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THE UPPER AMAZONS 



Those who cannot hunt and fish for themselves, and 

 whose stomachs refuse turtle, are in a poor way at Ega. 

 Fish, including many kinds of large and delicious sal- 

 monidae, is abundant in the fine season ; but each family 

 fishes only for itself, and has no surplus for sale. An 

 Indian fisherman remains out just long enough to draw 

 what he thinks sufficient for a couple of days' consumption. 

 Vacca marina is a great resource in the wet season ; it is 

 caught by harpooning, which requires much skill, or by 

 strong nets made of very thick hammock twine, and 

 placed across narrow inlets. Very few Europeans are 

 able to eat the meat of this animal. Although there is 

 a large quantity of cattle in the neighbourhood of the town, 

 and pasture is abundant all the year round, beef can be 

 had only when a beast is killed by accident. The most 

 frequent cause of death is poisoning by drinking raw 

 Tucupi, the juice of the mandioca root. Bowls of this 

 are placed on the ground in the sheds where the women 

 prepare farinha ; it is generally done carelessly, but 

 sometimes intentionally through spite when stray oxen 

 devastate the plantations of the poorer people. The 

 juice is almost certain to be drunk if cattle stray near the 

 place, and death is the certain result. The owners kill a 

 beast which shows symptoms of having been poisoned, 

 and retail the beef in the town. Although every one 

 knows it cannot be wholesome, such is the scarcity of meat 

 and the uncontrollable desire to eat beef, that it is eagerly 

 bought, at least by those residents who come from other 

 provinces where beef is the staple article of food. Game 

 of all kinds is scarce in the forest near the town, except in 

 the months of June and July, when immense numbers of 

 a large and handsome bird, Cuvier's toucan (Ramphastos 

 Cuvieri) make their appearance. They come in well-fed 

 condition, and are shot in such quantities that every 

 family has the strange treat of stewed and roasted toucans 

 daily for many weeks. Curassow birds are plentiful on 

 the banks of the Solimoens, but to get a brace or two 

 requires the sacrifice of several days for the trip. A tapir, 

 of which the meat is most delicious and nourishing, is 

 sometimes killed by a fortunate hunter. I have still a 

 lively recollection of the pleasant effects which I once ex- 

 perienced from a diet of fresh tapir meat for a few days, after 

 having been brought to a painful state of bodily and mental 

 depression by a month's scanty rations of fish and farinha. 



