of fruit, which lay scattered about. We supposed that want of water had driven them out of the country down to the river side; but that since it had rained a shower or two, they were gone again.
Once, about noon, sitting down upon a rock by the river side to take a pipe of tobacco and rest ourselves; we had almost been discovered by the women of these wild people: coming down, as I suppose, to wash themselves in the river; who, being many of them, came talking and laughing together. At the first hearing of the noise, being at a good distance, we marvelled what it was. Sitting still and listening; it came a little above where we sat: and at last, we could plainly distinguish it to be the voices of women and children. Whereupon we thought it no boot to sit longer, since we could escape unobserved; and so took up our bags, and fled as fast as we could.
Thus we kept travelling every day, from morning till night, still along by the river side, which turned and wound very crookedly. In some places, it would be pretty good travelling and but few bushes and thorns; in others, a great many: so that our shoulders and arms were all of a gore, being grievously torn and scratched. For we had nothing on us, but a clout round about our middles, and our victuals on our shoulders; and in our hands, a tallipat [palm leaf] and an axe.
The lower we came down this river, the less water; so that sometimes we could go a mile or two upon the sand. And in some places, three or four rivers would all meet together. When this happened so, and was noon—the sun over our head, and the water not running—we could not tell which to follow; but were forced to stay till the sun was fallen, thereby to judge our course.
We often met with bears, hogs, deer and wild buffaloes; but they all ran, so soon as they saw us: but elephants we met with no more than that I have mentioned before. The river is exceeding full of alligators all along as we went: and the upper part of it is nothing but rocks.
Here and there, by the side of this river, there is a world of hewn stone pillars, standing upright; and other heaps of hewn stones, which I suppose formerly were buildings. And in three or four places, are the ruins of bridges, built of stone; some remains of them yet standing upon stone pillars. In
