260 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



casual search failed to reveal the new nest, but to my mind 

 there was no doubt that the young birds had been removed 

 upon the approach of danger; one of the adults was marked 

 in a peculiar manner, so that there was no mistake in the 

 identity of the pair. Doubtless this was an exceptional 

 case, and in the vast majority of instances young birds 

 perish in common with the other creatures which are over- 

 whelmed by the ants. 



On the day following our arrival at the little village we 

 boarded a waiting launch sent from the Madeira to meet 

 us — the Jayme, she was called — and started on the final 

 stretch down the stream; within an hour we reached the 

 boundary-line of Matto Grosso and entered the great state 

 of Amazonas. The Gy-Parana had assumed the propor- 

 tions of a mighty river; it is doubtless one of the largest, if 

 not the longest affluent of the Madeira, and frequently the 

 distance between banks was not less than half a league. 

 The water was yellow and there was little current; frequently 

 we ran into drifts of floating trees, branches, and patches of 

 grass that had been washed out of the flooded areas. There 

 was no opening in the tall, tropical forest which stretched 

 into the distance and disappeared in one long, unbroken 

 vista of deepest green. Toward evening we reached the 

 mouth of the Gy-Parana, and entered the vast, muddy 

 expanse of the Madeira; we crossed to the other side and 

 landed at a small port called Calama, the home of Senhor 

 Asensi, owner of the rubber-camps we had passed on the 

 last days of our journey down the river. Senhor Asensi 

 very courteously placed his comfortable home at our dis- 

 posal and suggested that we remain as his guests until we 

 had in some measure recuperated from our rather trying 

 experiences, and we were glad to accept his hospitality. 

 Practically every member of the party had suffered from 

 frequent and severe attacks of fever, although half a gram 

 of quinine had been taken by each one daily, and some of 

 the camaradas were so ill that they had to be carried ashore ; 

 the latter were sent to Manaos on the first available steamer 



