just what cassava bread is: 

 Scattered sparsely through these great forests 

 are five tribes of aboriginal Indians. These chil- 

 dren of nature, in appearance, bear a striking 

 resemblance to the Japanese. Their small vil- 

 lages are now and again come upon and there 

 are seldom more than five or six "benabs" 

 (thatched sheds under which are swung the ham- 

 mocks) in one village, and usually less than a 

 score of Indians to a hamlet. They are just as 

 primitive in their ways as they were when first 

 discovered, living entirely by the natural products 

 of the forest. With their bows and arrows and 

 poisonous darts from the blow-pipe while occa- 

 sionally you will find one with what is called a 

 "buckgun" (a long, single-barrel muzzle-loading 

 affair) they secure all the fresh meat they re- 

 quire. But it is the cassava plant that yields their 

 staff of life, and to them we owe its discovery. 

 Only the root of the plant is used and until 

 properly prepared is quite poisonous. It is first 

 grated, then put in a "Matapee," which in ap- 

 pearance resembles a long wicker basket; this is 

 suspended from a branch and a heavy weight 

 put at the bottom. In this way the poisons ooze 

 out and leave a foodstuff ready for cooking, that 



