A TERRIFIC STORM 
and his assistant expressed great surprise at my not hav¬ 
ing been murdered by my followers before then. They 
said that in their whole experience they had never come 
across such impossible creatures. They could not under¬ 
stand how the Governor of Goyaz could possibly let me 
start in such company. They seemed most anxious for 
me, as some of my men, while drunk, had evidently spoken 
at the collectoria and said things which had greatly upset 
and frightened the fiscal agent. 
Three days after my arrival in S. Manoel I was ready 
to depart, having conceived a plan to go some sixty kilo¬ 
metres farther by river to a point from where I would 
strike due west across the forest as far as the Madeira 
River. I was just about to go on board the boat placed 
at my disposal by Mr. Barretto, when a terrific storm 
broke out, with lightning and thunder, and a howling 
wind, which blew with fury, raising high waves in the 
river — very wide at that point. It was a wonderful spec¬ 
tacle, with the river in commotion and the dazzling flashes 
of lightning across the inky sky. Amidst it I saw my 
faithful canoe being dashed mercilessly by the waves time 
after time against some sharp rocks, until she broke in 
two and foundered. I was sorry to see her disappear, 
for she had served me well. 
When after a couple of hours the storm cleared, I took 
my departure, on August twenty-fourth. During my 
stay at S. Manoel I had taken observations for latitude 
(7° 16'.9 south), longitude (58° 34' west), and elevation 
601 feet above the sea level on the river, 721 feet at the 
collectoria . 
Just across the river, at the mouth of the Tres Barras, 
was the collectoria for the State of Para. The Para 
seringueiros worked on the Rio Tres Barras and its 
tributaries on its right side: that is to say, the Annipiri, 
the Igarape Preto, the Cururu, and another (nameless) 
stream. There were, perhaps, altogether, some eighty or 
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