hen turned into one of the numerous rivers which fall into it. Here
Mr Robarts expected to remain some little time to trade with the
natives. I had been below, when, on returning on deck, I heard Gerard
laughing heartily, and pointing to a boat which was proceeding up the
stream. In the fore-part was a thatched shed, on either side of which
sat four natives paddling. In the after-part was another shed of bamboo
and grass, under which sat the passengers. On the top of all was the
helmsman--a naked savage, lying his full length, and steering with his
feet, under a sun which would quickly have cooked a beef-steak exposed
to it. Mr Robarts told us that the boat or canoe was called an
egaritea, and that it was the canoe usually employed for the conveyance
of travellers on the Amazon. Again we laughed at the helmsman, who
seemed perfectly unconcerned, as, holding on to the bamboo roof with one
hand, he rested his black head on the other, just high enough to let him
look about in every direction. Mr Robarts could not leave the
schooner; but as Mr McRitchie and we were very anxious to see as much
of the interior of this wonderful country as possible, we arranged to go
up in an egaritea as far as time would allow. Mr Robarts allowed us to
take a half-caste native, who had served on board a British ship and
spoke a little English, as our interpreter. He was called Pedro, but he
had a much longer Indian name, which I do not remember. Away we
started, in high glee, with blankets, a supply of provisions, and a few
cooking utensils, with plates, cups, knives, and forks. We could not
help laughing whenever we thought of our araies, or chief boatman, lying
at his length above us, steering with his feet. This mode of travelling
we found very comfortable--almost too luxurious for our tastes--and
tolerably expeditious. I should say that we all had our guns, and that
McRitchie had, besides, his sketch-book, and boxes and cases for
collecting subjects of natural history. The difficulty in this region
was to know what to select. The water abounded with all sorts of
strange fish, and turtles and alligators innumerable. I must say, when
I first saw one of these hideous monsters, I felt an awe creeping over
me, though the natives did not seem to care a bit about them. We had
got to the end of our voyage in the egaritea, and arranged to hire a
light open canoe, with two men as rowers, in which we could proceed up
some of the smal