172 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



roofed in with wood ; the other has also one end covered 

 in, but with thatch instead of wood. In the larger boat 

 we have our luggage, compressed to the utmost, the live 

 stock, — a small sheep, a turkey, and several fowls, — be- 

 sides a number of barrels and kegs, containing alcohol, for 

 specimens. The Captain has supplied us not only with all 

 the necessaries, but, so far as is possible, with every luxury, 

 for a week's voyage. All our preparations being made, and 

 no prospect of clear weather, at nine o'clock we betook our- 

 selves to our hammocks, — or those of us who had stowed 

 their hammocks out of reach, — to chairs and benches, and 

 had a broken sleep till three o'clock. The stars were then 

 shining, and everything looked fair for our voyage. The 

 wind had gone down, the river was smooth as glass when 

 we paddled away from the side of the steamer, and, 

 though we had no moon, one or two planets threw a 

 bright reflection across the water to cheer our way. After 

 keeping for some time down the river, we turned, just at 

 dawn, into a very narrow channel leading through the 

 forest. It was hardly day, but perhaps the scene was 

 none the less impressive for the dim half-light in which 

 we saw it. From the verdant walls, which rose on either 

 side and shut us in, lofty trees, clothed from base to sum- 

 mit in vines, stood out here and there like huge green 

 columns, in bold relief against the morning sky ; hidden 

 flowers filled the air with fragrance, great roots stretched 

 out into the water, and now and then a floating log narrowed 

 the passage so as just to leave room for the canoe to pass. 

 After a while a broader, fuller light shone under the boughs, 

 and we issued from this narrow pathway into an extensive 

 lake. Here it was found that the large net, which was to 

 have made a part of the outfit of the canoe, had been left 



