Chap. VII. CHANNELS AND ISLANDS. 267 



the 19tli of November. Penna took liis family with 

 him ; this comprised a smart, lively mameluco woman, 

 named Catarina, whom we called Senhora Katita, and 

 two children. The crew consisted of three men, one a 

 sturdy Indian, another a Cafuzo, godson of Penna, and 

 the third, our best hand, a steady, good-natured mulatto, 

 named Joaquim. My boy Luco was to assist in rowing 

 and so forth. Penna was a timid middle-aged man, a 

 white with a slight cross of Indian ; when he was surly 

 and obstinate, he used to ask me to excuse him on 

 account of the Tapuyo blood in his veins. He tried to 

 make me as comfortable as the circumstances admitted, 

 and provided a large stock of eatables and drinkables ; 

 so that altogether the voyage promised to be a pleasant 

 one. 



On leaving the port of Obydos w^e crossed over to the 

 right bank, and sailed wdth a light wind all day, passing 

 numerous houses, each surrounded by its grove of cacao 

 trees. On the 20th we made slow progress. After 

 passing the high land at the mouth of the Trombetas, 

 the banks were low, clayey, or earthy on both sides. 

 The breadth of the river varies hereabout from tw^o and 

 a half to three miles, but neither coast is the true terra 

 iirma. On the northern side a by-channel runs for a 

 long distance inland, communicating with the extensive 

 lake of Faro ; on the south, three channels lead to the 

 similar fresh-water sea of Villa Franca ; these are in part 

 arms of the river, so that the land they surround con- 

 sists, properly speaking, of islands. When this descrip- 

 tion of land is not formed wholly of river deposit, as 

 sometimes happens, or is raised above the level of the 



