OF THE AMAZON. 
489 
rather dangerous, for I have seen an Indian boy return 
from the cacoary with his finger bitten off by one of 
them. 
The Gerau,’’ is yet on a larger scale than the Ca- 
coari. It is used only in the cataracts, and is very 
similar to the eel-traps used at mills and sluices in Eng- 
land. It is a large wooden sieve, supported in the midst 
of a cataract, so that the full force of the water dashes 
through it. All the fish which are carried down by the 
violence of the current are here caught, and their num- 
bers are often so great as to supply a whole village with 
food. At many of the falls on the Uaupes, they make 
these geraus, which require the united exertions of the 
inhabitants to construct them ; huge timbers having to 
be planted in every crevice of the rocks, to withstand the 
strength of the torrent of water brought down by the 
winter’s floods. 
All the fish not used at the time are placed on a little 
platform of sticks, over the fire, till they are so thoroughly 
dried and imbued with smoke, as to keep good any 
length of time. They are then used for voyages, and to 
sell to travellers, but, having no salt, are a very tasteless 
kind of food. 
Salt is not so much sought after by these Indians as 
by many other tribes ; for they will generally prefer fish- 
hooks and beads in payment for any articles you may 
purchase of them. Peppers seem to serve them in place 
of salt. They do however extract from the fruits of the 
Inaja palm {Maximiliana regia) and the Jara palm 
{Leopoldinia major), and also from the Caruru (a species 
of Lacis very common on the rocks in the falls), a kind 
