226 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



few miles in advance, took a motion-picture of the entire 

 outfit, beginning the long journey through wildest Brazil 

 that would end — we knew not where. Unfortunately Mr. 

 Fiala was not present to take a film of the expedition when 

 it emerged at Manaos; the two pictures side by side would 

 have told an interesting story. 



A few hours' ride through forest and brush-covered coun- 

 try brought us to the Rio Sepotuba again, but quite some 

 distance above Tapirapoan, and we crossed the stream on 

 a pontoon made by laying a platform of boards across three 

 dugout canoes. There were a number of new palm-leaf 

 houses on the river-bank, so these were used for the night's 

 camp instead of erecting the tents. 



Next day we were in the saddle by nine, riding through 

 tall virgin forest with occasional stretches of sandy soil in 

 which an expanse of low bushes only grew. It was evident 

 as we penetrated farther into the interior that the forest 

 zone was fast disappearing, to be replaced by the vast cha- 

 padao; this latter type of country is high, nearly level, and 

 covered with widely scattered, stunted trees. The heat 

 was intense; there was no rain, but troublesome insects 

 were lacking. At three o'clock we entered an old clearing. 

 Formerly rice, plantains, mandioca, and corn had been culti- 

 vated here, but now the place was deserted and overgrown 

 with weeds. Kilometre 52, as the place was called, had 

 been an important camp of the telegraph commission while 

 work was being prosecuted in that region, but had long 

 since been abandoned. 



On January 23 a 32-kilometre ride took us to the site of 

 an old Indian village known as Aldeia Queimada, meaning 

 burnt settlement. A single hut was all that remained, and 

 in this lived two Indian women, each of whom had two 

 husbands and a number of small children. We were ad- 

 hering closely to the telegraph-line, following the wide 

 swath that had been cleared to protect the wires from 

 falling trees and branches, except when a short detour was 

 desirable to find a better crossing for some small stream. 



