482 EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA 



the banks of the river. It was elevated not more than 

 three or four feet above the present level of the river, 

 which was now, the season having been an unusually- 

 wet one, about half full. I had not seen rocks of any- 

 kind on the river banks since leaving Manacapuru, 450 

 miles distant, and this bed seems to have escaped the 

 notice of Spix and Poeppig. The bank, at the foot of 

 which alone the rock was visible, was connected with a 

 tract of land lying higher than the purely alluvial district 

 that extends eastward to a distance of several hundred 

 miles, and was clothed with the rounded, dark-green 

 forest which is distinctive of the terra firmas of the Ama- 

 zons valley. The slightly elevated land continues, with 

 scarcely a break, to the mouth of the Tunantins, which 

 we entered, after making a long circuit to avoid a shoal, 

 on the nth of November. 



November iith to i^th. — The Tunantins is a sluggish 

 black-water stream, about sixty miles in length, and 

 towards its mouth from 100 to 200 yards in breadth. 

 The vegetation on its banks has a similar aspect to that 

 of the Rio Negro, the trees having small foliage of a 

 sombre hue, and the dark piles of greenery resting on 

 the surface of the inky water. The village is situated 

 on the left bank, about a mile from the mouth of the 

 river, and contains twenty habitations, nearly all of 

 which are merely hovels, built of lath-work and mud. 

 The short streets, after rain, are almost impassable, on 

 account of the many puddles, and are choked up with 

 weeds, — leguminous shrubs, and scarlet-flowered asclepias. 

 The atmosphere in such a place, hedged in as it is by the 

 lofty forest, and surrounded by swamps, is always close, 

 warm, and reeking ; and the hum and chirp of insects 

 and birds cause a continual din. The small patch of 

 weedy ground around the village swarms with plovers, 

 sandpipers, striped herons, and scissor-tailed fly-catchers ; 

 and alligators are always seen floating lazily on the sur- 

 face of the river in front of the houses. 



On landing, I presented myself to Senhor Paulo Bitan- 

 court, a good-natured half-caste, director of Indians of 

 the neighbouring river Issa, who quickly ordered a small 

 house to be cleared for me. This exhilarating abode 

 contained only one room, the walls of which were dis- 

 figured by large and ugly patches of mud, the work of 



