no NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
farm where three men and two women were cutting 
palm -leaves and preparing the fibre to make 
hammocks for the Governor of Andoas. The 
Journal now continues : — ] 
April 26 [Szmday). — Starting at four this morn- 
ing, about seven we reached a playa where we found 
three families of inhabitants of Pinches encamped. 
We bought of them part of a very large tapir they 
had killed the previous night, and some pieces of 
baked agouti in very fine condition. Here we 
breakfasted, and then proceeded ; but our men were 
completely at a loss in the broad shallow river, and 
were continually running us aground, so that we 
did not reach the village till 3^^ p.m. Pinches 
Nuevo stands on the left bank on a barranco 20 feet 
above high -water mark. It is reached by rude 
steps cut in the cliff, which is of tenacious red earth, 
without the least mixture of stones or gravel. 
There are but some ten houses, including church 
and cabildo (guests' house), all of Cafia brava, or of 
strips of palm-stems, roofed with palm-thatch. Very 
few inhabitants were present, and we had some 
difficulty in procuring five heads of plantains and a 
basket of yucas, especially as their chacras are new 
and they still bring the greater part of their 
plantains from the site of the old pueblo. The 
inhabitants are ill-looking, and some are affected 
with caracha (leprosy). They are the remnant of a 
nation of Pinches Indians, and still speak a peculiar 
language, though all understand the Quichua. 
Api'il 2j, — Navigation now gets more difficult, 
hardly anywhere is there sufficient water to float our 
canoes. Beaches appear in different places from 
last year, and our guides can hardly pick their way. 
