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 



