NOMADS OF THE LONG BOW — HOLMBERG 



ground. All of the rivers follow very capricious 

 courses and are of great age. 



The environment, so far as is known, contains 

 no mineral deposits of note. Gold has been re- 

 ported from the region of the Cerro Blanco — 

 which might be expected in view of the fact that 

 gold is mined in the Chiquitos region to the south 

 and has been mined in the Cerro San Sim6n to the 

 north — but no deposits of significance have ever 

 been worked. Stone is unkno^vn in Mojos, 

 although a poor grade of igneous rock is found 

 along the Rio Itenez and the Rio Blanco. In the 

 entire region there is no salt, coal, or petroleum. 



Present in the area, but not in the abundance 

 that most people are wont to imagine they exist 

 in tropical forests, are the most common types of 

 Amazon Valley fauna. The principal mammals 

 are the tapir, jaguar, puma, capybara, deer, 

 peccary, paca, coati, agouti, monkey, armadillo, 

 anteater, opossum, otter, and squirrel. Bats are 

 a pereimial pest. 



Land and waterfowl are numerous. The king 

 of these birds is the harpy eagle. Likewise pres- 

 ent, and in greater numbers, are the king vulture 

 and the black vulture, which are almost always 

 seen high in the sky gliding like planes in search 

 of carrion. Game fowl are also plentiful, espe- 

 cially the curassow, guan, wild duck, macaw, 

 toucan, partridge, egret, cormorant, hawk, peh- 

 can, plover, kingfisher, trumpeter, spoonbill, and 

 parrot. On the pampa one also frequently en- 

 counters the South American ostrich and varieties 

 of ibis. 



Of the reptiles, alligators and tortoises are plenti- 

 ful. Occasionally one sees a tegu or an iguana. 

 More rarely encountered are snakes, including the 

 anaconda, the fer-de-lance, the bushmaster, the 

 rattler, and coral snakes. 



The rivers and lakes of the area are well stocked 

 with fish. Among the principal kinds are the 

 palometa, the pacii, the parapatinga, the tucimare, 

 several kinds of catfish, and the sting ray. Also 

 present but rarely caught is the pirarucu, the 

 largest bony fresh-water fish in the world. Not 

 infrequently seen sporting in the lakes and rivers 

 are schools of fresh-water porpoises, which may 

 come so close as to upset one's canoe when travel- 

 ing by water. There are few shellfish and mol- 

 lusks in these inland waters. 



Only one who has traveled in the region can 

 appreciate the myriad forms of insect life that 



harass the inhabitants. Since a great part of the 

 country is swamp for at least 6 months of the 

 year, mosquitoes of all kinds (and of which the 

 area is never free) can breed imhampered, and, 

 as night falls, these insects, together with gnats 

 and moths, descend upon one by the thousands. 

 During the day, when these pests retire to the 

 swamps and the depths of the forest, their place 

 is taken by innumerable varieties of deer flies 

 and stinging wasps. When traveling by water 

 during the day, one is also perennially pestered 

 by tiny flies which settle on the imcovered parts 

 of one's body by the hundreds and leave minute 

 welts of blood where they sting. 



No less molesting are the ants, most of which are 

 stinging varieties. The traveler in the forest soon 

 learns what kinds to avoid. Especially unpleasant 

 are those which inhabit the tree called palo santo, 

 the sting of a few of which will leave one with a 

 fever, and the tucondera, an ant about an inch in 

 length whose bite causes partial paralysis for an 

 hour or two. 



In addition to the ants, mosquitoes, and flies, 

 there are scorpions and spiders whose bites may 

 also cause partial paralysis and for whose presence 

 one must be continually on the lookout, and 

 sweat bees, which drive the perspiring traveler to 

 a fury in trying to escape them. Some mention 

 should also be made of the wood ticks, which range 

 in size from a pin point to a fingernail. During 

 the dry season as many as a hundred may drop 

 from a disturbed leaf on to a person as he passes 

 by. One of the most common pastimes of the 

 Indian children, in fact, is picking off wood ticks 

 from returning hunters. 



The flora, like the fauna, is typical of the 

 Amazon River Valley. The forests may be char- 

 acterized especially by an abundance of palms, 

 among which the principal varieties are the mo- 

 tacii, assal, chonta, total, samuque, and cusi. All 

 of these palms yield an edible heart and nuts or 

 fruits, which constitute an important part of the 

 diet of the Indians. No less important in this 

 respect are other fruit trees, particularly the 

 pacobilla, the coquino, the pacdy, and the agual. 



Of the trees not producing fruit few are used 

 by the Siriono. An exception is the ambaibo, the 

 fiber of whose bark is twined into string out of 

 which the hammocks and bow strings are made. 

 Abundant in the area, however, are such common 

 Amazon Vafley trees as mahogany, conduni, cedar, 



