Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/479

Rh thick foliage of which the nightingale and starling build their nests, furnish the most agreeable promenades that can be imagined. The beauty of the prospect is augmented by a great multitude of canoes from the provinces of los Maynas, some of which ascend the river with cargoes of salt fish for the consumption of Lamas, while others are stationed at the banks to take in their lading of cacao, which is produced here in great abundance, and to receive the wax fabricated by small bees. These insects pierce the bark of a species of tree, the hollow trunk of which presents to them a convenient shelter for their hives. The women who aid their fathers and husbands in collecting these productions on shore, have no other garment than a slight covering about the middle; and, as their hair flows loosely in the wind, resemble so many naiades or dryads. It is to be lamented, that in these delightful plains travellers should be molested by such a multitude of mosquitoes and gnats, that even the Indians are obliged to provide themselves with small awnings, suspended from the pamacaris, to defend themselves from their bites. They are also prevented from bathing in the morning through the dread of the Caymans, a species of crocodiles, which, after the small strait has been passed, are very numerous.

Father Sobreviela made good his passage, without accident, at half past two in the afternoon; and at six in the evening the canoes approached the left bank opposite the confluence of the river Chipurana, in 6 degrees 33 minutes. The Chipurana enters the Huallaga at the side of the Pampa del Sacramento: the passage therefore from the Huallaga to the Ucayali may be accelerated by the navigation of that river. On the 20th, at seven in the morning, our travellers set out, and did not disembark until six in the evening. This day nothing important occurred. On the 21st at day break they again proceeded, and at noon reached the town of Yurimahuas, the first which occurs in the province of los Maynas. Here the company enjoyed the diverting spectacle of the catching of a tiger. To guard against the ferocious attacks of this animal, and to destroy him, the Indians have recourse to a snare, which consists of a narrow passage formed by stakes of a competent thickness, and six feet in length, well fastened