356 



THE UPPER AMAZONS 



self, but was a far worse master to the red-skins than the 

 whites usually are. We finished our rounds by paying 

 our respects to a venerable native merchant, Senor Romao 

 de Oliveira, a tall, corpulent, fine-looking old man, who 

 received us with a naive courtesy quite original in its way. 

 He had been an industrious, enterprising man in his 

 younger days, and had built a substantial range of houses 

 and warehouses. The shrewd and able old gentleman 

 knew nothing of the world beyond the wilderness of the 

 Solimoens and its few thousands of isolated inhabitants ; 

 yet he could converse well and sensibly, making observa- 

 tions on men and things as sagaciously as though he had 

 drawn them from long experience of life in a European 

 capital. The semi-civilized Indians respected old Romao, 

 and he had, consequently, a great number in his employ in 

 different parts of the river : his vessels were always filled 

 quicker with produce than those of his neighbours. On 

 our leaving, he placed his house and store at my disposal. 

 This was not a piece of empty politeness, for some time 

 afterwards, when I wished to settle for the goods I had 

 had of him, he refused to take any payment. 



I made Ega my headquarters during the whole of the 

 time I remained on the Upper Amazons (four years and 

 a half). My excursions into the neighbouring region 

 extended sometimes as far as 300 and 400 miles from the 

 place. An account of these excursions will be given in 

 subsequent chapters ; in the intervals between them I led 

 a quiet, uneventful life in the settlement ; following my 

 pursuit in the same peaceful, regular way as a Naturalist 

 might do in a European village. For many weeks in 

 succession my journal records little more than the notes 

 made on my daily captures. I had a dry and spacious 

 cottage, the principal room of which was made a workshop 

 and study ; here a large table was placed, and my little 

 library of reference arranged on shelves in rough wooden 

 boxes. Cages for drying specimens were suspended from 

 the rafters by cords well anointed, to prevent ants from 

 descending, with a bitter vegetable oil : rats and mice 

 were kept from them by inverted cuyas, placed half-way 

 down the cords. I always kept on hand a large portion 

 of my private collection, which contained a pair of each 

 species and variety, for the sake of comparing the old with 

 the new acquisitions. My cottage was whitewashed 



