ed at the house of Jose Maracati, a Mundurucu chieftain, with thirty
Indians under him. A delegate of the Para Province in charge of the
Indians--a man of strong Malay characteristics and evidently of Indian
parentage--received us, and gave me much information about the local
rubber industry. He told me that the best rubber found in that region was
the kind locally called _seringa preta_, a black rubber which was
coagulated with the smoke of the _coco de palmeira_. He calculated that
150 rubber trees gave about 14 kilos of rubber a day. The _seringa preta_
exuded latex all the year round, even during the rainy season.

There was in that region also another kind of rubber tree--the
_itauba_--but it was of inferior quality, as the latex was too liquid,
like reddish milk, quite weak, and with little elasticity.

A few trees of the _castanha do Para_ were also found in that region,
producing the well-known nut which has rendered Brazil famous in England.

_Solveira_ trees were also plentiful all over that district, and gave
latex which was good to drink; while another tree, called the _amapa_,
exuded latex somewhat thinner than that of the _solveira_, which was
supposed to be beneficial in cases of consumption or tuberculosis.

Very interesting were the different liane in the forest there,
particularly the _cepa de agua_, which when cut gave most delicious fresh
water to drink. The _titica_ was a smaller liana, which was most
troublesome when you went through the forest, as it generally caught you
and twisted round your feet as it lay for long distances along the
ground.

Another wild fruit which was abundant there was the _pajura_, dark in
colour, soft-skinned, most palatable and quite nourishing, but which gave
an insatiable thirst after you had eaten it.

We resumed our journey among a lot of islands, traversing the Cabeceira
de Piquarana. The main rapid was formidable enough, although nothing in
comparison with the rapids we had gone over on the Arinos-Juruena river.
There was a barrier of rock extending from W.S.W. to E.N.E. across the
river, which was there 1,500 metres broad and of great beauty, with
hillocks on either side and some small islets in mid-stream.

Soon afterwards we came to another barrier of rock, extending from north
to south. It was called the Bigua. There was an island of the same name,
the name being taken from an aquatic bird which is plentiful there.

The traders talked a great deal of the