150 Through the Brazilian Wilderness 



and the vines had united into a great fig-tree. Wate 

 stood in black pools at the foot of. the murdered trees, an( 

 of the trees that had murdered them. There was some 

 thing sinister and evil in the dark stillness of the grove 

 it seemed as if sentient beings had writhed themselvei 

 round and were strangling other sentient beings. 



We passed through wonderfully beautiful woods ol 

 tall palms, the ouaoua^a palm — wawasa palm, as it shoulc 

 be spelled in English. The trunks rose tall and strong and 

 slender, and the fronds were branches twenty or thirtj 

 feet long, with the many long, narrow green blades start- 

 ing from the midrib at right angles in pairs. Round the 

 ponds stood stately burity palms, rising like huge col- 

 umns, with great branches that looked like fans, as the 

 long, stiff blades radiated from the end of the midrib. 

 One tree was gorgeous with the brilliant hues of a flock 

 of party-colored macaws. Green parrots flew shrieking 

 overhead. 



Now and then we were bitten and stung by the ven- 

 omous fire-ants, and ticks crawled upon us. Once we 

 were assailed by more serious foes, in the shape of a nest 

 of maribundi wasps, not the biggest kind, but about the 

 size of our hornets. We were at the time passing through 

 dense jungle, under tall trees, in a spot where the down 

 timber, holes, tangled creepers, and thorns made the 

 going difficult. The leading men were not assailed, al- 

 though they were now and then cutting the trail. Colonel 

 Rondon and I were in the middle of the column, and the 

 swarm attacked us ; both of us were badly stung on the 

 face, neck, and hands, the colonel even more severely than 

 I was. He wheeled and rode to the rear and I to the 



