nel 20 m. wide, with a high
bank of gravel on its left side. Where those arms met again--some 500 m.
farther--a basin 200 m. in diameter was formed. A hill 150 ft. high,
covered with dense vegetation, faced us to the north. It was quite an
unusual sight in such flat country. The stream took a sharp turn at that
spot--it positively doubled. Strong eddies were encountered. The greatest
care should have been taken in going over places of that kind, but "care"
was a word I had absolutely scratched out of my vocabulary as useless in
my journey across Brazil. How and why we ever got across those places
with the crew I had on board, would indeed be beyond me to
explain--unless, as on preceding occasions, it was due to the unceasing
protection of a guardian angel.

After crossing a circular basin 200 m. in diameter, the river became
suddenly squeezed into a channel 30 m. wide, much strewn with rocks. A
somewhat troublesome rapid had to be negotiated there, rendered more
difficult by the recent fall, across the best part of the stream, of a
giant tree. The branches which stuck out of the water formed a regular
barrier and waved to and fro with the violent pressure of the water.
Before we could realize where we were, Alcides steered us straight into
the branches and foliage of the fallen tree. As we were travelling at an
accelerated speed with the strong current, all our hats were scraped off
our heads, and, what was worse, our scalps, faces, and arms had patches
of skin torn off as we crashed among the branches. It took us some time
before we were able to disentangle ourselves, resume navigation, and
recover as we went along the various headgear floating independently down
the stream.

Another little tributary, 2 m. wide, entered the Arinos on the left side.
No sooner had we freed ourselves from the rapids than we were in a circle
80 m. across, with nasty-looking eddies, which swung the undermanned
canoe now to one side, then violently to the other, in a dangerous way.
We could not have struck a worse time for navigating the river. It was
then the end of the dry season and the water at its lowest, so that every
possible obstacle that could be found in that river stood to impede our
progress. This would not have been the case at high water when navigation
in that portion of the stream would have been comparatively smooth and
easy. We were thanking our stars that we had passed the vicious eddies
safely, when we were confronted by