Cuap. V. ARUMS. 103 
burrow two or three feet beneath the roots of a large tree, and took 
Raimundo nearly an hour to disinter it. Soon afterwards we left this 
place, crossed the channel, and, paddling past two islands, obtained a 
glimpse of the broad river between them, with a long sandy spit, on which 
stood several scarlet ibises and snow-white egrets. One of the islands 
was low and sandy, and half of it was covered with gigantic arum trees, 
the often-mentioned Caladium arborescens, which presented a strange 
sight. Most people are acquainted with the little British species, Arum 
maculatum, which grows in hedge-bottoms, and many, doubtless, have 
admired the larger kinds grown in hothouses ; they can therefore form 
some idea of a forest of arums. On this islet the woody stems of the 
plants near the bottom were 8 to 1o inches in diameter, and the trees 
were 12 to 15 feet high; all growing together in such a manner that 
there was just room for a man to walk freely between them. There 
was a canoe inshore, with a man and a woman: the man, who was 
hooting with all his might, told us in passing that his son was lost in 
the “aningal” (arum-grove). He had strayed whilst walking ashore, and 
the father had now been an hour waiting for him in vain. 
About one o'clock we again stopped at the mouth of a little creek. 
It was now intensely hot. Raimundo said deer were found here, so he 
borrowed my gun, as being a more effective weapon than the wretched 
arms called Lazarinos, which he, in common with all the native hunters, 
used, and which sell at Parad for seven or eight shillings apiece. 
Raimundo and Joaquim now stripped themselves quite naked, and 
started off in different directions through the forest, going naked in order 
to move with less noise over the carpet of dead leaves, amongst which 
they stepped so stealthily that not the slightest rustle could be heard. 
The dogs remained in the canoe, in the neighbourhood of which I 
employed myself two hours entomologising. At the end of that time 
my two companions returned, having met with no game whatever. 
We now embarked on our return voyage. Raimundo cut two slender 
poles, one for a mast and the other for a sprit; to these he rigged 
a sail we had brought in the boat, for we were to return by the open 
river, and expected a good wind to carry us to Caripi. As soon as we 
got out of the channel we began to feel the wind—the sea-breeze, which 
here makes a clean sweep from the Atlantic. Our boat was very small 
and heavily laden; and when, after rounding a point, I saw the great 
breadth we had to traverse (seven miles), I thought the attempt to cross 
in such a slight vessel foolhardy in the extreme. The waves ran very 
high: there was no rudder; Raimundo steered with a paddle, and 
all we had to rely upon to save us from falling into the trough of the 
sea and being instantly swamped were his nerve and skill. There was 
just room in the boat for our three selves, the dogs, and the game we 
had killed; and whenever we fell in the hollow of a sea our instant 
destruction seemed inevitable ; as it was, we shipped a little water now 
and then. Joaquim assisted with his paddle to steady the boat: my 
time was fully occupied in baling out the water and watching the dogs, 
which were crowded together in the prow, yelling with fear; one or 
other of them occasionally falling over the side, and causing great 
commotion in scrambling in again. Off the point was a ridge of 
