Some Poisonous Fish. 
285 
wanted to i-eacli Cui-iia \'illas(3 evening, 1 deteniiiiied to drag the spoil 
obtained with so much diflticulty as far as the seit lenient and get its 
skeleton there. We therefore tied it to the stern rope of the corial, but 
the rapid current and the addition of at least oUO lb. proved too great 
a load to manage, for in spite of every effort we were unable to get the 
vessel along. In order to concentrate its weight more on one point, the 
apparently dead monster was hauled aboard and we were already con- 
gratulating ourselves on our success when it suddenly showed signs of 
returning life. The jaws, streaming with blood, began to open, the tail 
again commenced to bend, and the Indians, slirieking wildly, jumped 
overboard and swam ashore. jSTot being a swimmer I was forced to 
remain in the corial close to the l)rute. The vessel was quickly carried 
down stream, till I tinally managed to steer it ashore: Itefore doing so 
howevei- the animal had again flung itself in the water, Vmt without 
freeing itself from the ro])e, with which we again dragged it to the bank. 
Its chase had now robbed us of several hours, the two remaining corials 
had already long passed out of sight, and the earnest warnings of the 
Indians to liurry up if we wanted to reach the village before night, made 
me give up my ])lans : but I wanted at least to keep the head. Although 
on land the monster was sufficiently recovered to be able to support it- 
self on its front legs, and snapped at any one who approached, it finally 
succumbed to the cudgelling of the Indians in so far that T commenced 
cutting off the head, when, just as T severed the neck-joint, it struck out 
once more with such force that it threw down two Indians who were 
carelessly standing near its tail. It was abont eight days before my 
hands lost their unpleasant musky odour. The kaimans possess this 
scent in the maximum degree during the pairing season, when one can 
smell the animal even if it is lying below the surface. 
667. While the beast still lay in the water T saw several small scale- 
less eel-like fish settling on the wounds from which blood was flowing: 
they were as long as one's finger, with dark skins, a stumpy and broad 
head and small eyes beneath the cuticle through which they could 
hardly be seen. No sooner had the Indians noticed that I wanted to 
catch them, than they drew my arms back, and implored me not to 
touch them as they were especially poisonous. I was so affected by 
the striking signs of their fear and aversion that I gave up the attempt, 
and it was only on this promise that they let go. Unfortunately we had 
no net in the corial. From the de.sci'iption given by von Martins of a 
fish which is present in the neighbourhood of Para, where it likewise i.^ 
generally feared, it would seem to cori-espond exactly with those seen by 
me, and to have also been a Cr'topsis. When too late I was ashamed of 
my timidity. Some hours later we passed the first of the Rupununi 
rapids without accident, and an hour's run above them, close to the 
mouth of the Cutoka, on the eastern shore, we reached the landing-stage 
of the former thriving mission station of Turua. Curua is the Macusi 
name of the lovely palm Attalea specio^a Mart, that I saw here for 
the first time and is indisputably the most beautiful species of this inter- 
esiting genus. The huge fronds which they bear straight up have a 
length of from 30 to 40 feet. They appear to be met with in British 
Guiana only on the Rupununi, and niost abundantly in the immediate 
