140 Timehri. 
anything, it is meiely their curiosity to see what he has got and after they have 
seen everything they will put it all back again, unles he prefers doing this part 
of the business himself. This inquisitiveness is a very noticeable trait in their_ 
character, causing them at times to become somewhat of a nuisance ; they will 
come into your house and turn over everything to examine it. When two 
of them meet together they will sit down and each will tell the other absolutely 
everything which has come to his knowledge since they last met, not even the 
smallest details being omitted. 
To return to our friend, having quenched his thirst and rested a little, he 
will, no doubt, begin to feel hungry, but before long the lady of the house will 
be bringing him some stewed fish and cassava bread, or perhaps some venison 
which her husband has killed. 
Ifhe wishes to stay for the night he will be shown a place where he can hang 
his hammock—if in a village he will be conducted to a house in the middle of 
the village which has keen specially built for the convenience of visitors. On 
his departure all the people will come to see him off, following him with their 
eyes until he is out of sight. If he wishes to ingratiate himself among the 
people or to pay them for their hospitality—they will not ask for anything and 
will not be aisappointed if they get nothing—he may give the master of the 
house some such trifle as a small mirror, or a cheap knife, or perhaps a stringof 
beads ; if he gives them a piece of money they will probably make a hole in it 
and hang it round the baby’s neck. Should he give a boy a biscuit or a few 
sweets he will immediately whare it with his companions—a pleasing trait in 
their character which is not often found among more civilized people. 
The Macusi is singularly devoid of a!l signs of emotion ; two friends—it may 
be a mother and her son—may meet after a long absence from each other 
without giving any external sign of recognition ; they may, perhaps, feel some 
joy at meeting one another, but as far as one can see they might be absolute 
strangers. 
It is interesting to see an Indian fishing. He stands by the river, perhaps 
in a boat, holding a bow and arrow and looking intently at the water. Present- 
ly he lets fly the arrow into a fish ; the fish struggles and swims away carrying 
the arrow with it; perhaps the arrow disappears under the water, but it re- 
appears before long and the Indian hurries after it and takes it out of the water 
with the fish at the end of it. You probably did not see the fish in the water 
but the Indians are remarkably keen sighted and will see many things which, 
to the average European, would be absolutely invisible. 
Another remarkable trait about the Indiau is his power of finding the way. 
If you show him the general direction of the place you want to go to you may 
safely leave the rest to him; these may be paths crossing and 
recrossing in all directions or branching out to the right and to the left. No 
matter, he will go on without hesitating and bring you to the place you 
wanted, even though he has never been near the place before. 
His powers of observation, again, are remarkable, and, at times, might excite 
the admiration if not the envy of Sherlock Holmes, Sometimes, for example, 
