450 TRINIDAD. 



(Gerres), the cutlass (TricUurus), pcecilia, barbe (Mystus), casca- 

 raduras (Callichthys) , Anne-Marie (Hypostomus) , sardines (Hy- 

 drocyon), guabine and yarrao (Mrythrinus) , dog-headed eel (Syn- 

 branchus). Besides the above, there are the common eel (An- 

 guilld) and the Coscorob, very common in ponds and rivers, the 

 cats (CallicUhys?) I have also been told that a trout is not 

 scarce in our mountain streams ; this fact I have not been able to 

 ascertain. 



Except the poecilias, cats, together with a very small callichthys, 

 all our fresh-water fishes are used as food. The river pike attains 

 about eight inches, is met with in clear limpid water, and is 

 generally caught with the hook. The cutlass fish about twelve 

 inches in length inhabits muddy ravines, and is caught in nets, 

 or, during the dry season, in isolated pools formed by the partial 

 drying up of ravines ; it is indifferent eating. The barbe is 

 generally taken in nets, but also with the hook, it is a good fish ; 

 also the Anne-Marie, about eight inches long and scaly, very 

 common in clear streams. The sardines are of small size, 

 resembling the European sardine in form, but more compressed ; 

 the smaller sized is so familiar, as sometimes to attack the legs of 

 persons standing in the water, or bathing ; they are found in the 

 clear and shallow streams of our valleys, and are generally caught 

 by means of cast-nets ; for which purpose a handful of manioc- 

 meal is thrown into the water, and the sardines rush in shoals to 

 the bait. The guabine is the largest of our fresh-water fishes, 

 measuring from twelve to twenty inches in length ; it is very 

 voracious, and bites severely. As already stated, the guabine is 

 found in rivers and deep ponds, particularly in the Bejucal, and 

 other ponds in the neighbourhood of Caroni, and at the Cocal. It 

 seems that the spawning season is about the month of July ; they 

 then creep into all the small rills of water which have a commu- 

 nication with the ravines and rivers, and are easily caught. They 

 nibble at the hook, or are caught in fish-pots ; the latter are long, 

 conical net, or basket-works, made of roseau or bamboo, which are 

 let down into the centre of the current of some stream, a regular 

 dam being otherwise formed across, by which the fish are forced, 

 in their passage down the stream, into the only opening afforded 

 by the entrance of the pot ; and having once entered, egress is 

 impossible. The yarrao resembles the guabine in form, but is 

 smaller in size. The dog-headed eel is caught in nets, into which 



