f 
338 TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO, [November, f 
requires some experience and some industry ; but not a 
tithe of either, which are necessary to get a bare living j 
at home. 
t 
Leaving this pleasant place about midday, we pro- I 
ceeded slowly on. One of my best Indians fell ill of ^ 
fever and ague ; and, a few days after, another was at- 
tacked. It was in vain attempting, at any sitio or village, 
to get men to help me on the rest of my voyage; no 
offer of extra wages would induce them to leave their ^ 
houses ; all had some excuse of occupation or illness, j 
so we were forced to creep on as well as we could. Two , 
days below the Tails, I bought a smaller canoe of a For- j 
tuguese trader, to ascend the Uaupes, and moved my 
cargo into it, leaving that of Senhor Lima with the j 
|j 
other canoe, to be sent for afterwards. At Camanau, I 
with much difficulty, and some delay, procured a pilot : 
and another Indian, to go with me to Sao Gabriel. 
There, after another day’s delay, I found two Indians, ' 
who agreed to go as far as Sao Joaquim ; and after 1 
keeping me waiting three or four hours beyond the time - 
appointed, absconded at night from the sitio where we 'i 
slept, having been previously paid double wages for the '1 
whole distance. Here, however, I was lucky enough to i 
get three more in place of the two rogues ; but as another 
of my Indians had now fallen ill, we still had few enough l 
for passing the numerous rapids and rocks with which 
the river is obstructed. „r 
One day we found, coiled up on the bank, a large 
Sucuruju, the first large snake I had met with, and as || 
I was very anxious to secure it, to preserve the skin® t 
I loaded my gun, and telling my Indians not to let it | 
