200 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
huts on the beaches, and their stakes set up for spreading 
and drying fish, which is one of the great articles of 
commerce here. This morning we have passed several 
hours off the town of Ega, or Teff as the Brazilians 
call it. It takes its name from the river Teffe, but the 
town itself stands on a small lake, formed by the river 
just before it joins the Amazons. The entrance to the 
lake, which is broken by a number of little channels or 
igarapes, and the approach to the town, are exceedingly 
pretty. The town itself, with a wide beach in front, stand- 
ing on the slope of a green hill, where sheep and cattle, 
a rare sight in this region, are grazing, looks very inviting. 
We examined it with interest, for some of the party at 
least will return to this station for the purpose of making 
collections. 
September 15th. For the last two or three days we have 
been holding frequent discussions as to the best dispo- 
sition of our forces after reaching Tabatinga ; a source 
of great anxiety to Mr. Agassiz, the time we have to 
spend being so short, and the subjects of investigation 
so various and so important. Should he give up the 
idea of continuing, in person, his study of the fishes in 
the upper Amazons, leaving only some parties to make 
collections, and going himself into Peru, to visit at least 
the first spur of the Andes, with the purpose of ascer- 
taining whether any vestiges of glaciers are to be found 
in the valleys, and also of making a collection of fishes 
from the mountain streams ; or should he renounce the 
journey into Peru for the present, and, making a station 
somewhere in this region for the next month or two, com- 
plete, as far as may be, his investigation of the distribution 
and development of fishes in the Solimoens ? Had the 
