90 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. Chap. II. 



creek, on whose banks an industrious white settler had 

 located himself. I resolved to pass the rest of the clay 

 and night here, and endeavour to obtain a fresh supply 

 of provisions, our stock of salt beef being now nearly 

 exhausted. The situation of the house was beautiful ; 

 the little harbour being gay with water plants, Ponte- 

 derise, now full of purple blossom, from which flocks of 

 Piosocas started up screaming as we entered. The 

 owner sent a boy with my men to show them the best 

 place for fish up the creek, and in the course of the 

 evening sold me a number of fowls, besides baskets of 

 beans and farinha. The result of the fishing was a good 

 supply of Jandia, a handsome spotted Siluride fish, 

 and Piranha, a kind of Salmonidse (Tetragonopterus) . 

 Piranhas are of several kinds, many of which abound 

 in the waters of the Tapajos. They are caught with 

 almost any kind of bait, for their taste is indiscriminate 

 and their appetite most ravenous. They often attack 

 the legs of bathers near the shore, inflicting severe 

 wounds with their strong triangular teeth. At Paquia- 

 tuba and this place I added about twenty species of 

 small fishes to my collection ; caught by hook and line, 

 or with the hand in shallow pools under the shade of 

 the forest. 



My men slept ashore, and on their coming aboard in 

 the morning Pinto was drunk and insolent. According 

 to Jose, who had kept himself sober, and was alarmed 

 at the other's violent conduct, the owner of the house 

 and Pinto had spent the greater part of the night toge- 

 ther, drinking aguardente de beiju, — a spirit distilled 

 from the mandioca root. We knew nothing of the 



