246 EXCURSIONS AROUND EGA. Chap. IV. 



out throwing overboard our cargo. The Indians were 

 obliged to paddle with extreme slowness to avoid ship- 

 ping water, as the edge of our prow was nearly level 

 with the surface ; but Cardozo was now persuaded 

 to change his seat. The sun set, the quick twilight 

 passed, and the moon soon after began to glimmer 

 through the thick canopy of foliage. The prospect of 

 being swamped in this hideous solitude was by no 

 means pleasant, although I calculated on the chance of 

 swimming to a tree and finding a nice snug place in 

 the fork of some large bough wherein to pass the 

 night. At length, after four hours' tedious progress, we 

 suddenly emerged on the open stream where the moon- 

 light glittered in broad sheets on the gently rippling 

 waters. A little extra care was now required in pad- 

 dling. The Indians plied their strokes with the greatest 

 nicety ; the lights of Ega (the oil lamps in the houses) 

 soon appeared beyond the black wall of forest, and in a 

 short time we leapt safely ashore. 



A few months after the excursion just narrated, I 

 accompanied Cardozo in many wanderings on the Soli- 

 moens, during which we visited the praias (sand-islands), 

 the turtle pools in the forests, and the by-streams and 

 lakes of the great desert river. His object was mainly 

 to superintend the business of digging up turtle eggs 

 on the sand-banks, having been elected commandante 

 for the year, by the municipal council of Ega, of the 

 " praia real" (royal sand-island) of Shimuni, the one 

 lying nearest to Ega. There are four of these royal 

 praias within the Ega district, (a distance of 150 miles 



