1848.] 
BRAZIL NUTS. 
71 
small sandy island in the middle of the river, where 
there was a house, the inhabitants of which continually 
asked us for caxaga. We had a land-tortoise for dinner 
today, which was as good as turtle. Two hours further 
we landed for the night. The river was now very full 
of rocks and eddies, and we were unable to go on in our 
large canoe. The next morning, having put our redes 
and some provisions into the montaria, we started with 
two of our men and Senhor Joaquim, leaving one man 
and old Isidora in charge of the canoe till we returned. 
In about an hour we all had to get out of the boat, for 
the men to pull it up a little rapid over some rocks. The 
whole river is here full of small rocky islands and masses 
of rock above and under water. In the wet season the 
water is fifteen to twenty feet higher than it was now, and 
this part is then safe for large canoes. We passed the 
mouth of an igaripe on the west bank, and another on 
the opposite side, in both of which gold is said to exist. 
Large silk-cotton-trees appear at intervals, raising their 
semiglobular heads above the rest of the forest, and the 
castanha, or Brazil-nut, grows on the river-banks, where 
we saw many of the trees covered with fruit. 
We passed the Ilha das Bacas, which is completely 
covered with wood, and very abrupt and rocky. The 
rocks in the river were now thicker than ever, and we 
frequently scraped against them ; but as the bottoms of 
the montarias are hollowed out of the trunks of trees 
and left very thick, they do not readily receive any in- 
jury. At three p.m. we reached Aroyas, a mile below 
the Balls. Here the bank of the river slopes up to a 
height of about three hundred feet, and is thickly 
