192 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS [ELH. ANN. 38 
189. During the rains between April and May on the upper Dem- 
erara the men at might ight up the scene with torches, and with the 
use of the cutlass or knife capture fish by quakefuls (Da, 219). This 
is a common practice everywhere. JXnives or other weapons are not, 
however, necessarily required with the torch; Spix and Martius speak 
of an Indian on the lower Amazon attracting a 12-pound fish (PArac- 
tocephalus sp.) to the shore by means of a light, and then seizing 
it in his hands (S-M, 11, 1026). On the Orinoco a remnant of baize 
or colored cloth is tied to the end of a stick and held about a yard 
(vara) above the water surface while the canoe is being paddled 
along. Morocot and bagre [? Stlwrus bagre] with their very large 
teeth bite into the cloth and are thus pulled into the boat*(G, 1, 279— 
280). Fly baits (sec. 192) would also fall into the category of fish 
being attracted by sight. 
190. In addition to the bow and arrow, the harpoon arrow (e. g., 
for the pacu shot at the falls when the mourera is in flower), the 
harpoon spear (e. g., for morocot and other large fish), cudgels, 
spears, and cutlasses are employed for killing fish. The arrows spe- 
cially constructed for this purpose are said never to be feathered. 
The arapaima (Sudis gigas) are taken generally with a harpoon 
fastened on a long pole, which is thrown from the canoe, and to 
which is attached a long line to give the fish play, as they are so strong 
that they can not be hauled in to be killed until they are weakened. 
This is generally performed with a club of hard wood with which 
heavy strokes are inflicted upon the skull. The canoes which are 
used in these fisheries are sometimes very small, with only a fisher- 
man and a boy to steer. After the fish is killed, they sink the canoe, 
put it under the fish, and by shoving the canoe backward and for- 
ward throw out as much water as allows it to float; the rest is baled 
out with a calabash, and the fish is transported to the place of rendez- 
vous (Sckx, 198). A staging is often erected in or upon the banks of a 
stream or lake, whereon the hunters can watch and rest to take aim 
when shooting arrows. During the months that the Orinoco is on the 
increase (due to the melting of the snows in the higher reaches) the 
Indians, says Gumilla, use no other method than to carry, some of them, 
rough cudgels, and others their very curious spears. They proceed to 
the level plains where the waters have risen to the height of about a 
yard, and where in and among the blades of grass every kind of fish 
has come to feed and disport itself after so many months passed in the 
bed of the river. Here they are knocked over with the cudgels—for 
morocot (payara), bagre, and cachama (G, 1, 287). In the Pom- 
eroon, during the dry season when the rivers are low the Indians 
will take a torch at night and chop the sleeping fish with a cutlass. 
