1848.] 



IGARIPE MIRL 



37 



different from the species we had had alive at Para, having a 

 patch of short yellow and black fur on the back. The Indians' 

 stewed it for their dinner, and as they consider the meat a great 

 delicacy, I tasted it, and found it tender and very palatable. 



In the evening, at sunset, the scene was lovely. The groups 

 of elegant palms, the large cotton-trees relieved against the 

 golden sky, the Negro houses surrounded with orange and 

 mango trees, the grassy bank, the noble river, and the back- 

 ground of eternal forest, all softened by the mellowed light of 

 the magical half-hour after sunset, formed a picture indescrib- 

 ably beautiful. 



At nine a.m., on the 28th, we entered the Igaripe Miri, 

 which is a cut made for about half a mile, connecting the Moju 

 river with a stream flowing into the Tocantins, nearly opposite 

 Cameta ; thus forming an inner passage, safer than the naviga- 

 tion by the Para river, where vessels are at times exposed to a' 

 heavy swell and violent gales, and where there are rocky shoals, 

 very dangerous for the small canoes by which the Cameta 

 trade is principally carried on. When about halfway through, 

 we found the tide running against us, and the water very 

 shallow, and were obliged to wait, fastening the canoe to a tree, i 

 In a short time the rope by which we were moored broke, and 

 we were drifted broadside down the stream, and should have 

 been upset by coming against a shoal, but were luckily able to 

 turn into a little bay where the water was still. On getting out 

 of the canal, we sailed and rowed along a winding river, often 

 completely walled in with a luxuriant vegetation of trees and 

 climbing plants. A handsome tree with a mass of purple 

 blossoms was not uncommon, and a large aquatic Arum^ with 

 its fine white flowers and curious fruits, grew on all the mud- 

 banks along the shores. The Miriti palm here covered exten- 

 sive tracts of ground, and often reached an enormous height. 



At five P.M. we arrived at Santa Anna, a village with a pretty 

 church in the picturesque Italian architecture usual in Para. 

 We had anticipated some delay here with our passports ; but 

 finding there was no oflicial to examine them we continued our 

 journey. 



The 29th was spent in progressing slowly among intricate 

 channels and shoals, on which we several times got aground, 

 till we at last reached the main stream of the Tocantins, studded 

 with innumerable palm-covered islands. 



