CHAPTER V
Great Islands—The Trinchão Fish—A Fisherman's Paradise—Alastor Island—Plentiful Rubber—The Civilized Man's Idea of the Tropical Forest—The War-Cries of the Indians—Swarms of Bees and Butterflies
We had another cool night on July 12th—minimum temperature 47° F. It was very damp, and in the morning we had, as on the previous day, a thick mist which prevented our starting until it cleared up, at 7.40 a.m. The mist rose in columns and square blocks over the warmish water of the river. The right bank of the Arinos was 40 ft. high.
We had gone some 1,500 m. from our camp when we came to a magnificent island, 400 m. long and 200 m. wide—Griselda Island—which divided the stream into two channels.
All the islands we had seen of late showed on the up-stream side a more or less extensive spit of beautifully coloured gravel and glittering crystals. The latter shone in the sun with such iridescent luminosity that it gave those islands a fairy-like appearance.
We encountered troublesome eddies which swung the canoe about, and in one case actually spun her completely round in a most alarming manner, tearing out of Alcides' hands the steering gear, which we had some trouble in recovering.
There were many handsome large-leafed pacová, somewhat resembling banana palms; also quantities of Siphonia elastica, although these were not quite so plentiful as farther south nor the trees so high. A tiny brook of delicious water descended into the Arinos from the left bank.
Ten thousand five hundred metres farther down from Griselda Island we came to another island, 300 m. long and 50 m. broad—Negrino Island—with the usual spit of gravel and beautiful crystals on the south side. This island was 10 ft. high above the water, with some trees on it, but not such luxuriant vegetation as on most of the other islands we had seen.