camp. Towards the West could be seen the entrance to a canyon,
and here we proposed to prospect next day.
When we made known our plans to Yntali, our native guide,
he jumped up excitedly and in his broken English, accompanied
by many gestures, begged us not to ge there. Curious to know
the reason for such strange behavior on the part of one who
throughout the whole trip had appeared so stolid and lazy we
asked him why. He demurred for a long time but finally told us
this story, related to him, he said, by his father:
" Many moons ago, before the white man had invaded this
country to any great extent, the land around the head waters of
the Tapajos was inhabited by a fierce and warlike tribe of Indians
called the Boducatoos, of which my father was a member. One
day two pale faces appeared among us in search of bits of yellow
metal. These were the first specimens of the Caucasian race race
that our people bad seen, and their curiosity was unbounded.
They patted the hands and faces of the white men, pinched them,
stripped them to see if they were white all over, and in various
ways exhibited their astonishment.
"At first the pale faces seemed to enjoy this notoriety, but when
they wished to depart, they were surprised to find that the natives
had not the least intention of letting them go.
"They were kept prisoners for some time when the fame of the
tribe that possessed such captives had traveled in all directions.
This gave the Boducatoos a prominence among their savage neigh
bors which even their warlike deeds could not secure, and for this
reason many were the attempts made to steal the pale faces.
" As the white men appeared to be resigned to their lot, the
natives gradually allowed them more privileges until one day,
when most of the warrior had gone to give battle to some distant
tribe, the captives made their escape.
" The warriors came home victorious and as soon as they heard
of the escape of their prisoners, a party went hastily in pursuit.
They tracked the fugitives to the entrance of a rocky canyon and
here of course the trail was lost.
"The pursuers scattered out and while some proceeded directly
up the canyon, the rest scaled the cliffs on both sides and com
menced to search there among the rocks,
Those who went up the gorge looked for hours for the missing
ones, but without avail, and weary of the pursuit, they went into