VISTA ALEGRE 



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an idiotic stare at the intruder, and then set off running 

 along the pathway, I ran after it, and it then stopped 

 as a timid dog would do, crouching down, and permitting 

 me to seize it by the neck and carry it off. 



We lost here another of our crew ; and thus, at the 

 commencement of our voyage, had before us the prospect 

 of being forced to return, from sheer want of hands to 

 manage the canoe. Senhor Gomez, to whom we had 

 brought letters of introduction from Senhor Joao Augusto 

 Correia, a Brazilian gentleman of high standing at Para, 

 tried what he could do to induce the canoe-men of his 

 neighbourhood to engage with us, but it was a vain en- 

 deavour. The people of these parts seemed to be above 

 working for wages. They are naturally indolent, and 

 besides, have all some little business or plantation of 

 their own, which gives them a livelihood with independ- 

 ence. It is difficult to obtain hands under any circum- 

 stances, but it was particularly so in our case, from being 

 foreigners, and suspected, as was natural amongst ignorant 

 people, of being strange in our habits. At length, our 

 host lent us two of his slaves to help us on another stage, 

 namely, to the village of Baiao, where we had great hopes 

 of having this, our urgent want, supplied by the military 

 commandant of the district. 



Sept. 2nd. — The distance from Vista Alegre to Baia5 

 is about twenty-five miles. We had but little wind, and 

 our men were therefore obliged to row the greater part 

 of the way. The oars used in such canoes as ours are 

 made by tying a stout paddle to the end of a Jong pole 

 by means of woody lianas. The men take their stand 

 on a raised deck, formed by a few rough planks placed 

 over the arched covering in the fore part of the vessel, 

 and pull with their back to the stern. We started at 

 6 a.m., and about sunset reached a point where the west 

 channel of the river, along which we had been travelling 

 since we left Cameta, joined a broader middle one, and 

 formed with it a great expanse of water. The islands 

 here seem to form two pretty regular lines, dividing the 

 great river into three channels. As we progressed slowly, 

 we took the montaria, and went ashore, from time to 

 time, to the houses, which were numerous on the river 

 banks as well as on the larger islands. In low situations 

 they had a very unfinished appearance, being mere frame- 



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