286 EXCURSIONS AROUND EGA. Chap. IV. 



as the surname of the family. The other was Jose 

 Frazao, a nephew of Senhor Chrysostomo, of Ega, an 

 active, clever, and manly young fellow whom I much 

 esteemed. He was almost a white, his father being a 

 Portuguese and his mother a Mameluco. We were 

 accompanied by an Indian named Lino, and a Mulatto 

 boy, whose office was to carry our game. 



Our proposed hunting-ground on this occasion lay 

 across the water, about fifteen miles distant. We set out 

 in a small montaria, at four o'clock in the morning, again 

 leaving the encampment asleep, and travelled at a 

 good pace up the northern channel of the Solimoens, 

 or that lying between the island Catua and the left 

 bank of the river. The northern shore of the island 

 had a broad sandy beach reaching to its western extre- 

 mity. We reached our destination a little after day- 

 break ; this was the banks of the Carapanatuba,* a 

 channel some 150 yards in width, which, like the Anana 

 already mentioned, communicates with the Cupiyo. To 

 reach this we had to cross the river, here nearly two 

 miles wide. Just as day dawned we saw a Cayman 

 seize a large fish, a Tambaki, near the surface ; the reptile 

 seemed to have a difficulty in securing its prey, for it 

 reared itself above the water, tossing the fish in its 

 jaws and making a tremendous commotion. I was much 

 struck also by the singular appearance presented by 

 certain diving birds having very long and snaky necks 

 (the Plotus Anhinga). Occasionally a long serpentine 

 form would suddenly wriggle itself to a height of a 



* Meaning in Tupi, the river of many mosquitoes : from carajiana, 

 mosquito, and ituba, many. 



