378 EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA. Cuap. XIII. 
and other immigrants having, instead of promoting industry, adopted 
the lazy mode of life of the Indians, spiced with the practice of a few 
strong vices of their own introduction. 
The head-man of the village, Senhor Antonia Ribeiro, half-white, 
half-Tuctina, prepared a house for me on landing, and introduced me to 
the principal people. The summit of the hill is grassy table-land, of 
two or three hundred acres in extent. ‘The soil is not wholly clay, but 
partly sand and gravel; the village itself, however, stands chiefly on 
clay, and the streets, therefore, after heavy rains, become filled with 
muddy puddles. On damp nights the chorus of frogs and toads, which 
swarm in weedy back-yards, creates such a bewildering uproar, that it 
is impossible to carry on a conversation indoors except by shouting. 
My house was damper even than the one I occupied at Fonte Boa, and 
this made it extremely difficult to keep my collections from being spoilt 
by mould. But the general humidity of the atmosphere in this part of 
the river was evidently much greater than it is lower down; it appears 
to increase gradually in ascending from the Atlantic to the Andes. It 
was impossible at St. Paulo to keep salt for many days in a solid state, 
which was not the case at Ega, when the baskets in which it is 
contained were well wrapped in leaves. Six degrees further westward, 
namely, at the foot of the Andes, the dampness of the climate of the 
Amazonian forest region appears to reach its acme, for Poeppig found 
at Chinchao that the most refined sugar in a few days dissolved into 
syrup, and the best gunpowder became liquid, even when enclosed in 
canisters. At St. Paulo refined sugar kept pretty well in tin boxes, and 
I had no difficulty in keeping my gunpowder dry in canisters, although a 
gun loaded over-night could very seldom be fired off in the morning. © 
The principal residents at St. Paulo were the priest, a white from 
Parad, who spent his days and most of his nights in gambling and rum- 
drinking, corrupting the young fellows, and setting the vilest example 
to the Indians; the sub-delegado, an upright, open-hearted, and loyal 
negro, whom I have before mentioned, Senhor José Patricio ; the Juiz 
de Paz, a half-caste named Geraldo, and lastly, Senhor Antonio Ribeiro, 
who was Director of the Indians. Geraldo and Ribeiro were my near 
neighbours, but they took offence at me after the first few days, because 
I would not join them in their drinking bouts, which took place about 
every third day. They used to begin early in the morning with cashag¢a 
mixed with grated ginger, a powerful drink which used to excite them 
almost to madness. Neighbour Geraldo, after these morning potations, 
used to station himself opposite my house and rave about foreigners, 
gesticulating in a threatening manner towards me, by the hour. After 
becoming sober in the evening, he usually came to offer me the humblest 
apologies, driven to it, I believe, by his wife, he himself being quite 
unconscious of this breach of good manners. The wives of the 
St. Paulo worthies, however, were generally as bad as their husbands ; 
nearly all the women being hard drinkers, and corrupt to the last degree. 
Wife-beating naturally flourished under such a state of things. I found 
it always best to lock myself in-doors after sunset, and take no notice of 
the thumps and screams which used to rouse the village in different 
quarters throughout the night, especially at festival times. 
