118 
VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. Chap. II. 
eight hours, the process requmng unremitting atten- 
tion to avoid cracks and make the plank bend with 
the proper dip at the two ends. Wooden straddlers, 
made by cleaving pieces of tough elastic wood and fix- 
ing them with wedges, are inserted into the opening, 
their compass being altered gradually as the work goes 
on, but in different degree according to the part of the 
boat operated upon. Our casca turned out a good one : 
it took a long time to cool, and was kept in shape whilst 
it did so by means of wooden cross-pieces. When the 
boat was finished it was launched with great merriment 
by the men, who hoisted coloured handkerchiefs for 
flags, and paddled it up and down the stream to try its 
capabilities. My people had suffered as much incon- 
venience from the want of a montaria as myself, so this 
was a day of rejoicing to all of us. 
I was very successful at this place with regard to the 
objects of my journey. About twenty new species of 
fishes and a considerable number of small reptiles were 
added to my collection ; but very few birds were met 
with worth preserving. A great number of the most 
conspicuous insects of the locality were new to me, and 
turned out to be species peculiar to this part of the 
Amazons valley. There is the most striking contrast 
between the productions of the Cupari and those of Altar 
do Cha5 in this department : the majority of the spe- 
cies inhabiting the one district being totally unknown 
in the other. At the same time a considerable propor- 
tion of the Cupari species were identical with those of 
Ega on the Upper Amazons, a region eight times fur- 
ther removed than the village just mentioned. The 
