Suddenly a wild commotion in the yard! Rufina and I rush out. Someone has left the front gate ajar. A neighbor's pig has blundered in.

Detail from "Blazing Sun"

Three little boys with sticks come after him. There is much yelling and laughing and running around. Much brandishing of the sticks. The pig eludes them for quite a while! This furnishes lively entertainment for the neighbors who have come out to watch. Passers-by linger while the fun lasts.

Later three young girls appear at the gate. My husband's assistant, Moacir, has made their acquaintance. He is from São Paulo. He thinks the Amazon jungle is the end of the world, but he's lost no time in finding an attractive senhorita. Leila goes nowhere without her younger sisters. When Moacir and my husband are away the girls come to see me almost every afternoon. They pore over my magazines. They are fascinated by the fashions in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.

About 4:30 we walk the few blocks to the harbor. We get gelado do abacate, avocado ice cream, at a little stand on the wharf. Small boats are coming and going. Colored sails--red, green, blue, orange--unfurled to dry after the rain. Indians--caboclos, edging their hollowed-out-log canoes in between larger craft. Families clambering aboard rough houseboats to return up river to some small fazenda--the thatch-roofed hut on stilts at river's edge, a small jungle clearing behind. A steamer sounds its whistle. Passengers scurry aboard. It will move out into the muddy river to continue its journey to some other Amazon port.

With a huge splash, a PanAm Catalina flying boat settles into the water. It brings supplies for the RDC rubber technicians. It brings a sack of mail. Tomorrow, perhaps, there will be letters from home, new magazines.

the sad eyes of the crippled beggar I give her small coins