It took an entire day to finish the transaction. A "garitea," a boat of about four tons' burden and having a crew of twelve men, was engaged for the voyage to San Antonio, at the foot of the lowest rapid. In addition to the crew there was a thirteenth man as pilot or captain, one of the twelve being second in command. Some of the rapids may be passed without danger in descending the river, and without the necessity of unloading the cargo; at others the cargo must be taken out, and the empty boat navigated down the rapids; while at others both boat and cargo must be taken around over the land. The whole distance where the boats must be drawn overland is nearly three miles, while for more than two miles the cargoes must be taken out in order to save them from possible damage or loss.
A WALK IN THE FOREST.
Frank and Fred had plenty of time for studying the falls of the Madeira and making a short excursion into the forest in the vicinity, as another day was required for getting ready to start after the bargain had been concluded for the hire of the boat and its crew. We will refer to Fred's note-book for an account of what they saw and learned.
"There is a village of Caripuna Indians," wrote Fred, "a little way inland from the falls, and we paid it a visit. Most of the men were away on a fishing excursion, and the few that remained did not have anything we could buy. We made them some presents, but did not stay long, as we wanted to see a rubber-tree, and the manner of collecting the India-rubber of commerce.
"We had a guide from the Mojos village at the falls; he had been a collector of rubber, and spoke enough Spanish to enable us to understand his explanations. Since the surveys were made for the railway a good many Mojos Indians have settled here, and they do quite a business in collecting rubber and sending it down the river to market.
BRANCH OF THE INDIA-RUBBER TREE.