Chap. III. WEATHER. 163 



were travelling encircled the whole earth, and that the 

 land was an island like those seen in the stream, but 

 larger. Here a gleam of curiosity and imagination in 

 the Indian mind is revealed : the necessity of a theory 

 of the earth and water has been felt, and a theory has 

 been suggested. In all other matters not concerning 

 the common wants of life the mind of Vicente was a 

 blank, and such I alwa}-s found to be the case with 

 the Indian in his natural state. Would a community 

 of any race of men be otherwise, were they isolated 

 for centuries in a wilderness like the Amazonian 

 Indians, associated in small numbers wholly occu- 

 pied in procuring a mere subsistence, and without 

 a written language, or a leisured class to hand 

 down acquired knowledge from generation to gene- 

 ration ? 



One day a smart squall gave us a good lift onward ; 

 it came with a cold, fine, driving rain, which enveloped 

 the desolate landscape as with a mist : the forest 

 swayed and roared with the force of the gale, and flocks 

 of birds were driven about in alarm over the tree-tops. 

 On another occasion a similar squall came from an 

 unfavourable quarter : it fell upon us quite unawares 

 when we had all our sails out to dry, and blew us broad- 

 side foremost on the shore. The vessel was fairly lifted 

 on to the tall bushes which lined the banks, but we sus- 

 tained no injury beyond the entanglement of our rigging 

 in the branches. The days and nights usually passed 

 in a dead calm, or with light intermittent winds from 

 up river and consequently full against us. We landed 

 twice a day to give ourselves and the Indians a little 



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