260 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



path and laid the logs for rollers, while Kermit dragged 

 the dugouts up the bank from the water with block and 

 tackle, with strain of rope and muscle. Then they joined 

 forces, as over the uneven ground it needed the united 

 strength of all their men to get the heavy dugouts along. 

 Meanwhile the colonel with one attendant measured the 

 distance, and then went on a long hunt, but saw no game. 

 I strolled down beside the river for a couple of miles, but 

 also saw nothing. In the dense tropical forest of the 

 Amazonian basin hunting is very difficult, especially for 

 men who are trying to pass through the country as rapidly 

 as possible. On such a trip as ours getting game is largely 

 a matter of chance. 



On the following day Lyra and Kermit brought down 

 the canoes and loads, with hard labor, to the little beach 

 by the three palms where our tents were pitched. Many 

 pacovas grew round about. The men used their immense 

 leaves, some of which were twelve feet long and two and 

 a half feet broad, to roof the flimsy shelters under which 

 they hung their hammocks. I went into the woods, but 

 in the tangle of vegetation it would have been a mere 

 hazard had I seen any big animal. Generally the woods 

 •^ were silent and empty. Now and then little troops of 

 birds of many kinds passed — wood-hewers, ant-thrushes, 

 tanagers, flycatchers; as in the spring and fall similar 

 troops of warblers, chickadees, and nuthatches pass through 

 our northern woods. On the rocks and on the great trees 

 by the river grew beautiful white and lilac orchids — the 

 sobralia, of sweet and delicate fragrance. For the moment 

 my own books seemed a trifle heavy, and perhaps I would 

 have found the day tedious if Kermit had not lent me the 



