66 THE TOCANTINS AND CAMEFA. Cuap. IV. 
as an agreeable change after the monotonous forest scenery amid which 
we had been so long travelling. He pointed out to me the tracks of a 
huge jaguar on the sand. We found here, also, our first turtle’s nest, 
and obtained 120 eggs from it, which were laid at a depth of nearly two 
feet from the surface, the mother first excavating a hole and afterwards 
covering it up with sand. The place is discoverable only by following 
the tracks of the turtle from the water. I saw here an alligator for the 
first time, which reared its head and shoulders above the water just 
after I had taken a bath near the spot. The night was calm and 
cloudless, and we employed the hours before bed-time in angling by 
moonlight. 
On the roth we reached a small settlement called Patos, consisting 
of about a dozen houses, and built on a high rocky bank, on the 
eastern shore. ‘The rock is the same nodular conglomerate which is 
found at so many places, from the seacoast toa distance of 600 miles 
up the Amazons. Mr. Leavens made a last attempt here to engage 
men to accompany us to the Araguaya; but it was in vain: nota soul 
could be induced by any amount of wages to go on such an expedition. 
The reports as to the existence of cedar were very vague. All said 
that the tree was plentiful somewhere, but no one could fix on the 
precise locality. I believe that the cedar grows, like all other forest 
trees, in a scattered way, and not in masses anywhere. ‘The fact of its 
being the principal tree observed floating down with the current of the 
Amazons, is to be explained by its wood being much lighter than that 
of the majority of trees. When the banks are washed away by currents, 
trees of all species fall into the river; but the heavier ones, which are 
the most numerous, sink, and the lighter, such as the cedar, alone float 
down to the sea. 
Mr. Leavens was told that there were cedar trees at Trocard, on the 
opposite side of the river, near some fine rounded hills covered with 
forest, visible from Patos; so there we went. We found here several 
families encamped in a delightful spot. The shore sloped gradually 
down to the water, and was shaded by a few wide-spreading trees. 
There was no underwood. A great number of hammocks were seen 
slung between the tree trunks, and the litter of a numerous household 
lay scattered about. Women, old and young, some of the latter very 
good-looking, and a large number of children, besides pet animals, 
enlivened the encampment. ‘They were all half-breeds, simple, well- 
disposed people, and explained to us that they were inhabitants of 
Cameta, who had come thus far, eighty miles, to spend the summer 
months. ‘The only motive they could give for coming was, that “it 
was so hot in the town in the verad (summer), and they were all so 
fond of fresh fish.” Thus these simple folks think nothing of leaving 
home and business to come on a three months’ pic-nic. It is the 
annual custom of this class of people, throughout the province, to spend 
a few months of the fine season in the wilder parts of the country. 
They carry with them all the farinha they can scrape together, this 
being the only article of food necessary to provide. The men hunt 
and fish for the day’s wants, and sometimes collect a little india-rubber, 
sarsaparilla, or copaiba oil, to sell to traders on their return ; the women 
