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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



called pirard by the Camayura. Another fish 

 which has a somewhat similar name is the pirarard. 

 The reason for this similarity in names is not 

 clear, for the pirarard is a large smooth-skinned 

 bottom fish ranging up to 50 pounds in weight. 

 When hauled into a boat this fish emits audible 

 grunting noises. Its flesh is coarse and much 

 inferior in taste to the others. Another basslike 

 fish ranging from 4 to 5 pounds is the uchuri, or 

 "cachorro" in Portuguese. It is called "cachorro," 

 or dog, because of its long curved teeth. It is 

 also edible but of inferior quality. 



The three fish most highly prized as food by the 

 Indians and the Brazilians are the mandube, 

 "fidalgo"; the tucunare, "tucunard"; and the 

 matrinchd, "matrincha". The "fidalgo" is a 

 catfish with black stripes running from the dorsal 

 to the ventral side. The "tucunar6," ranging 

 from 4 to 6 pounds, is a scaly silvery white fish 

 somewhat basslike in shape. Perhaps the finest 

 table fish is the "matrincha," which is not only 

 salmonlike in appearance but the pinkish flesh 

 tastes like the salmon of the Pacific coast of North 

 America. 



In the shallow headwaters of the tributaries 

 there are innumerable small fish, some no doubt 

 the young of the larger species, which the 

 Camayura - collectively call yanaboro. They range 

 from a few inches to a foot in length. In these 

 shallow waters is also found the wirake, or electric 

 eel, which preys on these smaller fish. The 

 shocking power of this fish is very real. And not 

 to be forgotten is the tracayd, or terrapin, which 

 is plentiful in these waters, the flesh and eggs 

 of which provide the Indians with a considerable 

 supply of food. The flesh of the cayman is not 

 used by the Camay ur 6. 



The material equipment employed in fishing 

 consists of canoes, bows and arrows, dams, weirs, 

 basketry traps, and timb6. Shooting with arrows 

 is by far the commonest method of fishing. As a 

 man never moves far from the village without 

 his bow and arrow, he is always ready to shoot 

 a fish in some nearby stream. Even when 

 timb6 is used, shooting is resorted to so as to 

 dispatch the fish. Of course, once the fish have 

 died from the effects of timb6 they can be picked 

 up by hand. The weirs used by the Camayura - 

 are cylinders about 4 feet long and 2 feet in 

 diameter made from light cane, the longitudinal 



cane rods being held together by withe lacing 

 placed about 6 inches apart. The closed end is 

 conical, and the broad end has an opening 6 

 inches in diameter, permitting the fish to enter. 

 These weirs are placed at intervals into brushwood 

 dams, with the opening facing upstream. The 

 dams themselves are made of brushwood and are 

 usually pinned down by crossed stakes. In 

 deeper streams the brushwood is held in place 

 by upright stakes and is weighted down by heavy 

 stones. During low water the dams are perma- 

 nent for several months, a gap being left open 

 to allow the fish to enter when not in use. 



Dam fishing is employed with or without timbo. 

 Some morning when the men observe a large 

 number of fish above the dam they run two or 

 three canoes through the gap and close it. The 

 men in the canoes then go upstream and drive the 

 fish down toward the dam, near which a number 

 of men are stationed with bows and arrows to 

 shoot the fish as they try to escape. 



When timbo is used, an additional dam is built 

 upstream so that the fish are completely enclosed. 

 Weirs are placed in both dams and after the 

 timb6 is mixed with the water the fish can be 

 easily shot as they come to the surface for air. 

 The following day all the fish are dead and can 

 be collected from the surface near the lower dam. 

 This has to be done early before the kites and 

 gulls carry off the fish. 



The conical hand trap which is used among the 

 weeds in shallow water is about 2 feet high, 18 

 inches wide at the bottom, narrowing to about 

 6 inches at the top. A man will wade along in 

 the shallow water placing the trap down as he goes. 

 When he feels a fish in the trap he puts his hand 

 down through the hole in the top and throws the 

 fish onto the bank. This is a blind way of fishing 

 and only small fish that hide among the weeds are 

 caught in this manner. The hand trap is made 

 from the same materials as the weir and can be 

 employed with or without the use of timb6. 



For poisoning fish the Camayura use several 

 kinds of lianas or vines which the Brazilians 

 collectively call timb6. A Brazilian naturalist 

 of the Museu Nacional of Rio de Janeiro informed 

 me that these vines contain rotenone, which 

 when mixed with water has a paralyzing effect on 

 the breathing organs of fish. In order to release 

 the poison, the bark and stems of the vines have 



