HO TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. {December, 



The Padre was a very well-educated and gentlemanly man, 

 and made us as comfortable as he could, though, as he had 

 only two small rooms to share with us, he was putting himself 

 to much inconvenience on our account. He is already known 

 to the English reader from having accompanied Prince 

 Adalbert of Prussia up the Xingu, and he well deserves all the 

 encomiums the Prince has bestowed upon him. He was very 

 fond of enigmas, which he amused himself and his friends by 

 inventing and solving. I much delighted him by turning such 

 of our best as would bear the process into Portuguese ; and I 

 also translated for him the old puzzle on the word "tobacco" 

 - — in Portuguese, "tabaco," which did just as well — and 

 much pleased him. I took here some fine insects, but it was 

 too late in the season : from July to October Villa Nova would, 

 I have no doubt, be a fine locality for an entomologist. 



A week passed away, and the men came not, and as I was 

 very anxious to be off, the Padre agreed with a trader to let me 

 have three of his Indians, he taking instead those that the 

 Commandante would probably soon send for me. One of the 

 Indians, however, did not choose to come, and was driven to the 

 canoe by severe lashes, and at the point of the bayonet. He 

 was very furious and sullen when he came on board, vowing 

 that he would not go with me, and would take vengeance on 

 those who had forced him on board. He complained bitterly 

 of being treated like a slave, and I could not much blame him. 

 I tried what I could to pacify him, offering him good pay and 

 plenty to eat and drink, but to no purpose ; he declared he 

 would go back from the first place we stopped at, and kill the 

 man who had struck him. At the same time he was very 

 civil, assuring me that he felt no ill-will against me* as I had 

 had nothing to do with it. It was afternoon when we started, 

 and about sunset we stayed to make supper ; and then the ill- 

 used Indian politely wished me good-bye, and taking his 

 bundle of clothes returned through the forest to the village. 

 As I could not go on with two only, I sent one of them back 

 early in the morning to get another in the place of the one who 

 had run away, which he did, and returning about ten o'clock, 

 we pursued our journey. 



We went along slowly, now and then sailing, but generally 

 rowing, and suffering much annoyance from the rain, which 

 was almost incessant. The mosquitoes, too, wer2 a great 



