At noon a heavy rain set in, which soaked us through and through. Then the sun came out again in all its glory and dried us within an hour or so, while our enemies the gnats took their toll of us; they literally appeared around us in clouds, and we killed thousands of them at a time by simply clapping our hands together. Finally they became so numerous that I was compelled to make a fire in the pot in the bow, which I rendered as smoky as possible by wetting the wood. This drove them off a little, but was as bad for us as it was for the gnats. During the afternoon the river went down somewhat, and the beaches and _playas_ were once more revealed. The water, however, had obliterated all tracks, &c., and consequently we were unable to find any nests. At five o'clock we stopped at the mouth of a little _quebrada_, where the fish actually swarmed. Every moment they would jump up out of the water, for some reason or other, and two of them even went so far as to leap into our boat. Nevertheless, our daintiest bait would not tempt them to bite. The next morning, December 30th, we again set out on our journey. The river had gone down considerably, so we made rather slow progress, and, consequently, the man-eating gnats had us more or less at their mercy, for it was so hot that our armour was unbearable. At ten o'clock a slow, drizzling rain set in, which was peculiarly annoying, for it was not strong enough to dissipate the gnats, but sufficiently damp to soak us completely. The wet season had apparently set in, and, owing to the gnats and rain, our trip had lost much of its charm, so we made up our minds to follow López' advice in regard to crossing over to the Napo by the Remolino _varadero_ without delay. Besides, we rather wished to travel by an overland route, in order to see the country between the rivers. Above all, we did not wish to get mixed up in any backwoods frontier fighting. In spite of the drizzle we got out upon reaching a promising-looking _playa_, and, after some trailing, found a large nest of eggs, which had apparently been laid during the previous night. We also had the luck to shoot a small duck, so our larder, at least, was provided for. Turning a bend, we saw a house, surrounded by a large cleared area, perched upon the left bank. Approaching nearer, we perceived that the river--heretofore nearly two kilometres wide--narrowed down until, when opposite the house, it was not over a couple of hundred metres in width. Here the banks were high and vertical, and the river, rushing between them like a mill-race, formed an immense eddy, or _remolino_, on the other side. Then, turning at a sharp angle, it gradually spread out and soon attained its former width again. We had arrived at Remolino. CHAPTER V THE HUITOTOS