Crocodile about to attack one of the Dogs of the Expedition.
Photographed by author at a distance of three metres (Rio Arinos-Juruena).
The stars were simply magnificent in brilliancy as I lay on my camp-bed. One particularly, to 290° b.m. N.W.—the planet Venus—was extraordinarily brilliant, appearing six times as big as any other planet visible that night. It threw off radiations of wonderful luminosity, quite strong enough to illuminate with a whitish light a great circular surface of the sky around it.
In the morning, before we left, Alcides—who loved carving names and inscriptions on every tree and stone—duly incised the name of Antonio Prado, with which I baptized the island in honour of the greatest Brazilian living, upon a giant figueira tree on the southern edge of the extensive beach of sand and gravel.
CHAPTER IX
Dogs—Macaws—Crocodiles—A Serious Accident—Men flung into a Whirlpool—The Loss of Provisions and Valuable Baggage—More Dangerous Rapids—Wonderful Scenery—Dangerous Work—On the Edge of a Waterfall—A Risky Experience—Bravery of Author's Brazilian Followers—A High Wind from the North-East—A Big Lake
The night was heavy and damp. All our things were soaked in the morning with the dew which had fallen. We were enveloped in a thick mist when we woke up. It became a dense fog when the sun rose, and did not clear up until the sun was fairly high above the horizon. The minimum temperature during the night had been 62° F. (July 22nd).