ng through the forest; and as it was far the neatest and
prettiest _sitio_ I have seen here, I may describe it more at length. It
stood on the brow of a hill which dipped down on the other side into a
wide and deep ravine. Through this ravine ran an igarape, beyond which
the land rose again in an undulating line of hilly ground, most
refreshing to the eye after the flat character of the upper Amazonian
scenery. The fact that this _sitio_, standing now on a hill overlooking
the valley and the little stream at its bottom, will have the water
nearly flush with the ground around it when the igarape is swollen by
the rise of the river, gives an idea of the change of aspect between the
dry and wet seasons. The establishment consisted of a number of
buildings, the most conspicuous of which was a large and lofty open
room, which the Indian senhora told me was their reception-room, and was
often used, she said, by the _brancos_ (whites) from Manaos and the
neighborhood for an evening dance, when they came out in a large
company, and passed the night. A low wall, some three or four feet in
height, ran along the sides of this room, wooden benches being placed
against them for their whole length. The two ends were closed from top
to bottom by very neat thatched walls; the palm-thatch here, when it is
made with care, being exceedingly pretty, fine, and smooth, and of a
soft straw color. At the upper end stood an immense embroidery-frame,
looking as if it might have served for Penelope's web, but in which was
stretched an unfinished hammock of palm-thread, the senhora's work. She
sat down on the low stool before it, and worked a little for my benefit,
showing me how the two layers of transverse threads were kept apart by a
thick, polished piece of wood, something like a long, broad ruler.
Through the opening thus made the shuttle is passed with the
cross-thread, which is then pushed down and straightened in its place by
means of the same piece of wood.

When we arrived, with the exception of the benches I have mentioned and
a few of the low wooden stools roughly cut out of a single piece of wood
and common in every _sitio_, this room was empty; but immediately a
number of hammocks, of various color and texture, were brought and slung
across the room from side to side, between the poles supporting the
roof, and we were invited to rest. This is the first act of hospitality
on arriving at a country-house here; and the guests are soon str