246 TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO. [March, 



luckily a short one, passed over. Loading again and proceeding 

 onwards, we passed three small rapids, the " Tatu " (Armadillo), 

 "Ocokf" (a fruit), and "Pirantera" (a fish) caxoeiras ; and our 

 additional Indians here left us, with their payment of fish-hooks 

 and arrow-heads, as we now had only smooth water before us. In 

 the afternoon we passed a malocca, where one of the Indians 

 wished to land to see his friends ; and as we did not stay, at 

 night he took his departure, and w r e saw no more of him. 



Early the next morning we reached Mucura, where two 

 young Brazilians, whom I had met with below, were residing, 

 trading for salsa. I was now in the country of the painted 

 turtle and the white umbrella-bird, and I determined to make 

 a stay of at least a fortnight, to try and obtain these much- 

 desired rarities. 



Messrs. Nicolau and Bellarmine were both out, and their little 

 palm-leaf huts were evidently quite inadequate to my accom- 

 modation. The only other house was a small Indian malocca, 

 also made entirely of " palha ;" and I agreed with the owner 

 to let me have half of it, giving him a small knife and mirror 

 in payment, with which he was well contented. We accordingly 

 cleared and swept out our part of the house, unloaded and 

 arranged our things, and I then sent my guardas to a malocca, 

 in which there were said to be plenty of Indians, to see if they 

 had any farinha or pacovas to dispose of; and also to let them 

 know that I would purchase birds, or fish, or any other 

 animals they could obtain for me. The men were all out; 

 but the same afternoon they came in great force to see the 

 " Branco," and make an attack on my fish-hooks and beads, 

 bringing me fish, pacovas, farinha, and mandiocca-cake, for all 

 of which one of these two articles was asked in exchange. 



I was now settled at the limit of my expedition, for I could 

 not think of going a week further up only to see Jurupari 

 caxoeira, wasting the little time I had to rest, before again 

 descending. We had made a favourable voyage, without any 

 serious accident, up a river perhaps unsurpassed for the 

 difficulties and dangers of its navigation. We had passed fifty 

 caxoeiras, great and small ; some mere rapids, others furious 

 cataracts, and some nearly perpendicular falls. About twenty 

 were rapids, up which, by the help of a long sipd attached to 

 the canoe, instead of a rope, we were pulled without much 

 difficulty. About eighteen were very bad and dangerous, re- 



