liAßGi; Dolphins. 
Ii 
night when at the same moment the hollow note of the Pauituimas sound- 
ed lliiough the stilly air: iu the course of a quarter of an hour, quiet 
reiy;ned arouud our euvirons. As we had never heaßd the bird at such an 
hour of uiglit, the statement appeared so vivid and striking in this in- 
stance that all doubts as to the extraordinary fact were dispelled.* 
32. The sky, during our stay at the junction, was for the most part 
clouded, and this, coupled with the fresh east wind, contributed a good 
deal in mitigating the heat to which we were certainly much exposed 
owing to a 2,600 ft. long sandbank in the immediate neighbourhood of 
tlie camp. Already by tlie eveuiug of our arrival my attention was 
several times drawn to the number of large dolphins emerging above the 
water. Kot rarely from six to eight appeared in pairs skimming around 
on the surface as quick as arrows, or else constantly bobbing up and 
down, when they would not only raise their pointed snouts out of the 
water, but mostly a large portion of their seveu to eight foot long body- 
With uplifted heads and a loud noise that much resembled the 
snorting of a horse they expelled through the spout- 
holes in the form of fine drizzling rain the water they had gulped into 
their muzzles: it lent unusual charm to the quiet landscape. I never 
noticed this particular species expelling water in spouts as is the case 
with the otliers. Unfortunately we had no harpoon to secure one of 
these interesting creatures, and all the many attempts at killing them 
by bullet proved uuavailing. l']xcei)t iu tlie Takutu and the Zuruma I 
have never found them in any other Guiana river : they do not even seem 
to travel up the Mahu. According to the characters observable during 
their transitory appearance, they must be DelpJiinus amnzonicus Mart., 
which could easily have found their way through the Rio Negro, Rio 
Rranco and the Takutu. They appeared to be especmlly numerous dur- 
ing the rainy season and immediately after, when the raised mass of 
water still covered the rapids. They must be particularly fond of the 
lake-like spots where the two rivers joined; at least, this is what we 
believed ourselves entitled roucludo considering the large number 
met in the neighbourhood of the junction of the Zurnma and Virua with 
the Takutn. Above the connection of the Mahu. they had entirely disap- 
peared . 
3.3. On one of our trips to the opposite side of the Takutu, the 
sharp-disceniing eyes of an Inrlian had found a oorial hidden among the 
bushes on the bank: by virtue of the elasticity of human conscience onr 
conceptions of Mine and Tliine had wido^ned out a bit, and, as a resnit, it 
was welcomed as a lucky discovery and suTistantial repairs undertaken 
at the spots where damagerl. Although the clear waters enticed us so 
invitingly to bathe, the fear of the piratical pirai made us i-esist the temp- 
tation, no one daring to immerse any portion of his body even for a 
momentary cooling. That the thieves must have been collected here in 
* AraWaks and Warraus believe that the Southern Crews represents the Powis {Crax sp.). the 
nearer pointer to it being the Indian just about to let fly his arrow, tihe farther one indicatinp 
his companion With a fire-stick rUntiintf up behind. See llothR " Animism and Folk Lore " 
ttc. (fid.) 
