The chief called one of them up to him; and
from the way he spoke, I had little doubt that he was his son. The
chief made signs to us that the lad, whom he called Duppo, would go back
with us to the village, and that we should there obtain any food we
might require. Duppo appeared to be about fourteen years of age, and
more intelligent and better looking than most of the Indians; indeed,
the two chiefs we had first seen were superior to the rest in
appearance, and Duppo was very like them. We came to the conclusion
that they were brothers; and that Duppo, as I have said, was the son of
the eldest. This we found afterwards to be the case.

The chief, having wished us farewell, gave the signal to advance; and
leading the way, the Indians set off in single file along the bottom of
the hill. We, having watched them for some time, accompanied Duppo,
followed by the three other lads who had come with him. We asked him
his father's name, and understood him to say it was Maono, that his
mother's name was Mora, and that his uncle was called Paco. Had we
judged by Duppo's manner, we should not have supposed that his friends
had gone on a dangerous expedition; but yet, knowing the character of
the Majeronas, we could not help feeling some anxiety for the result.
We found that Duppo was leading us towards the further end of the
igarape, in the direction we had ourselves before proposed going. We
had, however, delayed so long, that I feared we should not have time to
return. Arthur suggested that we might possibly find a canoe, in which
we could go back by water, or, if not, we might build a balsa, such as
we had seen used on the Guayas.

"An excellent idea," I replied. "We will put it into execution should
we not find a canoe."

Our young guide led the way with unerring instinct through the forest.
We had gone some distance, when we heard a deep, loud, and
long-sustained flute-like note. It was that of a bird. The young
Indian stopped, and pointing ahead, uttered the word _nira-mimbeu_,
which I afterwards ascertained meant fife-bird, evidently from the
peculiar note we had just heard. The whole party stopped in the
attitude of listening, and looking among the branches, we got a good
view of a bird a short distance beyond us, with glossy black plumage,
perched on a bough. The bird itself was about the size of a common
crow. It had a remarkable ornament on its head, consisting of a crest
formed of long, curved, hai