SUDDEN STORM 



153 



The natives are very fond of the bird nevertheless, and 

 keep it in their houses for the sake of seeing the irascible 

 creature expand its beautiful frill of feathers, which it 

 readily does when excited. The men returned with a 

 large quantity of fish. I was surprised at the great 

 variety of species ; the prevailing kind was a species of 

 Loricaria, a foot in length, and wholly encased in bony 

 armour. It abounds at certain seasons in shallow water. 

 The flesh is dry, but very palatable. They brought also 

 a small alligator, which they called Jacarecurua, and said 

 it was a kind found only in shallow creeks. It was not 

 more than two feet in length, although full grown ac- 

 cording to the statement of the Indians, who said it was 

 a * mai d'ovos *, or mother of eggs, as they had pillaged 

 the nest, which they had found near the edge of the water. 

 The eggs were rather larger than a hen's, and regularly 

 oval in shape, presenting a rough hard surface of shell. 

 Unfortunately the alligator was cut up ready for cooking 

 when we returned to the schooner, and I could not there- 

 fore make a note of its peculiarities. The pieces were 

 skewered and roasted over the fire, each man being his 

 own cook. I never saw this species of alligator after- 

 wards. 



October '^vd. — About midnight the wind, for which we 

 had long been waiting, sprang up, the men weighed 

 anchor, and we were soon fairly embarked on the Ama- 

 zons. I rose long before sunrise to see the great river 

 by moonlight. There was a spanking breeze, and the 

 vessel was bounding gaily over the waters. The channel 

 along which we were sailing was only a narrow arm of 

 the river, about two miles in width : the total breadth 

 at this point is more than 20 miles, but the stream is 

 divided into three parts by a series of large islands. The 

 river, notwithstanding this limitation of its breadth, had 

 a most majestic appearance. It did not present that 

 lake-like aspect which the waters of the Para and To- 

 cantins affect, but had all the swing, so to speak, of a 

 vast flowing stream. The ochre-coloured turbid waters 

 offered also a great contrast to the rivers belonging to 

 the Para system. The channel [formed a splendid reach, 

 sweeping from south-west to north-east, with a horizon 

 of water and sky both up stream and down. At 1 1 a.m. 

 we arrived at Gurupa, a small village situated on a rocky 

 bank 30 or 40 feet high. Here we landed^ and I had 



