Chap. II. A STRONG BREEZE. 91 



antecedents of this man, who was a tall, strong, self- 

 willed fellow, and it began to dawn on us that this was 

 not a very safe travelling companion in a wild country 

 like this. I thought it better now to make the best of 

 our way to the next settlement, Aveyros, and get rid of 

 him. Our course to-day lay along a high, rocky coast, 

 which extended without a break for about eight miles. 

 The height of the perpendicular rocks was from 100 

 to 150 feet ; ferns and flowering shrubs grew in the 

 crevices, and the summit supported a luxuriant growth 

 of forest, like the rest of the river banks. The waves 

 beat with loud roar at the foot of these inhospitable 

 barriers. At two p.m. we passed the mouth of a small 

 picturesque harbour, formed by a gap in the precipitous 

 coast. Several families have here settled ; the place is 

 called Ita-puama, or " standing rock," from a remarkable 

 isolated cliff, which stands erect at the entrance to the 

 little haven. A short distance beyond Ita-puama we 

 found ourselves opposite to the village of Pinhel, which 

 is perched, like Boim, on high ground, on the western 

 side of the river. The stream is here from six to seven 

 miles wide. A line of low islets extends in front of 

 Pinhel, and a little further to the south is a larger 

 island, called Capitari, which lies nearly in the middle 

 of the river. 



Jvme 23rd. — The wind freshened at ten o'clock in 

 the morning of the 23rd. A thick black cloud then 

 began t© spread itself over the sky a long way down the 

 river ; the storm which it portended, however, did not 

 reach us, as the dark threatening mass crossed from 

 east to west, and the only effect it had was to impel a 



