EXPLANATORY INDEX. 360 



them being six feet long. How they are made and used is 

 shown by Mr. C. B. Brown in his work on Guiana. 



"Our men frequently shot Jeep-bodied, silvery-scaled fish, 

 called cartabac {Tetragonoj)terus latus), and another somewhat 

 similar fish called pacu {Myhtes pacu). The male of the 

 latter has a large deep body of a dull goldfish colour, while 

 the female is of a dull bluish brown. Their flesh is firm, and 

 of a peculiarly pleasant nutty flavour. They have even rows 

 of teeth shaped like the incisors of mammals. These fish 

 browse upon the aquatic plants in the swift running water, 

 and are easily shot, when feeding near the surface, by those 

 skilled in the use of the bow and arrow. 



"The bows that our men used for this purpose had been 

 procured from the Indians of the interioi*. They were very 

 long and straight, and made of hard red wood. The shafts 



FISH-ABROW. 



of the Arrows were made of long straight reeds — the flower- 

 stalks of the wild cane — tightly bound to a short piece of 

 extremely tough wood inserted at one end, called a ' shimara- 

 sherie ' or ' Avire-cash.' The end of the latter fits into an iron 

 arrow-head, to which it is attached by a piece of cord in such 

 a way, that when the point pierces the fish the barbed head 

 comes off the arrow end, but still remains attached to it by 

 the cord. This allows the shaft freer play, so that during the 

 struggles of the fish it is not broken. Sometimes a light 

 cotton cord of about fifteen feet in length is made fast to the 

 wire-cash, one end being attached to the left hand of the 

 fis herman. AYhen the fish is within a short distance of the 

 man the latter lets fly the Arrow, and aiming a few inches 



B c 



