Shortly after this we met a group of four or five _capivaras_ trying to scramble up the crumbling, four-foot-high vertical bank of an immense sand island covered with a tall, dense grass. As soon as we got within range Perkins let fly at them with his rifle, while I did the same with the shot-gun; the only noticeable effect was to accelerate their frantic efforts to mount the bank. Then the swift current wafted us down opposite to them, and we opened up a hot revolver fire. One or two of them dived then, and another, with a desperate leap, got on top of the bank and instantly disappeared in the tall grass. By this time we were some distance past the spot where they had been, and as the current was very strong, we did not judge it worth while to go back, seeing that they had all disappeared. On the following day we were again favoured, at about noon, with another heavy downpour. The wind was so strong as to cause large waves and make our progress exceedingly slow. When the storm passed, at about one o'clock, the sun again obligingly came out and dried our clothes for us, as on the previous day. A little after this we had the luck to shoot a turkey and find a large nest of turtle eggs; the _charapilla_ that Don Rogerio had given us we still kept tied up on his back alive in the bow, intending to keep him for Christmas. At about 3 p.m. we came in sight of a house, which, according to what Don Rogerio had told us, we surmised was Yaracaya, the rubber establishment of Señor Jesús López. Around the house was a little patch of clearing, planted with _yuca_, plantains, &c., while, surrounding this little piece of man's feeble handiwork rose the unbroken stretch of primeval forest and the island-studded river, rushing onward to join the mighty Amazon. Keeping in towards the right bank--upon which the establishment is situated--we were so engrossed in taking stock of the place that we got stuck on a submerged sand-bar and some difficulty was experienced in getting off it. Then a tall, dark, bearded man, dressed in a pair of checkered blue trousers and a white shirt, who proved to be López himself, came down to the bank, accompanied by a _peon_, and gave us a cordial welcome. Leading us up the gentle slope, he conducted us into the house, which was built on posts about six feet above the level of the ground. It was of bamboo and split-palm, large and ample, and had a porch running along the front, which faced the river. Presently a tall, rather pretty woman appeared, whom he introduced to us as the wife of his partner, now absent on a trip to Iquitos, via the River Napo. In the kitchen we observed a number of Indian women busily engaged in making _fariña_.