612 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS [ETH. ANN. 38 
the waves from breaking over the vessel, they fix up a washboard run- 
ning from stem to stern (G, m, 113-115). At the present day the 
washboard may be attached as a permanent fixture, both to corial 
and canoe, when the vessel, on the Moruca and Pomeroon, will be 
spoken of as a falea, the Spanish term for a wooden wedge, etc. The 
Arawak term for a falca is arosutaéhu; the Makusi is sumaripa. 
793. It is the same Mission Father who has left us an interesting 
account of the manufacture of one of these Orinoco dugouts. Hav- 
ing felled the tree with [fire and] stone axes and lopped it to a con- 
venient size at the cost of much time and labor (sec. 4), the In- 
dians start a fire along the top, leaving a thickness of but three 
fingers’ breadth on either side, and, so, gradually burn out the wood 
until they attain a similar thickness at the bottom. Filling this 
concave hollow trunk with water they start a gentle fire with dry 
palm leaves on the outside and it is well worth the sight to see how 
the water within and the fire without combine to widen the hollow 
and open out the sides. While this process is going on the Indians 
fix strong sticks and beams across to help in widening out the sides 
and when once opened out to prevent them closing up again. At 
the spot corresponding to where the mast for the sail will ultimately 
be they double the crossbeams, making them extra strong. This 
done, they scatter the fire and extinguish the flames on so much of 
the outer surface as has caught alight. They then spend much labor 
for many days in scraping off the charcoal, both outside and in, until 
the whole vessel gets a luster-like jet. It must be remembered that 
this charcoal on the outer surface is a great protection in that it 
prevents the water from damaging or rotting the timber (G, m, 117). 
But there are other ways of forcing the sides apart and giving them 
their proper shape, which, once secured, is retained by strong hard- 
wood crosspieces. Thus, the corial may be supported on trestles at 
either end over a fire till the action of the heat alone spreads the 
sides, as with the Arawak and Warrau, where spent ite leaf—i. e., 
after removal of its outer fiber for string manufacture—is employed 
as the fuel; or it may be soaked for a few days in water before 
being submitted to the flames, as is the case with the Makusi and 
Patamona. I have not been able to confirm the statement (IT, 293) 
that sometimes it is filled with wet sand, the weight of which eventu- 
ally forces the sides, softened by moisture, outward. Probably the 
particular procedure is dependent upon the condition and material 
of the craft. On the other hand, it would seem that occasionally, as 
with the corials, on the Ireng River, they were not spread amidships 
at all. The measurements of one such vessel, simply a long log of 
wood, hollowed out and rounded at both ends, were as follows: 
Length, 33 feet; width, 1 foot 9 inches; depth, 1 foot 2 inches (BB, 
