Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/226

 burnt on the floor, and the ashes dirtily gathered up and mixed with the powder. The Ypadú-eaters say that this prevents the ill-effects which would arise from the use of the pure leaf, but I should think the mixture of so much indigestible filth would be more likely to have the opposite result.

We lived at Ega, during most part of the year, on turtle. The great fresh-water turtle of the Amazons grows on the upper river to an immense size, a full-grown one measuring nearly three feet in length by two in breadth, and is a load for the strongest Indian. Every house has a little pond, called a curral (pen), in the back-yard to hold a stock of the animals through the season of dearth—the wet months; those who have a number of Indians in their employ sending them out for a month when the waters are low, to collect a stock, and those who have not, purchasing their supply; with some difficulty, however, as they are rarely offered for sale. The price of turtles, like that of all other articles of food, has risen greatly with the introduction of steam-vessels. When I arrived in 1850 a middle-sized one could be bought pretty readily for ninepence, but when I left in 1859, they were with difficulty obtained at eight and nine shillings each. The abundance of turtles, or rather the facility with which they can be found and caught, varies with the amount of annual subsidence of the waters. When the river sinks less than the average, they are scarce; but when more, they can be caught in plenty, the bays and shallow lagoons in the forest having then only a small depth of water. The flesh is very tender, palatable, and wholesome; but it is very cloy-