212 
THE UPPEE AMAZONS. Chap. III. 
burnt on the floor, and the ashes dirtily gathered np 
and mixed with the powder. The Ypadu-eaters say 
that this prevents the ill-effects which would arise from 
the use of the pure leaf, but I should think the mixture 
of so much indigestible filth would be more likely to 
have the opposite result. 
We lived at Ega, during most part of the year, on turtle. 
The great fresh-water turtle of the Amazons grows on 
the upper river to an immense size, a full-grown one 
measuring nearly three feet in length by two in breadth, 
and is a load for the strongest Indian. Every house has 
a little pond, called a curral (pen), in the back-yard 
to hold a stock of the animals through the season of 
dearth — the wet months ; those who have a number of 
Indians in their employ sending them out for a month 
when the waters are low, to collect a stock, and those 
who have not, purchasing their supply ; with some diffi- 
culty, however, as they are rarely offered for sale. The 
price of turtles, like that of all other articles of food, 
has risen greatly with the introduction of steam-vessels. 
When I arrived in 1850 a middle-sized one could be 
bought pretty readily for ninepence, but when I left 
in 1859, they were' with difficulty obtained at eight 
and nine shillings each. The abundance of turtles, or 
rather the facility with which they can be found and 
caught, varies with the amount of annual subsidence of 
the waters. When the river sinks less than the average, 
they are scarce ; but when more, they can be caught in 
plenty, the bays and shallow lagoons in the forest having 
then only a small depth of w^ater. * The flesh is very 
tender, palatable, and wholesome ; but it is very cloy- 
