over the arched covering in the fore part of the vessel, and pull
with their backs to the stern. We started at six a.m., and about
sunset reached a point where the west channel of the river, along
which we had been travelling since we left Cameta, joined a
broader middle one, and formed with it a great expanse of water.
The islands here seem to form two pretty regular lines, dividing
the great river into three channels. As we progressed slowly, we
took the montaria, and went ashore, from time to time, to the
houses, which were numerous on the river banks as well as on the
larger islands. In low situations they had a very unfinished
appearance, being mere frameworks raised high on wooden piles,
and thatched with the leaves of the Ubussu palm. In their
construction another palm tree is made much use of, viz., the
Assai (Euterpe oleracea). The outer part of the stem of this
species is hard and tough as horn-- it is split into narrow
planks, and these form a great portion of the walls and flooring.
The residents told us that the western channel becomes nearly dry
in the middle of the fine season, but that at high water, in
April and May, the river rises to the level of the house floors.
The river bottom is everywhere sandy, and the country perfectly
healthy. The people seemed to all be contented and happy, but
idleness and poverty were exhibited by many unmistakeable signs.
As to the flooding of their island abodes, they did not seem to
care about that at all. They seem to be almost amphibious, or as
much at home on the water as on land. It was really quite
alarming to see men and women and children, in little leaky
canoes laden to the water-level with bag and baggage, crossing
broad reaches of river.

Most of them have houses also on the terra firma, and reside in