234 
The Pacu Makes Its Appearance. 
shades of night were already falling fast by the time we had only reached 
the foot of the Aliaro Falls with which the first series of the Essequibo 
rapids come to an end. It was impossible to negotiate these cataracts 
to-day, and having advanced barely four miles since sunrise in spite of 
the most determined efforts, we had to bow to the inevitable and pitch 
our camp on a sandbank at their foot. A boundless supply of the most 
tasty fish the Guiana rivers ever sheltered compensated us at least in 
part for the loss suffered in our provisions. This was the Myletcs Pacu 
Jard., only found within the area of the falls because its favourite food, 
the Lacs flhiiatiiis Willd. and other Podostemeae, which the Indians 
call Weyra or Huiya, grow on the submerged rocks. Pacu is the Indian 
name of the fish. 
711. As soon as the waters begin to fall in the river after the rainy 
season, the Pacu makes its appearance at the first series of cataracts, and 
the coloured people of the Essequibo and Mazaruni commence their 
fishing trips. When salted and dried on the rocky boulders, the fish 
constitutes a considerable article of trade in Georgetown. As nets 
cannot be cast in between the rocks, use is made of a bait, especially the 
fruits of the mucu-mucu ( Caladium arborescens ) which are thrown one 
by one into the stream: on the Pacu rising after the tempting morsel, 
it is hit by the never-erring arrow of the skilful fisher. A man who 
knows how to use his bow and arrow can easily kill from 80 to 100 per 
day. It is a strange phenomenon that below or between the falls of the 
Essequibo and Mazaruni one never finds the fry of the Pacu : the Indians 
and coloured folk explain this by the fact that during the rainy season 
when almost all the rivers overflow their banks the fish betake themselves 
to the savannahs of the upper Essequibo, where their eggs are laid, and 
then return to their long-missed favourite food on the granite dams of 
the cataracts. The fry does not appear to risk the raging waters of the 
falls and rapids until arrived at a size and strength sufficient to with- 
stand the force of the foaming waves. Mr. Hilhouse, known by the 
account of his travels on the Mazaruni. says that there “By poisoning 
the water at the rapids T have come into possession of thousands of fish, 
partly Pacu, partly finger-long fry of other river-dwellers, but I never 
found Pacu among them that measured less th in twelve inches.”* This 
observation seems to confirm absolutely the statement of the Indians and 
coloured people. The female has a darker colouring than the male, and 
possesses besides differently constructed stern fins. While grazing on 
the Lads and other Podostemeae it lies on one side, the most favourable 
position for it on account of the shape of its mouth. 
712. Hardly had we arrived within the district where the Weyra grew, 
than the sharp eyes of our Indians and other boathands sighted the highly 
treasured fish, and as soon as we landed at the camping place, several 
good shots, whom I accompanied, hurried off in the corial with a view 
to supplying our supper table with a dainty dish. My people were quite 
* Journal of a Voyage up the Massaroony in 1831. By William Hilhouse : read before the 
R.G 8. London 1833. 
