which was attached to the end. The spear sank deep into the water,
and then by the vivacity with which it danced around I could tell
there was something on the end of it. As he began to pull in the line,
the struggle became so violent that I crept forward on my knees in
the bottom of the canoe and helped him recover the spear. Only after
some strenuous balancing feats and a stiff fight by both of us, did
we land our game. It was a large flat fish at least four feet square,
with a long whip-shaped tail, at the base of which were two barbed
bones each about three and a half inches in length. Our first act was
to sever this tail with a hatchet, as it was far too active to make
the fish a pleasant neighbour in close quarters. When the sting-ray,
or, as the Brazilians call it, the _araya_, was dead, I cut out the
two barbed bones and no longer wondered why these fish are so dreaded
by those who know them. João told me that they attack anyone who
ventures into the water, and with their sharp, barbed bones inflict
a wound that in most cases proves fatal, for the bones are brittle
and break off in the flesh. Superstition and carelessness are the
main factors that make the wound dangerous; the people believe too
much in an ever-present evil spirit which abides in all the vicious
and fiendish animals of the forest and swamp. Once wounded by any of
these malignant creatures, they believe there is no hope of recovery
and they hardly try to survive. Besides, lack of proper care and
treatment of a wound generally results in its terminating in a case
of septicaemia and ultimately gangrene.

I have mentioned the _pirarucu_ several times as being the largest
edible fish of the Amazon. When full grown, it attains a weight of two
hundred and fifty pounds. In Lake Innocence we saw this remarkable
fish feeding close to the shore in shallow water, surrounded by a
school of young ones. The old one was about seven feet in length