At two p.m.we passed the mouth of a small picturesque harbour, formed by a gap in the precipitous coast.Several families have here settled; the place is called Ita-puama, or "standing rock,"from a remarkable isolated cliff, which stands erect at the entrance to the little haven.A short distance beyond Itapuama we found ourselves opposite to the village of Pinhel, which is perched, like Boim, on high ground, on the western side of the river.The stream is here from six to seven miles wide.A line of low islets extends in front of Pinhel, and a little further to the south is a larger island, called Capitari, which lies nearly in the middle of the river.
June 23rd.--The wind freshened at ten o'clock in the morning of the 23rd.A thick black cloud then began to spread itself over the sky a long way down the river; the storm which it portended, however, did not reach us, as the dark threatening mass crossed from east to west, and the only effect it had was to impel a column of cold air up river, creating a breeze with which we bounded rapidly forward.The wind in the afternoon strengthened to a gale.We carried on with one foresail only, two of the men holding on to the boom to prevent the whole thing from flying to pieces.The rocky coast continued for about twelve miles above Ita-puama, then succeeded a tract of low marshy land, which had evidently been once an island whose channel of separation from the mainland had become silted up.The island of Capitari and another group of islets succeeding it, called Jacare, on the opposite side, helped also to contract at this point the breadth of the river, which was now not more than about three miles.The little cuberta almost flew along this coast, there being no perceptible current, past extensive swamps, margined with thick floating grasses.At length, on rounding a low point, higher land again appeared on the right bank of the river, and the village of Aveyros hove in sight, in the port of which we cast anchor late in the afternoon.
Aveyros is a small settlement, containing only fourteen or fifteen houses besides the church; but it is the place of residence of the authorities of a large district-- the priest, Juiz de Paz, the subdelegado of police, and the Captain of the Trabalhadores.The district includes Pinhel, which we passed about twenty miles lower down on the left bank of the river.Five miles beyond Aveyros, and also on the left bank, is the missionary village of Santa Cruz, comprising thirty or forty families of baptised Mundurucu Indians, who are at present under the management of a Capuchin Friar, and are independent of the Captain of Trabalhadores of Aveyros.The river view from this point towards the south was very grand; the stream is from two to three miles broad, with green islets resting on its surface, and on each side a chain of hills stretches away in long perspective.
I resolved to stay here for a few weeks to make collections.On landing, my first care was to obtain a house or room, that Imight live ashore.This was soon arranged; the head man of the place, Captain Antonio, having received notice of my coming, so that before night all the chests and apparatus I required were housed and put in order for working.
I here dismissed Pinto, who again got drunk and quarrelsome a few hours after he came ashore.He left the next day, to my great relief, in a small trading canoe that touched at the place on its way to Santarem.The Indian Manoel took his leave at the same time, having engaged to accompany me only as far as Aveyros; Iwas then dependent on Captain Antonio for fresh hands.The captains of Trabalhadores are appointed by the Brazilian Government to embody the scattered Indian labourers and canoe-men of their respective districts, to the end that they may supply passing travellers with men when required.A semi-military organisation is given to the bodies--some of the steadiest amongst the Indians themselves being nominated as sergeants, and all the members mustered at the principal village of their district twice each year.The captains, however, universally abuse their authority, monopolising the service of the men for their own purposes, so that it is only by favour that the loan of a canoe-hand can be wrung from them.I was treated by Captain Antonio with great consideration, and promised two good Indians when I should be ready to continue my voyage.
Little happened worth narrating during my forty days' stay at Aveyros.The time was spent in the quiet, regular pursuit of Natural History: every morning I had my long ramble in the forest, which extended to the back-doors of the houses, and the afternoons were occupied in preserving and studying the objects collected.The priest was a lively old man, but rather a bore from being able to talk of scarcely anything except homoeopathy, having been smitten with the mania during a recent visit to Santarem.He had a Portuguese Homoeopathic Dictionary, and a little leather case containing glass tubes filled with globules, with which he was doctoring the whole village.
