258 



TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO, 



Some died almost every day, and I often wished I had had 

 nothing whatever to do with them, though, having once taken 

 them in hand, I determined to persevere. 



On the 8th I reached Barcellos, and here I was annoyed by 

 having to give an account of what I had in my canoes, and 

 pay duty, the new Government of Barra not allowing anything 

 to escape without contributing its share. 



On the nth we passed the mouth of the Rio Branco, and I 

 noticed for the first time the peculiar colour of the water, 

 which is a very pale yellow-olive, almost milky, very different 

 from, and much whiter than, the waters of the Amazon, and 

 making its name of the " White River " very appropriate. In 

 the dry season the waters are much clearer. 



In the morning I reached Pedreiro, and purchased a turtle, 

 which we stopped to cook, a short distance below the village ; 

 it was a very large and fat one, and we fried the greater part 

 of the meat in fat for the rest of the voyage. At a sitio, in the 

 evening, I bought two parrots, and the next morning, at Ayrao, 

 five more ; and in the afternoon, at another sitio, a blue 

 macaw, a monkey, a toucan, and a pigeon. At night we had 

 a storm of rain and wind, and for a long time beat about in 

 the middle of the river, tossed by the waves, without being 

 able to find the shore. 



On the 15th we reached " Ai purusa," where I bought some 

 fish and maize. Here was lying a fine harpy eagle, which 

 Senhor Bagatta had shot the day before, and, having plucked 

 out some of the wing-feathers, had left it to rot ; I thus just 

 missed, by a day, getting a specimen of this bird, which I so 

 much desired, and which I had never been able to procure 

 during a four years' residence in the country. We had plenty 

 more rain every night, making the journey very disagreeable ; 

 and at length, on the 17th, reached Barra do Rio Negro, now 

 the capital of the new Province of Amazonas. 



I was here kindly received by my friend Henrique Antony ; 

 and I spent all the day in searching for some house or lodging, 

 which was very hard to be procured, every house being occupied, 

 and rents having much risen, from the influx of strangers and 

 traders consequent on the arrival of the new Government. 

 However, by the evening I succeeded in getting a small mud- 

 floored, leaky-roofed room, which I was glad to hire, as I did 

 not know how long I might be obliged to remain in Barra, 



