At about four o'clock I went out in search of some turtle eggs, and, after some half-hour's trailing, found a large nest containing over a hundred. Tying them up in my shirt, I was returning to camp when I heard the report of the rifle, which seemed to come from that direction; hastening onward, I turned a bend and saw three men get out of a canoe and approach our abode, where they seemed to be cordially received by Perkins. Within a few minutes I joined them, and was overjoyed to see that they were a detachment of the Caraparaná police force of the _Corregidor_, Gabriel Martínez. The officer in charge of the little band--_Alférez_ Velasco--was very agreeable and courteous, and readily consented to lend a hand. So after dinner, which was a very pleasant affair, we removed all our effects from the canoe, collected our rollers, passed around the _aguardiente_, and in less than two hours our gallant craft was again afloat. The _Alférez_ and his men then retired, completely exhausted by this task and the long day's poling up the river, and Perkins and I commenced our heartbreaking labour of carrying our baggage, &c., over the half-kilometre that separated us from the canoe--for it had not been convenient to roll the heavy craft to the nearest part of the river on account of the sand-hummocks that intervened, and to have taken the canoe up to this place would have meant two hours' hard work on account of the strong current and the long bend in the river. It was truly a sickening task. We had had originally seven _bultos_, weighing about four _arrobas_ each; now, in addition to this we had a barrel of _aguardiente_, our Indian souvenirs, Perkins's mineralogical specimens, our _danta_, &c. To add to our disgust the river commenced to rise rapidly, and soon we perceived that, if we had not been in such a hurry, there would probably have been no necessity for carrying our things, as the river would have relieved us of this task. Sweat fell from us in streams, the rough edges of the _bultos_ cut our shoulders mercilessly, and, to make matters worse, it began to rain in torrents. Still we stuck to it, and at about one o'clock in the morning Perkins staggered on board with the last load--the barrel of _aguardiente_--on his back. After lightening this part of our equipment by two good drinks each, we immediately retired and slept the sleep of the just. The next morning it was as we had expected--the river had kept on rising, and the greater part of the _playa_ was submerged. Making our way to the police detachment, we held a long chat with the officer, gave them a chunk of the smoked _danta_-meat, passed around the _aguardiente_, and thanking them heartily, took our departure. The swift current took us along rapidly, and soon the scene of our shipwreck faded away in the distance and became but a pleasant memory of the past.