ad gone some 3,000 m. when we came to
another fairly strong rapid. My men were quarrelling among themselves.
Alcides, who was fond of gesticulating on such occasions, let the
steering gear go in order to give more force to his words by waving his
hands in the air, regardless of the danger which was in front of us, with
the result that the canoe turned a pirouette upon herself and down the
rapid we went backwards.

The river flowed from that place in an easterly direction for some 3,000
m., where a great basin was formed, strewn with rocks and islets and
having two large islands in its eastern part. The basin in its widest
part had a width of 2,000 m. Then from that point the river went to 50 deg.
b.m. for a distance of 6,000 m. A strong north-easterly wind was blowing
against us, keeping us back and making our work unduly hard. Great waves
tossed us about and made my men seasick, while we got splashed
incessantly, the moisture we absorbed being each time quickly evaporated
by the fierce wind. We felt cold and shivery and not particularly happy
after the experience of the previous night.

Benedicto, who had been entrusted during the journey with the baling out
of the canoe, was beginning to find his job too much for him--a job which
he had volunteered to do at first when the canoe was not leaking. He now
said he wanted to paddle and not bale out the water any more. Although we
used a big bucket for that purpose, Benedicto had all his work cut out
for him in keeping the canoe only half full of water.

Several times I remonstrated with him that day, as while I was sitting
behind him with the wind blowing hard, he flung most of the water on me
instead of back into the stream.

I had observed for the last few days a little globular white cloudlet to
the north, just above the horizon. Every day that cloudlet was to be seen
in the very same position, where it remained motionless most of the day
upon the otherwise beautifully clear blue sky. That was an indication to
me that we must be nearing a great fall of water or an immense rapid,
which caused the evaporation of the water to produce it.

Many were the islands we passed that day, some as much as 800 m. in
length. One island, particularly, was picturesque to a degree, with an
impressive crown of rock on its westerly side. The river was there some
2,000 m. wide--perhaps even more, as I could not quite see how far the
bank was to the left of us owing to some islands which