It was near evening when they reached their destination, a village of perhaps fifty huts, on the tongue of land forming the junction between the Beni and the river they had descended. Half the payment for the boats and boatmen had been made before starting; the balance was now due, but by common consent the settlement was postponed till morning. All the huts were so intolerably dirty that the travellers refused to occupy one of them; the little tent was spread near the cleanest of the huts, the baggage being piled in the latter, in charge of Manuel, while the Doctor and his young companions slept under canvas. The boatmen were paid off in the morning, and started at once on their homeward journey. The prospects for an immediate departure down the Beni were not brilliant, as most of the Indians were away, and nobody could say when they would return. They were absent on a turtle-hunting expedition along the Beni; they might be back in a day or not for a week. _Quien sabe?_ "Never mind," said the Doctor; "what can't be cured must be endured. We will build a hut for ourselves, and study the Beni and anything else that comes in our way. We can make excursions into the forest and learn something of the country. The time will not be wasted, by any means." Frank and Fred assented readily to the proposal; in fact, they never did anything else when the Doctor gave advice or suggestions. But it was easier to agree to build a hut than to build it. Labor was not easy to obtain. [Illustration: AN AMAZONIAN DWELLING.] The forest supplied the material, but it was difficult to induce the Indians to do anything. After considerable argument they prevailed upon some of the men to cut the requisite bamboos, and bring them to the spot selected for the temporary dwelling. Under the supervision of the youths and their guide, the walls were put up by driving some of the bamboos into the ground; a space was left for a doorway; the roof was put on, and thatched with leaves of the Pandanus palm; and by nightfall the new house was completed. It measured about twelve feet by fifteen, and was admirably ventilated; the total cost was estimated at six dollars and a half, and it was pronounced one of the handsomest structures in the village. The Indians were well paid for their labor, according to the rates of the local trades union; and it was understood that the building was to become the property of the alcalde, or chief man of the village, after the departure of the strangers. The alcalde surveyed the edifice with evident pride, and the Doctor thought he discovered an avaricious expression on the fellow's face. Frank and Fred thought likewise. "I tell you what it is," said Fred, "we have 'builded wiser than we knew.' He will be anxious enough to get us away in order to take possession of his new residence."