198 ACROSS NHAMBIQUARA LAND [chap, vii 



with them. They feasted most of the night. Their 

 houses contained their hammocks, baskets, and other 

 belongings, and they owned some poultry. In one 

 house was a tiny parakeet, very much at home, and 

 familiar, but by no means friendly, with strangers. 

 There are wild Nhambiquaras in the neighbourhood, and 

 recently several of these had menaced the two ferrymen 

 with an attack, even shooting arrows at them. The 

 ferrymen had driven them off by firing their rifles in 

 the air ; and they expected and received the Colonel's 

 praise for their self-restraint ; for the Colonel is doing 

 all he can to persuade the Indians to stop their blood- 

 feuds. The rifles were short and light Winchester car- 

 bines, of the kind so universally used by the rubber- 

 gatherers and other adventurous wanderers in the forest 

 wilderness of Brazil. There were a number of rubber- 

 trees in the neighbourhood, by the way. 



We enjoyed a good bath in the Burity, although it 

 was impossible to make headway by swimming against 

 the racing current. There were few mosquitoes. On 

 the other hand, various kinds of piums were a little too 

 abundant ; they vary from things like small gnats to 

 things like black flies. The small stingless bees have 

 no fear and can hardly be frightened away when they 

 light on the hands or face ; but they never bite, and 

 merely cause a slight tickhng as they crawl over the 

 skin. There were some big bees, however, which, 

 although they crawled about harmlessly after lighting 

 if they were undisturbed, yet stung fiercely if they 

 were molested. The insects were not ordinarily a 

 serious bother, but there were occasional hours when 

 they were too numerous for comfort, and now and then 

 I had to do my writing in a head-net and gauntlets. 



The night we reached the Burity it rained heavily, 



