196 
THE UPPER AMAZOKS. 
Chap. III. 
80 forth. Sebastian was often my companion in the 
woods, where he was very useful in finding the small 
birds I shot, which sometimes fell in the thickets 
amongst confused masses of fallen branches and dead 
leaves. He was wonderfully expert at catching lizards 
with his hands, and at climbing. The smoothest stems 
of palm-trees offered little difficulty to him : he would 
gather a few lengths of tough, flexible lianas ; tie them 
in a short, endless band to support his feet with in 
embracing the slippery shaft, and then mount upwards 
by a succession of slight jerks. It was very amusing, 
during the first few weeks, to witness the glee and pride 
with which he would bring to me the bunches of fruit 
he had gathered from almost inaccessible trees. He 
avoided the company of boys of his own race, and was 
evidently proud of being the servant of a real white man. 
We brought him down with us to Para : but he showed 
no emotion at any of the strange sights of the capital ; 
the steam-vessels, large ships and houses, horses and 
carriages, the pomp of church ceremonies, and so forth. 
In this he exhibited the usual dulness of feeling and 
poverty of thought of the Indian ; he had, neverthe- 
less, very keen perceptions, and was quick at learning 
any mechanical art. Jose, who had resumed, some time 
before I left the country, his old trade of goldsmith, 
made him his apprentice, and he made very rapid pro- 
gress; for after about three months' teaching he came 
to me one day with radiant countenance and showed me 
a gold ring of his own making. 
The fate of the little girl, who came with a second 
batch of children all ill of intermittent fever, a month 
