3i8 Through the Brazilian Wilderness 



ages, however. A good doctor is an absolute necessity 

 on an exploring expedition in such a country as that we 

 were in, under penalty of a frightful mortality among 

 the members ; and the necessary risks and hazards are so 

 great, the chances of disaster so large, that there is no 

 warrant for increasing them by the failure to take all 

 feasible precautions. 



The next day we made another long portage round 

 some rapids, and camped at night still in the hot, wet, sun- 

 less atmosphere of the gorge. The following day, April 

 6, we portaged past another set of rapids, which proved 

 to be the last of the rapids of the chasm. For some kilo- 

 metres we kept passing hills, and feared lest at any mo- 

 ment we might again find ourselves fronting another 

 mountain gorge; with, in such case, further days of 

 grinding and perilous labor ahead of us, while our men 

 were disheartened, weak, and sick. Most of them had 

 already begun to have fever. Their condition was in- 

 evitable after over a month's uninterrupted work of the 

 hardest kind in getting through the long series of rapids 

 we had just passed ; and a long further delay, accompa- 

 nied by wearing labor, would have almost certainly meant 

 that the weakest among our party would have begun to 

 die. There were already two of the camaradas who 

 were too weak to help the others, their condition being 

 such as to cause us serious concern. 



However, the hills gradually sank into a level plain, 

 and the river carried us through it at a rate that enabled 

 us during the remainder of the day to reel off thirty-six 

 kilometres, a record that for the first time held out prom- 

 ise. Twice tapirs swam the river while we passed, but 



