“The crash I had heard was the cabin hatchway, and I had fallen through it into the room below, and into about two feet of water! The iron ring was a hammock ring. No wonder I did not see the lightning flashes down in that hole. “The raging waves, and the tossing about in the wind, and the vessel scudding away from me had only existed in my imagination. I was so certain that I had fallen into the river that I imagined the rest. “The tempest soon ceased, but not the laugh at me. That lasted all the way to Para. Somehow my adventure seemed more ridiculous to the Captain and the sailors than it did to me! [Illustration: STILL WATERS.] “We had lovely weather during the remainder of our trip. Our Bella Donna behaved very well except that she would get on a sand-bar occasionally. This was partly the pilot’s fault, and partly the fault of the river in having so many sand-bars. ‘Did not the Captain try to get his sloop off the sand-bars?’ George inquired. “Yes, the sailors would try to work the vessel off, sometimes getting into the water, and working like Trojans. But they never did get her off; and we would just stick there until the next tide which invariably floated us on our way. “I took advantage of these detentions to visit the shores, and explore the country. In this way I became acquainted with some very strange Indian tribes. But I saw nothing of the Amazons—the female warriors you have read of. Nor did I meet with any one who ever had seen any of them. I did find a ruined fortress, but I never heard that the Amazons had anything to do with fortresses. They trusted to their bows and spears. “In the place of these warlike females are gentle, inoffensive Indian women, who will sell you delicious fruits, or make you a hammock for a small sum of money, or a few ornaments. “Immense forests stretch along both banks, filled with luxuriant vegetation. To a resident, a trip on the river, sailing between these lines of forests, is tedious, and monotonous. But a stranger is constantly interested in the beautiful and wonderful plants around him. “There are also farms along the river, and occasionally a white settlement—usually a village; rarely a town. “And, if the vessel gets on sand-bars as often as our good sloop, the Bella Donna, the stranger will have an opportunity of seeing some of the animals of the country, Some of them are not very pleasant to meet, especially the jaguar. But the monkeys are amusing. “At some of the mission stations among the Indians he will also see a good deal to interest him. The Indians have been taught something of agriculture, and have some very primitive machines. “In one of my rambles I came across a sugar-cane mill, in which three Indians were at work. [Illustration: SUGAR-CANE MILL.] “It was an enormous affair, but worked entirely by man-power. The great wheels were made to revolve by a single man working in each, very much in the style in which squirrels turn toy wheels in their cages.