My Collections Again Damaged. 
299 
and lineu higgledy-jugiilcdy into the corials, or otherwise the raging flood 
had canght us. I t is indeed a strange sight to see such a wall of %vater 
Avheeliug before it everything that oannut withstand its giant strength 
on tlie path^ of destruction. 
111!. A boisterous blusteiing noise, which we had already heard 
during the night over and above the falling rain, indicated the neigh- 
i)ourhood of the biggest cataracts of the Rupununi, the Cuta-tarua or 
Truan of the W apisianas, the Cartatan. or Corona of the I'ortuguese. 
,We soon reached the mighty fall. A huge granite wall, over which the 
now rebellious masses of water rushed down in a deafening roar, ran 
through the riAer bed in an E.N.l'L direction. Although the height of 
the water had njuch diminisiied the danger of climbing over, the raging 
torrent forced us to empty the coidals, carry the luggage along the bank 
and haul the vessels over with a rope. Near to the eastern shore were to 
be seen a number of isolated granite masses that -were rendered con- 
spicuous by the numerous circular lioles that covered tlieir upper 
surfaces and sides. Tin* lain had already abated a little and 
the sun's rays soon found their way tlirougii the riven clouds: 
this was all the more welcome as 1 had not been able to 
spread out my collections for several days i)ast. This was 
what I did to-day with a sorry heart because, since Aripai. the moisture 
had again continued its work of destruction on a. large scale. My 
entomological and botanical collections jxirticularly suli'ered damage, 
the boxes containing the " tradi^ " such as.coitton, shirts, knives, scissors, 
etc. meeting with |aj similar fate. All iron and steel articles were cov- 
ered with a thick rust. Tn order to prevent it from spoiling altogether, 
everything was S])read out on thei rocks and ex]iosed to the sunshine. 
Having no time left to clean the skeleton of the ant-bear, which had 
been brought here for the very purpose, I was unfortunately forced to 
hand this business over to the carrion c^ows on one of the uppermost 
crags. A large treei trunk that lay on one of the highest spots of the 
cataract-dam showed that the water level, had by no means reached the 
height that it must now and then touch, becanse a space of 1.5 feet still 
intervened between its present surface and the place on *which the huge 
tree, was resting. Close l»y the water-sidei a snake that Avas just then 
engaged in swallowing a fish somewhat too big for it, fell an easy prey 
to me: it was Homalop^^h (inrfiilafa Schleg. The Indians considered it 
poisonous, a pi'operty wliich they often assigned to the most harmless 
snakes, on which account they could only be trusted Init little in this 
respect. Later on, T foiind yet more specimens of this pretty water- 
snake, but the brilliant red colouring that encloses the fJrownish patches 
unfortunately fades awny completely in spirits. 
71?>. Beyond the cataract we passed the mouth, of the Purunaru 
which pours into the Tvupnnuni from the S.S.W. Tn 18.'^,8 my brother 
knew it as a little stream, but now, on account of the high water-level, 
it was of the isame size as the Rupununi. Immediately opiiosite its 
mouth, the Waipopo falls into the main stream on its eastern l)ank. 
714. Towards ß o'clock we reached Sarata Fall. Here also, tlie 
eastern bank, mighty, often 60 ft. high, masses of granite extending inland 
