16 
t'RMiY Bahü and the Rattle-Snake. 
conglomerate covered the river bottom in isolated places with huge bould- 
ers. In the sharp bend towards the East, the Capaya {Garica Papaya) ^ 
which is as big as the Pirara, opened on to the left bank. Xot fur from its 
mouth there rose several sandstone banks rich in clay, the first evidences 
of the formation met with for a lon^' time past, the smooth upper surfaces 
of which exhibited several impressions, probably of isopods. The stone 
showed a number of partly rounded, partly rectangular excavations often 
with a diameter of from G to 8 inches. We had pitched camp on the 
right bank about an hour's journey above the mouth of a small stream, 
the Mucumucu, that has its source on the Quariwaka (Cloud Mountain) 
one of the highest elevations of the Canuku Eange, for the 'purpose of 
spending a few days while waiting for Mr. Fi'yer whom we had arranged 
to meet here as soon as Petri's condition should allow of his leaving 
him : at the same time tlie halt was necessary to allow of our sending 
several Indians to the Macusis living in the ranges to induce them to 
bring cassava bread and other provisions in exchange for trade. While 
our natives >\ ere yet busily engaged in clearing the camping ground, we 
were all startled by a sudden shriek from pretty Baru, who was just 
about slinging her hammock a little distance apart when slie was checked 
by a large rattlesnake {Crotalus horridus Daud.) that with upraised 
head was making ready to spring. It was killed l>Öfore it could carry out 
its intentions : the rattle was composed of seven rings. 
41. AVhile our stay here was utilised by my brother in determining 
trigunometrieally the height of Ilamikipang which by a cursory calcula- 
tion turned out to be 2,.jU0 feet, I spent my time collecting plants on the 
forested river border and adjoining savannali. The foriuer likewise 
consisted here of Cucurit and iSawari palms, Erythrod-uloii, Tccoma, 
Mhnosa, Jacaranda and Byrsonima among which latter a new species, 
Byrsonima toiuifoUa Klotzsch, which had as yet put forth no leaves, 
amazed me by the beauty of its peach-coloured blossoms. On the edge 
of the savannah there Itloonied in particular a' lowly Calatliea with 
yellow flowers with which was intimately associated a thickly crowded 
streak of delicate Hypo.ris hreviscapa Humb. Bonp., its similarly colour- 
ed floriage reminding me strongly of the Ornithogalum Inteum Linn, o*" 
my native coTintrj^ The Byrsonima verhascifolm seemed to have forced 
all the i*emaining genera and species out of the savannah, because, ordj^ 
now and again could one see some low bush of Byrsonima erassifoUa 
emerging from out of its thick felt. In many places big boulders of a 
erruginous conglomerate alternating with huge white ant-hills raised 
themselves above the low lying vegetation, while alongside them giant 
Cactus for the most part stretched out their prickly arms and lent some- 
thing of a change to the otherwise uniformly dreaiy savannah picture. 
42. The quantity of deer procured by our men on their hunting trips 
fn the savannali, and the large numl)er of scaled denizens of the deep 
brought by the fishermen into camp, clearly indicated that the former 
must be just as abundant as the latter. Among the fish my attention was 
particularly directed to several Pirai '( Pygoccntrus) on account of their 
dull black colouring and anomalous pigmentation of iris which was also 
black'and surrounded with a golden yellow ring. One of them measured 
