The strong current at a
distance of thirty or forty yards from the coast steadied the
cuberta head to stream, and kept us from drifting ashore. We all
slept in the open air, as the heat of the cabins was stifling in
the early part of the night. Penna, Senhora Katita, and I slung
our hammocks in triangle between the mainmast and two stout poles
fixed in the raised deck. A sheet was the only covering required,
besides our regular clothing, for the decrease of temperature at
night on the Amazons is never so great as to be felt otherwise
than as a delightful coolness after the sweltering heat of the
afternoons.
We used to rise when the first gleam of dawn showed itself above
the long, dark line of forest. Our clothes and hammocks were then
generally soaked with dew, but this was not felt to be an
inconvenience. The Indian Manoel used to revive himself by a
plunge in the river, under the bows of the vessel. It is the
habit of all Indians, male and female, to bathe early in the
morning; they do it sometimes for warmth's sake, the temperature
of the water being often considerably higher than that of the
air.
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