252 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. Cuap. IX. 
rapidly advancing line of foam with the darkened water behind it. Our 
men strove in vain to gain the harbour ; the wind overtook us, and we 
cast anchor in three fathoms, with two miles of shoaly water between us 
and the land on our lee. It came with the force of a squall: the: 
heavy billows washing over the vessel and drenching us with the spray. 
I did not expect that our anchor would hold; I gave out, however, 
plenty of cable, and watched the result at the prow; José placing 
himself at the helm, and the men standing by the jib and foresail, so as 
to be ready, if we dragged, to attempt the passage of the Marai spit, 
which was now almost dead to leeward. Our little bit of iron, however, 
held its place ; the bottom being fortunately not so sandy as in most 
other parts of the coast; but our weak cable then began to cause us 
anxiety. We remained in this position all day without food, for every- 
thing was tossing about in the hold; provision-chests, baskets, kettles, 
and crockery. The breeze increased in strength towards the evening, 
when the sun set fiery red behind the misty hills on the western shore, 
and the gloom of the scene was heightened by the strange contrasts of 
colour; the inky water and the lurid gleam of the sky. Heavy seas 
beat now and then against the prow of our vessel with a force that made 
her shiver. If we had gone ashore in this place, all my precious 
collections would have been inevitably lost; but we ourselves could 
have scrambled easily to land, and re-embarked with Senhor Henorio, 
who had remained behind in the Pini, and would pass in the course of 
two or three days. When night came, I lay down exhausted with 
watching and fatigue, and fell asleep, as my men had done some time 
before. About nine o’clock I was awoke by the montaria bumping 
against the sides of the vessel, which had veered suddenly round, and 
the full moon, previously astern, then shone full in the cabin. The 
wind had abruptly ceased, giving place to light puffs from the eastern 
shore, and leaving a long swell rolling into the shoaly bay. 
After this I resolved not to move a step beyond Paquiattiba without 
an additional man, and one who understood the navigation of the 
river at this season. We reached the landing-place at ten o’clock, and 
anchored within the mouth of the creek. In the morning I walked 
through the beautiful shady alleys of the forest, which were water-paths 
in June when we touched here in ascending the river, to the house of 
Inspector Cypriano. After an infinite deal of trouble I succeeded in 
persuading him to furnish me with another Indian. There are about 
thirty families established in this place, but the able-bodied men had 
been nearly all drafted off within the last few weeks by the Government, 
to accompany a military expedition against runaway negroes, settled in 
villages in the interior. Senhor Cypriano was a pleasant-looking and 
extremely civil young Mameluco. He accompanied us, on the night of 
the 28th, five miles down the river to Point Jaguarari, where the man 
lived whom he intended to send with me. I was glad to find my new 
hand a steady, middle-aged and married Indian ; his name was of very 
good promise, Angelo Custodio (Guardian Angel). 
After the 26th of September the north-west day-breeze came every 
morning with the same strength, beginning at ten or eleven o’clock, and 
ending suddenly at seven or eight in the evening. The moon was in 
