86 



TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON, 



passion-flowers, which hung like golden apples in the thickets 

 on the banks. His cane-field this year was a mile and a half 

 long and a quarter of a mile wide, and very luxuriant ; across it 

 were eight roads, all planted on each side with bananas and 

 pine-apples. He informed me that when the fruit was in full 

 season all the slaves and Indians had as much as they liked to 

 take, and could never finish them all ; but, said he, ''It is not 

 much trouble planting them when setting the cane-field, and I 

 always do it, for I like to have plenty." It was altogether a 

 noble sight, — a sample of the over-flowing abundance produced 

 by a fertile soil and a tropical sun. Having mentioned that I 

 much wished to get a collection of fish to preserve in spirits, he 

 set several Indians to work stopping up igaripes to poison the 

 water, and others to fish at night with line and bow and arrow ; 

 all that they procured being brought to me to select from, and 

 the rest sent to the kitchen. The best way of catching a variety 

 was, however, with a large drag-net fifty or sixty yards long. We 

 went out one day in two canoes, and with about twenty Negroes 

 and Indians, who swam with the net in the water, making a 

 circuit, and then drew it out on to a beach. We had not very 

 good fortune, but soon filled two half-bushel baskets with a great 

 variety of fish, large and small, from which I selected a number 

 of species to increase my collection. 



Senhor Calistro was now going to send several Indian 

 hunters up a small stream into the deep forest to hunt for him, 

 and salt and dry game, and bring home live tortoises, of which 

 there are great numbers in the forest. I particularly wanted a 

 large and handsome species of Tinamus, or Brazilian partridge, 

 which is found in these forests^ but which I have not yet met 

 with since I saw one being pJ ucked for supper on the Tocantms ; 

 I was also anxious to procure the hyacinthine macaw : so he 

 kindly offered to let me go with them, and to lend me a small 

 canoe and another Indian, to return when I liked, as they were 

 going to stay two or three months. All the Indians took was 

 farinha and salt, with powder and shot ; but my kind host 

 loaded my canoe with fowls, roast meat, eggs, plantains, pine- 

 apples, and cocoa-nuts, so that I went well provided. It was 

 about half-a-day's journey further up the river, to the mouth of 

 the narrow stream or igaripe we were to enter ; after going up 

 which a short distance we stayed at the cottage oif some acquaint- 

 ances of our men for the night. The next morning early we 



