RETURN TO MANAOS. 265 
bathing, &c. But this one was at some distance, with a 
very nicely kept path winding through the forest. It stood 
on the brow of a hill which dipped down on the other 
side into a wide and deep ravine ; through this ravine 
* 
ran an igarape, beyond which the land rose again in 
an undulating line of hilly ground, ' most refreshing to 
the eye after the flat character of the Upper Amazonian 
scenery. The fact that this sitio, standing now on a hill 
overlooking the valley and the little stream at its bottom, 
will have the water nearly flush with the ground around it, 
when the igarape is swollen by the rise of the river, gives 
an idea of the difference of aspect between the dry and 
wet seasons. The establishment consisted of a number 
of buildings, the most conspicuous being a large open 
room, which the Indian Senhora who did the honors of 
the house told me was their reception-room, and was 
often used, she said, by the "brancas' from Manaos and 
the neighborhood for an evening dance, when they came 
out in a large company and passed the night. A low 
wall, some three or four feet in height, ran along the 
sides, wooden benches being placed against them for their 
whole length. The two ends were closed from top to 
bottom with a wall made of palm- thatch, exceedingly 
pretty, fine, and smooth, and of a soft straw color. At 
the upper end stood an immense embroidery-frame, look- 
ing as if it might have served for Penelope's web, but 
in which was stretched an unfinished hammock of palm- 
thread, the Senhora's work. She sat down on a low stool 
before it and worked a little for my benefit, showing me 
how the two layers of transverse threads were kept apart 
by a thick, polished piece of wood, something like a long, 
broad ruler. Through the opening thus made the shuttle 
12 
