334 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS 



placing himself at the helm, and the men standing by the 

 jib and foresail, so as to be ready, if we dragged, to attempt 

 the passage of the Marai spit, which was now almost dead 

 to leeward. Our little bit of iron, however, held its place ; 

 the bottom being fortunately not so sandy as in most other 

 parts of the coast ; but our weak cable then began to 

 cause us anxiety. We remained in this position all day 

 without food, for everything was tossing about in the hold ; 

 provision-chests, baskets, kettles, and crockery. The 

 breeze increased in strength towards the evening, when 

 the sun set fiery red behind the misty hills on the western 

 shore, and the gloom of the scene was heightened by the 

 strange contrasts of colour ; the inky water and the lurid 

 gleam of the sky. Heavy seas beat now and then against 

 the prow of our vessel with a force that made her shiver. 

 If we had gone ashore in this place, all my precious col- 

 lections would have been inevitably lost ; but we our- 

 selves could have scrambled easily to land, and re-em- 

 barked with Senhor Honorio, who had remained behind 

 in the Pini, and would pass in the course of two or three 

 days. When night came I lay down exhausted with 

 watching and fatigue, and fell asleep, as my men had done 

 some time before. About nine o'clock, I was awoke by 

 the montaria bumping against the sides of the vessel, 

 which had veered suddenly round, and the full moon, 

 previously astern, then shone full in the cabin. The 

 wind had abruptly ceased, giving place to light puffs 

 from the eastern shore, and leaving a long swell rolling 

 into the shoaly bay. 



After this I resolved not to move a step beyond Paquia- 

 tuba without an additional man, and one who understood 

 the navigation of the river at this season. We reached 

 the landing-place at ten o'clock, and anchored within the 

 mouth of the creek. In the morning I walked through 

 the beautiful shady alleys of the forest, which were water- 

 paths in June when we touched here in ascending the 

 river, to the house of Inspector Cypriano. After an in- 

 finite deal of trouble I succeeded in persuading him to 

 furnish me with another Indian. There are about thirty 

 families established in this place, but the able-bodied men 

 had been nearly all drafted ofiE within the last few weeks 

 by the Government, to accompany a military expedition 

 against runaway negroes, settled in villages in the interior. 

 Senhor Cypriano was a pleasant-looking and extremely 



