2p.2 Through the Brazilian Wilderness 



nearly a metre for every kilometre we made in advance ; 

 and it hardly seemed as if this state of things could last, 

 for the aneroid showed that we were getting very low 

 down. How I longed for a big Maine birch-bark, such 

 as that in which I once went down the Mattawamkeag at 

 high water ! It would have slipped down these rapids as 

 a girl trips through a country dance. But our loaded 

 dugouts would have shoved their noses under every curl. 

 The country was lovely. The wide river, now in one 

 channel, now in several channels, wound among hills; the 

 shower-freshened forest glistened in the sunlight; the 

 many kinds of beautiful palm-fronds and the huge paco- 

 va-leaves stamped the peculiar look of the tropics on the 

 whole landscape — it was like passing by water through a 

 gigantic botanical garden. In the afternoon we got an 

 elderly toucan, a piranha, and a reasonably edible side- 

 necked river-turtle; so we had fresh meat again. We 

 slept as usual in earshot of rapids. We had been out six 

 weeks, and almost all the time we had been engaged in 

 wearily working our own way down and past rapid after 

 rapid. Rapids are by far the most dangerous enemies of 

 explorers and travellers who journey along these rivers. 

 Next day was a repetition of the same work. All the 

 morning was spent in getting the loads to the foot of the 

 rapids at the head of which we were encamped, down 

 which the canoes were run empty. Then for thirty or 

 forty minutes we ran down the swift, twisting river, the 

 two lashed canoes almost coming to grief at one spot 

 where a swirl of the current threw them against some 

 trees on a small submerged islaid. Then we came to an- 

 other set of rapids, carried the baggage down past them, 



