Chap. IV. TRIP TO THE ISLANDS. 157 



I found at Cameta an American, named Bean, who 

 had been so long in the country that he had ahnost 

 forgotten his mother tongue. He knew the neighbour- 

 hood well, and willingly accompanied me as guide in 

 many long excursions. I was astonished in my walks 

 with him at the universal friendliness of the people. 

 We were obliged, when rambling along the intricate 

 pathways through the woods, occasionally to pass the 

 houses of settlers. The good people, most of whom 

 knew Bean, always invited us to stojD. The master 

 of the house would step out first and insist on our 

 w^alking in to take some refreshment ; at the same mo- 

 ment I generally esj)ied the female members of the 

 family hurrying to the fireplace to prepare the inevitable 

 cup of coffee. After conversing a little with the good 

 folks we would take our leave, and then came the 

 parting present — a bunch of bananas, a few eggs, or 

 fruits of one kind or other. It would have been cruel 

 to refuse these presents, but they were sometimes so 

 inconvenient to us that we used to pitch them, into the 

 thickets as soon as we were out of sight of the doDors. 



One day we embarked in a montaria to visit a widow 

 lady, named Dona Paulina, to whom Bean was going to 

 be married, and who lived on one of the islands in mid- 

 river, about ten miles above Cameta. The httle boat 

 had a mast and sail, the latter of which was of very 

 curious construction. It was of the shape which sailors 

 call shoulder-of-mutton sail, and was formed of laths 

 of pith split from the leaf stalks of the Jupati palm 

 (Raphia tgedigera). The laths w^ere strung together 

 so as to form a mat, and the sail was hoisted or 



