76 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. Chap. II. 



send collections down to Para to be shipped for Eng- 

 land, which happened three or four times a year, I used 

 to arrange with any trader who was dispatching a ves- 

 sel to the capital with produce ; the owners very often 

 charging nothing for the carriage. Sometimes I had to 

 entrust chests full of choice specimens to Indians for a 

 voyage of thirty or forty days : a word to the Pilot 

 recommending him to keep the boxes free from damp 

 was quite sufficient. I never suffered any loss or 

 damage. 



Our course lay due west for about twenty miles. 

 The wind increased as we neared Point Cururu, where 

 the river bends from its northern course. A vast 

 expanse of water here stretches to the west and south, 

 and the waves, with a strong breeze, run very high. 

 As we were doubling the Point, the cable which held 

 our montaria in tow astern, parted, and in endeavour- 

 ing to recover the boat, without which we knew it 

 would be difficult to get ashore on many parts of the 

 coast, we were very near capsizing. We tried to tack 

 down the river ; a vain attempt with a strong breeze 

 and no current. Our ropes snapped, the sails flew to 

 rags, and the vessel, which we now found was deficient 

 in ballast, heeled over frightfully. Contrary to Jose's 

 advice, I ran the cuberta into a little bay, thinking to 

 cast anchor there and wait for the boat coming up with 

 the wind ; but the anchor dragged on the smooth sandy 

 bottom, and the vessel went broadside on to the rocky 

 beach. With a little dexterous management, but not 

 until after we had sustained some severe bumps, we 



