390 WAKEHUH HABITS OH THE INDIANS. 
do not eat the ants as a luxury, hut because, according to 
the expression of the missionaries, the fat of ants (the white 
part of the abdomen) is a very substantial food. When 
the calces of cassava were prepared, Father Zea, whose fever 
seemed rather to sharpen than to enfeeble his appetite, 
ordered a little bag to be brought to him filled with smoked 
vachacos. He mixed these bruised insects with flour of cas- 
sava, which he pressed us to taste. It somewhat resembled 
rancid butter mixed with crumb of bread. The cassava had 
not an acid taste, but some remains of European prejudices 
prevented our joining in the praises bestowed by the good 
missionary on what he called ‘ an excellent ant paste.’ 
The violence of the rain obliged us to sleep in this 
crowded hut. The Indians slept only from eight till two 
in the morning; the rest of the time they employed in 
conversing in their hammocks, and preparing their bitter 
beverage of cupana. They threw fresh fuel on the fire, and 
complained of cold, although the temperature of the air 
was at 21°. This custom of being awake, and even on foot, 
four or five hours before sunrise, is general among the 
Indians of Guiana. When, in the entradas, an attempt i s 
made to surprise the natives, the hours chosen are those 
of the first sleep, from nine till midnight. 
We left the island of Dapa long before daybreak; ana 
notwithstanding the rapidity of the current, and the acti- 
vity of our rowers, our passage to the fort of San Carlos 
del Bio Negro occupied twelve hours. We passed, on the 
left, the mouth of the Cassiquiare, and, on the right, the 
small island of Cumarai. The fort is believed in the 
country to ho on the equatorial line ; but, according to .the 
observations which I made at the rocks of Culimacari, d 
■s in 1° 54' 11". 
We lodged at San Carlos with the commander of the 
fort, a lieutenant of militia. From a gallery in the upp er 
part of the house we enjoyed a delightful view of three 
islands of great length, and covered with thick vegetation 
The river runs in a straight line from north to south, 
if its bed had been dug by the hand of man. The sky 
being constantly cloudy gives these countries a solemn ana 
gloomy character. We found in tho village a few juvia- 
trees "which furnish the triangular nuts called in Europ* 
