Then
it is hung up in the hut and the Indians consider that a token of
great reverence has been thus bestowed on the deceased.
Before leaving the subject of fish, I will mention another species,
smaller than the _piranha_, yet, although not as ferocious, the
cause of much dread and annoyance to the natives living near the
banks of the rivers. In fact, throughout the Amazon this little
worm-like creature, called the _kandiroo_, is so omnipresent that a
bath-house of a particular construction is necessary. The kandiroo is
usually three to four inches long and one sixteenth in thickness. It
belongs to the lampreys, and its particular group is the Myxinos or
slime-fish. Its body is coated with a peculiar mucus. It is dangerous
to human beings, because when they are taking a bath in the river
it will approach and with a swift powerful movement penetrate one of
the natural openings of the body whence it can be removed only by a
difficult and dangerous operation.
A small but hard and pointed dorsal fin acts as a barb and prevents
the fish from being drawn back. While I was in Remate de Males the
local doctor was called upon to remove a _kandiroo_ from the urethra
of a man. The man subsequently died from the hemorrhage following
the operation.
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