ACROSS NHAMBIQUARA LAND 211 



late afternoon; and we then enjoyed a bath and swim. 

 The loose bullocks arrived at sunset, and with shrill cries 

 the mounted herdsmen urged them into and across the 

 swift water. The mule-train arrived long after nightfall, 

 and it was not deemed wise to^try to cross the laden an- 

 imals. Accordingly the loads were taken off and brought 

 over on the heads of the men; it was fine to see the sin- 

 ewy, naked figures bearing their burdens through the 

 broken moonlit water to the hither bank. The night was 

 cool and pleasant. We kindled a fire and sat beside the 

 blaze. Then, healthily hungry, we gathered around the 

 ox-hides to a delicious dinner of soup, beef, beans, rice, and 

 coffee. 



Next day we made a short march, crossed a brook, and 

 camped by another clear, deep, rapid little river, swollen 

 by the rains. All these rivers that we were crossing run 

 actually into the Juruena, and therefore form part of the 

 headwaters of the Tapajos; for the Tapajos is a mighty 

 river, and the basin which holds its headwaters covers an 

 immense extent of country. This country and the adja- 

 cent regions, forming the high interior of western Brazil, 

 will surely some day support a large industrial popula- 

 tion; of which the advent would be hastened, although 

 not necessarily in permanently better fashion, if Colonel 

 Rondon's anticipations about the development of mining, 

 especially gold-mining, are realized. In any event the re- 

 gion will be a healthy home for a considerable agricul- 

 tural and pastoral population. Above all, the many swift 

 streams, with their numerous waterfalls, some of great 

 height and volume, offer the chance for the upgrowth of a 

 number of big manufacturing communities, knit by rail- 



