Cuap. XI. BIVOUAC ON SAND-BANK. 309 
season was over, scatter in despair over the swamp. We also found 
several male turtles, or Capitarfs, as they are called by the natives. 
These are immensely less numerous than the females, and are dis- 
tinguishable by their much smaller size, more circular shape, and the 
greater length and thickness of their tails. Their flesh is considered 
unwholesome, especially to sick people having external signs of inflam- 
mation. All diseases in these parts, as well as their remedies, and ail 
articles of food, are classed by the inhabitants as “hot” and “ cold,” 
and the meat of the Capitari is settled by unanimous consent as 
belonging to the “hot list.” 
We dined on the banks of the river a little before sunset. The 
mosquitoes then began to be troublesome, and finding it would be 
impossible to sleep here, we all embarked and crossed the river to a 
sand-bank, about three miles distant, where we passed the night. 
Cardozo and I slept in our hammocks slung between upright poles, the 
rest stretching themselves on the sand round a large fire. We lay 
awake conversing until past midnight. It was a real pleasure to listen 
to the stories told by one of the older men: they were given with so 
much spirit. The tales always related to struggles with some intractable 
animal—jaguar, manatee, or alligator. Many interjections and expres- 
sive gestures were used, and at the end came a sudden “ Pa! terra!” 
when the animal was vanquished bya shot or a blow. Many mysterious 
tales were recounted about the Bouto, as the large Dolphin of the 
Amazons is called. One of them was to the effect that a Bouto once 
had the habit of assuming the shape of a beautiful woman, with hair 
hanging loose to her heels, and walking ashore at night in the streets of 
Ega, to entice the young men down to the water. Ifany one was so 
much smitten as to follow her to the water-side, she grasped her victim 
round the waist, and plunged beneath the waves with a triumphant cry. 
No animal in the Amazons region is the subject of so many fables as 
the Bouto; but it is probable that these did not originate with the 
Indians, but with the Portuguese colonists. It was several years before 
I could induce a fisherman to harpoon Dolphins for me as specimens, 
for no one ever kills these animals voluntarily, although their fat is 
known to yield an excellent oil for lamps. The superstitious people 
believe that blindness would result from the use of this oil in lamps. I 
succeeded at length with Carepira, by offering him a high reward when 
his finances were at a very low point ; but he repented of his deed ever 
afterwards, declaring that his luck had forsaken him from that day. 
The next day we again beat the pool. Although we had proof of 
there being a great numberjof turtles yet remaining, we had very poor 
success. ‘The old Indians told us it would be so, for the turtles were 
“Jadino ” (cunning), and would take no notice of the beating a second 
day. When the net was formed into a circle, and the men had jumped 
in, an alligator was found to be enclosed. No one was alarmed, the 
only fear expressed being that the imprisoned beast would tear the net. 
First one shouted, ‘I have touched his head” ; then another, ‘‘ He has 
scratched my leg.” One of the men, a lanky Mirdnha, was thrown off his 
balance, and then there was no end to the laughter and shouting. At 
last a youth of about fourteen years of age, on my calling to him, from 
