Aided by the current, the steamer made the sixty miles between Manaos and the mouth of the Madeira in a trifle over four hours. The boat resembled the one on which they had descended the Madeira, but was more than twice as large; the arrangement of the cabins and decks was the same, and each traveller hung his hammock between the decks, and took advantage of the cooling trade wind that blew up the river. [Illustration: A BRAZILIAN LANDING-PLACE.] Frank's inquiring mind led him among the boxes, bales, and bags which comprised the freight of the steamer; he was accompanied by Manuel, who answered the youth's questions to the best of his ability. Where he did not know the correct answer he followed the custom of the country in giving the first that his imagination suggested. Frank's first question related to pissaba. "Pissaba comes from the Pissaba palm," said the guide, "and is a fibre which is manufactured into cables and ropes, and is exported to Europe and America to be made into brushes and brooms. It is stronger than hemp, and more elastic, and if the people were enterprising it could drive hemp out of the market for many uses." "Please tell me about Brazil nuts," was the next suggestion. "Brazil nuts grow on one of the tallest trees of the forest," was the reply. "There are eighteen or twenty nuts in a hard shell like a cannon ball, and they are packed in so wonderfully that when once taken out no man is ingenious enough to put them all back again. I have seen Brazil-nut trees two hundred feet high, and fourteen feet through at the base, and not a branch within a hundred feet of the ground." Frank asked how the nuts were gathered. "They are allowed to ripen and fall to the ground," answered the guide, "partly because they will not keep if picked from the tree, and partly because it is difficult and dangerous to climb for them." "It must be equally dangerous to stand under the tree, and risk being hit by one of the falling nuts." "It is," was the reply. "The large shells or cases are five inches in diameter, and weigh two or three pounds; in their descent they attain a momentum resembling that of a cannon-ball, and often bury themselves out of sight in the ground. A nut falling on a man's head will certainly break the shell, and this has happened in many instances. "The nut-gatherers build their huts among the trees, or more often a little distance from them; if under the trees, they give the roof a sharp incline, so that nuts falling upon it will slide off and do no harm. The wind blows in the morning, and at that time the gatherers stay at home, employing their time in breaking open the shells of the previous day's collection, and getting the nuts ready for packing in sacks. When the wind ceases they go out and collect what have been shaken off by the breeze.