Down an Unknown River 323 



and made camp long after dark in the rain — a. good ex- 

 ercise in patience for those of us who were still suffer- 

 ing somewhat from fever. No one was in really buoyant 

 health. For some weeks we had been sharing part of the 

 contents of our boxes with the camaradas ; but our food 

 was not very satisfying to them. They needed quantity 

 and the mainstay of each of their meals was a mass of 

 palmitas ; but on this day they had no time to cut down 

 palms. We finally decided to run these rapids with the 

 empty canoes, and they came down in safety. On such 

 a trip it is highly undesirable to take any save necessary 

 risks, for the consequences of disaster are too serious; 

 and yet if no risks are taken the progress is so slow that 

 disaster comes anyhow; and it is necessary perpetually 

 to vary the terms of the perpetual working compromise 

 between rashness and overcaution. This night we had 

 a very good fish to eat, a big silvery fellow called a pes- 

 cada, of a kind we had not caught before. 



One day Trigueiro failed to embark with the rest of 

 us, and we had to camp where we were next day to find 

 him. Easter Sunday we spent in the fashion with which 

 we were altogether too familiar. We only ran in a clear 

 course for ten minutes all told, and spent eight hours in 

 portaging the loads past rapids down which the canoes 

 were run ; the balsa was almost swamped. This day we 

 caught twenty-eight big fish, mostly piranhas, and every- 

 body had all he could eat for dinner, and for breakfast 

 the following morning. 



The forenoon of the following day was a repetition of 

 this wearisome work ; but late in the afternoon the river 

 began to run in long quiet reaches. We made fifteen kil- 



