200 



SCENERY. 



something in breadth a kind of frame had been ex- 

 tended over the gunwale in the hinder part of it ; but 

 the roof of leaves which covered it was so low that 

 the travellers were obliged to lie down, or sit nearly- 

 double, while in rainy weather the feet were liable 

 to be wetted. The natives, seated two and two, 

 were furnished with paddles three feet long, and 

 rowed with surprising uniformity to the cadence of 

 a monotonous and melancholy song. Small cages, 

 containing birds and monkeys, were suspended to 

 the shed, and the dried plants and instruments were 

 placed beneath it. To their numerous inconve- 

 niences was added the continual torment of the mos- 

 quitoes, which they were unable by any means to 

 alleviate. Every night, when they established their 

 watch, the collection of animals and instruments 

 occupied the centre, around which were placed first 

 their own hammocks, and then those of the Indians, 

 while fires were lighted to intimidate the jaguars. 

 At sunrise the monkeys in the cages answered the 

 cries of those in the forests, affording an affecting 

 display of sympathy between the captive and the 

 free. 



Above the deserted mission of Pararuma the river 

 is full of islands, and divides into several branches. 

 Its total breadth is about 6395 yards. The country 

 becomes more wooded. A granitic prism, termi- 

 nated by a flat surface covered with a tuft of trees, 

 rises to the height of 213 feet in the midst of the 

 forest. Farther on the river narrows ; and upon the 

 east is an eminence, on which the Jesuits formerly 

 maintained a garrison for protecting the missions 

 against the inroads of the Caribs, and for extending 

 what, in the Spanish colonies, was called the con- 

 quest of souls, which of course was effected through 

 the conquest of bodies. The soldiers made incur- 

 sions into the territories of the independent Indians, 

 killed all who offered resistance, burned their huts, 

 destroyed the plantations, and made prisoners of the 



