ILLNESS. 
285 
1851.] 
licious fish, the white Pirahiba or Laulau, three or four 
times consecutively without vegetable food. Here the 
symptoms became rather aggravated, and though not at 
all inclined to despond in. sickness, yet as I knew this 
disease to be a very fatal one in tropical climates, and I 
had no medicines or even proper food of any kind, I 
certainly did begin to be a little alarmed. The worst 
of it was that I was continually hungry, but could not 
eat or drink the smallest possible quantity of anything 
without pains of the stomach and bowels immediately 
succeeding, which lasted several hours. The diarrhoea 
too was continual, with evacuations of slime and blood, 
which my diet of the last few days, of tapioca- gruel 
and coffee, seemed rather to have increased. 
I remained here most of the day in my maqueira, but 
in the afternoon some fish were brought in, and finding 
among them a couple of new species, I set to work 
figuring them, determined to let no opportunity pass 
of increasing my collections. This village has no rna- 
locca, but a number of small houses ; having been founded 
by the Portuguese before the Independence. It is plea- 
santly situated on the sloping bank of the river, which is 
about half a mile wide, wdth rather high land opposite, 
and a view up to the narrow channel, where the waters 
are bounding and foaming and leaping high in the air 
with the violence of the fall, or more properly rapid. 
There was a young Brazilian “ negociante ” and his 
wife residing in this village, and as he was also about 
ascending the river to fetch farinha, we agreed to go 
together. The next morning we accordingly started, 
proceeding along the shore to near the fall, where we 
