WE REACH MURA '2H\ 



when we used to stop on the sandbanks in search of 

 turtle-eggs. Jacobson reminded me of his omelettes. 

 The sandbanks are now all covered, and the river is one 

 stretch of brown water from shore to shore. At two 

 o'clock we reached our old rancho opposite the mouth 

 of the Nichare. This was a spot full of unpleasant 

 memories. Here we had stopped for a day on the eve 

 of our unfortunate expedition to the Nichare. Here on 

 our return I had spent three days of suffering, and here 

 Isidor, Vicente, and Laureano had left us at night, taking 

 the small boat when they thought that I was too ill to 

 move. 



May 24. — Left very early. A terribly hot morning, 

 without a breath of air. Suffered from such a severe 

 attack of fever that the men stopped at midday so that I 

 might rest in the shade awhile. Many years before, Isidor 

 had lived at this spot, but the clearing was at the time of 

 our visit quite choked with second forest growth. The 

 men cut their way through this and explored the place 

 thoroughly. They were rewarded by finding some tubers 

 resembling tanias, and a bunch of bananas. They also 

 brought palm-seeds, which, when roasted, were not unlike 

 pistachio-nuts in flavour. Altogether we fared better than 

 we had done for days. We stopped for the night on the 

 Isla Chaparro. One of the men caught a large fish, so 

 that on the whole this was one of our luckiest days since 

 the accident at Arichi. 



Ma2j 25. — We reached Augustin's cane piece at ten 

 o'clock in the morning. This is the last bit of cultivated 

 ground at Mura. Although it would have taken only 

 about a quarter of an hour more to reach the Indian 

 settlement, the men insisted on landing in order to fill 

 themselves up with cane-juice. They remained over an 



