84 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
that we sustained frequent drenchings in the woods, 
and had great difficulty in preserving our collec- 
tions from rot and mould. It seemed as if I should 
have to renounce my project of exploring the Trom- 
betas, but Major da Gama assured me that when 
the rains set in thus early, the weather generally 
took up again after Christmas Day, and the whole 
of January was tolerably dry, forming what in 
Spanish America they call a " Verano del nino," 
or we in England might call a Christmas summer. 
He offered, too, to lend me his own igarate ^ or 
galiota for the trip, and to send for Indians to man 
it from the Trombetas itself. I gladly accepted his 
offer, and the Indians were sent for. They should 
have been five, but only three responded to the 
call. With these we had to content ourselves, as 
none were to be had at Obidos ; but the Major gave 
us an order to embark the two recreant Indians on 
the way, if we could only catch them. Even the 
other three had not come with a good will ; they 
would rather, poor fellows, have been in their 
forest-homes, hunting, working, or playing as 
they listed, than plying their paddles all day in 
the hot sun or the pelting rain. Two of them 
were stalwart fellows, apparently over thirty ; the 
^ Igctra, a canoe ; igara-ie, a great canoe. An igara, which is merely a 
trunk hollowed out and fashioned like a boat, is made into an igara-te by add- 
ing ribs to it and nailing thereto one or more planks on each side, so as to 
enlarge its capacity. A flooring of boards or palm-stems is laid in the stern 
and dignified with the name of tolda (quarter-deck), and it is sheltered by a 
toldo or awning, much like the cover of a gipsy's cart, only that on the 
Amazon it is made of palm-leaves and not of canvas ; but about Guayaquil the 
latter material is often employed, and the cabin, is called a ramada. The 
toldo is usually closed behind, but sometimes it is open at both ends, which 
are protected when needful by yapas or mats. As Major da Gama's boat had 
a cabin made of boards, instead of palm-leaves, it was dignified by the name 
of galiota. A small light canoe, fashioned in the shape of a skiff, is called a 
montaria. 
