ROTH] TRAVEL BY BOATS, RAFTS, ETC. 615 
(AK, 74) and Cayenne (PBA,28). When put to use it is slung by a 
rope, attached to the center of the topmost lath, over the forked ex- 
tremity of the mast, to the base of which it is lashed. At the same 
time, the ends of the lowest lath are tied by cords to the gunwale or 
bench, and thus by loosening the one and tightening the other, the 
wind can be caught either on the port or starboard side. Barrére’s 
illustration (sec. 792) represents a single cord attached to the extrem- 
ity of the highest lath. When time or inclination is not available for 
the manufacture of such a sail a good substitute is often to be seen 
with a leaf of the kokerit palm. The Carib Islanders had sails made 
of cotton or of a kind of mat of palm leaves (RO, 527). [On the 
Amazons their cotton abundantly furnished the Indians with stuff to 
make sails of (AC, 76).] 
798. The Arawak and Akawai of the upper part of the river 
[Berbice] generally use wood-skins instead of corials. They are 
made of a single piece of the tough bark of the murianara or purple- 
Fic. 335.—Manufacture of a wood-skin. Diagram to show the wedge removed from the 
outer layer of bark only, and the edges overlapped to raise bow or stern. 
heart tree, which grows to a very large size. An incision is made to 
the extent required in the bark, which is removed by driving in 
wedges. When loosened from the wood it is kept open by cross- 
sticks (SecA, 308). From each of the two long sides of this, between 
2 and 3 feet from either end, a wedge-shaped piece, the base of which 
corresponds with the free edge of the bark, is cut away from the 
outer layer of the bark, but leaving intact the corresponding inner 
layer, which is subsequently folded up on itself, and so prevents all 
ingress of water (fig. 335). The two ends of the whole strip of 
bark—that is to say, the short piece between each end and the 
nearest wedge-shaped incisions—are raised until the edges of the 
wedge-shaped slits meet; and these edges are then [overlapped and] 
sewn together with bush rope. This, therefore, raises the bow and 
stern at an angle from the water, while the body of the craft floats 
parallel to the water line (IT, 296). It remains for several days, 
supported at the extremities by two beams, exposed to the weather 
before it is fit for use. The boat now finished, they cut a few 
pieces of the ite palm and force them in as seats (Da, 211). It is in 
