Some hours later the village of Bella Vista, situated on a somewhat
lower bank, appeared, with its cluster of magnificent trees, towering
above a few huts roofed with straw, over which there drooped the
large leaves of some medium-sized banana-trees, like the waters
overflowing from a tazza.
Then the pilot, so as to follow a better current, which turned off
from the bank, directed the raft toward the right side of the river,
which he had not yet approached. The maneuver was not accomplished
without certain difficulties, which were successfully overcome after
a good many resorts to the demijohn.
This allowed them to notice in passing some of those numerous lagoons
with black waters, which are distributed along the course of the
Amazon, and which often have no communication with the river. One of
these, bearing the name of the Lagoon of Oran, is of fair size, and
receives the water by a large strait. In the middle of the stream are
scattered several islands and two or three islets curiously grouped;
and on the opposite bank Benito recognized the site of the ancient
Oran, of which they could only see a few uncertain traces.
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