Junction or two PirPEJiENT lliVEii Systems 
7 
stood the trauniiitio tVver, Mr. Fvyev expressed the hope that tlie poor 
fellow might still be saved . 
15. It being impossible for us to remain here, and the sick man unable 
to follow us, a messenger was despatched to Mr. Youd on the morning 
after the accident asking him to send eight Indians along to carry the 
unfortunate fellow over to Pirara. Mr. Fryer and Tiedge would accom 
pany him, and remain until their mntual help was no longer required. 
Petri, how^ever, was not for long tlie only wounded patient. For keeping 
us in health during the insufferable heat the cooling waters of the Pirara 
proved a very great blessing which unfortunately however only too soon 
drove us to despair because one of our Indian boy-followers, while 
swimniing across tlie riv( v, liad a big bit of Hesh l.ntten out of his foot by 
a ravenous Pirai {Pi/f/ocentiiis) : his awful screams, on receiving the 
wound, made us at first fear that he had become tlie prey of a kaiman. 
Fright and pain had given him such a shock that he could barely reach 
the shore. Considering the immense quantities of these terrible preda- 
tory fish which the Pirara contains, and numbers of times Ave had bathed, 
it was very Incky that no more of us lind been bitten alri adv. As there 
was no pleasure in risking one's body amongst these villains, bathing 
was naturally stopped, though it was hard to make the resolution. The 
firm conviction that our expedition must meet with an unfortunate con- 
elusion was henceforth the established belief of all the superstitious folk, 
from Indians to Stöckle inclusive. 
10. After Avhat had hitherto been the wat(^ring-place, the juicy and 
pleasantly sourish fruits of a Eugenia (Eiifioiia eavliflora De C?) which 
had quite the size and shape of a greengage, and were of a brown-red 
colour, supplied us with an uncommouly refreshing drink, in the 
preparation of which the Indians were our teachers: they called the fruit 
Oasami. "VVe fonud this species here for the first time: in the course of 
our journey it was present in considerable quantity the whole way up the 
Takutu, where it appeared most plentifrdly in between the rock-frag- 
ments that cross the river so plentifully. 
17.. The Mahn, rolling along with its coffee-brown waters bef^een 
the thickly hedged in banks, was far more extensive than I imagined. 
Its sources are on the northern slope of the Pacaraima Ranges, upon a 
tableland over which it soon forms an imposing waterfall, called the 
Carona, to continue its course along the picturesque, although barren 
valleys of the range. During tlie rainy season this river particularly 
contributes in large measure to the flooding of the savannah when at the 
same time the pe^^uliar phenomenon comes to light that the waters of two 
streams of absolutely different river systems join with one another. 
18. As a result of the present low water level in the Pirara near its 
mouth, the brown surfaces of a number of larger and smaller boulders 
of a coarse-grained quartz conglomerate, cemented with a ferruginous 
clay became exposed and in isolated spots formed regular banks. Such 
situations appeared to be the most favoured by the Eugenia mentioned 
above, because one did not meet the former without the latter. Though 
