MANDIOCCA PLANTATION. 
155 
1849.] 
grass and weeds in the small stream. It did not how- 
I ever now seem so tedious as on our ascent, and we soon 
got into the open river. 
Passing along a sandy shore, our Indian saw signs of 
turtles’ eggs, and immediately jumped out and com- 
menced scraping away the sand, in a very short time 
* turning up a hatful of eggs of the small turtle called 
“ Tracaxa.” A little lower down there was an old tree 
giving a tempting shade, so we made a fire under it, 
boiled our eggs, made some coffee, and with some farinha 
and beef we had brought with us made an excellent 
I breakfast. Proceeding on, we fell in with a great num- 
j ber of alligators, of a large size, swimming about in all 
i| directions. We fired at some of them, but only suc- 
I ceeded in making them dive rapidly to the bottom. 
I 
They are much feared by the natives, who never venture 
j far into the water when bathing. In a place where we 
had bathed a few days previously, we saw one close in 
i shore, and resolved to be more careful for the future, as 
I every year some lives are lost by incautiousness. 
After a few days more at the village, we paid a visit 
I to a mandiocca plantation some miles in the interior, 
where there is a considerable extent of forest-land, and 
I where we therefore expected to find more insects. We 
went on foot, carrying our redes, guns, boxes, nets, and 
other necessaries for a week’s stay. On arriving, we 
found the only accommodation to consist of a little low 
thatched hut, just large enough to hang our hammocks 
in, and the only inhabitants four or five Negroes belong- 
ing to the place. 
However we soon made omselves at home, and our 
