structure at Porto do Castanho (Port of the Chestnut Tree,
because there should be a chestnut tree there) was the church, a mere
barn, which elsewhere but in central Brazil would not be considered good
enough for storing hay, still less for the worship of the Almighty. Not
that it was used much for the latter purpose, as there was no priest
within several hundred kilometres. The walls of the church were all
scraped and dirty, the corners chipped off by passing animals. All the
passers-by went and wiped their dirty hands on the walls of the
church--perhaps attracted by the whitewash, which none of the other
buildings possessed.

The shops--there were two--had nothing for sale, except some locally
grown tobacco. In one shop I found some small iron nails, which were sold
at the equivalent of 6_d._ each!

May 11th. The drenching rain continued the entire night, the minimum
temperature being 73 deg. Fahrenheit. My poor animals were in a terrible
condition the next morning through the damp, the sores having become
badly infected. They were in a purulent condition, and a mass of
maggots--the terrible _bishus_, which were the pest of Brazil. So we had
the great job of cleaning them all with a powerful disinfectant as well
as washing them with a decoction of warm _barbatimao_ (_Stryphnodendron
barbatimao_ M.), a wood with a great resistance to crushing (K. 1.015)
and a specific gravity of 1.275. The decoction, which was really very
beneficial for wounds and sores of animals, was made with the bark of
that tree warmed in water over a fire. Another decoction we frequently
used was of salt and _carrapicho_ herb, but this was not quite so
effective as the former.

My men killed a magnificent _tucano_--a large bird with climbing,
inquisitive habits. It possessed an enormous yellow bill of singularly
light structure, the point of which was black. The lower part of the bill
was of a brilliant red, and of a similar red was the rib of the upper
part of the bill. The plumage was of a handsome velvety black on the body
and tail--quite shiny--while the chest was of a pure white, and the
under part of the tail of bright vermilion feathers. White feathers
showed at the base of the tail above.

The _tucano_ (_Ramphastos_) is too well known for me to describe it fully
again. It is found all over tropical Brazil. There are many different
varieties, such as the _Ramphastos vitellinus_, _Ramphastos ariel_, the
_Ramphastos Cuvieri_, the _Pterog