Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v1.djvu/253

along which we were sailing was only a narrow arm of the river, about two miles in width: the total breadth at this point is more than 20 miles, but the stream is divided into three parts by a series of large islands. The river, notwithstanding this limitation of its breadth, had a most majestic appearance. It did not present that lake-like aspect which the waters of the Pará and Tocantins affect, but had all the swing, so to speak, of a vast flowing stream. The ochre-coloured turbid waters offered also a great contrast to the rivers belonging to the Pará system. The channel formed a splendid reach, sweeping from south-west to north-east, with a horizon of water and sky both up stream and down. At 11 a.m. we arrived at Gurupá, a small village situated on a rocky bank 30 or 40 feet high. Here we landed, and I had an opportunity of rambling in the neighbouring woods, which are intersected by numerous pathways, and carpeted with Lycopodia growing to a height of 8 or 10 inches, and enlivened by numbers of glossy blue butterflies of the Theclidæ, or hair-streak family. The land on which Gurupá is built appears an isolated rocky area, for the rest of the country round about lies low, and is subject to inundation in the rainy season. At 5 p.m. we were again under way. Soon after sunset, as we were crossing the mouth of the Xingú, the first of the great tributaries of the Amazons, 1200 miles in length, a black cloud arose suddenly in the north-east. Joaō da Cunha ordered all sails to be taken in, and immediately afterwards a furious squall burst forth, tearing the waters into foam, and producing a frightful uproar in the neighbouring forests. A drenching rain fol-