ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
six hundred metres in diameter, with rocks in the 
centre of it. Two clusters of magnificent rocks, 30 feet 
high, towered on the left side of the river. Then came 
a long row of rocks, also gigantic, and a sandy beach which 
had accumulated against them. A little farther another 
great mass of rocks in disorder stood up against the now 
once more fierce current. 
We made our way tentatively along what seemed to 
us the safest channel, to 320° bearings magnetic, and with 
trepidation shot the rapids, which were quite fearsome. I 
must say for my men that by now they had acquired a 
certain amount of courage — courage, like all things, 
being a matter of training after all. We went down 
at a terrific speed amidst the splashing waters, shav¬ 
ing dangerous rocks and escaping collision by miracle. 
When we got to the bottom of the rapid we were 
shot into the whirlpool, which we might have avoided 
with ease had Alcides obeyed the orders I shouted to 
him. 
When I had shot the rapids before in other countries, 
I had always avoided getting into the centre of the whirl¬ 
pool; but Alcides, who had never navigated a river before, 
held the contrary idea, and always insisted on steering 
the canoe right into the centre of those dangerous rotating 
waters. 
It was sufficient to remonstrate as I did, for Alcides 
to do a thing over and over again with the persistency 
of a mule, in order to maintain what he thought was his 
amour propre. As it was, on that occasion the canoe 
swerved round with such force that she nearly turned over, 
and got so filled with water that we had to struggle out 
of the difficulty as best we could and beach her, or she 
would have sunk. 
At that point an island 400 metres long and 50 metres 
wide divided the river into two channels. The western 
channel had a small island of white sand and many rocks 
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