MOUTH OF THE TEFFE 



353 



for half a mile through a magnificent bed of Victoria 

 water-lilies ; the flower-buds of which were just be- 

 ginning to expand. Beyond the mouth of the Catua, a 

 channel leading to another great lake which we passed 

 on the 25th, the river appeared greatly increased in 

 breadth. We travelled for three days along a broad reach 

 which both up and down river presented a blank horizon 

 of water and sky : this clear view was owing to the absence 

 of islands, but it renewed one's impressions of the magni- 

 tude of the stream, which here, 1200 miles from its mouth, 

 showed so little diminution of width. Further westward 

 a series of large islands commences, which divides the river 

 into two and sometimes three channels, each about a mile 

 in breadth. We kept to the southernmost of these, 

 travelling all day on the 30th April along a high and 

 rather sloping bank. 



In the evening we arrived at a narrow opening, which 

 would be taken by a stranger navigating the main channel 

 for the outlet of some insignificant stream : it was the 

 mouth of the Teffe, on whose banks Ega is situated, the 

 termination of our voyage. After having struggled for 

 thirty-five days with the muddy currents and insect pests 

 of the Solimoens, it was unspeakably refreshing to find 

 one's-self again in a dark-water river, smooth as a lake 

 and free from Pium and Motuca. The rounded outline, 

 small foliage, and sombre green of the woods, which 

 seemed to rest on the glassy waters, made a pleasant con- 

 trast to the tumultuous piles of rank, glaring, light-green 

 vegetation, and torn, timber-strewn banks to which we 

 had been so long accustomed on the main river. The 

 men rowed lazily until nightfall, when, having done a 

 laborious day's work, they discontinued and went to sleeps 

 intending to make for Ega in the morning. It was not 

 thought worth while to secure the vessel to the trees or 

 cast anchor, as there was no current. I sat up for two 

 or three hours after my companions had gone to rest, en- 

 jo3/ing the solemn calm of the night. Not a breath of air 

 stirred ; the sky was of a deep blue, and the stars seemed ta 

 stand forth in sharp relief ; there was no sound of life in 

 the woods, except the occasional melancholy note of some 

 nocturnal bird. I reflected on my own wandering life : 

 T had now reached the end of the third stage of my journey, 

 and was now more than half way across the continent. It 

 was necessary for me, on many accounts, to find a rich 



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