218 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. Cuap. IX. 
sandy bottom, and the vessel went broadside on to the rocky beach. 
With a little dexterous management, but not until after we had sustained 
some severe bumps, we managed to get out of this difficulty, clearing the 
rocky point at a close shave with our jib-sail. Soon after, we drifted 
into the smooth water of a sheltered bay, which leads to the charmingly 
situated village of Altar do Chao ; and we were obliged to give up our 
attempt to recover the montaria. 
The little settlement, Altar do Chad (Altar of the ground, or Earth 
altar), owes its singular name to the existence, at the entrance to the 
harbour, of one of those strange flat-topped hills which are so common 
in this part of the Amazons country, shaped like the high altar in 
Roman Catholic churches. It is an isolated one, and much lower in 
height than the similarly truncated hills and ridges near Almeyrim, 
being elevated probably not more than 300 feet above the level of the 
river. It is bare of trees, but covered in places with a species of fern. 
At the head of the bay is an inner harbour, which communicates by a 
channel with a series of lakes lying in the valleys between hills, and 
stretching far in the interior of the land. ‘The village is peopled almost 
entirely by semi-civilised Indians, to the number of sixty or seventy 
families ; and the scattered houses are arranged in broad streets on a 
strip of green sward, at the foot of a high, gloriously-wooded ridge. 
We stayed here nine days. As soon as we anchored I went ashore 
and persuaded, by the offer of a handsome reward, two young half- 
breeds to go in search of my missing boat. The head man of the 
place, Captain Thomas, a sleepy-looking mameluco, whom I found in 
his mud-walled cottage in loose shirt and drawers, with a large black 
rosary round his neck, promised me two Indians to complete my crew, 
if I would wait a few days until they had finished felling trees for a new 
plantation. Meantime my men had to make a new sail and repair the 
rigging, and I explored the rich woods in the vicinity. 
Captain Thomas sent his son one day to show me the best paths. A 
few steps behind the houses we found ourselves in the virgin forest. 
The soil was sandy, and the broad path sloped gently up towards the 
high ridge which forms so beautiful a back-ground to the village. From 
the top of the hill a glimpse of the bay is obtained through the crowns 
of the trees. The road then descends, and so continues for many 
miles over hill and dale. There are no habitations, however, in this 
direction ; the road having been made by people formerly employed in 
felling timber. The forest at Altar do Chad is noted for its riches in 
choice woods, and its large laurel and Itauba trees, which are used in 
building river schooners. The beautiful tortoise-shell wood, Noira 
pinima, minutely barred and spotted with red and black, which is made 
into walking-sticks by Brazilian carpenters, and exported as such in 
some numbers to Portugal, was formerly abundant here; it is the 
heart-wood of a tree I believe unknown to science, and is obtainable 
only in logs a few inches in diameter. The Moira coatidra (striped 
wood), a most beautiful material for cabinet work, being closely grained 
and richly streaked with chocolate-brown on a yellow ground, is another 
of these, and is also the heart-wood of a tree, but obtainable in logs 
a foot or more in diameter and ten feet in length. A rare wood called 
