296 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



trail for the burden-bearers, and superintended the portage 

 of the loads. The rocky sides of the gorge were too steep 

 for laden men to attempt to traverse them. Accordingly 

 the trail had to go over the top of the mountain, both the 

 ascent and the descent of the rock-strewn, forest-clad slopes 

 being very steep. It was hard work to carry loads over 

 such a trail. From the top of the mountain, through an 

 opening in the trees on the edge of a cliff, there was a 

 beautiful view of the country ahead. All around and in 

 front of us there were ranges of low mountains about the 

 height of the lower ridges of the Alleghanies. Their sides 

 were steep and they were covered with the matted growth 

 of the tropical forest. Our next camping-place, at the foot 

 of the gorge, was almost beneath us, and from thence the 

 river ran in a straight line, flecked with white water, for 

 about a kilometre. Then it disappeared behind and be- 

 tween mountain ridges, which we supposed meant further 

 rapids. It was a view well worth seeing; but, beautiful 

 although the country ahead of us was, its character was 

 such as to promise further hardships, difficulty, and ex- 

 hausting labor, and especially further delay; and delay 

 was a serious matter to men whose food supply was begin- 

 ning to run short, whose equipment was reduced to the 

 minimum, who for a month, with the utmost toil, had 

 made very slow progress, and who had no idea of either 

 the distance or the difficulties of the route in front of them. 

 There was not much life in the woods, big or little. 

 Small birds were rare, although Cherrie's unwearied efforts 

 were rewarded from time to time by a species new to the 

 collection. There were tracks of tapir, deer, and agouti; 

 and if we had taken two or three days to devote to noth- 



