278 



MOUTH OF THE ITENEZ. 



why it was thrown into the current. On being told that the bottle 

 would go to North America in the water, if undisturbed, he told the 

 other negroes, the gentleman had sent a letter home in that bottle. A 

 tall, ugly looking negro in the bows, answered in Portuguese, " It don't 

 go there." The negroes all engaged in an argument upon the subject. 

 Titto said it would certainly go somewhere ; that it could not go to 

 Matto Grosso, because the current of the river flowed from there to the 

 fort. A little sleek black, by the side of the other, shook himself, 

 laughed out loud, and paddling with all his might, said, " Come, boys, 

 let us get along down ; that nigger in the stern of the boat is right." 



On the evening of the 16th of September we landed silently on the 

 sand flat, near the mouth of the Itenez, for the purpose of making an 

 observation upon the stars for latitude. The men stood at ease with 

 their arms, while Richards drove the musquitoes away with a bunch of 

 green bushes, for the observer is constantly under the necessity of being 

 fanned. We were on the Brazilian shore, while a great prairie-fire lit 

 up the night for the savage " Houbarayos" on the Bolivia side of the 

 river. We succeeded in getting a good observation, and after continu- 

 ing down stream some distance, swung to a snag in mid-channel during 

 the night. 



Early in the morning of the 17th of September we came to the 

 junction where the Itenez empties into the Mamore. The beach was 

 lined with water-fowl ; alligators lay on the sand like canoes, half out 

 of water ; porpoises were playing about, while fish were jumping. Even 

 the prairie and forest birds seem to come down to join the congrega- 

 tion. It was evident, by the conduct of the birds and the fishes, that 

 they had all collected together in one place for some particular public 

 purpose. 



• The water of the Itenez is 4° warmer than the water of the Mamore. 

 During the cool nights, the fishes and the birds sleep in or by the 

 warmer water, which protects them. We saw a wild hog feeding near 

 the bank ; he, too, had been sleeping near the warm bed of the Itenez. 

 There are exceptions to this practice, both among the fishes and birds ; 

 some of the fish ascend the muddy stream, while others seek the clear. 

 Many fish we recognise in the Mamore, like those found in the northern 

 rivers of the United States ; while those in the Itenez seem to take after 

 families we had known living in streams flowing through the sandy soil of 

 Florida. The porpoises of the sea are of a deep blue color ; those of the 

 turbid waters of the Mamore are lighter. In the limpid waters of the 

 Itenez, the porpoise has a light white and pink color, though all puff 

 and jump above the surface of the water, and are of the same size, 



