AMUJNG THE YURACARE INDIANS 313 



with gorgeous-colored creatures and inhabited by tribes of 

 gracious Indians whose one desire in life is to serve the 

 traveller or explorer, has yet to cut his eye-teeth in the field 

 of exploration. 



Our Indians were all well armed and frequently took 

 long shots at some of the creatures that ventured to show 

 themselves in the early mornings or just before dark. 

 They were expert archers and even shot large birds on the 

 wing as the flocks passed overhead. Occasionally an otter 

 appeared, always a hundred yards or more away, swim- 

 ming rapidly with only the head showing above the water. 

 These animals were favorite targets, and from my seat in 

 the middle of the canoe I had an unobstructed view of the 

 arrows in flight as they left the bow of the man in front; he 

 did not aim at his prey, but quite some distance above it. 

 At the twang of the bow the arrow sped into the air, ascend- 

 ing slightly at first, and then dropping as it approached 

 the mark; it described a curve exactly like a bullet fired 

 from a rifle, and remained in a perfectly horizontal posi- 

 tion dxiring the entire flight. 



When making camp on a sand-bank the Indians stuck 

 their bows and arrows in the ground, near the shelters; this 

 prevented their being stepped on and broken. In damp or 

 rainy weather the arrows warped badly, but it was only a 

 few minutes' work to heat them near a fire and bend them 

 back into alignment. 



Tropical rivers are noted for their treachery. One can 

 never be certain of their actions or character, even a few 

 hours hence. We had a striking example of this on the 

 Chimord. Camp had been made on an extensive sand- 

 bank one day at noon, as we planned to spend a few hours 

 himting and fishing in the neighborhood. The sun shone 

 brightly and there was nothing to indicate a change of con- 

 ditions in any manner whatever; but scarcely had the 

 canoes been unloaded and a fire built over which we in- 

 tended to do the cooking when we were startled by a dull 

 roar that grew louder with each passing second; before we 



