We Tkade Wi'iH ihe Enemy to the Last. 
85 
of fever : besides this, except for one theriiiometer, none of the astronomi- 
cal iustrnments had sutfered damage. 
215. Hardly had we taken possession of our dwelling when the whole 
body of officers, increased by one through tlie arrival of a young doctor, 
now came along and greeting us with a hearty handshake delivered a 
whole packet of letters from home and newspapers from Georgetown. 
Mr. Bolby, the new surgeon, was of course unable to answer our enquiries 
concerning this or tliat person in town, because immediately after his 
arrival in the capital he had been obliged to leave it again and accompany 
the commissariat forces to Pirara. Our friends from the Fort had all 
the more news to giye us but amongst it little that was pleasant : worse 
tlian everything else was the information tliat the Brazilians were 
making active preparations to wash out the disgrace offered them by our 
taking possession of Pirara. The Militia of the Eio Negro and Rio 
Branco were ali-eady called up, two regiments of the regular 
troops were on the march here from Para, and the garrison of Fort 
Sao Joaquim was liy this time strengthened by the forces from the 
nearest fortress on the Rio Negro. Although the Commandant of 
Fort Sao Joaquim during our absence had expressed his friendly 
intentions on the occasion of many a A'isit, and duly continued to 
carry on undisturbed his profitable trade in cattle, provisions, and 
ethnological specimens — especially in feather ornaments from the 
Mundrucus, Guinaus, and Pauixanasi living on the Parima and Rio 
Branco — this could nevertheless not last mucli longer because the 
oncoming military forces would soon raise an insurmountalile barrier in 
tlie way of amical)le relations. Friar Jose dos Santos Innocentes not 
only continued the alluring traffic with tlie enemy in his own person, but 
carried it on even more actively tlirough his amanuensis Aberisto, — and 
could anyone blame the poor devils? Captain Antonio de Barros Leal, 
as he complained to the officers, had received no pay for four years, his 
garrison at the Fort for three years, and poor Father Jose nothing for 
ten years. What wonder then that they willingly seized the opportunity 
of emptying the full pockets of the enem'y. Unfortunately the poor 
Commandant was shortly after charged in Para by a low lot of sub- 
ordinate officers Avitli liaving sold the enemy not only horses and cows but 
also provisions : the loss of his captaincy followed. Notwithstanding that 
our black heroes were inspired with the best of courage, and after subse- 
quently seeing and learning to know the woeful figures of the Brazilian 
military, I was convinced that each of our Negroes could try conciTisions 
with any four of them. 
2ir». After the officers had left, we ravenously fell upon our letters 
and spent real hours of joy and pleasure in reading them over and over 
again. We certainly had to proceed more cautiously with the perusal 
of the newspapers, because the long monotonous rainy season of three 
months' duration was near at hand, and an econonnical distribution of 
the already stale news was accordingly all the more advisable. 
217. The Fort greeted the morning of 24th May, the birthday of 
Queen Victoria, with a salvo of artillei-y. All its own and Pirara's flags 
