332 
The Carib Village Kuamuta. 
journey : it lay several miles distant from the river in the forest and 
euuld uiily be leacbed along a confusing network of creeks. The effect 
of the tide was here still so marked that on setting in, the water rose 8 
feet: at spring tides it rises even to 12 feet. The water, however, iiad no 
salty taste. A thick fringe of Cdladiiini nrborcficcns bordered both 
banks, but on the eastern this was interrupted by some settlements of 
coloured folk and negroes who had established themselves there and 
were cultivatiug the soil where it Avas only a few feet above the water- 
liue at liigli tide. The deuse clusters of Vccropui indicated the extent 
to which these banks must have been formerly cultivated, as was the 
case in the days of the Dutch. The unhealthy climate of this 
otlierwise extraordinarily fertile yet practically swampy stretch of land 
still lying at pretty well on the same level as the sea, together with the 
miasma constantly arising from the l)oggy soil, >\hich the sea-breezes 
cannot dis]>el. <-oiid)in(' to make the I'onieioon nuc cf the uiost in- 
sanitary spots to stay in. [nnnediately beyond the limits of tidal 
influences its disadvantageous effects upon man disappear. The same 
conditions re])eat themselves on the greater number of the coastal rivers. 
Soon after making a start my attention was drawn to a small lish owing 
to its repeatedly jumping along the surface out of the Avater: in the 
course of these acliviti(s several specimens ftdl into our corial. It 
was X ipliora III plni.^ riiicvolcp'is ^liill. Trosch. T aad alrca<ly on several 
occasions noticed little tish jumping out of the water, but without being 
able to convince myself whether they did it to avoid pursuit by some 
enemy, or whether it was done to catch insects. Towards evening we 
stiuck the mouth of the Kaavi-mapo, Avhich runs into the Ponieroon 
from S.E. The mouth had a breadth of 100 feet and was of considerable 
depth. To reach Kuamuta we had to go in here. Its banks corresponded 
exactly with those of its nmin stream : they were flat and boggy. Several 
miles up it is joined bv the little stream Kuamuta coming here from the 
S.W.. which we now followed along its continual windings through the 
dense virgin forest. The thickly interwoven branches of the trees 
reaching to the skies enveloped its dawdling ripples in contiunal shadow. 
Without the guidance of ray friendly host I should never liave found the 
Carib village to-day: by nightfall we had made fast our corials to the 
landing-stage. A small pathway led us up to a low hill on the top of 
which, surrounded by high trees, lay Kuamuta. The small stream, as 
well as the settlement, received their- names fi'om a huge clump of bambn, 
which the Caribs call Kuamuta, that grew immediately at the entrance 
to the village. T had never seen such a giaut crowth before. Its root- 
stock had the almost incredible circumference of .TOS feet, and T counted 
950 shoots that had reached a height of 00 feet, of which several nt 
their bases measured 19 inches in circumference. The to]is of the 
shoots of this grsiit grass lient themselves over in gracefully waving 
arches towards the ground, and so formed a surprisingly beautiful really 
fairy-like vault. 
801. The village consisted of 7 houses of which three even possessed 
a second storey, to which a ladder led from the outside : one of the latter 
buildings was placed at my disposal. The greatest cleanliness and 
