CHAPTER VII 



WITH A MULE-TRAIN ACROSS NHAMBIQUARA LAND 



From this point we were to enter a still wilder region, 

 the land of the naked Nhambiquaras. On February 3 

 the weather cleared and we started with the mule-train 

 and two ox-carts. Fiala and Lieutenant Lauriadd 

 stayed at Utiarity to take canoes and go down the 

 Papagaio, which had not been descended by any scientific 

 party, and perhaps by no one. They were then to 

 descend the Juruena and Tapajos, thereby performing 

 a necessary part of the work of the expedition. Our 

 remaining party consisted of Colonel Rondon, Lieutenant 

 Lyra, the doctor, Oliveira, Cherrie, Miller, Kermit, and 

 myself. On the Juruena we expected to meet the pack 

 ox-train with Captain Amilcar and Lieutenant Mello ; 

 the other Brazilian members of the party had returned. 

 We had now begun the difficult part of the expedition. 

 The pium flies were becoming a pest. There was much 

 fever and beriberi in the country we were entering. 

 The feed for the animals was poor ; the rains had made 

 the trails slippery and difficult ; and many, both of the 

 mules and the oxen, were already weak, and some had 

 to be abandoned. We left the canoe, the motor, and 

 the gasolene ; we had hoped to try them on the 

 Amazonian rivers, but we were obliged to cut down 

 everything that was not absolutely indispensable. 



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