In  this  wilderness  of  land  and  water  countless  num-
bers of  marsh-birds  have  made  a  home.  Flocks  of  the
scarlet  ibis  and  snowy  egret,  and  of  that  strange  example
of  arrested  evolution  in  bird  life,  the  hoatzin,  rise  from
the  trees  at  every  moment,  as  the  steamer  brushes  past
the  wooded  banks  avoiding  the  full  force  of  the  current
in  mid-stream.  We  passed  several  canoes  and  many
settlements  of  almost  nude  Guaraunos.^  Whenever  we
neared  a  settlement  the  Indians  would  put  off  in  their
dug-outs  and  paddle  frantically  towards  the  steamer.
Biscuits  and  other  trifles  were  thrown  to  them  by  the
captain  and  passengers,  and  it  was  amusing  to  observe
the  eagerness  with  which  they  paddled  for  such  objects
as  had  fallen  in  the  water ;  in  return  they  threw  cassava
and  game  on  board.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  since  the
advent  of  the  white  man,  the  Guaraunos  do  not  appear
to  have  decreased  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  other
Indian  tribes  of  Venezuela,  although  they  are  certainly
inferior,  physically  and  intellectually,  to  most  of  the
'  Pronounced  Wavaunos.
BARRANCAS  43

aborigines  of  this  part  of  South  America.  While  many
of  the  most  powerful  tribes  have  almost  entirely  dis-
appeared, these  degraded  Indians  have  succeeded  in
holding  their  own,  in  spite  of  the  unhealthiness  of  the
country  where  they  live.  Probably  the  isolation  they
have  been  able  to  enjoy  in  this  waste  of  mosquito-infested
swamp,  where  no  other  human  beings  would  care  to
reside,  has  been  the  cause  of  their  escape  from  extinc-
tion.
