2942 Correspondence of Mr. Bates. 



fragments of the forest, which it tears away in its course. The forest 

 is of a more luxuriant character than the Rio Negro, and of a livelier 

 green, but melancholy from the appearance of its banks. The first 

 four clays we had a little wind, with which we spread sail, and made 

 a little progress ; from thence we had no more wind for upwards of 

 twenty days, and our only mode of progression was by warping, which 

 is in this fashion : two Indians go ahead in a boat, with a long, strong 

 rope, which they tie to a tree-stump on the bank of the river, and then 

 return and give the other end to those on board, who pull along till 

 the canoe arrives at the spot where it is secured ; the rope is then ga- 

 thered in, and the same process repeated. Of course a voyage thus 

 made becomes intolerably wearisome. Besides this, it was now the 

 height of the rainy season : some days and nights the rain came down 

 in torrents, pouring in upon us as we slept in our close little cabin ; 

 and in the day, when the sun came out, the heat was terrible, having 

 all the force of the equatorial sun, without the cool winds which tem- 

 per the heat down the river; add to this, swarms of three kinds of in- 

 sect pests, two by day and one by night. By day we had a little fly 

 called piung, which appears in swarms, seeking the bare hands and 

 feet, with a thirst of blood insatiable, which it sucks without making 

 an incision, leaving a minute, round, red spot, with itching and inflam- 

 mation. Some constitutions suffer greatly from this pest, the feet 

 swelling and causing lameness. Fortunately T suffered nothing except 

 the itching, and when I arrived at Ega had my hands and feet covered 

 with myriads of black spots. The other day pest is a small species 

 of Tabanus, allied to the English horse-fly {Hcematopota fluvialis), 

 which causes a pain like the prick of a hot needle, and leaves a wound, 

 whence the blood, inflamed by the intense heat, oozes out in profusion. 

 The night torment is the mosquito, which, soon as the day closes and 

 one expects a little repose, descends in swarms from the forest : for- 

 tunately the mosquito does not always appear, and in the wet weather 

 we were most nights free from it. To add to our sufferings, hunger 

 and bad food. I embarked good provisions, which were soon finished, 

 being divided with the Indians, and afterwards we had nothing but 

 rotten mandiocca, and when no fresh fish, semiputrid salt ditto. The 

 morning of the 27th I had the pleasure of seeing the splendid vessel 

 of Senor Henriqua, of Barra, cross the mouth of Solunocus, with all 

 sails set, descending the river for Para, with my collections and let- 

 ters for home on board. On the fourth and fifth days of our voyage 

 we passed several houses of settlers, called manacapuru : from thence 

 to Ega we were thirty days without seeing any human habitation. 



