pect as her husband, that is to say, prepares food for
them, and will not eat herself till her son has been served. The Talbe
who teaches them to read and write, gives them instructions with a loud
voice; and as each of them is learning a different lesson, it occasions
a horrid noise. The lessons they give them are written upon small boards
of polished wood. One lesson learned, they efface it, and write another
upon it; they make their pen of a small piece of wood. Their ciphers
pretty much resemble ours.

After what I have related of these barbarians, was it possible that I
should not be anxious to be again restored to my native country! We
complain when we change our dwellings; weep, when we part with friends;
are uneasy when we forget a handkerchief, or have a beard two days
without being shaved; and I have been a slave, naked, bit with vermin,
wounded in every part of my body, my bed among sand, either burning or
moist, for fourteen months. O Divine Providence! It is by Thee I have
been supported in what I have undergone, to Thee I have sacrificed my
sufferings, and from Thee I expect my reward.

III.

ACCOUNT OF THE ADVENTURES OF
MADAME GODIN DES ODONAIS,
IN PASSING DOWN THE RIVER OF THE AMAZONS,
IN THE YEAR 1770.

M. GODIN DES ODONAIS TO M. DE LA CONDAMINE.

_St Amand, Berry, 28th July 1773_.
SIR,

You require of me a narrative of the travels of my spouse along the
Amazons River, the same route I followed after you. The rumours which
have reached your ears of the dangers to which she was exposed, and
which she alone of eight persons surmounted, augment your curiosity. I
had resolved never to speak of them again, so painful to me was the
recollection of them; but, as an old companion in your travels, a
distinction which I prize, I cannot refuse, in return for the interest
you take in our welfare, and the marks of friendship you have shown me,
to give you the satisfaction you require.

We landed at Rochelle on the 26th of June last, after a passage from
Cayenne, effected in sixty-five days, having left this last place on
the 21st of April. On our arrival, I made inquiries after you, and
learnt, with much grief, that four or five months had elapsed since you
were no more. While yet in tears, my wife and myself were delighted, on
wiping them away, to find that at Rochelle the literary journals, and
what regards the Academy, are far less read than the news which re