CHAPTER III 
Dangerous Navigation — Eddies — Whirlpools — An Extraordinary 
Creature — The Man X — Pedro de Toledo Island — An Inter¬ 
esting Rodent 
were rather proud of ourselves, as we had gone 
sixty-nine kilometres on July seventh, paddling 
away, barring the interval for lunch, from 7.15 in 
the morning until 7.30 at night. 
The night was fairly cold — minimum 57° Fahrenheit, 
the elevation 1,100 feet. Where I made camp at the 
elbow of the stream, on the left bank, there were in¬ 
numerable rubber trees. A similar wealth of Siphonia 
elastica appeared to be on the opposite bank, where the 
forest was luxuriant. 
On July eighth we began our journey by going down 
rapids. Then after some 15,300 metres of fairly smooth 
navigation we crossed a basin 130 metres wide, where we 
encountered strong eddies, most unpleasant, as they 
swerved the canoe about in a way that was alarming. 
Lower down a swift corrideira and more eddies gave us 
some trouble. 
A beautiful ariranha peeped out of the water close 
to the canoe, spitting angrily at us. It was attracted by 
the blood-red of the English flag, which it evidently 
wanted to bite. My men fired and wounded it; but so 
vicious were those little otters, and so great their craving 
for blood, that it still came on to within a foot or two of 
the canoe, when my men killed it. 
The river was there compressed into a deep channel, 
35 metres wide, with a strong current, after which it split 
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