THE NAUTILUS. 11 



Coast, together with much of the country beyond its limits, espec- 

 ially up the Kuringvvas and the Avultara (Rio Grande) is low, 

 swampy, savanna land. For twenty miles back from the sea, ex- 

 cept in the rainy season, the rivers, creeks and lakes are salty. A 

 glance at the map will show that the sea has invaded the laud along 

 the whole coast. The Indians say the coast is settling. Trees 

 planted 80 years ago, high and dry and back from the sea, were at 

 the high-tide line, being washed away in 1903. Lagoons once sep- 

 arated by a strip of forest or connected by a very narrow tingui 

 (channel) are now united as one. Banks that once sloped to the 

 water's edge are now being submerged. 



Dense forest covers the country along all the streams and lagoons. 

 Near the sea is the ubiquitous mangrove. Between the rivers are 

 lar^e savannas on which roam the cattle of the Indians, as well as 



D 



deer. With few exceptions, the villages are along the rivers and 

 lagoons, and consist of wattled and thatched huts. The entire pop- 

 ulation cannot exceed 15,000. The country is a paradise for natur- 

 alists, although I never met any there. It abounds in insects, birds, 

 fish and interesting quadrupeds, such as tapirs, peccary, jaguars, 

 pumas and ocelots, besides lizards, alligators, turtles and manatees. 

 I also observed at least three kinds of monkeys. Last, and of course 

 not least, there are molluscs. 



Along the seashore the country is sandy, and one is reminded of 

 the Jersey beach. There are, however, three isolated spots on the 

 coast which form exceptions. At the entrance to the harbor at Blue- 

 fields there is a strong " Bluff" standing high above the surround- 

 ing low stretches of country. At Walfa Siksa, the meaning of 

 which is black stone, are to be found on the north side of the river 

 mouth some black igneous rocks. They are also found under the 

 river bed and crop out back of the village, which stands back from 

 the sea, on the south bank of the river. This outcrop forms quite a 

 conical knoll of rocks, having remarkable, square-like cavity struc- 

 tures. It is hidden in the " bush," and few white men know that 

 the hill exists. To the north of the Wawa river there are some 

 high banks of clay and stones along the sea, and the place is known 

 as Bragman's Bluff. 



The sand of the sea-beach extends back only a short distance 

 from a few feet to a few hundred yards, where clay and igneous- 

 looking earth takes its place. Back twenty or thirty miles the river 



