196 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
Although no longer on board an independent steamer, we 
are still the guests of the company, having government 
passages. Nothing can be more comfortable than the 
travelling on these Amazonian boats. They are clean 
and well kept, with good-sized state-rooms, which most 
persons use, however, only as dressing-rooms, since it is 
always more agreeable to sleep on the open deck in one's 
hammock. The table is very well kept, the fare good, 
though not varied. Bread is the greatest deficiency, but 
hard biscuit makes a tolerable substitute. Our life is after 
this fashion. We turn out of our hammocks at dawn, go 
down stairs to make our toilets, and have a cup of hot 
coffee below. By this time the decks are generally washed 
and dried, the hammocks removed, and we can go above 
again. Between then and the breakfast hour, at half 
past ten o'clock, I generally study Portuguese, though 
my lessons are somewhat interrupted by watching the 
most favorable season ! I have resolved to make more numerous stations in the 
upper part of the river and to stay as long as my strength and means will 
allow. Do not think, however, that I forget to whom I owe such a success. 
It is you who have put me on the path, by making known to me the resources 
of the forest, and, better still, by furnishing me with the means to profit by 
them. Thanks, a thousand times, thanks. I ought also to acknowledge the 
assistance afforded me by the agents of the Company, at all the points where 
we have touched. Our amiable commander has also exerted himself, and 
while I explored the lakes in the neighborhood of Villa Bella, he made a 
very fine collection in the Amazons, especially of the numerous small species 
always overlooked by fishermen. On the arrival of the Bclcm I received 
your kind letter and a part of the alcohol I had asked from Mr. Bond. I 
am writing to-day to ask him to send me a part to Teffe, and, somewhat 
later, more to Manaos. Thank you for the catalogue of Para fishes ; I shall 
give it back on our return, with the additions I shall make during the re- 
mainder of the voyage. Adieu, my dear friend. 
Ever yours, 
L. AGASSIZ. 
