178 THE UPPER AMAZONS. Chap. III. 



and was now more than half way across the continent. It 

 was necessary for me, on many accounts, to find a rich 

 locality for Natural History explorations, and settle 

 myself in it for some months or years. Would the 

 neighbourhood of Ega turn out to be suitable, and 

 should I, a solitary stranger on a strange errand, find a 

 welcome amongst its people ? 



Our Indians resumed their oars at sunrise the next 

 morning (May 1st), and after an hour's rowing along 

 the narrow channel, which varies in breadth from 100 

 to 500 yards, we doubled a low wooded point, and 

 emerged suddenly on the so-called Lake of Ega ; a 

 magnificent sheet of water, five miles broad — the ex- 

 panded portion of the Teffe. It is quite clear of islands, 

 and curves away to the west and south, so that its full 

 extent is not visible from this side. To the left, on a 

 gentle grassy slope at the point of junction of a broad 

 tributary with the Teffe, lay the little settlement : a 

 cluster of a hundred or so of palm-thatched cottages 

 and whitewashed red-tiled houses, each with its neatly- 

 enclosed orchard of orange, lemon, banana, and guava 

 trees. Groups of palms, with their tall slender shafts 

 and feathery crowns, overtopped the buildings and lower 

 trees. A broad grass-carpeted street led from the 

 narrow strip of white sandy beach to the rudely-built 

 barn-like church with its wooden crucifix on the green 

 before it, in the centre of the town. Cattle were 

 grazing before the houses, and a number of dark-skinned 

 natives were taking their morning bath amongst the 

 canoes of various sizes which were anchored or moored 

 to stakes in the port. We let off rockets and fired 



