82 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS, [HTH ANN. 38 
Vismia guianensis Pers. and its derived gum, guttae, is mentioned 
by Schomburgk (SR, 11, 337). 
Copaifera officinalis Linn.—It is from this tree that the balsam 
copaiba is derived. On the Orinoco the balsam passed under various 
names, e. g., cabima, so ealled by the Indians after the tree which 
produced it, and by corrupting the word the Spaniards came to speak 
of it as oil of canime; other Indians [Carib] called it curucay, while 
certain of the whites described the tree as ‘‘palo de aceite,’”’ and the 
balsam as oil of maria (G, 1, 275-276), or as the oil of palma christi 
(FE, 45). In the catalogue of British Guiana contributions to the 
London International Exhibition of 1862 mention is made of a speci- 
men of gum or resin from the curaki or kurakai tree. At the present 
time, in the Pomeroon district, the Arawak term for it is purukai. 
While Stedman calls it mawna (ST, 1, 384, 403), Richard Schomburek 
gives mararen as the vernacular for the tree (SR, u, 472), and his 
brother Otto calls it maran (ScO, 96), which is the Creole term for 
the balsam. Bancroft speaks of it as mauna (BA, 45). It was 
chiefly owing to the importance of the trade in this commodity 
that friendly relations came to be established between the Dutch 
and the Carib (G, 1, 277). To prepare it, the Indians [on the upper 
Rupununi] cut a semicircular hole near the bottom of the trunk 
to the heart of the tree. At certain seasons of the year, chiefly 
in February and March, the balsam flows abundantly and fills the 
hole in the course of a day, when, next morning, it is put in cala- 
bashes, and forms an article of barter (SeG, 251). According to 
Gumilla it would appear that on the Orinoco the Indians began to tap 
the trees in August (G, 1, 275-276). The Carib Indians mix this gum 
with arnotta to paint their bodies, says W. C. McClintock (CC, 15). 
Schomburgk’s men eagerly anointed their bodies and hair with it 
(ScG, 251). 
Eperua spp. (E. faleata, E. jenmani, E. schomburgkii).—Wallaba 
tree. From this is derived a very sticky gum resin. Its styptic and 
curative powers in cuts and bruises are well appreciated by the In- 
dians and other natives of our colony (CC, 15). 
Mimusops globosa Gaertn.—Bullet or balata tree. Its whitish 
resin is employed for attaching the different parts of an arrow (Cr, 
234), the chip stones in a cassava grater (GO, 5), ete. The Wapishana 
and Makusi, who call it turara, obtain it in barter from the Taruma 
Indians. 
Tabebuia longipes.—White cedar. Contains little cavities full of 
aromatic gum (G, 1, 267). Without any incision it is deposited on the 
bark or even falls to the foot of the tree (Cou, 170). 
Moronobea coccinea Aubl. (=Symphonia bacculifera = Symphonia 
coccinea). —This is the manni of the Arawak, Carib, etc., the ohori of 
the Warrau, the manil in Cayenne, the breo of the Portuguese (Cr, 
