20 
Sun-Burn and Blister. 
52. The eyer-increasiüg number of sand banks were made up partly 
of drift sand, partly of rubble formed of a coarse or fine-grained quartz 
Avitli exquisitely beautiful chalcedony pebbles of a white or yellow colour : 
equally plentiful Avere large pieces of so-called fortification agate, as 
well as melaphyr below that, out of which material the chalcedony peb- 
bles arise. But however interesting their geological ingredients 
naturally were, the resulting effects of their presence proved e<|ually 
unpleasant and troublesome for us when, towards two o'clock in the 
afternoon, tliey rendered a temperature of from 126° to 130° F. almost 
unbearable. At last we had to get out of the corials altogether and eon 
tinue our way under great difficulties: we had to drag the boats behind 
us over the increasing 100 to 120 foot wide sandbanks stretching like 
dunes towards one or other of the lianks, over ground that towards 3 
o'clock i-eached a temperature of 110° F. and tliat owing to its glare 
and glittering whiteness, blinded and inflamed one's eyes. And yet this 
was not the Avorst trouble in comparison with t)ie legions of sandflies, 
for we had no means of protecting ourselves from their terrible on- 
slaughts on face and hands owing to our being almost all the time en- 
gaged in shoving corials over sandbanks. The effects of the sun-burn 
soon appeared because even to-day eveiw one of us Europeans looked 
as if feet, hands and face had been wrapped in Spanish flv-plaster the 
barge strnw hat had been unable to prevent our faces being blistered . 
Even my brother whose skin hnd already been used to this temperatnre 
for years was not spared. The pain caused by these heat-lilisters is 
double that of any other burn : ears, nose and neck were the parts mostly 
troubled, and T believe that on the Takutu journey they were skinned 
From f) to S times. When m the course of draTiing the corials along we 
had to wade in water, and came to a snot somewhat shallower than usual 
where our tucked-nn trousers left our leers pnrtlv exrtosod. thes'^ also 
became covered with blisters in a twinklin<T. Only the Indians suffered 
nothinsr. nnd thev laughed wh^^n complained. Tn spite of this so-to- 
speak red-hot soil, some PRulhrm bushes as well as many a Mimnan. 
Dcftm'nvflivft. lefmmjp-like Borariinra and Con vol nil ii ft gained their 
misernble I'vifT?? in if. 
53. We had never before longed so sincerelv for the coming cA'cning 
breeze as we did this very painful day, for it not onlv fanned our burning 
faces cool, but also drove aAvay the legions of sandflies, the bites of which 
proved all the more troublesome as we did not dare scratch our wounded 
necks or faces. 
54. Although a nund)er of Mjictcria, Clconia, Ardea, Ihis, Tanta- 
lus, Anas, and even the beautiful Orinoco goose (Anas jvhatus Spix) 
put in their appearance along with the sandbanks, all taste for hunting 
Was lost owing to the sufferings Ave endured. That a large number ol: 
water-fowl must migrate to other better-watered districts during the 
middle of the dry season was evident from these croAvds of birds which 
though still numerous were nevertheless small as compared with the 
swarms met at Lake Amucu, and from which were missing a large 
number of species that I had already became acquainted with there. 
Although the Glutton-bird remains on the savannah swamps in innu- 
