i49] VOYAGE TO THE RIO NEGRO. in 



torture : night after night we were kept in a state of feverish 

 irritation, unable to close our eyes for a moment. Our Indians 

 suffered quite as much as ourselves : it is a great mistake to 

 suppose that the mosquitoes do not bite them. You heai 

 them, all night long, slapping on their bare bodies to drive 

 their tormentors off; or they will completely roll themselves up 

 in the sail, suffering the pangs of semi-suffocation to escape 

 from the irritating bites. There are particular spots along 

 the banks of the river where there are no mosquitoes ; and no 

 inducement would make our men paddle so hard as the proba- 

 bility of reaching one of these places before midnight, and 

 being enabled to enjoy the comforts of sleep till morning. 



Towards the end of December, we reached the little village 

 of Serpa, where we found a festa or procession going on, a 

 number of women and girls, with ribands and flowers, dancing 

 along to the church with the priest at their head, in a most 

 ludicrous manner. In the evening we went to the house where 

 the dancing took place, and had some wine and sweetmeats. 

 We bought here some coffee and a large basket of plantains. 

 On Christmas day we reached a house where they had just 

 caught a quantity of fish, and we wanted to buy some, which 

 was refused, but they gave us a fine fat piece for our dinner. 

 We bought some eggs, and when we stopped for the day con- 

 cocted a farinha pudding, and so, with our fish and coffee, 

 made a very tolerable Christmas dinner, while eating which 

 our thoughts turned to our distant home, and to dear friends 

 who at their more luxurious tables would think of us far away 

 upon the Amazon. 



