DOWN THE AMAZONS. 359 
Amazons, since made famous by his great work on the 
Natural History of Brazil, was wrecked off the town of 
Santarem, and nearly lost his life. In his great danger he 
took a vow to record his gratitude, should he live, by mak- 
ing a gift to the church of Santarem. After his return to 
Europe, he sent from Munich a full-length figure of Christ 
upon the cross, which now hangs against the wall, with a 
simple inscription underneath, telling in a few words the 
story of his peril, his deliverance, and his gratitude. As a 
work of art it has no special value, but it attracts many 
persons to the church who never heard of Martius or his 
famous journey ; and to Mr. Agassiz it was especially inter- 
esting, as connected with the travels and dangers of his old 
friend and teacher. 
After a walk through the town, which is built with more 
care, and contains some houses having more pretensions to 
comfort and elegance than we have seen elsewhere on th<^ 
Amazons, we returned to the ship for breakfast. At a later 
hour we went on a very pleasant canoe excursion to the other 
side of the Tapajoz, again in search of the Victoria regia, 
said to grow in great perfection in this neighborhood. Our 
guide was Senhor Joachim Rodriguez, to whom Mr. 
Agassiz has been indebted for much personal kindness, as 
well as for a very valuable collection made since we stopped 
here on our way up the river, partly by himself and partly 
by his son, a bright boy of some thirteen years of age. 
Crossing to the opposite side of the river, we came upon a 
vast field of coarse, high grass, looking like an extensive 
meadow. To our surprise, the boatmen turned the canoe 
into this green field, and we found ourselves apparently 
navigating the land, for the narrow boat-path was entirely 
concealed by the long reedy grasses and tall mallow-plants 
