Cuap. X. LAKE OF EGA. 267 
outline, small foliage, and sombre-green of the woods, which seemed to 
rest on the glassy waters, made a pleasant contrast to the tumultuous 
piles of rank, glaring, light-green vegetation, and torn, timber-strewn 
banks, to which we had been so long accustomed on the main river. 
The men rowed lazily until nightfall, when, having done a laborious 
day’s work, they discontinued and went to sleep, intending to make for 
Ega in the morning. It was not thought worth while to secure the 
vessel to the trees or cast anchor, as there was no current. I sat up for 
two or three hours after my companions had gone to rest, enjoying the 
solemn calm of the night. Not a breath of air stirred; the sky was of 
a deep blue, and the stars seemed to stand forth in sharp relief; there 
was no sound of life in the woods, except the occasional melancholy 
note of some nocturnal bird. I reflected on my own wandering life: I 
had reached the end of the third stage of my journey, and was now 
more than half-way across the continent. It was necessary for me, on 
many accounts, to find a rich locality for Natural History explorations, 
and settle myself in it for some months or years. Would the neighbour- 
hood of Ega turn out to be suitable ? and should I, a solitary stranger 
on a strange errand, find a welcome amongst its people ? : 
Our Indians resumed their oars at sunrise the next morning (May 1st), 
and after an hour’s rowing along the narrow channel, which varies in 
breadth from too to 500 yards, we doubled a low wooded point, and 
emerged suddenly on the so-called Lake of Ega: a magnificent sheet of 
water, five miles broad—the expanded portion of the Teffé. Itis quite clear 
of islands, and curves away to the west and south, so that its full extent is 
not visible from this side. To the left, on a gentle grassy slope at the 
point of junction of a broad tributary with the Teffé, lay the little settle- 
ment: a cluster of a hundred or so of palm-thatched cottages and white- 
washed red-tiled houses, each with its neatly-enclosed orchard of orange, 
lemon, banana, and guava trees. Groups of palms, with their tall slender 
shafts and feathery crowns, overtopped the buildings and lower trees. 
A broad grass-carpeted street led from the narrow strip of white sandy 
beach to the rudely-built barn-like church, with its wooden crucifix on 
the green before it, in the centre of the town. Cattle were grazing 
before the houses, and a number of dark-skinned natives were taking 
their morning bath amongst the canoes of various sizes which were 
anchored or moored to stakes in the port. We let off rockets and fired 
salutes, according to custom, in token of our safe arrival, and shortly 
afterwards went ashore. 
A few days’ experience of the people and the forests of the vicinity 
showed me that I might lay myself out for a long, pleasant, and busy 
residence at this place. An idea of the kind of people I had fallen 
amongst may be conveyed by an account of my earliest acquaintances 
in the place. On landing, the owner of the canoe killed an ox in 
honour of our arrival, and the next day took me round the town to 
introduce me to the principal residents. We first went to the Delegado 
_ of police, Senhor Antonio Cardozo, of whom I shall have to make 
frequent mention by-and-by. He was a stout, broad-featured man, 
ranking as a white, but having a tinge of negro blood ; his complexion. 
