DESCENDING THE FALLS. 
317 
1851.] 
Sao Gabriel ; and that from there to Camanau, I must 
get another pilot. 
The rapids, before arriving at Sao Gabriel, are not very 
dangerous, and much to my satisfaction we arrived there 
in safety, about four in the afternoon. We there par- 
tially unloaded, to pass the narrow channel at the Fort, 
which was also accomplished with safety ; though not 
without danger at one point, where the canoe got out of 
the proper course, and the waves dashed in rather fear- 
fully. I then succeeded in agreeing with a good pilot to 
take us down the next morning, and was much relieved 
by his informing me, that, the river being very full, the 
Falls were not dangerous, and the canoe would pass 
with perfect safety without more unloading. I there- 
fore willingly paid him what he asked, four milreis (about 
nine shillings) ; and the next morning, having got the 
canoe properly reloaded, we bade adieu to the Com- 
mandante, and in two hours had passed safely down to 
Camanau. 
The navigation of these Falls is of a character quite 
distinct from anything in our part of the world. A 
person looking at the river, sees only a rapid current, a 
few eddies, swells, and small b:^akers, in which there 
appears nothing very formidable. When however you 
are in the midst of them, you are quite bewildered with 
the conflicting motions of the waters. Whirling and boil- 
ing eddies, which burst up from the bottom at intervals, 
as if from some subaqueous explosion, with short cross- 
waves, and smooth intervening patches, almost make 
one giddy. On one side of the canoe there is often a 
strong down-current ; while, on the other, it flows in 
