o and see the wonderful
image. Many candles had been burnt on a platform of rock on the cliff
side, and the sailors who came up with me brought a new supply of
stearine and set them ablaze on that natural altar. The men pointed out
to me the figure of the saint, but with all the best intentions in the
world I could see no resemblance whatever to a human being.

"There it is! there it is!" they shouted, as I twisted my head one way
and the other to see if I could find a point of view from which I could
see the saint. The men knelt down and prayed fervently for some minutes,
as they believed it was necessary to pay these signs of respect in order
to ensure a good journey down the river. Some went as far as to tear off
pieces of their garments and leave them on the rocky platform as
offerings.

The eastern face of the S. Benedicto Mount was a vertical wall 200 ft.
high in horizontal strata of a deep grey colour, and some 300 m. in
length along the river.

We had wasted so much time, and the men rowed so badly, that we made poor
progress. We only went 21 kil. that day. We halted for the night near a
_seringueiro's_ hut at the small rapid of Meia Carga, or Half-charge
Rapid, because at low water the boats have to be half unloaded in order
to get over that spot.

The minimum temperature during the night was 69 deg. F. We slept in the boat,
and were simply devoured by mosquitoes. The chief of the Indians who had
been lent me by the Fiscal Agent became seriously ill during the night
with a severe attack of fever. All my men, with no exception, also became
ill, and were shivering with cold, owing to fever. The chief of the
police, Luiz Perreira da Silva, who had been placed by Mr. Barretto in
charge of the Indians who were to accompany me, in jumping from the boat
that night on to the shore hurt his foot, the pain caused by that slight
injury giving him also a severe attack of fever. So that of the entire
crew there remained only two men in good health--viz. Mr. Julio Nery and
myself.

Amid moans and groans we got the boat under way at 6.45 the next morning,
the men paddling in a half-hearted manner. As the current was strong we
drifted down fairly quickly in a northerly direction, the river there
being in a perfectly straight line for some 8,000 m. The width of the
river was 1,300 m.

Behind a little island on the left side, and approached through a circle
of dangerous rocks, was the hut of a _seringueiro_ called Albuque