t
expressed great surprise at my not having been murdered by my followers
before then. They said that in their whole experience they had never come
across such impossible creatures. They could not understand how the
Governor of Goyaz could possibly let me start in such company. They
seemed most anxious for me, as some of my men had evidently, while drunk,
spoken at the _collectoria_ and said things which had greatly upset and
frightened the fiscal agent.

Three days after my arrival in S. Manoel I was ready to depart, having
conceived a plan to go some 60 kil. farther by river to a point from
where I would strike due west across the forest as far as the Madeira
River. I was just about to go on board the boat placed at my disposal by
Mr. Barretto, when a terrific storm broke out, with lightning and
thunder, and a howling wind which blew with fury, raising high waves in
the river--very wide at that point. It was a wonderful spectacle, with
the river in commotion and the dazzling flashes of lightning across the
inky sky. Amidst it I saw my faithful canoe being dashed mercilessly by
the waves time after time against some sharp rocks, until she broke in
two and foundered. I was sorry to see her disappear, for she had served
me well.

When after a couple of hours the storm cleared, I took my departure, on
August 24th. During my stay at S. Manoel I had taken observations for
latitude (7 deg. 16'.9 S.), longitude (58 deg. 34' W.), and elevation (601 ft.
a.s.l. on the river, 721 ft. at the _collectoria_).

[Illustration: Author taking Astronomical Observations on a Sandy
Beach of the River Arinos-Juruena.]

Just across the river, at the mouth of the Tres Barras, was the
_collectoria_ for the State of Para. The Para _seringueiros_ worked on
the Rio Tres Barras and its tributaries on its right side--that is to
say, the Annipiri, the Igarape Preto, the Cururu, and another (nameless)
stream. There were, perhaps, altogether some eighty or a hundred
_seringueiros_, all told, working in that immense region on the Para
side. In the year 1910, 90,000 kil. of rubber were collected by those few
_seringueiros_, and in the year 1911 a slightly larger amount was sent
down the river from that point. The Para Fiscal Agency was only
established there on December 11th, 1910. The _collectoria_ was situated
in a most beautiful spot on a high point overlooking the mouth of the
Tres Barras, and directly facing the Juruena-Arinos. On the Juruena