226 MR. SPRUCE'S BOTANICAL EXCURSION 
five P.w. to dry our paper. This daily and very necessary task had 
of late become very difficult, for we had little spare room in the canoe 
where the paper could be exposed to the sun, and great care was 
necessary to prevent its being blown into the water; so that I made a 
point of selecting a suitable place for spreading it out whenever we 
landed to cook our principal meal, and thus prevented any sacrifice of 
time. These sandbanks were the only places in the Aripecurá where we 
. could find open space enough, and, when dry, they certainly answered 
admirably ; for the sand became so intensely hot as to scorch our bare 
feet, and a little of it put on the top of each parcel aided the process 
of drying, at the same time that in ordinary cases it prevented the 
wind from blowing away the paper. This day I was rather fearful of 
a small cloud which had hung on our rear for some time ; but as the 
men assured me that it would not come our way, and as not a breath 
of wind was stirring, I ventured on speading out our paper in the 
middle of the sandbank, which was perhaps of sixty acres in extent. 
I then went into the water to bathe, thinking all secure. Suddenly 
the cloud comes forward—a trovoado rises—the sheets are whirled 
into the air like so many feathers, and carried off towards the water. 
Mr. King and the men are out in the direction of the flying sheets—I 
also run into the midst of them—we catch what we can in our arms 
and cover them with sand, but a great quantity is swept into the water. 
None but a botanist can conceive what were my sensations at this 
moment! The whole of this drying-paper was Bentall’s; and although 
it had not been the best in the world, its loss would have been 
irreparable; for how supply its place in this savage wilderness, when 
even at Obidos I had found it impossible to procure any paper but 
=~ the ordinary white writing-paper? Fortunately, Bentall’s paper is so 
- . porous, that the moment it touched the water it became saturated and 
: sank, so that, with a little eare and patience, we were able to fish it all 
out. When thus soaked it formed a load for a strong man, and it was 
not perfectly dried until two days afterwards; but I believe that not a 
single sheet of it was completely lost. 
December 24.—Remained all night on the sandbank. No observa- 
tion, the sky being too cloudy. Temperature this morning exactly the 
same as yesterday, at the same hour. During the night a jacaré came 
and warmed himself at the fire—attracted, probably, by the remains . 
of turtles’ eggs on which the men had supped. No one saw him; but + 
