1850.] 
GRANITE ROCKS. 
201 
sipping a cup of coffee — our greatest luxury — till the 
glories of sunset faded rapidly away and the stars shone 
brightly out above us. At this quiet hour the goat- 
suckers came out to hunt their insect prey over the 
stream, and amused us with their rapid evolutions ; the 
tree-frogs commenced their mournful chants, a few lin- 
gering parrots would cross the river to their nests, and 
the guarhibas fill the air with their howling voices. When 
at length the dews of evening fell thick upon us, I would 
turn in beneath the tolda, while Senhor L., wrapping 
himself in a sheet, preferred taking his repose outside. 
On September 30th, just a month after we had left 
Barra, we again saw the opposite side of the river, and 
crossed over where it is about four miles wide. The 
next day we reached a part where the granitic rocks 
commence, and I was delighted to step out of the canoe 
on to a fine sloping table of granite, with quartz-veins 
running across it in various directions. From this point 
the river became more picturesque. Small rocky islands 
abounded, and fine granite beaches were frequent, offer* 
ing delightful places to take our picnic meals. Fish 
too became yet more abundant, and we were seldom 
without this luxury. 
On the 3rd of October we reached a sitio, where re- 
sided a half-breed Brazilian named Joao Cordeiro (John 
Lamb), who was a friend of Senhor L. as well as a cus- 
tomer. We staid here two days, while a good part of 
the cargo of the canoe was taken out, for Senhor Joao to 
choose what he liked best. Here, for the second time 
since we left Barra, we saw a few cows, and had milk to 
our coffee. I amused myself by walking in the forest 
