ARRIVAL AT THTJ VILLAGE. 295 



almost a refinement of luxury, in that wild spot ; but our 

 wants rendered us every day more and more ingenious. 



After an hour of expetation, we saw the boat arrive above 

 the raudal, and we were soon ready to depart. After quit- 

 ting the rock, our passage was not exempt from danger. 

 The river is eight hundred toises broad, and must be crossed 

 obliquely, above the cataract, at the point where the waters, 

 impelled by the slope of their bed, rush with extreme 

 violence toward the ledge from which they are precipitated. 

 We were overtaken by a storm, accompanied happily by no 

 wind, but the rain fell in torrents. After rowing for twenty 

 minutes, the pilot declared, that, far from gaining upon the 

 current, we were again approaching the raudal. These mo- 

 ments of uncertainty appeared to us very long : the Indians 

 spoke only in whispers, as they do always when they think 

 their situation perilous. They redoubled their eiforts, and 

 we arrived at nightfall, without any accident, in the port of 

 Maypures. 



Storms within the tropics are as short a they are violent. 

 The lightning had fallen twice near our boat, and had no 

 doubt struck the surface of the water. I mention this phe- 

 nomenon, because it is pretty generally believed in those 

 countries that the clouds, the surface of which is charged 

 with electricity, are at so great a height that the lightning 

 reaches the ground more rarely than in Europe. The night 

 was extremelv dark, and we could not in less than two 

 hours reach the village of Maypures. We were wet to the 

 skin. In proportion as the rain ceased, the zancudos re- 

 appeared, with that voracity which tipulary insects always 

 display immediately after a storm. My fellow-travellers 

 were uncertain whether it would be best to stop in the port 

 or proceed on our way on foot, in spite of the darkness of 

 the night. Father Zea was determined to reach his home, 

 lie had given directions for the construction of a large 

 house of two stories, which was to be begun by the Indians 

 of the mission. " You will there find," said he gravely, 

 " the same conveniences as in the open air ; I have neither 

 a bench nor a table, but you will not suffer so much from 

 the flies, which are less troublesome in the mission than 

 on the banks of the river." We followed the counsel jf 

 the missionary, who caused torches of copal to be lighted. 



