ot, as there were
some boulders which we could not possibly move, and the canoe must be
made to go over them.

We had only been working for a few minutes, when again there was a riot
among my men; again they took to their rifles and said they would leave
me and the canoe there. Worse luck, the canoe got stuck hard on a rock,
and the men could not move her. I cut down some rollers and some levers
of the hardest woods I could find in the forest near there, and when once
I had set to work a little more intelligently than they did, I had no
difficulty in moving the canoe along. Eventually, with my men swearing at
me the whole time, the canoe was safely at the foot of the waterfall.

We were in great luck that day, for we found plenty of wild fruit--very
nutritious--and we killed one or two large birds. My men grumbled all the
time, saying that they were dying of starvation, no meal being a meal at
all in Brazil unless accompanied by a small mountain of _feijao_ (black
beans). I had a few boxes of sardines left, but I reserved those for
extreme occasions which might yet come.

At the bottom of the fall was an immense basin, 1,200 m. wide and 3,000
m. long from north to south. The temperature was stifling that day--96 deg.
F. in the shade, and the sky overladen with clouds.

Fourteen kilometres by river below the S. Simao came another waterfall,
that of All Saints.

Observations with the hypsometrical apparatus gave an elevation of 772
ft. above the level of the sea.

We halted above the rapid on a beautiful beach. A curious thing happened.
Antonio in jumping into the water out of the canoe felt something sharp
under his foot. In looking down he saw a magnificent sword. On taking it
out of the water we found that it was an old sword of the time of the
Emperor Pedro II. A fight must have taken place there between a Brazilian
expedition and the Mundurucu Indians, who at that time were to be found,
I believe, in that region. Presumably the expedition had been attacked at
that spot while trying to land. The sword was in excellent preservation.

[Illustration: Canoe being taken along an Artificial Canal made by
Author and his Men.]

CHAPTER XVI

At Death's Door--Mundurucu Indians--All Author's Followers
poisoned by Wild Fruit--Anxious Moments--Seringueiros--A Dying
Jewish Trader--The Mori Brothers--A New Hat--Where the Tres
Barras meets the Arinos-Juruena--The Canoe abandoned

WE had a minim