419 
Chap. XXV.—B. P.J INDIAN GEOGBAPHEES. 
around which is the longest on the river, and requires 
considerable bodily exertion to overcome. 
The principal village, pronounced Woukee, is not 
so large as those higher up, hut is considered more 
important; for here there are good-sized patches of 
land under cultivation, cassava, corn, cocoa, and cotton, 
all thriving well; and besides these products, the In¬ 
dians have, strange to say (considering their thriftless 
nature), imported the breadfruit* and other useful 
trees, which altogether give their settlement quite a 
prosperous appearance. 
The houses are also somewhat better built than at 
Kisilala, and occupy sites on each side of the river; 
so that the approach, to a certain degree, is quite grand 
and imposing for Mosquito. 
The intimate acquaintance of these Indians with 
every nook and creek on their river, and their mar¬ 
vellous sagacity in threading the pathless wilds of 
their primeval forests, is perfectly astonishing; and I 
should strongly recommend any future traveller in this 
part of the world to take the natives into his confi¬ 
dence, if he wants to map their country. He will pro¬ 
bably find their rough sketch quite correct, and receive 
as much assistance towards laying down the mown- 
# Besides its fruit, the tree produces a very valuable gum, used 
chiefly by the natives for making their canoes water-tight. When it 
first flows from an incision in the trunk it is very thin, but after stand¬ 
ing a short time, it forms a thick sediment at the bottom of the cala¬ 
bash ; it is then soaked in cold water, and, when wanted, well worked 
up in the hands until quite soft and sticky; it is then applied to the 
crack or leak, and soon becomes as hard as cement, which in fact it 
resembles in appearance. 
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