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and then waiting for cafe (a tiny cup of bitter cofe) took nearly an hour of precious time and it was to be a long day's drive to next house. We could not buy food here, as 
Jose expected. The men ate what little was left of the cheese, I ate nothing but a few oranges. About noon we got into an awful stretch of road. Three times the men had to work, lifting the wheels by a plank used as a lever over some [[strikethrough]] long [[/strikethrough]] logs. These lying by the way indicated that our predecessors had used them also.
[[strikethrough]] [ The [[/strikethrough]] I helped by standing on the lever, between times wandering over the swampy ground. They were more than 2 hours getting over this place. It had been raining a steady drizzle all night and all morning. It stopped so we got 
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started. [I'm sitting in the auto, fighting midges by the million while I write. That's why this writing is worse than usual.] At this varzea (grassy swamp) I found a Panicum new for me, P. fiebrigii probably, of the trachyspermum group, anyway, and several other pretty good things, new for me for Matto Grosso. After this delay we went at a good rate, except for a puncture, till we reached Rio Itu. The bridge was out. We had been told ^ [[inserted]] at the ferry that [[/inserted]] the caminbão with Ms & Mr. Thomas, missionaries, had passed here the day before, so the bridge must have gone after they passed it. The river was high, certainly couldn't be forded. José said we'd have to return here and "espera". I agreed we would