In the afternoon I took a walk a little way along the banks of the river, but did not find much to interest me; like all other sandy parts along the coast, the vegetation here consists of low shrubs mixed with a few small trees; _Schinus terebinthifolius_ being by far the most common. One of the most striking vegetable productions near the village is a large wild fig-tree growing close to the river, beneath the shade of which four large canoes, larger than the one in which I arrived, were being constructed; this also forms a rendezvous for the gossips of the village, who assemble there in the afternoon, beneath its wide-spreading branches which reach nearly to the ground, thus shading them from the sun. The leaves of the tree are about six inches long and three broad, with fruit about the size of a large gooseberry. In the evening I strolled through the village, and found that nearly all the inhabitants had turned out of their houses to enjoy the beautiful moonlight and the delightfully cool evening breeze; many of them were squatted on the bare ground, some were lounging on mats, while others were stretched out on cocoa-nut leaves. In most of these groups, one or more of the individuals, generally young men, were amusing the others by playing lively airs on the guitar. As the master of the canoe belonged to the village, I was invited to sleep at his house, but as he could not afford me a bed, I was obliged to repose on a hide in the corner of a small room; scarcely, however, had I fallen asleep when I was awakened by legions of hungry bugs, that came pouring out from the cracks in the mud walls; unable to endure this torment I got up, and taking-the materials which formed my bed outside the house, I shook them well, and spreading them in the open air, I slept there comfortably till morning. This was the only time during the whole of my travels that I was annoyed to any extent by this insect, which is not nearly so common, or so abundant as the flea.