Across Nhambiquara Land 247 



march three days to the Gy-Parana, and then descend it, 

 and continue down the Madeira to Manaos. Rondon, 

 Lyra, the doctor, Cherrie, Kermit, and I, with sixteen 

 paddlers, in seven canoes, were to descend the Duvida, 

 and find out whether it led into the Gy-Parana, into the 

 Madeira, or into the Tapajos. If within a few days it 

 led into the Gy-Parana, our purpose was to return and 

 descend the Ananas, whose outlet was also unknown. 

 Having this in view, we left a fortnight's provisions for 

 our party of six at Bonofacio. We took with us pro- 

 visions for about fifty days ; not full rations, for we hoped 

 in part to live on the country — on fish, game, nuts, and 

 palm-tops. Our personal baggage was already well cut 

 down: Cherrie, Kermit, and I took the naturalist's fly to 

 sleep under, and a very light little tent extra for any one 

 who might fall sick. Rondon, Lyra, and the doctor took 

 one of their own tents. The things that we carried were 

 necessities — food, medicines, bedding, instruments for 

 determining the altitude and longitude and latitude — 

 except a few books, each in small compass: Lyra's were 

 in German, consisting of two tiny volumes of Goethe and 

 Schiller ; Kermit's were in Portuguese ; mine, all in En- 

 glish, included the last two volumes of Gibbon, the plays 

 of Sophocles, More's "Utopia," Marcus Aurelius, and 

 Epictetus, the two latter lent me by a friend. Major Ship- 

 ton of the regulars, our military attache at Buenos Aires. 

 If our canoe voyage was prosperous we would gradu- 

 ally lighten the loads by eating the provisions. If we 

 met with accidents, such as losing canoes and men in the 

 rapids, or losing men in encounters with Indians, or if 

 we encountered overmuch fever and dysentery, the loads 



