A high wind from the north-east and east continued the entire day, and broke into occasional severe gusts that were most troublesome to us. Heavy rain-clouds hung over our heads. My men felt cold and shivery and quite miserable in the choppy waters, which made them extremely ill. Their faces were green and yellow, their eyes had a pitiful expression in them. They looked as if they were all being led to execution. The temperature of the atmosphere was only 75° F.
Shortly before sunset, after a beautiful stretch of river of 4,000 m. to 335° b.m. (N.N.W.), followed by one of 4,000 m. 5° farther to the north, we came to an immense basin—a regular lake—4,000 m. long, 1,500 m. wide, with two lovely islands in its northerly part. It was there that the great River Juruena, coming from the south-west, joined the Arinos. We had the greatest difficulty in crossing the big, deep lake, because of the high wind which was blowing at the time. The waves were high and caught us on one side; the rolling was so heavy that on many occasions we shipped a great deal of water and nearly capsized. When we got into the centre of the lake the wind increased in fury. My men were very ill and much scared—for we had a great expanse of water on all sides and we could not bale the water out of the canoe fast enough, so quickly was she filling. I urged on the men all the time and took an extra paddle myself to encourage them. We made slow progress, the men suffering greatly. I had to wait for their convenience every few moments when they were badly indisposed.
We tossed about for the best part of two hours, until at last we reached the opposite side of the lake. In a hurry to land, Alcides threw the canoe over some rocks on which the water was breaking with fury. However, the water was shallow at that point. We jumped out, and eventually, trembling with cold, we beached the canoe on a most beautiful island, where we made our camp for the night.
CHAPTER X
The Point of Junction of the Arinos and Juruena Rivers—Elfrida Landor Island—Terrible Days of Navigation—Immense Islands—An Old Indian Camp—A Fight between a Dog and an Ariranha—George Rex Island—A Huge Sucuriú Snake
The spot where the two great rivers met was most impressive, especially from the island on which we stood, directly opposite the entrance of the two streams. The immense lake was spread before us, and beyond were the two great rivers meeting at an angle. Great walls of verdant forest lined all the banks and islands before us. Curiously enough, both in the Arinos and in the Juruena two long narrow islands appeared parallel to the banks of each stream. The islands resembled each other in size. The Juruena had two islands near its mouth, one narrow and long, the other in the shape of a quadrangle. The Arinos also showed a long and narrow island at its mouth, and another ending in a point.
It was my intention to take soundings right across the mouth of the Arinos and also across the mouth of the Juruena, but unluckily, owing to the strong easterly wind which prevailed that day, it was quite impossible for me to attempt such a task at the mouth of the Arinos, and equally impossible was it to proceed back across the lake to the mouth of the Juruena to measure the volume of water which came out of that river. Without any attempt at mathematical accuracy I should say that the two rivers carried an almost equal volume of water.
Where we landed there were two separate islands, one of which I named after my sister—the Elfrida Landor Island; the other one, next to it, I named Francesco Island. The Elfrida Landor Island—really most beautiful to look at—was 800 m. long; Francesco Island was 1,200 m. in length but not quite so broad.