Vicente then made another fire of nuts and the wood of the _motacu_[5] under a jug-shaped calabash, the smoke coming out through the neck. This smoke hastens the drying of the liquid rubber, and makes a better quality than can be obtained in any other way. "I don't see how that stuff that looks like cream can ever be made like rubber," said Affonzo. "Watch Vicente," said his father, "and you will see." As he spoke, Vicente dipped a long paddle into the liquid, and then held it over the smoke. It quickly dried and he dipped the paddle into the juice again, repeating the process of drying. This he kept up until the paddle had a thick coating of rubber, like a large, flattened ball. Then he split the ball open along one side, and pulled the paddle out. "There now!" said the Senhor. "The rubber is all ready to go to market. Perhaps some day you will bounce a ball or wear a pair of goloshes made of this very rubber." "Won't that be fine!" said Affonzo. "What are you going to do now," he asked, as his father rose as if to go. "As soon as Vicente has finished cooking, we will go to the river, and go home by water," said the Senhor. "Then you will see some of the wood your uncle and I mean to export." "That will be much better than tramping," said Affonzo, whose short legs began to be stiff and sore with all the walking he had done. Vicente soon finished cooking his rubber, and put up the utensils before following Affonzo and the two men down the path to the river. "Vicente is a good Indian, isn't he?" said Affonzo. "One of the best I have ever known," said his father. "He has worked for us for years and has always been honest and reliable. It is strange that he should be so hospitable and friendly, for his ancestors and ours were always at war. When your grandfather was a young man there was always fear of the natives, and at one time there was an Indian uprising in which many Portuguese were killed. The Indians captured the city of Para, burned many of the houses, and destroyed everything they couldn't carry away with them. They held the city over a year before the Portuguese could recapture it." "It must have been exciting to live then," cried Affonzo, who loved to read of wars and battles and thought they must be interesting things. But his uncle said, "More peaceful times are less exciting, but far pleasanter and you would better be thankful that you live now. There is the river! How beautiful it looks!" Affonzo had often seen the Amazon, the greatest river in the world, and had been on it in the steamers which ply between Para and Mañaos, but he had never seen it at this point, and he exclaimed in wonder at its beauty. The river was two miles wide, and in the centre was a broad deep channel down which the water flowed slowly. On each side of this were stretches of shallow water, while on either bank grew thick forests of superb trees.