340 
Stöckle Gets into Trouble Again. 
is set on the; tip of the fruit-stalk : a sharp corrosive oil developes between 
its two folds and has to be carefully removed before opening the seeds 
on account of its having strongly caustic properties : the kernels have 
a sweet pleasant taste, and are even much more palatable if roasted on 
the coals. Friend Stöckle seemed to have found at last in these seeds 
something that the Wurtemberg hazel-nuts and sweet chestnuts, of which 
he had already told me so much about, bore no comparison with. After 
enjoying a treat with the roasted ones that we had given him, he wanted 
to try them fresh and raw. Careless as ever, lie dreanit of nothing sus- 
picious in the harmless kernel, and before he could be warned had put, 
one in his mouth, with the result that a spectacle similar to the one that 
had presented itself in his unfortunate attempt at angling on the Orinoco 
was now repeated. With mouth alternately closed and gasping for 
breath, lie circled round us like a lunatic, shouting anxiously for help. 
The caustic oil had so burnt his lips and tongue that both became quite 
black and within a few days were completely skinned. He took another 
oath: on the Orinoco he had sworn never to touch a fishing rod again, 
and here he cursed the blanket y seeds and declared that he would spurn 
them for ever. Wood that is smeared with this oil can be preserved from 
decay and worms. A semi-transparent gum that possesses all the pro- 
perties of gum arabic exudes from the trunk of the Anacardium . 
489. The Crescent la Cujcte Linn, which I also saw for the first time, 
appeared here in great quantity. The Indians prepare their calabashes 
or drinking-cups from the fruit of this low-growing tree: they divide it 
into two halves, clean out and dry, and make them into all sizes of the 
neatest drinking vessels. 
490. On the outermost edging of the provision fields, there grew a 
number of flowering trumpet-trees ( Cecropia fieltata Linn.) the smooth 
w Lite-grey trunks and deeply-lobed greenish-grey leaves of which formed 
an extremely pretty play of colour with the dark-green background of the 
thick forest. The limbs always branching off at right-angles from the 
trunk give the tree quite a peculiar appearance. The extensive ramifi- 
cations of its roots that spread in a wide circle around a forest of young 
shoots, are the worst enemies of the sugar plantations, from which they 
can only be kept removed with the greatest care. 
491. As we wanted to resume our journey by break of day, the whole 
village was already up and about before sunrise: and hardly had we 
jumped out of our hammocks than Marawari appeared before us accom- 
panied by the w r hole of his harem, to bid us “good day,” and, good gra- 
cious! surrounded by his wives in a complete suit of Nature: his ow r n 
over-coat had been changed for a modern dress-one. What is the pride 
of a perfect drawing-room dandy as compared with the feeling of im- 
pressive w'ortli that swells the breast of such a child of nature? Every 
look, every expression of his swarthy countenance, every movement of 
his body betrayed the keenest gratification of his vanity and the arro- 
gant confidence in himself. To make the already happy fellow still hap- 
pier, if that were possible, we enriched his wardrobe with a few odds and 
ends that were still lacking, and found our reward in the liveliest expres- 
sions of delight on the part of the vain soul. So that the harem, who 
