176 VOYAGE DOWN THE EIO KEGEO. 



Portuguese settlements of the Rio Negro, the square so 

 characteristic of Spanish towns ; and the houses, instead 

 of having their roofs formed with two sides, have the slant 

 upon four, with a short ridge at the top. While the co- 

 mandantc was absorbed in the mysteries of our passports, 

 we were partaking of a cup of chocolate, with which deli- 

 cious beverage we were always welcomed to the home of 

 the Portuguese. This customary act of hospitality was a 

 new featui-e in our experiences, and one of which we heart- 

 ily approved. Supplying ourselves with cobres, or coppers, 

 the common currency on the river, we journeyed on a 

 couple of hours, when we lialted to breakfast upon a smoked 

 peccary, an animal about the size of a fox-squirrel. In 

 our culinary operations, where spits were required, great 

 caution was requisite in their selection, as some woods 

 possess such virulent properties, tliat meat roasted upon 

 them will prove fatal when eaten. Before partaking of a 

 meal our Indians were always careful to bathe in the river; 

 or, when tliis coiUd not be done with impunity, to pour 

 water over their persons with a calabash. The belief of 

 our Pao savant, that it was irmt/ malo to wash before eat- 

 ing, was no part of the creed of these children of the forest. 

 Soap is unknown among them ; but a substitute is found 

 'm a shrub, the leaves of which, by simply crushing in the 

 hand, yield a saponaceous substance that answers equally 

 well for cleaning the skin or clothes. 



All day our Indians pulled at the paddles, passing sev- 

 eral villages and conucos ; but nothing could be secured 

 for a meal until evening, when, at a little settlement, we 

 purchased, for a few cobres, a lai-ge fish-head, from which 

 we made a scanty rejiast. For three hours longer we 

 pushed on, our Indians keeping time -to their paddles with 

 their wild, monotonous chant. At length we moored to a 

 rock in the stream, upon which our men slept, while we 

 kept beneath our palm-leaf covering ; for showers were 



