350 THE LOWER AMAZON'S. Chap. VII. 



street. This moving vapour was called the "Mai da 

 peste," " the mother or spirit of the plague " ; and it 

 was useless to attempt to reason them out of the belief 

 that this was the forerunner of the pestilence. The 

 progress of the disease was very rapid. It commenced 

 in April, in the middle of the wet season. In a few days, 

 thousands of persons lay sick, dying or dead. The state 

 of the city during the time the fever lasted, may be 

 easily imagined. Towards the end of June it abated, 

 and very few cases occurred during the dry season from 

 July to December. 



As I said before, the yellow fever still lingered in the 

 place when I arrived from the interior in April. I was 

 in hopes I should escape it, but was not so fortunate ; 

 it seemed to spare no new comer. At the time I fell ill, 

 every medical man in the place was worked to the 

 utmost in attending the victims of the other epidemic ; 

 it was quite useless to think of obtaining their aid, so 

 I was obliged to be my own doctor, as I had been in 

 many former smart attacks of fever. I was seized with 

 shivering and vomit at 9 o'clock in the morning. A¥hilst 

 the people of the house went down to the town for 

 the medicines I ordered, I wrapped myself in a blan- 

 ket and walked sharply to and fro along the veran- 

 dah, drinking at intervals a cup of warm tea, made of 

 a bitter herb in use amongst the natives, called Pajema- 

 riuba, a leguminous plant growing in all waste places. 

 About an hour afterwards, I took a good draught 

 of a decoction of elder blossoms as a sudorific, and 

 soon after fell insensible into my hammock. Mr. 

 Philipps, an English resident with whom I was then 



