THE DESCENT OF THE RIO GY-PARANA 249 



A quarter of an hour after starting we reached the 

 camp of the telegraphic commission and made a short stop 

 to take aboard a number of men who were suffering with 

 fever and beri-beri; shattered wrecks of humanity whose 

 only hope of life lay in flight. I saw a number of the ca- 

 maradas who had come across Matto Grosso with us, and 

 it was surprising to note the great change which only two 

 weeks in the steaming, insect-infested forest had wrought; 

 several of them were already suffering from violent attacks 

 of malaria, and their faces were colorless and sallow; others 

 who had been in the region longer stared at the batelao 

 with sunken, lustreless eyes in which not even a vestige of 

 interest in our visit or of hope was evident; a few had ap- 

 parently reached the stage where the sight of the twelve 

 newly made mounds on the hilltop no longer aroused feel- 

 ings of dread or apprehension, but rather of indifference 

 tempered with longing for a welcome release. 



The Commemoracao, the headwater branch of the Gy- 

 Parana, on which we were, is a deep river from three hun- 

 dred to a thousand feet wide, with reddish water and a 

 swift current. It was not necessary for the men to ply the 

 oars except when rounding some sharp bend where steerage- 

 way was required, and this was fortunate, as it rained so 

 much of the time that the men were glad to seek the pro- 

 tection offered by the covered portion of the boat. In the 

 intervals between the deluging showers the sun blazed down 

 mercilessly; trees on both sides of the narrow lane of water 

 sparkled as if bedecked with jewels. In places the forest 

 rose from the river's edge in sheer walls of variegated green ; 

 tree-trunks, brush, and palms united into one solid battle- 

 ment by mosses, climbing lilies, and ensnaring creepers. 

 Again, clumps of graceful ita-palms leaned far out over the 

 water and then rose in a series of stately, feather-crowned 

 columns. At frequent intervals we had glimpses of the 

 animal life that lurked within the impenetrable barrier of 

 the forest fastness. Monkeys were especially plentiful, and 

 within an hour after starting we had seen four distinct spe- 



