A fishing Trip on the Upper Waters of the Mazaruni River. 71 



the gun which caused the reptile to lift its head clear of the coils, gave it 

 the benefit of a full charge of BB shot from a choke, sixteen bore gun 

 through the head at close range. It took all five of us to get that snake 

 into the boat and back to camp. There, by means of ropes, we stretched 

 the corpse between two stout trees and set to work to skin it. 



Skinning such a snake is a real job ; it took four of us two hours by 

 my watch and we made a bad job of it then. I had hazy recollections of 

 making a ' ventral incision ' and ' peeling the skin off like a glove ' but 

 somehow it didn't work. We had to cut the skin away from the flesh — 

 every inch of it. With two exceptions the Indians refused to assist ; 

 they have some myth about such snakes and small children which, after 

 all, perhaps, has some vein of truth in it. Camoodies are not particularly 

 fastidious in their appetites I understand. 



A good application of arsenical soap was given and the skin was put 

 out in the sun to dry, on every available occasion. This preparation pre- 

 served the skin wonderfully and when finally prepared by Professor Pile 

 in Georgetown it measured just 25 feet in length. The ' inner snake ' we 

 ' consigned to the deep ' as perai food. Our captain wanted to get some 

 of the fat which he said produced an admirable mixture for rheumatism 

 but we had had enough of snake dissection for one day and proceeded on 

 our way. 



About three days above Itaki, while passing up stream, close to the 

 bank, the captain espied another of these reptiles asleep on a log. The 

 boat was gently backed down and from its refuge I manfully shot it 

 through the head. This specimen was skinned the same afternoon and 

 the skin measured just 24 feet. On the following afternoon the captain 

 espied yet another which I also shot, but we had to leave it as the 

 arsenical soap had come to an end ax*d time was getting short. The cap- 

 tain informed me that at certain times of the year such snakes are fre- 

 quently seen in the river and he began to spin yarns which modestly 

 started at ' about 30 feet, sir ! ' 



After the first snake incident I gave up swimming in the river and 

 performed my ablutions with a couple of buckets of water. 



At Itaki I had the good fortune to land a haimara which weighed 

 just 14 lbs. by my spring balance. The fish was lurking in a deep 

 pool at the foot of a small rapid and took my spoon in a most 

 vicious manner. As soon as he felt the hook he leapt clean out of 

 the water and started off down stream at a tremendous speed, tak- 

 ing another small rapid with apparent ease ; I was forced to run 

 along the bank so as to keep up with him. Eventually he came to 

 rest in a large bed of aquatic grass and tangled up the line in a very 

 thorough manner. I thought I had seen the last of him and the position 

 seemed hopeless. One of the Indians came up, however and, wading into 

 the stream, commenced to patiently follow up my line through the tangled 

 growth. He at last located the fish and retired to get his bow and arrow 



