170 LOWER AMAZONS—OBYDOS TO MANAOS. Cuap. VII. 
quills secured together by cotton thread. ‘The use of Paric4 was found 
by the early travellers amongst the Omaguas, a section of the Tupis, 
who formerly lived on the Upper Amazons, a thousand miles distant 
from the homes of the Mauhés and Mtiras. This community of habits 
is one of those facts which support the view of the common origin and 
near relationship of the Amazonian Indians. 
After leaving Matari we continued our voyage along the northern 
shore. The banks of the river were of moderate elevation during 
several days’ journey ; the terra firma lying far in the interior, and the 
coast being either low land, or masked with islands of alluvial formation. 
On the 14th we passed the upper mouth of the Parana-mirim de Eva, 
an arm of the river of small breadth, formed by a straggling island, 
some ten miles in length, lying parallel to the northern bank. On 
passing the western end of this the mainland again appeared, a rather 
high rocky coast, clothed with a magnificent forest of rounded outline, 
which continues hence for twenty miles to the mouth of the Rio Negro, 
and forms the eastern shore of that river. Many houses of settlers, 
built at a considerable elevation on the wooded heights, now enlivened 
the river banks. One of the first objects which here greeted us was a 
beautiful bird we had not hitherto met with, namely, the scarlet and 
black tanager (Ramphoccelus nigrogularis), flocks of which were seen 
sporting about the trees on the edge of the water, their flame-coloured 
liveries lighting up the masses of dark-green foliage. 
The weather, from the 14th to the 18th, was wretched ; it rained 
sometimes for twelve hours in succession, not heavily, but in a steady 
drizzle, such as we are familiar with in our English climate. We landed 
at several places on the coast, Penna to trade as usual, and I to ramble 
in the forest in search of birds and insects. In one spot the wooded 
slope enclosed a very picturesque scene: a brook, flowing through a 
ravine in the high bank, fell in many little cascades to the broad river 
beneath, its margins decked out with an infinite variety of beautiful 
plants. Wild bananas arched over the watercourse, and the trunks of 
the trees in its vicinity were clothed with ferns, large-leaved species 
belonging to the genus Lygodium, which, like Osmunda, have their 
spore-cases collected together on contracted leaves. On the 18th we 
arrived at a large fazenda (plantation and cattle farm), called Jatuardna. 
A rocky point here projects into the stream, and as we found it im- 
possible to stem the strong current which whirled round it, we crossed 
over to the southern shore. Canoes in approaching the Rio Negro 
generally prefer the southern side, on account of the slackness of the 
current near the banks. Our progress, however, was most tediously 
slow, for the regular east wind had now entirely ceased, and the vento 
de cima, or wind from up river, having taken its place, blew daily for a 
few hours dead against us. ‘The weather was oppressively close, and 
every afternoon a squall arose, which, however, as it came from the 
right quarter and blew for an hour or two, was very welcome. We 
made acquaintance on this coast with a new insect pest, the Piim, a 
minute fly, two-thirds of a line in length, which here commences its 
reign, and continues henceforward as a terrible scourge along the uppe1 
river, or Solimoens, to the end of the navigation on the Amazons. It 
