354 



THE UPPER AMAZONS 



locality for Natural History explorations, and settle my- 

 self in it for some months or years. Would the neighbour- 

 hood of Ega turn out to be suitable, and should I, a solitary 

 stranger on a strange errand, find a welcome amongst its 

 people ? 



Our Indians resumed their oars at sunrise the next 

 morning (May ist), and after an hour's rowing along the 

 narrow channel, which varies in breadth from loo to 500 

 yards, we doubled a low wooded point, and emerged 

 suddenly on the so-called Lake of Ega ; a magnificent 

 sheet of water, five miles broad — the expanded portion of 

 the Teffe. It is quite clear of islands, and curves away to 

 the west and south, so that its full extent is not visible 

 from this side. To the left, on a gentle grassy slope at the 

 point of junction of a broad tributary with the Teffe, lay 

 the little settlement : a cluster of a hundred or so of palm- 

 thatched cottages and whitewashed red- tiled houses, each 

 with its neatly-enclosed orchard of orange, lemon, banana, 

 and guava trees. Groups of palms, with their tall slender 

 shafts and feathery crowns, overtopped the buildings and 

 lower trees. A broad grass-carpeted street led from the 

 narrow strip of white sandy beach to the rudely-built 

 barn-like church with its wooden crucifix on the green 

 before it, in the centre of the town. Cattle were grazing 

 before the houses, and a number of dark-skinned natives 

 were taking their morning bath amongst the canoes of 

 various sizes which were anchored or moored to stakes 

 in the port. We let off rockets and fired salutes, according 

 to custom, in token of our safe arrival, and shortly after- 

 wards went ashore. 



A few days' experience of the people and the forests 

 of the vicinity showed me that I might lay myself out 

 for a long, pleasant, and busy residence at this place. An 

 idea of the kind of people I had fallen amongst may be 

 conveyed by an account of my earliest acquaintances in 

 the place. On landing, the owner of the canoe killed an 

 ox in honour of our arrival, and the next day took me 

 round the town to introduce me to the principal residents. 

 We first went to the Delegado of police, Senhor Antonio 

 Cardozo, of whom I shall have to make frequent mention 

 by-and-by. He was a stout, broad-featured man, ranking 

 as a white, but having a tinge of negro blood ; his com- 

 plexion, however, was ruddy, and scarcely betrayed the 

 mixture. He received us in a very cordial, winning 



