HUNTING EXCURSION 



very scanty ; a boiled fowl with rice, a slice of roasted 

 pirarucu, farinha, and bananas. Each one partook very 

 sparingly, some of the young men contenting themselves 

 with a plateful of rice. One of the apprentices stood 

 behind with a bowl of water and a towel, with which 

 each guest washed his fingers and rinsed his mouth after 

 the meal. They stayed all night : the large open shed 

 was filled with hammocks, which were slung from pole 

 to pole ; and on retiring, Raimundo gave orders for 

 their breakfast in the morning. 



Raimundo called me at two o'clock, when we em- 

 barked, he, his older apprentice Joaquim, and myself, 

 in a shady place where it was so dark that I could see 

 neither canoe nor water, taking with us five dogs. We 

 glided down a winding creek where huge trunks of trees 

 slanted across close overhead, and presently emerged 

 into the Murucupi. A few yards further on we entered 

 the broader channel of the Aitituba. This we crossed, 

 and entered another narrow creek on the opposite side. 

 Here the ebb tide was against us, and we had great 

 difficulty in making progress. After we had struggled 

 against the powerful current a distance of two miles, 

 we came to a part where the ebb tide ran in the op- 

 posite direction, showing that we had crossed the water- 

 shed. The tide flows into this channel or creek at both 

 ends simultaneously, and meets in the middle, although 

 there is apparently no difference of level, and the breadth 

 of the water is the same. The tides are extremely in- 

 tricate throughout all the infinite channels and creeks 

 which intersect the lands of the Amazons delta. The 

 moon now broke forth and lighted up the trunks of 

 colossal trees, the leaves of monstrous Jupati palms which 

 arched over the creek, and revealed groups of arborescent 

 arums standing like rows of spectres on its banks. We 

 had a glimpse now and then into the black depths of the 

 forest, where all was silent except the shrill stridulation 

 of wood-crickets. Now and then a sudden plunge in the 

 water ahead would startle us, caused by heavy fruit or 

 some nocturnal animal dropping from the trees. The 

 two Indians here rested on their paddles and allowed the 

 canoe to drift with the tide. A pleasant perfume came 

 from the forest, which Raimundo said proceeded from a 

 cane-field. He told me that all this land was owned 

 by large proprietors at Para, who had received grants 



