396 EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA. Chap. YI. 



wildering uproar, that it is impossible to carry on a 

 conversation in-doors except by shouting. My house 

 was damper even than the one I occupied at Fonte Boa, 

 and this made it extremely difficult to keep my collec- 

 tions from being spoilt by mould. But the general 

 humidity of the atmosphere in this part of the river 

 was evidently much greater than it is lower down ; it 

 appears to increase gradually in ascending from the 

 Atlantic to the Andes. It was impossible at St. Paulo 

 to keep salt for many days in a solid state, which was 

 not the case at Ega, when the baskets in which it is 

 contained were well wrapped in leaves. Six degrees 

 further westward, namely, at the foot of the Andes, the 

 dampness of the climate of the Amazonian forest region 

 appears to reach its acme, for Poeppig found at Chin- 

 chao that the most refined sugar, in a few days, dis- 

 solved into syrup, and the best gunpowder became 

 liquid, even when enclosed in canisters. At St. Paulo, 

 refined sugar kept pretty well in tin boxes, and I had 

 no difficulty in keeping my gunpowder dry in canisters, 

 although a gun loaded over night could very seldom be 

 fired off in the morning. 



The principal residents at St. Paulo were the priest, 

 a white from Para, who spent his days and most of his 

 nights in gambling and rum-drinking, corrupting the 

 young fellows and setting the vilest example to the 

 Indians ; the sub-delegado, an upright, open-hearted, 

 and loyal negro, whom I have before mentioned, Senhor 

 Jose Patricio ; the Juiz de Paz, a half-caste named 

 Geraldo, and lastly, Senhor Antonio Bibeiro, who was 

 Director of the Indians. Geraldo and Bibeiro were my 



