At Araras rapids the river is very wide, [containing] two islands and a rocky ledge crossing the river from the rapid. Nearly all the rocks on the right bank are covered with figures.
These are reproduced in Fig. 116.
Fig. 116.—Petroglyphs at Araras rapids, Brazil.
Having no small canoe we could not pass a small channel so as to gather copies of the figures we could see at a distance. The approaches both above and below the rapids and falls are many times as difficult to pass as the rapid or fall itself, giving rise to the division into “head,” “body,” and “tail.” Some not only have these divisions, but also have these subdivided into “head, body, and tail.” One is constantly hearing “el rabo,” “el rabo del rabo,” “el rabo del cuerpo,” or “cabeza,” and so on.
Ribeiráo.—The tail of the rapid is 3 miles in length, a continuous broken current and fields of rocks. It is here, on a rock but a foot or two above the river, that the hieroglyphic shown in F. Keller’s “Amazon and Madeira” is found. As both Mr. Fetterman and myself made copies of it, unknown to the other till finished, our copies may be relied on, although differing from Keller’s. The length of the upper part is 45 inches and of the lower 36 inches, with 13 inches depth of each.
The copy mentioned is given here as Fig. 117.
Fig. 117.—Petroglyphs at Ribeiráo, Brazil.