288 
Cedar of the Colonists. 
G76. The liouses liad a bee-hive roof. Inside one, we found some 
women engaged in tlie preparation of a laha, while three men lay resting 
in their hammocks, without vouchsafing us a look, each one l)usily, 
emptying as quickly as he could a large calabash full of the yellow plums 
of ^Spondias lutea Linn., the Maropi of the Macusis. Big heaps of fire- 
wood stacked in layers for the rainy season notified the foresight of the 
chieftain. The provision-fields, planted up with cassava, yams, cotton, 
and tobacco, that surrounded the settlement, were in an extremely 
flourishing condition and proved the fertility of the soil, a black mouhl 
mixed with sand. Xear the mouldering stump of a Botnha.r that liad 
a circumference of 2^ feet and had been felled a long while ago, our 
attention was drawn to the equally mighty trunk of an Idea altissima 
which the villagers were anxiously shaping into a corial just with tlie 
help of fire and an old ship's nail that had already been fairly worn out 
by use : many a month might still have to pass before the herculean task 
would be completed. 
677. Tlie forest around Aripai consisted for the most part of the 
so-called cedar (leiea) of the Colonists. The timber lias quite tlie colour, 
smell, and bitter taste of Larir- Cedrus ^Fill. The ti'ce reaches mostly a 
lieiglit of 70 to SO feet and the completed corials made from it are 
considered to last longest, because the wood, on account of its bitter 
principle, is not attacked by insects. In Georgetown the timber is par- 
ticularly preferred for furniture wood on account of its aromatic smell. 
The Macusis call the tree Parangaiai : the Wapisianas Camiau. Although 
we did not find it in blossom, it is without doubt Aublet's Iciea altissima. 
678. After getting back to camp the Aripai villagers came in a body 
to pay us a return visit, when our articles of trade exercised such an 
impression even upon the three obstinate idum-eaters that they promised 
to bring us as much provisions as we could possildy wish for. We were 
struck with the peculiar custom among the young girls of wearing the 
hair cut short with the exception of a thin tuft on the crown until 
puberty is reached : it is only after this pei'iod that it is allowed to grow 
long. Owing to the unfavourable weather, I had been unable to air my 
collections for several days past, but as the next was in addition a 
Sunday, I determined to utilise it as a day of rest and revision. Unfor- 
tunatelv, the bitter experiences so often suffered were again repeated 
here and aggravated anew all those gainful and depressing sensations of 
one's existence. The air, impregnated with an excess of moisture, anrl 
the almost unceasing fall of rain, had now once more commenced its work 
of destruction. On the first few nights of our journey up the river it 
was impossible to provide the plants with dried paper, because even our 
tent-covers had been unable to withstand the force of the downpour: it 
also could not be done during the day-time, even during the short 
favourable intervals, because bur corials were not covered in. With 
beating heart I started on the work, to find my fears only too sadly 
verified. How I wished ;that some of the gentlemen Avho shrugged their 
shoulders in so strange a manner when I related the difficulties that had 
to be contended with in the preseryation of my collections, and informed 
