between the islands of Arava, Cuyari, and Urucutea. The jangada then
glided along the black waters of the Cajaru, as they mingled with the
white stream of the Amazon. After having passed this tributary on the
left, it peacefully arrived during the evening of the 23d of June
alongside the large island of Jahuma.

The setting of the sun on a clear horizon, free from all haze,
announced one of those beautiful tropical nights which are unknown in
the temperate zones. A light breeze freshened the air; the moon arose
in the constellated depths of the sky, and for several hours took the
place of the twilight which is absent from these latitudes. But even
during this period the stars shone with unequaled purity. The immense
plain seemed to stretch into the infinite like a sea, and at the
extremity of the axis, which measures more than two hundred thousand
millions of leagues, there appeared on the north the single diamond
of the pole star, on the south the four brilliants of the Southern
Cross.

The trees on the left bank and on the island of Jahuma stood up in
sharp black outline. There were recognizable in the undecided
_silhouettes_ the trunks, or rather columns, of _"copahus,"_ which
spread out in umbrellas, groups of _"sandis,"_ from which is
extracted the thick and sugared milk, intoxicating as wine itself,
and _"vignaticos"_ eighty feet high, whose summits shake at the
passage of the lightest currents of air. "What a magnificent sermon
are these forests of the Amazon!" has been justly said. Yes; and we
might add, "What a magnificent hymn there is in the nights of the
tropics!"

The birds were giving forth their last evening notes--_"bentivis,"_