246 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



grew both on the dead trees and the living; some had huge 

 leaves like elephants' ears. Now and then fragrant scents 

 were blown to us from flowers on the banks. There were 

 not many birds, and for the most part the forest was silent; 

 rarely we heard strange calls from the depths of the woods, 

 or saw a cormorant or ibis. 



My canoe ran only a couple of hours. Then we halted 

 to wait for the others. After a couple of hours more, as 

 the surveyors had not turned up, we landed and made camp 

 at a spot where the bank rose sharply for a hundred yards 

 to a level stretch of ground. Our canoes were moored to 

 trees. The axemen cleared a space for the tents; they 

 were pitched, the baggage was brought up, and fires were 

 kindled. The woods were almost soundless. Through 

 them ran old tapir trails, but there was no fresh sign. 

 Before nightfall the surveyors arrived. There were a few 

 piums and gnats, and a few mosquitoes after dark, but not 

 enough to make us uncomfortable. The small stingless 

 bees, of slightly aromatic odor, swarmed while daylight 

 lasted and crawled over our faces and hands; they were 

 such tame, harmless little things that when they tickled 

 too much I always tried to brush them away without hurt- 

 ing them. But they became a great nuisance after a while. 

 It had been raining at intervals, and the weather was over- 

 cast; but after the sun went down the sky cleared. The 

 stars were brilliant overhead, and the new moon hung in 

 the west. It was a pleasant night, the air almost cool, 

 and we slept soundly. 



Next morning the two surveying canoes left immedi- 

 ately after breakfast. An hour later the two pairs of 

 lashed canoes pushed off. I kept our canoe to let Cherrie 



