1848. 



RICE-MILLS. 



21 



flour, but worked flat, and by them the outer husk is rubbed 

 off. It is then conveyed between two boards of similar size 

 and shape to the stones, set all over with stiff iron wires about 

 three-eighths of an; inch long, so close together that a grain of 

 rice can just be pushed in between them. The two surfaces 

 very nearly touch one another, so that the rice is forced 

 through the spaces of the wires, which rub off the rest of the 

 husk and polish the grain. A quantity, however, is broken by 

 this operation, so it is next shaken through sifters of different 

 degrees of fineness, which separate the dust from the broken 

 rice. The whole rice is then fanned, to blow off the remaining 

 dust, and finally passes between rubbers covered with sheep- 

 skin with the wool on, which clean it thoroughly, and render it 

 fit for the market. The Para rice is remarkably fine, being 

 equal in quahty to that of Carolina, but, owing to the careless- 

 ness with which it is cultivated, it seldom shows so good a 

 sample. No care is taken in choosing seed or in preparing 

 the ground ; and in harvesting, a portion is cut green, because 

 there are not hands enough to get it in quickly when it is ripe, 

 and rice is a grain which rapidly falls out of the ear and is 

 wasted. It is therefore seldom cultivated on a large scale, the 

 greater portion being the produce of Indians and small land- 

 holders, who bring it to the mills to sell. 



In the morning, after a refreshing shower-bath under the 

 mill-feeder, we shouldered our guns, insect-nets, and pouches, 

 and, accompanied by Mr. Leavens, took a walk into the forest. 

 On our way we saw the long-toed jacanas on the river-side, 

 Bemtevi* flycatchers on the branches of every bare tree, and 

 toucans flying with out-stretched bills to their morning repast. 

 Their peculiar creaking note was often heard, with now and 

 then the loud tapping of the great woodpeckers, and the 

 extraordinary sounds uttered by the howling monkeys, all 

 telling us plainly that we were in the vast forests of tropical 

 America. We were not successful in shooting, but returned 

 with a good appetite to our coffee and masseranduba milk, 

 pirarucu, and eggs. The pirarucu is the dried fish which, with 

 farinha, forms the chief subsistence of the native population, 

 and in the interior is often the only thing to be obtained, so we 

 thought It as well to get used to it at once. It resembles in 

 •appearance nothing eatable, looking as much like a dry cowhide 

 * "Bemtevi " (I saw you well) ; the bird's note resembles this word- 



