hered squatting in a circle about me, to see
the wonder that I was to exhibit, but at the sight of smoke followed
by flame they were badly scared and ran for the house, where they
called the Chief. He arrived on the scene with his usual smile.

He asked me to show him what I had done. I applied the focussed rays
of the sun to some more dry leaves and twigs and, finally, the flames
broke out again. The Chief was delighted and begged me to make him a
present of the magnifier. As I did not dare to refuse, I showed him
how to use it and then presented it with as good grace as I could.

Some time after this, I learned that two Peruvians had been caught
in a trap set for the purpose. The unfortunate men had spent a whole
night in a pit, nine feet deep, and were discovered the next forenoon
by a party of hunters, who immediately killed them with unpoisoned,
big-game arrows. In contrast to the North-American Indians they never
torture captives, but kill them as quickly as possible.

I had plenty of opportunity to investigate the different kinds
of traps used by the Mangeromas for catching Peruvian _caboclos_
or half-breeds. First of all in importance is the pit-trap, into
which the aforesaid men had fallen. It is simple but ingenious in its
arrangement. A hole about nine feet deep and eight feet wide is dug
in the ground at a place where the _caboclos_ are liable to come. A
cover is laid across this and cleverly disguised with dead leaves and
branches so as to exactly resemble the surrounding soil. This cover
is constructed of branches placed parallel, and is slightly smaller
than the diameter of the pit. It is balanced on a stick, tied across
the middle in such a manner that the slightest weight on any part will
cause it to turn over and precipitate the object into the pit whence
egress is impossible. Besides this, the walls of the pit are inclined,
the widest part being at the bottom, and they gradually slope inward
till the level of the ground is reached. When the victim is discovered
he is quickly killed, as in the case noted above.

The second trap, which I had an opportunity to investigate, is the
so-called _araya_ trap. It is merely a small piece of ground thickly
set with the barbed bones of the sting-ray. These bones are slightly
touched with wourahli poison and, concealed as they are under dead
leaves, they inflict severe wounds on the bare feet of the _caboclos_,
and death follows within a short period.

The thi