THE BRAZILIAN JOURNEY. 631 



of vegetation, which lifted its dense mass of 

 trees and soft drapery of vines on either side. 

 Still more beautiful was it when they left the 

 track of the main river for the water -paths 

 hidden in the forest. Here they were rowed 

 by Indians in " montarias," a peculiar kind of 

 boat used by the natives. It has a thatched 

 hood at one end for shelter from rain or sun. 

 Little sun penetrates, however, to the shaded 

 " igarape ' ' (boat-path), along which the mon- 

 taria winds its way under a vault of green. 

 When traveling in this manner, they stopped 

 for the night, and indeed sometimes lingered 

 for days, in Indian settlements, or in the more 

 secluded single Indian lodges, which are to 

 be found on the shores of almost every lake 

 or channel. In this net-work of fresh waters, 

 threading the otherwise impenetrable woods, 

 the humblest habitation has its boat and land- 

 ing-place. With his montaria and his ham- 

 mock, his little plantation of bananas and 

 mandioca, and the dwelling, for which the 

 forest about him supplies the material, the 

 Amazonian Indian is supplied with all the 

 necessities of life. 



Sometimes the party were settled, for weeks 

 at a time, in more civilized fashion, in the 

 towns or villages on the banks of the main 



