The tribes on the River Uape's use several kinds of bows, some from five
to six feet long,--the arrows being still longer. The shaft is made of
the flower-stalk of the arrow-grass. The head is composed of hard wood
pointed, and sometimes armed with a serrated spine of the ray-fish,
covered thickly with poison, and notched, so as easily to break off--a
most deadly weapon. Their arrows for shooting fish are armed with iron
heads, while smaller arrows are used for shooting small game. These
alone have feathers at the base, generally from the wings of the macaw.
They are secured spirally, forming thus a little screw on the base of
the arrow, causing it to revolve rapidly, and assisting to keep it in a
direct course.
They employ also several sorts of hand-nets for catching fish: one is
very similar to the folding nets of entomologists, and another is like a
landing net. Rods and lines are generally used by them. They also
catch fish by means of a small conical-shaped wicker basket. The larger
end is completely open. Into this, which is placed in a current, the
fish enter, and swimming rapidly on, jam themselves into the narrow end,
where, unable to turn, they are completely secured. They also use large
cylindrical baskets, with reversed cones in the mouth like those of
lobster-pots, but of much greater size.
Fish are also caught by means of weirs. These are well built, supported
by strong posts. They are formed when the water is low. As the water
rises, the fish, keeping by the sides of the stream, are guided by the
side wings of the weir into its narrow opening, out of which they cannot
make their way. Not only fish, but turtles find their way into these
weirs, and sometimes electric eels--as also those dreaded fish, the
piranhas. The Indian gets the fish out by diving into the weir armed
with a small hand-net, and sometimes with a knife. He first endeavours,
however, to learn whether any of his foes are within, and gets them out
first. Another kind of weir is formed on a still larger scale,
generally beneath cataracts or waterfalls. It is similar to the
eel-traps sometimes used at mills. As the water pours into it, the fish
are often caught in great numbers. These traps, however, require a
considerable amount of ingenuity and a great exertion of strength for
their construction, as large timbers must be used, to withstand the
strength of the current.