Across the Qijariwakä; 
343 
glared at us with its sparkling eyes and at short intervals with a hiss- 
ing sound; it opened its jaws wide so that its frightful set of teeth 
got to be seen. Confused and awed I gazed at the royal creature that 
I here saw for the first time in a state of nature, and at the moment 
when I hoped to hear the shot of the Indian who was closest to it I 
noted but the light snap of the percussion cap, when with a mighty 
spring the creature disappeared into the underwood. Angered and 
disgusted, the Indian threw his weapon on the ground: about 20 paces 
ahead of him, the jaguar had just consumed an aguti. >Ve had loaded 
the guns in the morning, but none of us had had an opportunity of firing 
them off, and the damp atmosphere had long ago wetted the load. Vexed 
and out of humour, we resumed our journey until we reached a savan- 
nah that was occupied with Guratella trees, bushes, and whole stretches 
of Gissampelos. 
930. ffhe fantastic mountain range, the base of which we followed, 
now lay before us in all its full height and broad extent. Wide belts 
of rock, upon which grew Agaves, Orchids and low bushes of Clusia, 
and Byrsonima, intersected the plain in its neighbourhood from East 
to West. At one large house that w T as just being built the same thing hap- 
pened as at the last village : we found the occupants likewise aw r ay. After 
climbing some more of these rocky ridges a house again bobbed up ahead, 
where we found a young woman lying in her hammock spinning cotton, 
with a pretty little girl sitting at her feet and picking the material : she. 
ran screaming into the arms of her mother who was also frightened at my 
entrance. When both had finally recovered from their fright, the woman 
at our earnest request brought us some fresh water wherewith we greedily 
quenched our burning thirst. While I was yet admiring the neat battle- 
weapons and hunting implements of the husband, he himself stepped into 
the house laden with large fruit-tufts of MaxinUliana regia and was not a 
little surprised at my presence. He threw down his load, gave us a 
cordial welcome and told his still anxious wife to get out some bread, 
dried fish and a drink of paiwari, upon which we set to work with a will. 
In the meanwhile we were being watched by our host, who without saying 
another word after giving the order, had immediately thrown himself into 
his hammock : however, before my companions had satisfied their hunger, 
curiosity had torn down the bars of etiquette, and question upon question 
crowded itself upon his lips. As it was now fairly late we made up our 
minds to spend the night here. 
931. In the morning, after following the small path that at first 
continued to lead over undulating ground and through forested 
patches where we always found the Spondias predominant, we crossed 
the Quariwaka, one of the heights of the Canuku Range, upon which was 
to be seen an immense granite rock with a large number of round masses 
of quartz embedded in it: these reflected the sunbeams just as strongly 
as did the slabs of mica. Although the savannah would have provided 
sufficient material for the mud walls, the occupants, likewise here had 
varied the practice peculiar to the Macusis, and built their houses entirely 
out of palm-fronds, which at all events makes their construction much 
