484 Dr. E. A. Goekli — Ornithological Results 



country (from 8 to 10 metres), the visitor has to climb by a 

 ladder from the bank to the summit, and thus gets an idea 

 of the great difference of the water-level in the dry and 

 the rainy seasons. A good view is here obtained of the 

 river-landscape below, especially of the forest of spiny 

 Jauary palms, " jauarizal ^ (Astrocaryum jauary), on the 

 opposite side. Considerable numbers of " Tanguru-para " 

 (Monasa nigra and M. morpheus) inhabit the surroundings 

 of this genuine Indian settlement, and by their singular 

 concerts, combined with the old indigenous traditions, 

 give a peculiar idyllic feature to it. I received the im- 

 pression there that these birds are fond of the neighbourhood 

 of the red man, and that the red man in his turn loves 

 and respects the birds, and I can understand this mutual 

 sympathy — they are both equally mysterious! We passed a 

 bad night on the maloca, owing to the mosquitoes, which were 

 abundant and sanguinary — a strange thing, as generally we 

 had nothing to suffer from this plague anywhere on the 

 expedition. 



We continued our journey early in the morning of June 

 28th up the river with the steam-launch, now freshly pro- 

 vided with several thousand logs of wood, as we intended to 

 go at least as far as the confluence of the two head-rivers 

 of the Capim, the " Surubiu " and the u Ararandeua/'' About 

 10 a.m. we arrived at the lowest falls — an anxious moment 

 for us, as we expected to obtain there with our own eyes 

 evidence whether we could continue our trip in the launch or 

 not. The result was unsuccessful ; there was not more than 

 5^ feet of water in the only passage between the rocks, 

 and the steam-launch 'Ondina' required fully Gi feet. We 

 soon recognised that we had arrived a month too late, and 

 that there was no other plan than to stop here with our 

 expedition. Anchoring with the launch at the foot of the falls, 

 we tried to make the passage in our boats, and continued 

 our reconnaissance of the river upwards for some hours. 



The rest of the 28th and the whole of the 29th of June 

 we remained at this spot, collecting and hunting zealously. 

 The list of birds observed became sensibly richer here, 



