o Parecis, the Indian, walked back to
where Lobo's body lay. Sure enough he found him, slain by two arrows.
One arrow-head was in him, and near by was a strange stick used in the
very primitive method of fishing of all these Indians. Antonio
recognized its purpose. The Indians, who were apparently two or three
in number, had fled. Some beads and trinkets were left on the spot to
show that we were not angry and were friendly.

Meanwhile Cherrie stayed at the head and I at the foot of the portage
as guards. Luiz and Antonio Correa brought down one canoe safely. The
next was the new canoe, which was very large and heavy, being made of
wood that would not float. In the rapids the rope broke, and the canoe
was lost, Luiz being nearly drowned.

It was a very bad thing to lose the canoe, but it was even worse to
lose the rope and pulleys. This meant that it would be physically
impossible to hoist big canoes up even small hills or rocky hillocks,
such as had been so frequent beside the many rapids we had
encountered. It was not wise to spend the four days necessary to build
new canoes where we were, in danger of attack from the Indians.
Moreover, new rapids might be very near, in which case the new canoes
would hamper us. Yet the four remaining canoes would not carry all the
loads and all the men, no matter how we cut the loads down; and we
intended to cut everything down at once. We had been gone eighteen
days. We had used over a third of our food. We had gone only 125
kilometres, and it was probable that we had at least five times,
perhaps six or seven times, this distance still to go. We had taken a
fortnight to descend rapids amounting in the aggregate to less than
seventy yards of fall; a very few yards of fall makes a dangerous
rapid when the river is swollen and swift and there are obstructions.
We had only one aneroid to determine our altitude, and therefore could
make merely a loose approximation to it, but we probably had between
two and three times this descent in the aggregate of rapids ahead of
us. So far the country had offered little in the way of food except
palm-tops. We had lost four canoes and one man. We were in the country
of wild Indians, who shot well with their bows. It behooved us to go
warily, but also to make all speed possible, if we were to avoid
serious trouble.

The best plan seemed to be to march thirteen men down along the bank,
while the remaining canoes, lashed two and two, floated down bes