388 EXCURSIONS^ AROUND EGA 



the hollows forming narrow valleys in the dry months, and 

 deep navigable creeks in the wet months. In retired 

 nooks on the margins of these shady rivulets, a few 

 families or small hordes of aborigines still linger in nearly 

 their primitive state, the relicts of their once numerous 

 tribes. The family we intended to visit on this trip was 

 that of Pedro-uassu (Peter the Great, or Tall Peter), an 

 old chieftain or Tushaua of the Passes. 



We set out at sunrise, in a small igarite, manned by six 

 young Indian paddlers. After travelling about three 

 miles along the broad portion of the creek — which, being 

 surrounded by woods, had the appearance of a large pool 

 — we came to a part where our course seemed to be stopped 

 by an impenetrable hedge of trees and bushes. We were 

 some time before finding the entrance, but when fairly 

 within the shades, a remarkable scene presented itself. 

 It was my first introduction to these singular water-paths. 

 A narrow and tolerably straight alley stretched away for 

 a long distance before us ; on each side were the tops of 

 bushes and young trees, forming a kind of border to the 

 path, and the trunks of the tall forest trees rose at irregular 

 intervals from the water, their crowns interlocking far 

 over our heads, and forming a thick shade. Slender air 

 roots hung down in clusters, and looping sipos dangled 

 from the lower branches ; bunches of grass, tillandsise, and 

 ferns, sat in the forks of the larger boughs, and the trunks 

 of trees near the water had adhering to them round dried 

 masses of freshwater sponges. There was no current 

 perceptible, and the water was stained of a dark olive- 

 brown hue, but the submerged stems could be seen through 

 it to a great depth. We travelled at good speed for three 

 hours along this shady road ; the distance of Pedro's 

 house from Ega being about twenty miles. When the 

 paddlers rested for a time, the stillness and gloom of the 

 place became almost painful : our voices waked dull 

 echoes as we conversed, and the noise made by fishes 

 occasionally whipping the surface of the water was quite 

 startling. A cool, moist, clammy air pervaded the sun- 

 less shade. 



The breadth of the wooded valley, at the commence- 

 ment, is probably more than half a mile, and there is a 

 tolerably clear view for a considerable distance on each 

 side of the water-path through the irregular colonnade 

 of trees : other paths also, in this part, branch off right 



