"The pregnant Turtles descend from the interior pools of the main river in July and August, before the outlets dry up, and seek their favourite sand-island in countless swarms; for it is only a few praias that are selected by them out of the great number existing. When hatched, the young animals remain in the pools throughout the dry season; for these breeding-places of the Turtle then lie from twenty to thirty feet above the level of the river, and are accessible only by cutting a path through the dense forest." On the 26th of September Mr. Bates left Ega with his companion, who was about to visit the sentinels placed to mark when and where the Turtles laid their eggs. Their conveyance was a stoutly-built canoe, or _igareté_, arranged for two paddlers, with an arched covering in the stern, under which three persons could sleep pretty comfortably. The swift current of the Solimoens carried them rapidly to the large wooded island of Baria, which divides the river into two broad channels. Shimuni lies in the middle of the north-easterly passage. They were quickly paddled across, reaching it an hour before sunset. The island is about three miles long and half a mile broad. The forest which covers it rises to an immense uniform height, presenting all round a compact and impervious front, the uniformity being interrupted here and there by a singular tree, called Mulatto wood, whose polished dark-green trunk is seen conspicuously through the mass of vegetation. The sand-bank lies at the upper end of the island, and extends several miles, presenting an irregular surface of ridges and hollows. At the further shore to the north-east, where no forest line shuts out the view, the white, rolling, sandy plain stretches away to the horizon; to the south-west a channel, about a mile in breadth, separates Baria from Shimuni. Arrived at this island, Mr. Bates proceeds to describe with great minuteness the operations of the Turtles, as well as those of the sentinels placed to watch them. "We found two sentinels," he says, "lodged in a corner of the praia, where it commences at the foot of the towering forest west of the island, having built themselves a little rancho with poles and palm-leaves. Great precautions are obliged to be taken to avoid disturbing the vigilant Turtles, which, previous to crawling ashore to lay, assemble in great shoals off the sand-bank. The men during this time take care not to show themselves, and they warn off any fisherman who attempts to pass near the place; for the passage of a boat, or the sight of a man, or a fire on the sand-bank, would prevent their laying their eggs that night, and if repeated, they would forsake the praia for some quieter place." After a night spent under a temporary shed rapidly constructed for himself and companion, Mr. Bates rose from his hammock shivering with cold.