28o NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
montaria returned with one man, and we again 
made the attempt ; but even then we should have 
failed to surmount the rapid had it not been for the 
aid of a brisk wind which sprang up. As it was, 
we could only advance by inches, and it took 
us half an hour to ascend what we might have 
descended in half a minute. 
Jan. lo. — This morning at 8, Senhor Pailhete 
took me across the river to view the Serras de 
Curicuriarf, which lie directly at the back of his 
sitio (a day's journey, but there is no path), and on 
the east side of the river Curicuriarf. . . . From 
our point of view they might have been clearly 
seen had there not been much vapour in the air. 
The highest has much steep rock, mottled with 
brown and white, and quite inaccessible on the 
south side, but its summit might possibly be 
reached by taking a col between it and the flat- 
backed wooded mountain to the right. 
This afternoon I had a walk in the virgin forest, 
where I saw much that was new to me, though few 
things were in flower. 
Jan, II. — Dull morning with slight rain. My 
pilot and one of Senhor Pailhete's men went 
a-hunting early this morning, and returned at lo 
with three mutiins (curassows). At midday we 
embarked, my crew being augmented by a Tapuya 
lent by Senhor Pailhete, who was a good proeiro, 
and another of the Tochana's men, so that I had 
now seven oars. Still, the rapids were so frequent 
that we got on but slowly. This afternoon we 
reached the mouth of the river Curicuriari at about 
sunset, and made fast for the night. . . . 
Jan. 12. — This afternoon at 5.30 we reached 
