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438
NOTES OF A BOTANIST
he twists a liana into
Curupira, and to find it again
a ring or, if he be a Christian, into the form of a
cross in such a way that the points of the liana
are completely hidden ; he then throws it behind
him, taking care not to look which way it goes, and
afterwards it picks up and follows the direction in
which it has fallen. I cannot here recount all the
tales I have heard about this mysterious being, but
I suppose they point to the former existence in the
regions of some homo primordialis, and that the
fact has come down by tradition from untold ages,
coupled with the belief that the species is even yet
not extinct. Meanwhile, until the animal, or its
skeleton, be found which I do not look on as
impossible I suppose we must consider the Curu-
pira, or Munyi'a, or Yamadu, the analogue of the
Barghaist of the north of England and Scotland,
the Loup-garou of France, the Lobishomem of
Portugal, and other similar mythical creatures.
A Strange Occurrence and its Explanation
In my voyage to the Upper Orinoco, by way of
the Casiquiari, in 1853-54, when the river was so
low at Christmas that I had great difficulty in getting
my piragoa up as far as Esmeralda, and it was
quite impossible to ascend farther, as I had at first
intended, I afterwards explored
its northern tribu-
tary, the Cunucumima, and re-entered the Casiquiari,
intending to go as far down as Lake Vasiva. The
dry season should have held all through the months
of January and February, and Vasiva was described
to me as having at that time broad sandy beaches,
sprinkled with curious little plants,
and bordered