CHAPTER X 
The Point of Junction of the Arinos and Juruena Rivers — Elfrida 
Land or Island — Terrible Days of Navigation — Immense Isl¬ 
ands — An Old Indian Camp — A Fight between a Dog and an 
Ariranha — George Rex Island — A Huge Sucuriu Snake 
T HE spot where the two great rivers met was most 
impressive, especially from the island on which we 
stood, directly opposite the entrance of the two 
streams. The immense lake was spread before us, and 
beyond were the two great rivers meeting at an angle. 
Great walls of verdant forest lined all the banks and 
islands before us. Curiously enough, both in the Arinos 
and in the Juruena, two long narrow islands appeared 
parallel to the banks of each stream. The islands re¬ 
sembled each other in size. The Juruena had two 
islands near its mouth, one narrow and long, the other 
in the shape of a quadrangle. The Arinos also showed 
a long and narrow island at its mouth, and another 
ending in a point. 
It was my intention to take soundings right across 
the mouth of the Arinos and also across the mouth of the 
Juruena, but unluckily, owing to the strong easterly wind 
which prevailed that day, it was quite impossible for me 
to attempt such a task at the mouth of the Arinos, and 
equally impossible was it to proceed back across the lake 
to the mouth of the Juruena to measure the volume of 
water which came out of that river. Without any attempt 
at mathematical accuracy I should say that the two rivers 
carried an almost equal volume of water. 
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