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Macario, one of our best men. Here we camped, while 

 Rondon, Lyra, Kermit, and Antonio Correa explored 

 what was ahead. They were absent until mid-after- 

 noon. Then they returned with the news that we were 

 among ranges of low mountains, utterly different in 

 formation from the high plateau region to which the 

 first rapids, those we had come to on March 2, be- 

 longed. Through the first range of these mountains 

 the river ran in a gorge, some three kilometres long, 

 immediately ahead of us. The ground was so rough 

 and steep that it would be impossible to drag the canoes 

 over it and difficult enough to carry the loads ; and the 

 rapids were so bad, containing several falls, one of at 

 least ten metres in height, that it was doubtful how 

 many of the canoes we could get down them. Kermit, 

 who was the only man with much experience of rope 

 work, was the only man who believed we could get 

 the canoes down at all ; and it was, of course, possible 

 that we should have to build new ones at the foot to 

 supply the place of any that were lost or left behind. 

 In view of the length and character of the portage, and 

 of all the unpleasant possibilities that were ahead, and 

 of the need of keeping every pound of food, it was 

 necessary to reduce weight in every possible way and 

 to throw away everything except the barest necessities. 

 We thought we had reduced our baggage before, but 

 now we cut to the bone, We kept the fly for all six of 

 us to sleep under. Kermit's shoes had gone, thanks to 

 the amount of work in the water which he had been 

 doing ; and he took the pair I had been wearing, while 

 I put on my spare pair. In addition to the clothes I 

 wore, I kept one set of pyjamas, a spare pair of drawers, a 

 spare pair of socks, half a dozen handkerchiefs, my wash- 

 kit, my pocket medicine- case, and a little bag containing 



