22 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



One nighty during a heavy downpour of rain, we were sud- 

 denly awakened by a medley of cries, imprecations, shrieks and 

 yells. Flashing the strong electric bulb we saw through the 

 sheets of rain a very large curiara run afoul of our shore line; 

 piled high with luggage, with several screaming women 

 perched high on the bundles and boxes. Four pigs, tied feet 

 upward, swelled the chorus in their fear of a watery grave and 

 four men told us what they thought of us in the present and 

 where they hoped we would spend the future centuries until 

 the world's end. Our Captain was out of his hammock in a 

 moment and in tremendous basso profundo he silenced all, 

 save the pigs, and rapidly gave directions to our crew to row 

 upstream against the swirling current, clear the curiara and 

 shift it outside the danger zone. Between breaths, he inci- 

 dentally described minutely to the terrified natives what he 

 knew would be the ultimate fate of such fools as tried to 

 descend a river on the wrong side. It was a miracle that the 

 whole outfit did not overturn — a narrow dug-out, measur- 

 ing about twenty feet in length by two in width, striking full 

 force against a rope in the blackness of the storm. 



Early in the morning the roaring of the monkeys would 

 awaken us, and after a hasty breakfast we would start out in 

 our litde boat. At this time everything is dripping and 

 fresh with dew, and there is a bite and tang in the air which 

 reminds us of Canadian dawns. It is still dusk, and the 

 lines of mangroves on either side show only as black walls. 

 For some minutes hardly a sound breaks the stillness except 

 the distant roars and the drip, drip of our paddles. Then a 

 sudden splashing and breaking of branches shows that wc 

 are discovered by a pair or more of capybaras {Hydrochoerus 

 capybara), those enormous rodents which would pass as 

 guinea pigs in Gulliver's land of giants. Now an overhang- 

 ing branch drenches us as we brush against it, and as it is 

 pushed aside a whole armful of orchids comes away, the 



