Excursion to the Oanuku Ranges. 
113 
bringing, besides i)ioYisions, several bird-skins, amongst wliicU I was 
astonished to find that of the Coracina militaris, a bird so exquisitely 
beautifn] on account of its purple feathers. According to the statement 
of the Indians, the Wai ara-tarika only appears during the rainy season 
in the Canuku Eanges, altliough even then not evei'y year, my brother 
never liaving seen a specimen on his previous five-year trip. In spite of 
the difficulties of the road ^y\th which the Indians impressed me, and of 
tlie short time still available, I had made up my mind to accompany 
them to Nappi on the following morning directly I recognised the 
seductive but unfortunately badly-removed skin : I had ventured to hope 
that I would learn mucli about the bird there, and if possilde, still kill 
a few specimens!, a contingency which was disputed. All hands at 
Pirara were in such demand that not even Stöckle could accompany me. 
279. After wading at the very commencemeut for four long hours 
through water, that in several places reached up to our arm-pits, for 
which reason I had prudently taken up my i)osition in the middle of the 
procession, while tlie Indians walking aliead knew how to avoid every 
untoward deptli with a discerument that to me was inc()m]>rehensil)le, 
we reached Awarra where we camped the night. On the following 
morning my guides took a deviation from the previous ]iath, as compared 
with whicli our yesterday's watei'-trip was but a curtain-raiser. After 
taking over two hours to cross the open savannah we came upou the 
equally submerged foi est into whicli we now In-avely plunged. The small 
forest stream Quaye, the l»ed of which I traversed with dry feet on my first 
visit to the Canuku Range, had changed into a boisterous curreut. A felled 
tree-trunk at least ;> feet above which the water now flowed, formed the 
only means of getting across. But how to do so? Every assurance of 
tlie Indians that the trunk was lying here, did not help my dim-sighted 
eyes at all, because except for a small alteration in the colour and move- 
ment of the water, I could see nothing, however much I wanted to, and 
the slightest slip would send me down to the bottoui. b^inallv two 
Indians took me in between them, and I was dragged, rather than Avent, 
across. Unfamiliar hitherto with this kind of water-excui'sion, the 
journey proved uncommonly tiresome and was still further aggravated by 
wounds caused by the wanton fronds of the pimpler palms which lay 
aliout on the ground lieneath and could not be seen owing to the dej^tli 
of water. Finally I lost sight of my guides between the trees, the 
muddied water for a long while remaining the only indication : Avorried 
by this T tried to come along more quickly, Imt in doing so started 
slipi)ing every minute on one of the innumerable smooth i-oots, and in 
attempting to keep ui^right regularly loaded my hands with the prickly 
spines oft the palm trunks or thoi'ny brushwood. It was^ a tei'rible 
journey. After the ^sappi River, Avith its banks submerged to; :i dej)th 
of 3 to 4 ft., had opposed similar difficulties to me as the Quaye, I finally 
arrived Avith my companions at Na]ipi vilUige. Good old IMn-eka, one of 
my guides, lighted a fire riuder my hanrmock as if I Avere going to be 
eaten in the evening, Avhile his young Avife boiled a soup of Phi/tolacca 
decandra and Manihot sprout-tips: but all these precautionary 
1 a 
