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9
I went back to the flea-infested shelter to put my plants in press, but Mrs. Mexia disappeared up the trail with Antonio and by the time my grasses were in she came back to tell me she had made camp for us, and there was a tent of "alligator skin" (a waterproof silk, I think, strung between two trees. It was in a relatively flat place - for Brasil - but the slope above it would drain down, so we dug a trench on the upside. She had a sleeping bag with down comforts inside and a waterproof outside, and she helped me make a bed out of my ground cloth and blanket, with rubber poncho tucked in around the bottom. Her alligator skin poncho closed fairly well the windward end of the tent, and we peeled off our wet clothes and got into the dry ones which had been rolled inside the bedding. It was nice and snug in spite of heavy rain. We ate bread and chicken in bed. Of course I was cold during the night, but slept some. We got back into our wet clothes at daybreak (Sunday Nov. 24) the men appeared