190 
TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO. 
\^August, 
One day, Senhor Henriqiie made a party to go fish- 
ing, with a large drag-net, in the Solimoes. We started 
in the afternoon in a good canoe, with a party of about 
a dozen, and eight or ten Indian rowers ; and just before 
sunset, reached the mouth of the Rio Negro, and turned 
up into the strong and turbid waters of the Solimoes. 
There was a bright moon, and we kept on talking and 
singing, while passing the narrow channels and green 
islands of the north side of the river, which looked most 
picturesquely wild and solitary, by the pale silvery moon- 
light, and amid the solemn silence of the forest. By 
about midnight, we reached a large sand-bank, just 
rising out of the water. Most of the party turned up 
their trousers, and waded through the shallows, till they 
reached the bank, where they began searching for small 
turtles’ eggs, and those of gulls and other water-birds, 
which lay them in little hollows scraped in the sand. 
Gulls, divers, ducks, and sandpipers flew screaming 
about as we landed, and the splash of fish in the shallow 
water told us that there was abundance of sport for us. 
Senhor Henrique soon ordered the Indians to get out 
the net, and commenced dragging. Every time, the net 
was drawn on shore, we nearly filled a basket with nu- 
merous small fishes, and a few of larger size. There 
were quantities of little ones armed with spines, which 
inflict a serious wound if tfodden on, so we had to be 
cautious with our bare feet. I was much interested in 
the great variety and the curious forms that every basket- 
ful contained. There were numbers of a little fish, pe- 
culiar to the Amazon, which inflates the fore part of the 
body into a complete ball, and when stamped upon 
%-i 
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