60 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. 
company and the conduct of the Brazilian Government, whether this 
number is increased or diminished. 
By-and-hye, the monotony of the vegetation, magnificent as it is, and 
of the landscape, whose uniformity is unbroken by moTmtain or hill, 
wearies the eye of the traveller ; -who, as he paddles slowly up these 
immense distances in his unmeldy canoe, sees nothing save the blue 
sky, the smooth water, and a dense gii’dle of evergreen forest. The 
appearance of the low-thatched roof of a Scringueiro’s wretched home, 
or the sight of some small Pacova * plantation, whose vivid soft 
green contrasts sharply with the gloom of the forest behind, is then 
regarded as quite a happy event ; and we often wished heartily to 
change the easy navigation on this smooth surface for the variety of 
troubles and dangers that we knew to await us at the Bapids, and 
of which we were soon to have our full share. 
A remarkable i^oint below Santo Antonio (the first rapid) is the 
Praia de Tamandua (shoal of the ant-eater — Myrmecophaga Jubatd), a 
long, sandy shoal on the right hand. There, and on similar banLs, 
tiu’tles come in the month of September to lay their eggs, in such 
incredible numbers that he who sees these cuirassed armies for the 
first time cannot but feel a sensation of horror and disgust. With 
wonderful rapidity they dig large holes, one foot and a half deep, into 
the soft sand, and are often in such a hurry that the eggs of some 
nest, which had been already covered with sand, are disturbed and 
scattered about. These shy animals, that generally dive at the slightest 
noise, are deaf and blind to any danger at this season, and are easily 
laid on their backs by the fishermen and Seringueiros ; hundreds of 
whom assemble on these occasions, like birds of prey round dead game, 
to prepare the Mantciga de Tartaruga (tiutle-butter). The eggs are 
dug out and put into the canoes. The thin shells are broken and 
crushed by h’oading on them, and the fat yolks, with which they 
jue almost filled, hecome a thick yellow substance. Under the glowing 
rays of the tropical sun, the oily parts soon settle on the surface, and 
* Pacova, the Tiipi name for a species of large plantain, also called Banana da Terra 
(that is to say, tlie aboriginal Banana, to distinguish it fi-om tlie other sxiecios imported, 
probalily from India). This fruit is quite indispensable to the j)opiilation of the whole 
.Amazon basin. It grows there to the enormous height of forty centimetres, and is 
eaten both ripe and unripe, raw and cooked. When ripe and dried in the sun it sm’- 
jmsses the fig in delicaey of taste, whUe it is much like our xiotato when di-ied unripe and 
boiled. 
