Warraus as Boat-Builders. 
Ill 
from branch to branch. The water is assigned as its home for a fish, 
the clear sky for an eagle, the surface of the earth for other animals, 
the forest tree alone for a sloth. Without trouble and effort it stirs 
from the lowest branches to the topmost, and from tree to tree, espec- 
ially if a strong wind sets in motion and brings their branches closer 
together, so that they can be gripped more easily. It is a peculiar sight 
to watch this animal on the move when, in accordance with its whole 
build, it always utilises not the upper but the lower surfaces of the 
branches. With the back dependent it. first of all extends one fore-paw 
as far as possible, digs in its claws, stretches the other to the same 
spot, and simultaneously drags along both hind feet, a method of' pro- 
fession, if I may so term such a continuous movement, that is fairly 
fast. During rest by night, and by day, it continually hangs in this 
position below the branch with all four paws clasping an insignificant 
space. If it climbs from one bough to another in a vertical direction, 
it is done in the same way. With the one fore-paw it claws at the 
higher branch until clutched, when by contraction of the whole body, 
the second and both hind-paws immediately follow it. Though I sub- 
sequently came across these animals so frequently in the interior, I never 
found a tree that had been robbed of its foliage, although 1 have seen 
ten to twelve of them on one and the same. 
380. As we kept our prisoner alive for a long while, I had every 
opportunity of watching its movements. If I put it down on the smooth 
and hard-trodden ground under the tent-cover or in the house it hardly 
moved a couple of feet, often after hours of the most violent exertion and 
laboured respiration which sounded very like the deep sighing of a 
man. But no sooner was it handed a stick and brought close to a 
house-beam than if hung onto it in that position for hours making a 
continual contented purring sound and then swayed backwards and 
forwards. Its favourite resort is the lonely gloomy and damp virgin 
forests where, born on the trees, it spends and ends its days. 
3S1. On landing at Cumaka, we were gladly welcomed by the vil- 
lagers and the chief prided himself not a little on the fact that we 
found all our baggage as we had left it, intact — but of course he im- 
mediately asked for a glass of spirits as a reward for bis honesty and 
fidelity. 
382. Already by next day no end of strangers had collected: they 
regularly swamped the river at the landing-place with their corials. 
The skill of the Warraus in the manufacture of these corials, as the 
large canoes are called, excels that of all other Indian tribes, and is cele- 
brated along the whole coast-line. In their whole construction, neat- 
ness, safety and rapidity, these boats, without their makers having any 
ideas of the theory of boat-building, formerly surpassed by far those 
brought over from Europe. Now. it is true, this source of industry has 
been very much encroached upon. The well known Spanish “launches” 
that were employed in the revolutionary wars on the side of the Col- 
umbians and generally carried 70 to 80 people together with two three- 
pounders were also made by the Warraus. 
383. The forests supply them with excellent trees, particularly the 
giant cedqr (Idea altissima Aubl.) which is so named wrongly by the 
