146 
The Fairy Valley of the Cotinga. 
Cuiatakie and the irregularly cleft Aimutong (White mountain) : their 
mighty quartz rocks, now become visible, were transformed by the sun- 
sliine into sparkling reefs of gold whence the sharpest beams of liglit weia 
oast over the Cotinga valley enclosed by the 1,000 to 1,1.MHJ ft. high moun- 
tain ridges heading away to the north. Luxuriant, yet still green, meadows 
which flanked the mountain sides uj) to their summits and very tips now 
and again alternated with thick clumps of bush or bleak granite ridges, 
in the clefts and crevices of which a brushwood had taken growth. When 
one's gaze strayed from the imposing heights above to the lovely valley of 
the Cotinga below, it was straightway arrested in the foreground by one 
of the mighty cataracts which time and again broke out afresh in the far 
perspective to the accompaniment, on either side, of Avildly picturesque 
crags, and crowded clusters of the glorious Mnuritia palm that had raised 
their heads high above the thriving vegetntion ou (lie liauKs : ou the eastern 
shore several mountains were carpeted with the bright yellow blossoms 
of the tree-like Cd ssid ( Bascopli i/ll ti ni) poli/fifocli i/fi r.cuth., while still 
further in the dislaiu-(\ the lovely lücture included the monntain ridges 
resting in re])0se as if wrap])ed in a blue and diiqthanous veil. It was 
uu(|uestionably one of the lovelic^st landscapes I had come across in the 
tropics, one in whicli the most infinite charm was coupled with I'ough 
impressive grandeur. Everywhere Life and Plenty, snffieient to stagger 
one's imagination, as for instance on the banks of the raging torrents 
where immense flocks of lou<lly-shrieking golden-yellow Kessi-kessi par- 
rots ( Pslltaciis; ftolstitialis ). flying in continuous streams alternately from 
the forests of the valleys and lower mountain-sloy»es. ha<l come to settle, 
only to resume Might after a while with redoubled scream. Almost the 
\vh(^le rocky slo]te of Curatakie, down which a small mountain streara 
was working its laborious way to gush out at last with thundering fury, 
was enveloped with the beautiful Kfihvciicra avfiiistifolia,, ihe dark' red 
coloured flowers of which iuiparted an indescribable charm to it: this 
charm became in-oportionally var-ied the nearer the slopes approached 
the banks of the Cotinga and Waikeuh, for there was soon to be associated 
Willi the soft tint of this wealth of bloom, the bright yellow of Cr/.s-.s/o 
ftnli/fifarln/a, the fusion of all colours of Covlarra speclosn Aubl., Gnapha- 
liiiDi f'foliomhiirfikii C. H. Schultz Bip. and innumerable Polygnlacmc, 
fUrntianarcac, Conrolrulacrar, Mnlvncrar , AcanfJiarrar, Melfifttomacear 
and Mi/rtaccar. all of them forms and types, as unknown as they were 
unexpected after the ]~»reYiously ]irevaiUng ]ioorness of vegetation. — that 
met my astonished gaze. The giant boulders of the valley were covered 
with Crrru!^, Mrlocacfu;^, A (fares, Orchkh and small thickets of CIus'kip 
and Mj/rfaccar. In spite of the oppressive heat of 100° Fahr, our' sur- 
roundings continued a fairy Paradise and all the more so because neither 
mos'quitoes nor sandflies dared make an entry. 
359. On the 9th October the last load of our belongings was des- 
])atched to Torong-Yauwise, where we joined the company of the old chief. 
'After crossing the Waikueh, our road lay over isolated mountains and 
hills, through welcome valleys, until upon once more arriving at the sum- 
mit of a- hill, we saw in the distant iflain a cemetery with numberless 
monuments spread out at our feet, and on making our way down thought 
we should be walking oyer the grayes of a past generation: but instead 
