32 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



In British Guiuna the great cayman is confined to the upper courses of the 

 Essequibo and Berbice rivers ; nor does it occur anywhere in Dutch or French 

 Guiana, though it is again met in the Franco-Brazilian contested territory. The 

 rivers of Dutch and French Guianas are frequented only by two small species of 

 alligators. 



Nearly all the snakes are harmless to man ; the small numuer of venomous 

 serpents take the collective name of gragcs in Cayenne, where they are often met 

 in a torpid state. Some of the boas, especially those of aquatic habits, such as 

 the water camoodi [eunectes murina), acquire enormous dimensions. According to 

 Kappler, one killed on the upper Surinam river measured over 43 feet, and Mr. 

 im Thurn's companion shot one in the Potaro river which "proved to be 20 feet 

 in length and three feet in girth at the thickest." 



The gigantic low-low, a silurian found in the Essequibo, and much appreciated 

 by the natives, exceeds ten feet in length, and weighs as much as 220 pounds. 

 The pirai or perai (serasaluto niger), whose bite is justly dreaded by man, swarms 

 in most of the rivers, and is probably one of the most voracious animals in exis- 

 tence. They not only snap off the feet of ducks and the tails of iguanas, but will 

 even attack alligators, w'ho "do not always escape with whole tails. A perai 

 itself, if wounded by any chance, is at once attacked and devoured by its fellows. 

 If a monkey or bird, when shot, falls in the w^ater, perai rush together from all 

 quarters and carry off the prey before the sportsman can reach it ; and more than 

 once, when fishing in clear water, the bait having been taken by some other fish, 

 I have seen the captive, as it was pulled through the water tow^ards the boat, pursued 

 and snatched by rushing perai." — {Ini Thurn.) 



The Guiana Indians are rare experts in domesticating w^ild animals, such as 

 the agamis (psojj/iia cre^J/fans), cranes, hoccos (crax a lector), parrakeets, dogs, 

 aras, and even jaguars. The stranger arriving suddenly near a native homestead 

 is liable to be attacked by these " pets," and unless the owner comes to restore 

 order, he will have much difficulty in reaching the cabin. Of the two species 

 of wild dogs in British Guiana, one, the maikang of the natives, commits great 

 depredations on the plantations. These carnivora prowl about in large packs at 

 night, penetrating thi'ough the enclosures without giving tongue, and playing 

 havoc with the poultry and other farm -yard animals. The maikang crossed with 

 the common species produces an excellent breed of hunting dogs, which fetch 

 large pi ices in Georgetown. 



IxHAIilTAXTS OF THE GuiANAS. 



All the Guiana Indians are collectively grouped by the English and Dutch 

 settlers under the respective names of bucks and hocks, terms which, in a sense, 

 assimilate them to the beasts of the field. During the early colonial times the 

 Europeans, ignorant of the different languages and usages of these aborigines, 

 were nalurall}^ inclined to regard the various groups as so many distinct "nations." 

 Thus Ban ère in 174-3 enumerates over forty of such groups in French Guiana 

 alone, without a:tcmptingto classify them according to their mutual affinities. 



