ater a French traveler, Paul Marcoy, went out to examine
the color of the waters of this tributary, which has been graphically
compared to the cloudy greenish opal of absinthe. At the same time he
corrected some of the measurements of La Condamine. But then the mouth
of the Napo was sensibly increased by the floods and it was with a good
deal of rapidity that its current, coming from the eastern slopes of
Cotopaxi, hurried fiercely to mingle itself with the tawny waters of the
Amazon.

A few Indians had wandered to the mouth of this river. They were robust
in build, of tall stature, with shaggy hair, and had their noses pierced
with a rod of palm, and the lobes of their ears lengthened to their
shoulders by the weight of heavy rings of precious wood. Some women were
with them. None of them showed any intention of coming on board. It is
asserted that these natives are cannibals; but if that is true--and
it is said of many of the riverine tribes--there must have been more
evidence for the cannibalism than we get to-day.

Some hours later the village of Bella Vista, situated on a somewhat
lower bank, appeared, with its cluster of magnificent trees, towering
above a few huts roofed with straw, over which there drooped the large
leaves of some medium-sized banana-trees, like the waters overflowing
from a tazza.

Then the pilot, so as to follow a better current, which turned off from
the bank, directed the raft toward the right side of the river, which
he had not yet approached. The maneuver was not accomplished without
certain difficulties, which were successfully overcome after a good many
resorts to the demijohn.

This allowed them to notice in passing some of those numerous lagoons
with black waters, which are distributed along the course of the Amazon,
and which often have no communication with the river. One of these,
bearing the name of the Lagoon of Oran, is of fair size, and receives
the water by a large strait. In the middle of the stream are scattered
several islands and two or three islets curiously grouped; and on the
opposite bank Benito recognized the site of the ancient Oran, of which
they could only see a few uncertain traces.

During two days the jangada traveled sometimes under the left bank,
sometimes under the right, according to the condition of the current,
without giving the least sign of grounding.

The passengers had already become used to this new life. Joam Garral,
leaving to his son everyth