Page:A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro.djvu/261

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Continuing our journey, nothing particular occurred but several storms of rain and wind, accompanied with thunder, which sometimes retarded us, and sometimes helped us on. Many of them were complete hurricanes, the wind shifting round suddenly, through every point of the compass ; so that, if our little canoe had not been well ballasted with her cargo of salt and iron, she would have capsized. Once, in particular, at about four in the morning, we experienced one of these storms in a wide part of the river, where the waves raised were very great, and tossed us about violently. A sudden shift of the wind took our sail aback, and we had great difficulty in getting it in. The rain was driving thickly against us, and rendered it bitterly cold ; our montaria, which was towed astern, got water-logged, — plunged, and dashed against the canoe, — tore out its benches, and lost its paddles. I gave orders to cast it loose, thinking it impossible to save it; but the Indians thought otherwise, for one of them plunged in after it, and succeeded in guiding it to the shore, where we also with much difficulty arrived, and managed to fasten our bows to some bushes, and get a rope out from our stern to a tree growing in the water, so as to prevent the canoe from getting broadside to the waves, which rolled in furiously, keeping one of our men constantly baling out water ; and thus we waited for daylight. I then gave the men a cup of caxaca each ; and when the sea had subsided sufficiently to allow of rowing, we continued our passage. These storms are the only things that make travelling here disagreeable : they are very frequent, but each succeeding one, instead of reconciling me to them, made me more fearful than before. It is by no means an uncommon thing for canoes to be swamped by them, or dashed to pieces on the sands ; and the Rio Negro has such a disagreeable notoriety for the suddenness and fury of its trovoados, that many persons will never put up a sail when there is a sign of one approaching, but seek some safe port, to wait till it has passed.

Onthe 12th of November I reached the sitio of Senhor Chagas, where I stopped for the night : he gave me some letters to take up to Sao Gabriel, and just as I was going, requested me, as a favour, to tell everybody that I had not found him at his sitio, but that he was gone to the " mato " to get salsa. As I was on familiar terms with him, I told him that really I was very