CHAPTER IX. 
Excursion to the, Canuku Range — Watershed between the Malm 
and the Rupununi — Awarra village — Virgin forest — Bed of the Quaye — 
River Nappi — Nappi village — Burial ceremonies of the Macusis — Indus- 
try of the inhabitants of the Canuku Range — Weapons — Blow-gun — As- 
cent of the Curassawaka — Chasmarhynchus carunculatus — Rupicola 
aurantia — Ascent of the i Ilamikipang — Strychnos toxifera — Prepara- 
tion of the Urari poison — Wassi poison — Return to Pirara — Habits of 
the Cathartes aura — Preparations for the journey to the sources of the 
Takutu. 
892. The necessary preparations were soon completed, and as my 
poor vStdckle was just then down with a bad attack of fever, i left Pirara 
one morning in company with {Pledge, one of our Germans, and six 
Macusis whom I had hired partly as carriers and partly as hunters, and for 
that purpose had supplied them, to their great satisfaction, with 
; weapons. .Though the path was of so little interest at first as to offer 
me nothing new throughout, this uniformity nevertheless disappeared 
after a march of a few hours, when we reached the highest point on this 
extensive plain, a range of hills, that at the same time constitutes the 
watershed between the tributaries of the Malm and Rupununi, and 
might be some 120 feet above the level of Lake Amucu. The pleasant 
shallow dales stretched out before me like a large rich carpet interwoven 
by dark threads of sap-green foliage bordering the numerous streams 
and innumerable Mauritia palms, while far to the southward the 
two picturesque perpendicular granite crags of the Canuku Range, Nappi 
and Curassawaka, thrust their sombre summits far above the surrounding 
vegetation. Wherever any spot rose above the general level, the never- 
resting ever-restless little troops of termites had formed a settlement. 
Our path, which from now on lay towards S.W., along the so-called 
watershed, led us past several of these structures, the height of which 
measured over 12 feet with a base of 19 ft. in circumference. Now they 
formed spiral pyramids, now columns with capitals, or resembled giant 
mushrooms with wide brimmed tops: one sought in vain, however, for 
the entrance or exit that lay far underground and the only indications 
of which appeared at a considerable distance away. For solidity, their 
outer shell is in no sense inferior to our burnt stone, so that they are 
devoid of all vegetation, not even grass growing on them : in fact, a 
strong blow is required to knock off a piece. Hardly is this attempted, 
however, than thousands of the inhabitants rush out of the opened 
passage. The soldiers show themselves first and are to be recognised at 
once by their thicker and more elongated head : their mandibles are also 
much longer, but are fitted over one another more closely and strongly 
than those of the others. When the danger is past the busy creatures 
immediately start upon repairing the damage. The building always 
starts from inside, for which reason no one notices the insects working, 
their activity being betrayed only at the damp spots visible here and 
there. According to the different coloured clay which is utilised for 
