A MUDDY VILLAGE 



491 



sandy soil, smooth as a floor, forming a broad terrace 

 around them. The owner was a semi-civiHzed Indian, 

 named Manoel ; a dull, taciturn fellow, who, together 

 with his wife and children, seemed by no means pleased 

 at being intruded on in their solitude. The family must 

 have been very industrious ; for the plantations were 

 very extensive, and included a little of almost all kinds 

 of cultivated tropical productions : fruit trees, vegetables, 

 and even flowers for ornament. The silent old man had 

 surely a fine appreciation of the beauties of nature : for 

 the site he had chosen commanded a view of surprising 

 magnificence over the summits of the forest ; and, to give 

 finish to the prospect, he had planted a large quantity of 

 banana trees in the foreground, thus concealing the 

 charred and dead stumps which would otherwise have 

 marred the effect of the rolling sea of greenery. The only 

 information I could get out of Manoel was, that large 

 flocks of richly-coloured birds came down in the fruit 

 season and despoiled his trees. I collected here a great 

 number of insects, including several new species. The 

 sun set over the tree-tops before we left this little Eden, 

 and the remainder of our journey was made slowly and 

 pleasantly, under the chequered shades of the river banks, 

 by the light of the moon. 



December yth. — Arrived at Fonte Boa ; a wretched, 

 muddy, and dilapidated village, situated two or three 

 miles within the mouth of a narrow by-stream called 

 the Cayhiar-hy, which runs almost as straight as an 

 artificial canal between the village and the main Ama- 

 zons. The character of the vegetation and soil here was 

 difierent from that of all other localities I had hitherto 

 examined ; I had planned, therefore, to devote six weeks 

 to the place. Having written beforehand to one of the 

 principal inhabitants, Senhor Venancio, a house was 

 ready for me on landing. The only recommendation of 

 the dwelling was its coolness. It was, in fact, rather 

 damp ; the plastered walls bore a crop of green mould, 

 and a slimy moisture oozed through the black, dirty 

 floor ; the rooms were large, but lighted by miserable 

 little holes in place of windows. The village is built on 

 a clayey plateau, and the ruinous houses are arranged 

 round a large square, which is so choked up with tangled 

 bushes that it is quite impassable, the lazy inhabitants 



