372 TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO. \May, 
On tlie 8th I reached Barcellos, and here I was an- 
noyed by having to give an account of what IJjad in 
my canoes, and pay duty, the new Government of Barra 
not allowing anything to escape without contributing its 
share. 
On the 11th we passed the mouth of the Rio Branco, 
and I noticed for the first time the peculiar colour of the 
water, which is a very pale yellow-olive, almost milky, 
very difierent from and much whiter than the waters 
of the Amazon, and making its name of the “ White 
River'’ very appropriate. In the dry season the waters 
are much clearer. 
In the morning I reached Pedreiro, and purchased a 
a turtle, which we stopped to cook, a short distance be- 
low the village ; it was a very large and fat one, and we 
fried the greater part of the meat in fat for the rest of 
the voyage. At a sitio, in the evening, I bought two 
parrots, and the next morning, at Ayrao, five more ; 
and in the afternoon, at another sitio, a blue macaw, a 
monkey, a toucan, and a pigeon. At night we had 
''5 
storm of rain and wind, and for a long time beat about 
in the middle of the river, tossed by the waves, without 
being able to find the shore. 
On the 1 5th we reached “ Ai purusa," where I bought 
some fish and maize. Here was lying a fine harpy 
eagle, which Senhor Bagatta had shot the day before, 
and, having plucked out some of the wing-feathers, had 
left it to rot ; I thus just missed, by a day, getting a 
specimen of this bird, which I so much desired, and 
which I had never been able to procure during a four 
years' residence in the country. We had plenty more 
