214 
THE UPPER AMAZONS. 
Chap. IIL 
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 
t consumption. Yacca 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 ham- 
mock 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 uncon- 
^ t reliable 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 (Ram- 
phastos Cuvieri) make their appearance. They come m 
well-fed condition, and are shot in such quantities that 
