BACK ACROSS THE FOREST 
them again. My idea was to walk from that place across 
the forest once more, back to our original point of de¬ 
parture near the Tapajoz River, where I had left the 
remainder of my party and the main part of my baggage. 
A runaway seringueiro was induced to accompany me 
on that errand, while another man remained with faithful 
Filippe in charge of my valuable possessions. I left with 
them supplies for three months, which I had purchased 
from Pedro Nunes’ expedition. 
On September twenty-fifth I went a short distance 
farther up the river to its most southeasterly point. From 
there, with two men and provisions for thirty days, bid¬ 
ding good-bye to the men who had saved our lives, we 
started, still in a weak and exhausted condition, on our 
march back to the men we had left behind. 
We carried only food supplies with us. I had left 
everything else on the Secundury River. Marching was 
indeed painful, as I had absolutely no strength, and was 
in a high fever. I stumbled along in excruciating pain, 
losing now one shoe, now the other, when they caught 
in some liane. There were a great many fallen trees in 
that part of the forest, which gave us no end of trouble, 
when, exhausted as Benedicto and I were, we had to climb 
over them or else squeeze under. 
So great was my anxiety, however, to get back that, 
notwithstanding the pain, I marched along, following the 
new man, who was in good condition. We went twenty 
kilometres that day. 
The forest near the Secundury River was at first 
overgrown with dense vegetation, which gave us a good 
deal of work and extra exertion; but after that, when 
we got some distance from the water, the forest was fairly 
clean, except of course for the fallen trees. We found 
troublesome ravines of great height where streamlets had 
cut their way through. 
In going down one of those difficult ravines I had 
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