MOUNT S. BENEDICTO 
so that none of Gregorio’s men should touch it. Enor¬ 
mous balls of rubber filled the greater portion of the floor, 
waiting to be taken down the river. 
With great trouble the Indian — a man called Miguel 
— was induced to accompany me; also a young boy, who, 
at a salary of 15s . a day, agreed to act as carrier. 
It was not until late in the afternoon on August 
twenty-fifth that we left the fazenda in order to proceed 
down the stream. We passed the tributary river Ronca- 
dor on the left side, with its beautiful high waterfall a 
short distance before it enters the Tapajoz. We came 
soon afterwards to the island of S. Benedicto, south of 
which on the left bank was the hill of the Veado, 120 feet 
high. Directly in front of the island, also on the left 
bank, was the Mount S. Benedicto, where legends say an 
image of that saint exists, carved out by nature in the high 
rocky cliff. 
As we passed under the hill our crew fired several 
volleys in honour of the saint; then we landed and I 
climbed up to see the wonderful image. Many candles 
had been burnt on a platform of rock on the cliff side, 
and the sailors who came up with me brought a new 
supply of stearine and set them ablaze on that natural 
altar. The men pointed out to me the figure of the saint, 
but with all the best intentions in the world I could see 
no resemblance whatever to a human being. 
“ There it is! there it is! ” they shouted, as I twisted 
my head one way and the other to see if I could find a 
point of view from which I could see the saint. The men 
knelt down and prayed fervently for some minutes, as 
they believed it was necessary to pay these signs of respect 
in order to ensure a good journey down the river. Some 
went as far as to tear off pieces of their garments and 
leave them on the rocky platform as offerings. 
The eastern face of the S. Benedicto Mount was a 
vertical wall 200 feet high in horizontal strata of a deep 
237 
