122 
ipRiAR Josefs Fazenda. 
craggy Canukii Mountains with Ilamikipang, towered up above from a 
mass of dense verdure which the fiery rays of the setting sun illumined 
in a way that is met with only in the tropics. A sunset in the boundless 
savannah is just as indescribably fairy-like as at the moment when it 
sinks in the bosom of the ocean. Hardly liad the Giver of the Day 
departed from view than the thousandfold dotted cano])y of Heaven 
spread itself over us in all its tropical) beauty. Not a breath of wiml 
swayed the mighty tree-tops or disturbed the columns of smoke whirling 
from our fires or even ruffled the surface of the stately rolling Takutu 
which, like an immense silvery band, was winding its way thi'ough the 
luxuriant vegetation lining its banks. The whole of Nature was wrapped 
in the most impressive silence whicli was only occasionally broken by 
tlie Indian fishers when they hauled iu their catch, or by the mournful 
cry of a goatsucker. But this fairy landscape brought us no enjoyment 
b(>cause the mosquitoes were present in swarms so awful as to make a 
liitter torment of the beautiful moonlit night. 
299. On continuing our journey the following morning the river was 
still running S.AV. betAveen thickly wooded banks. Flocks of spoon-bills, 
now and again some pretty Orinoco geese {Anser juhata), a^ well as 
numerous ducks and other waterfowl, enlivened the view, and upon being 
scared aw"ay at our appearance circled noisily around, while porpoises 
sporting, in and out of the water, followed the boat behind: but of the 
animals, the Manatis, that I was looking forward to seeing with the 
greatest amount of interest, there was not a trace. After doubling the 
sharp Itend of a 12-foot high bank, formed of hardened clay, some houses 
came into view on the northern shore: it was the Fazenda of Friar Jose 
Avho had a considerable number of cattle grazing here. We stopped and 
received a hearty welcome from the brown and bearded vaqueiros who 
sup]died us with milk and cheese but it was so hard that it almost made 
us bite our teeth out. 
oOO. Although the Caraiba-aute (Urazilian houses) as our Bucks 
called them had almost a quite European appearance, the insides proved 
just as miserable and empty as any of those of our Indians. A few 
hammocks, several large clay vessels, in which the milk was kept, a 
hurdle to dry the cheese on, a roughly nailed table, and some large 
plaited baskets containing their modest wardrobe, as well as several 
drinking cups and pots, constituted the wliole household furniture. 
The Senlioras and children ran around in apparently quite as primitive 
a condition as tlie Indians, while a pack of big dogn, just as friendly as 
their masters and mistresses smoking their small cigars, licked our handy 
as though we were old acquaintances. According to what the vaqueiros 
said, the Friar was not living at present at Fort Sao Joa'quim, but at a 
Fazenda one day's journey up the Rio Branco. Still more unfortunate 
for me Avas the unpleasant news that the Peixe Boys, as the vaqueiros 
call the Sea-cow {Manatns) had already left the neighbourhood of the 
Fazenda several days 1)efore, the water having commenced falling: that 
during high water they usually travel up as far as the mouth of the 
Mahn which so many had visited this rainy season, and that ten had been 
harpooned. The flesh is a great favourite with the Brazilians, and the 
