ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
Two kilometres beyond we came to a rivulet, two 
metres wide, on the left bank, and soon after to a small 
corrideira with a navigable channel in the centre. Three 
hundred metres farther down we passed another tributary 
on the right bank. There was open country with sparse 
stunted trees on the left of us, thick forest with plenty of 
rubber trees on the right. I noticed several good speci¬ 
mens of the pao dolce — a tree with a curious cluster of 
yellow flowers not unlike the flower of wistaria upside 
down. Not only was the pao dolce pretty to look at, but 
a most refreshing beverage could be made from a 
decoction of its leaves. 
The course of the river was winding, with basins and 
rapids of no great importance. Another tributary two 
metres wide was reached on the left bank, and soon after 
another tiny streamlet entered the Arinos from the same 
side. 
I had a narrow escape. One of the men, who was 
sitting behind me in the canoe, saw an ariranha (Lutra 
Brasiliensis) put its head out of the water only ten metres 
in front of the canoe. In his great hurry to kill the 
beautiful animal he seized his rifle and emptied the eight 
shots out of his magazine, firing the first three shots close 
to my head on the left side, the other five just as close 
on the other side. The muzzle of his rifle was so near my 
ear that the noise deafened me for several minutes and my 
hair was almost singed off. The ariranha, needless to say, 
escaped unhurt, and luckily so did I. 
We went over a long strip of shallow water from one 
to three feet deep. We now had open country on the 
right bank, with a small streamlet finding its way into 
the Arinos on that side. The river was flowing again in 
long straight stretches, 3,000 metres, 2,000 metres, 2,500 
metres in length. In the portions where the banks were 
thickly wooded innumerable rubber trees were to be seen. 
In the centre of a basin 150 metres wide we found 
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