Chap. II. 
FIRE-ANTS. 
89 
appeared that Senhor Cypriano was a large producer of 
the article, selling 300 baskets (sixty pounds' weight 
each) annually to Santarem traders. I was sorry we were 
unable to see him, but it was useless waiting, as we were 
told all the men were at present occupied in ''puche- 
rums," and he would be unable to give me the assistance 
I required. We returned to the canoe in the evening, 
and, after moving out into the river, anchored and slept. 
June 20th. — We had a light, baffling wind off shore 
all day on the 20th, and made but fourteen or fifteen 
miles by six p.m. ; when, the wind failing us, we anchored 
at the mouth of a narrow channel, called Tapaiuna, 
which runs between a large island and the mainland. 
About three o'clock we passed in front of Boim, a village 
on the opposite (western) coast. The breadth of the 
river is here six or seven miles : a confused patch of 
white on the high land opposite was all we saw of the 
village, the separate houses being undistinguishable on 
account of the distance. The coast along which we 
sailed to-day is a continuation of the low and flooded 
land of Paquiatuba. 
June 21st — The next morning we sailed along the 
Tapaiuna channel, which is from 400 to 600 yards in 
breadth. We advanced but slowly, as the wind was 
generally dead against us, and stopped frequently to 
ramble ashore. Wherever the landing-place was sandy 
it was impossible to walk about, on account of the 
swarms of the terrible fire-ant, whose sting is likened 
by the Brazilians to the puncture of a red-hot needle. 
There was scarcely a square inch of ground free from 
them. About three p.m. we glided into a quiet, shady 
