While we were at Barra, Senhor Gabriel, one of the dignitaries of the place, and a very agreeable gentleman, returned from an exploring expedition up one of the smaller rivers which flow into the Rio Negro between Barra and the Branco. Nothing had previously been known of the region lying adjacent to this stream, for vague traditions of hostile Indians had deterred even the adventurous frontiers-men from attempting its exploration. The Senhor described it as a beautiful rolling country, in many parts high, and covered by forests of magnificent growth. It was uninfested by cárapanás, and never visited by fevers; nor were there troublesome Indians to molest settlers.

The Senhor gave us the skin of a large black monkey which he had killed during this excursion, and the nest and eggs of a white-collared hummer, the Trochilus melivorus. The nest was composed of the light down growing upon the exterior of a small berry, and surpassed anything we had seen in bird-architecture. The eggs were tiny things, white with a few spots of red.

The Rio Branco is another interesting stream which sends its wealth to Barra. Its head-waters are in the highlands towards Guiana, and it flows through one of the loveliest and most desirable regions of tropical America. There are many settlements upon its banks, and an extensive traffic is carried on in cattle and produce.