78 
THE GOLDEN RIYEE. 
in the brilliant sunlight which dappled the 
grass. The men moved backwards and 
forwards, serving us with meat and bread and 
water, their picturesque figures blending well 
with the background of tropical vegetation. 
Except for the roar of the Falls, the forest was 
very silent: no birds called, and there was no 
stir amongst the undergrowth. On our way 
back, threading our way by the tiny pathway, 
we saw a flight of large parrots coming across 
the sky. They pitched, screaming and chatter¬ 
ing, in the top branches of a tree, then wheeled 
away again screaming, their emerald plumage 
hard to distinguish in the leafage. 
Once more in the boat, we re-traced our way 
till we reached the wide river, where we caught 
sight of a dug-out manned by two Indian men 
and a boy. They belonged to a wandering 
tribe, and were out fishing. Our boat swept 
past so quickly on the swift current that we 
could hardly make them out. They were 
dressed in European clothes, and wore pieces 
of wood through their nostrils. They paid 
little attention to us, and we passed them so 
soon that there was only time to glance at them, 
and to feel a pang of disappointment that real 
Indians should look so ordinary. They were 
not at all the Indians of romance. 
The river at Guayra spreads out into an 
immense expanse, and from here it again 
becomes navigable for small craft, and can be 
