Watershed Between Essequibo and Amazon. 377 
Many of their tiniuks ieaclie<l a lieiglit of over 100 feet before spreading 
their beautiful fronds, which my brother all the more wondered at be- 
cause, like myself, except in the environs of Koraima he had hitherto 
only found the palm on the savannahs, and here the height above sea- 
level already amounted again to 1,200 feet. Tlesides this, the majority 
of the specimens of MaKritia (ictilcdla were fr(iiii 50 to 60 feet higli. 
927. After crossing Mts. Honicuri-yiatzo and Kabaiokitza, they 
struck the first stream, in a small narrow valley, that flowed into the 
Amazon River. The absolute height of the valley was l,loO feet: the 
real watershed between the basin of the Essequibo and of the Amazon 
lay still 120 feet liigher. The small stream was the Caphiwuin or 
Apinian, wliicli rectvives llie >N'anaiini and then, in conjnnction with it, 
forms the Kaphu, I he Tiombetas of t he Portuguese. 
928. As in the moi-ning so it continued over mountain and dale till 
they crossed Mt. Kennkawai and reached the valley of the Darura, the 
first tributary of note of the (Japhiwuin. After an uninterrupted 
march of 5 miles they arrived at the provision fields of the Maopityan 
settlement, which consisted of two large bee-hive houses: on the tops of 
these there rose a second smaller bee-hive roof from which hung several 
flat pieces of wood, shaj)ed into all kinds of figures that were swayed 
backwards and forwards by the wind. It was only with fear and tremb- 
ling that the women ventured to put out their hands to welcome the 
new-comers. The two houses lodged the last remnant of the once power- 
ful tribe of the Maopityans or Frog Indians. The larger of the houses 
with a heiglit of 100 feet, and a diameter of SC», had at its centre a strong 
post which they called Aiyukul»a : it was covered with a quantity of In- 
dian figures and hieroglyphics. 
929. On account of the lateral compression of the head, which is 
in no sense produced by artificial means, as my brother was able to con 
vince himself in the case of a new-born infant, their faces are unusually 
long, with the result that the whole head simultaneously becomes 
smaller circumferentially than among the remaining Indians. The 
back of the head appeared among the men to be almost vertical towards 
the top: the frontal bone was but small, the cheek-bones on the other 
hand sharp and projecting, while the great distance from ear to ear was 
especially striking. 
930. Iron seemed to be still totally unknown to them : bone took its 
place. They also possessed a kind of arrow-poison which, however, did 
not prove as effective by far as that of the ^Vfacusis. In addition to the 
"pig-tail," part of their festival-attiie consists of a kind of arm-band of 
palm-leaves, also ]>ainted wath hieroglyphics, w^hich is slid onto the upper 
arm. lieneath tliis arm band are stuck the bine ]\[acaw tail-feathers, 
with theii' quills down, so that their tips reach to another 5 or 6 inches 
al)Ove the head : tliis gives the dressed-up Indian a more than grotesque 
appearance, to Avhich the mt»nstache-like finery in the cheeks contributes 
a good deal. They seem to cultivate but little cotton because only their 
apron belts are woven of it, their hammocks on the other hand being 
plaited from the fibres of the young Mauritia leaves. 
