288 



MOUTH OF RIO BENI. 



down their throats as they could possibly see by stretching their mouths 

 wide open. Their greatest curiosity seemed to be to explore the channel 

 down which so much of the results of their labor had passed. When they 

 saw their dirty, half-worn teeth, the holes in their ears, noses, and under T 

 lips, one of them poked her finger into her mouth through the lower 

 hole, and brutally laughed. They wore long hair behind, and dipt it 

 off square over the forehead, which gave them a wild appearance. The 

 women were very small ; their figures, feet, and hands resembled' those 

 of young girls. Their faces proved them to be rather old women. They 

 appear cheerful, laughing and making their remarks to each other about 

 us, while the men wore a surly, wicked expression of face. One of the 

 young men became very much out of temper with Pedro, because he 

 would not give all the fish-hooks he had for some arrows. The old man 

 seemed very much excited when he came alongside, as though he half 

 expected a fight. He was a middle-sized person, and chief of all the 

 Indians in his tribe who inhabit the Bolivian territory. He represents 

 his tribe as few in numbers and scattered over the country. Like the 

 women, the men have great holes in their noses and under-lips, but 

 nothing stuck in them. We supposed they were in undress on the 

 present occasion. The chief inquired the names of the different persons, 

 and wanted to know which was the "captain" of the party. The women 

 begged for beads, and assumed the most winning smiles when they saw 

 anything they wanted. We invited the chief to accompany us to the 

 next falls and assist us over. He shook his head, pointed to his stomach, 

 and made signs with distressed expression" of face that he would be sick. 

 He was then told we had more fish-hooks and knives ; if he brought 

 yuca and plantains we would trade at the falls. To this he consented, 

 but said his people and the Indians below, were not friendly, and that 

 the enemy generally whipped his people. 



Three miles below Lajens we came to the mouth of the Beni river. 

 This stream resembles the Mamore in color and width ; but while the 

 latter has a depth of one hundred and two feet, the former has only 

 fifty-four feet water. Temperature of Mamore water, 81°; of Beni, 82°. 

 Near the mOuth of the Beni there are islands. The whole width of 

 the river is about six hundred yards. The junction of these two streams 

 forms the head of the great Madeira, which is one mile wide. 



In the month of October, 1846, Seiior Jose Augustin Palacios, then 

 governor of the province of Mojos, explored the falls in the Mamore" 

 and Madeira by order of the government of Bolivia. We find the map 

 of Seiior Palacios a remarkably correct one. He ascended the Beni for 

 a short distance, finding a depth of seventy feet water to the foot of the 



