HUMAN LAKE-DWELLERS. 175 



Swimming to visit their playmates. As it is always 

 summer time in this part of the world, the water is 

 never too cold to bathe in, and the fishing never 

 fails. 



The waters of Lake Maraeaybo fairly swarm with 

 beautiful and delicious fish. For instance, the Us<i, a 

 kind of skate of a silver-white color with blue shad- 

 ings, is caught in abundance. It is rather a small fish, 

 not much over a foot long, but it is excellent eating. 

 A still more delicate fish is the jpargo — white, tinged 

 with rose color— and of these great numbers are 

 taken. So, too, the doncello, or young lady (for that 

 is what doncello means), is as pretty as its name, 

 and so abundant that a part of the lake is named 

 from it. The dorado, or gilded fish, is not red or 

 white as are the goldfish kept in glass globes, but is 

 really of the color and shines with the metallic lus- 

 ter of gold. It is taken with a hook baited with a 

 white rag. 



Many other kinds are caught, but the lake-dweller 

 is by no means forced to live upon fish alone. In ad- 

 dition, his bow and arrow help him to a supply of the 

 game with which the great forests that surround the 

 lake abounds, and he sells the product of the India- 

 rubber trees that are sure to grow on the shore at no 

 great distance from his dwelling, and buys cassawa, 

 or corn bread, and whatever else he needs to supply 

 his few and simple wants. 



Why the lake-dweller inhabits such singular homes 

 is a question that merits consideration. With dry 

 ground and the firm earth close at hand, and just as 



