When the waters are low, the people from the interior come and live on the banks of the river with their wives and children, and pass their time in fishing, for the fish are abundant and very fat at this season. They lead pleasant lives, dancing and singing day and night, like persons who are relieved from all anxiety about food; but when the water begins to rise, which is in January, they retire inland, because at that season the floods begin, and the waters rise six fathoms above the banks of the river. At such time the country is under water for over one hundred leagues inland, spreading over everything like a sea, so that even tall palms and other trees are covered, and vessels may pass over their summits. This usually happens every year, when the sun crosses one tropic and approaches the other in the latitude of the mouth of the rio del oro. At such times the natives keep very large canoes in readiness for this emergency; and in the middle of these canoes they throw two or three loads of mud, and make a hearth. The Indian then enters with his wife, children, and household goods, and floats on the rising tide wherever they like. He lights a fire on the hearth to cook his food and for warmth, and thus he voyages for four months of the year, or as long as the floods last.