246 
EXCURSIONS AROUND EGA. 
Chap. IY. 
out throwing overboard our cargo. The Indians were 
obHged to paddle with extreme slowness to avoid ship- 
ping water, as the edge of our prow was nearly level 
with the surface ; but Cardozo was now persuaded 
to change his seat. The sun set, the quick twilight 
passed, and the moon soon after began to glimmer 
through the thick canopy of foliage. The prospect of 
being swamped in this hideous solitude was by no 
means pleasant, although I calculated on the chance of 
swimming to a tree and finding a nice snug place in 
the fork of some large bough wherein to pass the 
night. At length, after four hours' tedious progress, we 
suddenly emerged on the open stream where the moon- 
light glittered in broad sheets on the gently rippling 
waters. A little extra care was now required in pad- 
dling. The Indians plied their strokes with the greatest 
nicety ; the lights of Ega (the oil lamps in the houses) 
soon appeared beyond the black wall of forest, and in a 
short time we leapt safely ashore. 
A few months after the excursion just narrated, I 
accompanied Cardozo in many wanderings on the Soli- 
moens, during which we visited the praias (sand-islands), 
the turtle pools in the forests, and the by-streams and 
lakes of the great desert river. His object was mainly 
to superintend the business of digging up turtle eggs 
on the sand-banks, having been elected commandante 
for the year, by the municipal council of Ega, of the 
^'praia real" (royal sand-island) of Shimuni, the one 
lying nearest to Ega. There are four of these royal 
praias within the Ega district, (a distance of 150 miles 
