ought this was the best way of saving their lives in case we
had a bad accident. The current was extraordinarily swift, and to make
things worse a strong north-easterly wind blew with great fury, driving
us back and producing such high waves that our canoe was constantly
filled with water. The result of keeping so close to the bank, and having
our heads continually brushed by the foliage which overhung the stream,
was that each time we came in contact with the branch of a tree thousands
of ants would drop on to the canoe and upon us, and would bite us
furiously. This was most trying--an additional torture to that we had to
endure of being stung all over by other insects which followed the canoe
in swarms.

We had not gone much farther along when within 1,000 m. we came to three
nasty rapids in succession, over barriers of great rocks intersected by
interesting veins of quartz. From that point the river was fairly
straight for 7 kil. We had that morning encountered five troublesome
rapids, which had given us endless work. When we halted we were simply
ravenous. We were fortunate enough to get plenty of fish for lunch, and
while my men were enjoying a hearty feast I took the usual astronomical
observations, eaten all over as I was by mosquitoes and _piums_, while
bees innumerable had settled on my face and arms. The latitude was 9 deg.
40'.4 S.; the longitude 58 deg. 34' W. The bees had a most peculiar pungent
odour, which they seemed to leave on one's skin when they had walked on
it. We kept our heads wrapped up in towels; but even then we suffered a
great deal.

[Illustration: A Dangerous Vortex.]

[Illustration: Preparing the Canoe to go down a Rapid.]

When we started in the afternoon we continued to travel in a direction of
330 deg. b.m., and came to a large basin, easily identifiable by subsequent
travellers by three extensive domes of granite on the right side, two of
them actually on the bank of the stream at the entrance of the basin.
Where an elongated island, 3,000 m. long--Oriana Island--beside which we
had travelled, ended on our left, we saw another island that continued
half-way down the basin, here some 2,000 m. wide. The second
island--Diana Island--was fully 8,000 m. in length. In the centre of this
great basin was a triangular island--Pomona Island--4,000 m. long and
with a base of 1,500 m. A tributary was visible on the right bank, just
opposite a great dome of granite with an appendix of sand and g