DEATH OF MAMORE. 



285 



the dog shot in the heart, close by the heads of the men, four of whom 

 were in the secret, while Pedro and the Indian were sleeping. We placed 

 great confidence in the watchfulness of Mamore ; from him we expected 

 a quick report of savages or wild animals. With him on watch we slept 

 without fear, as the Indians are more afraid of the bark of a large dog 

 than of the Brazilian soldiers. 



From what we had seen of the men, we were convinced they were 

 a rough, savage set, who would put us to death quite as unceremoni- 

 ously as the dog. They expressed an impudent dissatisfaction when I 

 ordered Titto to put a man on watch, and keep sentinel all night. We 

 lay till daylight, with our pistols prepared for an attack from any quar- 

 ter. The negro murderers on the highways of Peru are more despe- 

 rate and unmerciful than either the Spaniard or Mestizo ; so it is with 

 a half-civilized African negro. At daylight I was particular to let 

 every man of them see my revolver. We kept a close watch upon 

 them, both by night and by day. They had for some reason or other 

 unknown to us taken a dislike to Richards, who never gave them an 

 order except when he was left on shore to attend the portage of the 

 baggage. They were under an impression we were ignorant of what 

 they said when speaking their own language, as Titto and Pedro spoke 

 to me in Spanish. On one occasion, after the loss of Mamore, I over- 

 heard the ill-natured one, after Richards spoke to him about tossing 

 water into the boat with his paddle, say to the rest of the crew, " I 

 don't know whether I won't put a ball through that fellow yet, by acci- 

 dent /"• After which I had no confidence in any of them, and told 

 Richards our only safety remained in constant watchfulness, and the 

 good condition of our fire-arms. 



September 22. — The river below Bananeira falls is seventy-eight feet 

 deep and half a mile wide, passing through rocks and islands, where we 

 found the wild Muscovy duck. With a rapid current, we soon reached 

 the mouth of the Yata river, a small stream flowing from the territory 

 of Bolivia, not navigable for a vessel larger than a ship's boat. At " Pau 

 Grande" rapids, the country is hilly on both sides, and wooded with 

 large trees, from which fact the rapids derive their name. These rapids 

 are about five miles from those above, with a fall of fifteen feet in one 

 hundred yards. The boat was carefully passed through narrow chan- 

 nels among rocks fourteen feet high. Don Antonio came up over these 

 falls, when the river was flooded, by keeping close along shore. He 

 fastened the upper block of his tackle to large trees, or heavy rocks, 

 and by hard pulling, inch by inch, dragged his boats along. No 

 steamer could pass up or down "Pau Grande." At 9 a. m., light north- 



