d without incident, though Joam Garral had advised them
to watch with great care.

On the morrow, the 20th of August, the pilot, who kept near the right
bank on account of the uncertain eddies on the left, entered between the
bank and the islands.

Beyond this bank the country was dotted with large and small lakes, much
as those of Calderon, Huarandeina, and other black-watered lagoons. This
water system marks the approach of the Rio Negro, the most remarkable of
all the tributaries of the Amazon. In reality the main river still bore
the name of the Solimoens, and it is only after the junction of the
Rio Negro that it takes the name which has made it celebrated among the
rivers of the globe.

During this day the raft had to be worked under curious conditions.

The arm followed by the pilot, between Calderon Island and the shore,
was very narrow, although it appeared sufficiently large. This was owing
to a great portion of the island being slightly above the mean level,
but still covered by the high flood waters. On each side were massed
forests of giant trees, whose summits towered some fifty feet above the
ground, and joining one bank to the other formed an immense cradle.

On the left nothing could be more picturesque than this flooded forest,
which seemed to have been planted in the middle of a lake. The stems
of the trees arose from the clear, still water, in which every
interlacement of their boughs was reflected with unequaled purity. They
were arranged on an immense sheet of glass, like the trees in miniature
on some table _epergne,_ and their reflection could not be more perfect.
The difference between the image and the reality could scarcely be
described. Duplicates of grandeur, terminated above and below by a vast
parasol of green, they seemed to form two hemispheres, inside which the
jangada appeared to follow one of the great circles.

It had been necessary to bring the raft under these boughs, against
which flowed the gentle current of the stream. It was impossible to go
back. Hence the task of navigating with extreme care, so as to avoid the
collisions on either side.

In this all Araujo's ability was shown, and he was admirably seconded by
his crew. The trees of the forest furnished the resting-places for the
long poles which kept the jangada in its course. The least blow to the
jangada would have endangered the complete demolition of the woodwork,
and caused the loss, if not of the crew, of the gr