re-employed. I let them follow--on foot--for
several kilometres without saying a word--struggling through the heavy
marching painfully and wading across chest-deep in the streams. We
crossed the Riberao Chabo or Guebo, 25 metres wide and 3 ft. deep, at an
elevation of 730 ft., then shortly after we waded through another stream
flowing south, with a zone of wonderful _palmeiras_ along its banks. We
then emerged into a magnificent plain with a barrier of low hills to the
north-west. Six kilometres farther we waded across the Planchao stream, 5
metres wide and 6 in. deep. Marching on horseback was delightful, the
maximum temperature being only 74 deg. Fahr. in the shade. Another stream,
flowing from north to south, the Planchaonzinho, whose foul water was
quite disgusting to drink, although beautifully limpid, was then
negotiated.

I was delighted at meeting with so many streams, for there was nothing my
men hated more than to get into the water. They felt very sorry for
themselves, to be struggling along as best they could, following the
animals like humble sheep instead of being comfortably mounted on
quadrupeds. We travelled a considerable distance through campos, but
owing to some baggage which had been lost we eventually had to retrace
our steps as far as the Planchaonzinho River, on the banks of which we
encamped. This was unfortunate, as the water had a sickening flavour and
made even our coffee and tea taste like poison.

Misfortunes never come alone. In overhauling my baggage I discovered, to
my dismay, that my men--in order to force me to go back the way we had
come--had gradually thrown away most of the provisions, which should have
lasted us some six to seven months longer. We had only sufficient food to
last us a few days. The men confessed their misdeed. The country provided
absolutely nothing to eat, and I had to face the problem of either dying
of starvation or falling back on some place where we could purchase fresh
provisions. It was out of the question--unless one wished to commit
suicide and a quintuple murder--to endeavour to push on towards my goal,
Manaos on the Amazon, some 1,600 kil. distant as the crow flies, or at
least 4,000 to 5,000 kil. travelling, with possible deviations, without
some of which it was not possible to travel. We could certainly not fall
back on our point of departure, the terminus of the railway at Araguary,
1,596 kil. distant; nor on Goyaz, the last city we had seen, 1,116 k