,
accompanied by many gestures of his hands, head, and tail. It was, no
doubt, exceedingly eloquent. Similar speeches delivered by other old
araguato chiefs, have been compared to the creaking of an ungreased
bullock-cart, mingled with the rumbling of the wheels!

Our party thought the comparison a just one. The old chief finished at
length. Up to this point not one of the others had said a word. They all
sat silent, observing perfect decorum; indeed, much greater than is
observed in the great British Parliament or the Congress of America.
Occasionally one of the children might utter a slight squeak, or throw
out its hand to catch a mosquito; but in such cases a slap from the paw
of the mother, or a rough shaking, soon reduced it to quiet.

When the chief had ended speaking, however, no debate in either Congress
or Parliament could have equalled the noise that then arose. Every
araguato seemed to have something to say, and all spoke at the same
time. If the speech of the old one was like the creaking of a
bullock-cart, the voices of all combined might appropriately be compared
to a whole string of these vehicles, with half the quantity of grease
and a double allowance of wheels!

Once more the chief, by a sign, commanded silence, and the rest became
mute and motionless as before.

This time the speech of the leader appeared to refer to the business in
hand--in short, to the crossing of the igaripe. He was seen repeatedly
pointing in that direction, as he spoke, and the rest followed his
motions with their eyes.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

BRIDGING AN IGARIPE.

The tree upon which the araguatoes were assembled stood near the edge of
the water, but there was another still nearer. This was also a tall tree
free of branches for a great way up. On the opposite bank of the igaripe
was a very similar tree, and the long horizontal branches of the two
were separated from each other by a space of about twenty feet. It was
with these two trees that the attention of the araguatoes appeared to be
occupied; and our travellers could tell by their looks and gestures that
they were conversing about, and calculating, the distance between their
upper branches. For what purpose?

Surely they do not expect to be able to make a crossing between them? No
creature without wings could pass from one to the other! Such were the
questions and doubts expressed by Leon, and indeed by all except Guapo,
but Guapo had seen araguatoes before, an