388 NOTES OF A BOTAiNIST 
Portuguese frascos (square bottles of dark thick 
glass) for preserving succulent fruits in spirits ; and 
for the same purpose I had had made a large demi- 
john (containing about six gallons, equal to twelve 
frascos) of resecado, that is, double-distilled cane- 
spirit. I took, besides, two narrow-mouthed frascos 
of the same spirit for drinking. During our first 
sleepless night, when the leak kept us alert, I dis- 
pensed of this spirit liberally to the men. The pilot 
was especially thirsty, and got so large a share that 
he became tolerably " well drunk." On the two 
following evenings he was clamorous for more, and 
two or three glasses made him fractious and im- 
pertinent. I saw then that the possession of this 
liquor would probably be a daily source of disquiet 
to me, and that even if I put poisonous fruits into 
it, it might be impossible to prevent the Indians 
from drinking of it. So, on the fourth night, I 
arose at midnight, took out the demijohn, and as 
quietly as possible poured its contents into the 
river. The men were sleeping in the prow, but 
when they woke up in the morning I overheard one 
of them, as I lay in the cabin, say to his neighbour, 
" What could it be the patron was pouring out of 
the demijana in the night-time? Did you not 
hear it, pop, pop, pop, pop, po ? Surely it was not 
bureche ! " The other thought it must have been 
oil that had become rancid, for I had with me two 
small demijohns of turtle oil for frying fish, and for 
my lamp. That there might remain no doubt on 
the subject, when we halted for breakfast I placed 
the demijohn on the cabin roof to drip. One and 
another approached it stealthily and smelt at it, and 
I could gather from their whispers the horror they 
