DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE
COMMENTS: "THE CENTRAL ARAWAKS"
IN a recent issue of the American Anthropologist I came across a favorable notice of Professor Farabee's work on the Central Arawaks of British Guiana, i.e., the Wapisianas, the Altarois, and Tarumas. Unfor- tunately, however, it has been reviewed by a gentleman without either intimate or personal knowledge of the subject, and hence many an error has unfortunately remained unnoticed. It is to remedy these defects and to prevent them remaining on record as authoritative that I feel my- self forced to take up my pen, and much against the grain, to write a few lines of destructive criticism.
The temporary shelters made by the Wapisianas are described as having their roof made of the long broad leaves of the troolie palm (p. 18), but this particular tree (Manicaria saccifera) does not happen to grow in the hinterland of our colony. So again, the cassava-press is said to be a wicker-woven cylinder made of closely plaited strips from the midrib of the long leaves of the cokerite palm (p. 21). As a matter of fact, the midrib of the Maximiliana regia is of such a stiff consistency as to render its application to such a purpose absolutely impossible, its main use being to supply darts for the blow-gun. The press is invariably made from the split stem of itiriti, etc., a species of I chno siphon. The cassava sieves (p. 22) and pack baskets (p. 22) are similarly never made from the midribs of the palm leaf, but from these split stems. That the Wapi- sianas ever learned the art of spinning and weaving cotton from the Macusis, etc., (p. 26), is likewise extremely improbable for Mr. Melville, who has spent upwards of thirty years of his life amongst these very same people, has never heard it mentioned by them even as a legend. The leaf of the pine-apple plant (p. 27) is certainly never used for fibre: the author is referring to the Kuruwa, Korowa, etc., the preparation of which fibre has already been thoroughly described by the reviewer, with illustrations in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Sipo (p. 30) is the Brazilian term employed to denote bush rope. A very extraordinary mistake is the statement (p. 42) that the Arapaima (Sudis gigas} and Aimara (perhaps Haimara would be better) are fish not found on the Amazon side of the divide. Schomburgk, in the early forties, had already mentioned the great trade done in salted Arapaima
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