336 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS 



nearest shelter to avoid being driven back faster than we 

 came. 



On the 2nd of October we reached Point Cajetuba and 

 had a pleasant day ashore. The river scenery in this 

 neighbourhood is of the greatest beauty. A few houses 

 of settlers are seen at the bottom of the broad bay of 

 Aramana-i at the foot of a range of richly- timbered hills, 

 the high beach of snow-white sand stretching in a bold 

 curve from point to point. The opposite shores of the 

 river are ten or eleven miles distant, but towards the north 

 is a clear horizon of water and sky. The country near 

 Point Cajetuba is similar to the neighbourhood of San- 

 tarem : namely, campos with scattered trees. We 

 gathered a large quantity of wild fruit : Caju, Umiri, and 

 Aapiranga. The Umiri berry (Humirium floribundum) 

 is a black drupe similar in appearance to the damascene 

 plum, and not greatly unlike it in taste. The Aapiranga 

 is a bright vermilion-coloured berry, with a hard skin 

 and a sweet viscid pulp enclosing the seeds. Between 

 the point and Altar do Chao was a long stretch of sandy 

 beach with moderately deep water ; our men, therefore, 

 took a rope ashore and towed the cuberta at merry speed 

 until we reached the village. A long, deeply-laden canoe 

 with miners from the interior provinces here passed us. 

 It was manned by ten Indians, who propelled the boat 

 by poles ; the men, five on each side, trotting one after 

 the other along a plank arranged for the purpose from 

 stem to stern. 



It took us two nights to double Point Cururu, where, 

 as already mentioned, the river bends from its northerly 

 course beyond Altar do Chad. A confused pile of rocks, 

 on which many a vessel heavily laden with farinha has 

 been wrecked, extends at the season of low water from 

 the foot of a high bluff far into the stream. We were 

 driven back on the first night (October 3rd) by a squall. 

 The light terral was carrying us pleasantly round the spit, 

 when a small black cloud which lay near the rising moon 

 suddenly spread over the sky to the northward ; the 

 land-breeze then ceased, and furious blasts began to blow 

 across the river. We regained, with great difficulty, the 

 shelter of the point. It blew almost a hurricane for two 

 hours, during the whole of which time the sky over our 

 heads was beautifully clear and starlit. Our shelter at 

 first was not very secure, for the wind blew away the 



