Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/262

 of Shimuní lies in the middle of the north-easterly channel, and is reached by passing round the end of Bariá. Two miles further down the broad, wild, and turbid river, lies the small island of Curubarú, skirted like the others by a large praia; this is not, however, frequented by turtles, on account of the coarse, gritty nature of the deposit. The sand-banks appear to be formed only where there is a remanso or still water, and the wooded islands to which they are generally attached probably first originated in accumulations of sand.

We landed on Curubarú; Cardozo wishing to try the poços (wells, or deep pools) which lie here as in other praias between the sand-bank and its island, for fish and tracajás. The sun was now nearly vertical, and the coarse, heated sand burnt our feet as we trod. We walked or rather trotted nearly a mile before reaching the pools: there was not a breath of wind nor a cloud to moderate the heat of mid-day, and the Indians who carried the fishing-net suffered greatly. On arriving at the ponds we found the water was quite warm; the net brought up only two or three small fishes, and we thus had our toilsome journey for nothing.

Re-embarking, we paddled across to Shimuní, reaching the commencement of the praia an hour before sunset. The island-proper is about three miles long and half a mile broad: the forest with which it is covered rises to an immense and uniform height, and presents all round a compact, impervious front. Here and there a singular tree, called Pao mulatto (mulatto wood), with polished dark-green trunk, rose conspicuously amongst