310 
Deer, Duck and Partridge for Dinner. 
were daily gathering in greater numbers, thundered out the commencing 
tattoo and reveille. Peaceful Pirara had become a fortress. .We fixed 
uur own large tents some distance away and up above them erected high 
flag-staffs from which the British and Prussian colours fluttered gaily in 
the continuous north easterly breeze. As all the boathands of the 
combined Boundary and Military Expedition were still staying in the 
village, and fresh parties of Indians moreover were incessantly wanting 
to greet their “Domini” and expressing their readiness to do the trans- 
port, Pirara presented every evening a busier scene of hustle and bustle 
than it certainly had ever known before and which, naturally, will only 
come again if civilising influences should ever extend into the interior, 
in which case the present insignificant little settlement owing to its 
uncommonly favourable situation will needs become of importance. Mr. 
Youd likewise neither wished to move into his house until the arrival 
of Friar Jose, nor hold any divine service in the church built by that 
individual, for which reason one of the houses that had remained 
unoccupied was soon fitted up for the puipose. 
860. The officers and ourselves all dining together both at noon and 
at night, our table d’hote was fairly lively, and as everybody who shared 
in it had to contribute game and fowl, there was always a most compre- 
hensive and varied assortment of dishes. Of those that were and 
certainly continued to be most in demand was one made with the Anas 
bi'asiHensis Linn., a species of duck hitherto unknown to us, and another 
made of the small tasty partridge, although almost every day we 
managed to get two to three of the many deer (Waiking of the Macusis) 
which I took to be a new species. 
S67. We were still daily looking forward in vain to the arrival of 
the Commandant from Fort Sao Joaquim, Antonio dos Barros Leal, and 
Friar Jose without our being able to explain their extraordinary non- 
appearance. We were thus sitting up late one evening, happy and com- 
fortable, when one of the soldiers all of a sudden burst into the house 
shouting “Brazilians,” while outside of it also, the calling of the guard 
and the clamorous voices clearly indicated that something must be 
happening. Hurriedly rushing out of the house with the torches, we 
were met by an awful uproar. The word “Brazilians” had awakened 
the already sleeping soldiers: weapon in hand these came tumbling out 
of the tents and out of the door and windows of the big house: none had 
given himself time to put on uniform or trousers : almost the whole of the 
army stood in closed ranks in their shirts, some of them even armed with 
two guns, while lighted up by the blazing fire of the watch party and 
several torches we saw the sentrv who had given the alarm standing with 
fixed bayonet in front of two men on small horses. Since no one spoke 
Portuguese besides my brother he took the part of interpreter and asked 
what they wanted — a question to which both replied that they were 
bringing despatches from the Commandant at Fort Sao Joaquim for the 
Governor in Georgetown. They were now made to ride close up to the 
fire where they were regularly encircled by the inquisitive 
Negroes, the sight of whose armed black figures, ‘t was quite 
easy, to see, dicl not tend to make the two poor devils, sitting 
