46 



WANDERINGS IN 



First commaiider had sent some Indians and soldiers to build 



Journey. 



a canoe, not far from this settlement ; they had just 



finished it, and those who did not stay with it, had 

 stopped here on their return. 



The soldier who commanded the rest, said, he durst not, 

 upon any account, convey a stranger to the fort : but he 

 added, as there were two canoes, one of them might be 

 despatched with a letter, and then we could proceed slowly 

 on in the other. 



About three hours from this settlement, there is a river 

 called Pirarara ; and here the soldiers had left their canoes 

 while they were making the new one. From the Pirarara 

 you get into the river Maou, and then into the Tacatou ; 

 and just where the Tacatou falls into the Rio Branco, 

 there stands the Portuguese frontier fort, called Fort St. 

 Joachim. From the time of embarking in the river Pira- 

 rara, it takes you four days before you reach this fort. 



There was nothing very remarkable in passing down 

 these rivers. It is an open country, producing a coarse 

 grass, and interspersed with clumps of trees. The banks 

 have some wood on them, but it appears stinted and 

 crooked, like that on the bleak hills in England. 



The Tapir frequently plunged into the river ; he was 

 by no means shy, and it was easy to get a shot at him 

 on land. The Kessi-kessi paroquets were in great 

 abundance ; and the fine scarlet Aras innumerable in the 

 Coucourite trees at a distance from the river's bank. In 



