268 MR. SPRUCE'S BOTANICAL EXCURSION 
igarapé ; but the river presented an aspect quite strange to us—still and 
tranquil as a lake, with the very mountains we had been in search of 
to the north of us and close at hand, while at some distance west- 
ward of us another stream came rushing over rocks to join the one 
we were standing near, with a rocky and romantie peninsula at their 
junetion. This lake-like branch of the river we afterwards found was 
known io the castanha-gatherers by the name of the Rio Morte. 
The Serra de Carnaá appeared densely covered with mato, with the 
exception of two or three small patches of bare rock, and could be 
scarcely 1,000 feet high from the lake. It extended to the east- 
ward, and the main river seemed to come over a low shoulder to the 
westward. 
I took a hasty glance at the rocks in the river, and chipped off 
fragments with my hammer, ere we commenced the descent. When 
the sun was getting low, I sent Manoel on before us, as I found he 
could make his way through the mato much more rapidly than we, 
with instructions to cook our dinner when he arrived at the canoe ; 
but I had no idea the distance was so great as it proved to be. The 
scenery between the falls is very beautiful; the river expands, and 
contains numerous rocky islands, some covered with wood, and others 
merely blocks of granite heaped together, with no vegetation except 
the above-mentioned Podostemacea, where the water covers them. 
We continued to push through the forest until sunset. The moon 
was to rise with fading twilight, but ere that time the obscurity was 
too great to allow of our proceeding further; we therefore sat down 
in the angle of two buttresses at the base of a large tree. But both 
tree and ground were very wet; we ourselves were still soaked, for 
even after the rain ceased, every bush we pushed through, every sipó 
we cut, brought down upon us a shower of drops. Our situation 
was certainly anything but enviable. At the best I am not a very 
robust fellow, and Mr. King's illness had robbed him of his wonted 
strength ; we were without arms, save my companion's trósado and 
my liehenological hammer—no materials for procuring light, and here 
benighted in a boundless forest, with we knew not what companions 
near. Our only guide was the river, which we could always keep 
within hearing, if not in sight; and fortunately I had a small game- 
bag, containing farinha and dried fish, of which we made a meal under 
. the tree. I began shortly to feel very chilly—my companion was 
