358 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 
Amazons. It stands on a steep bluff, commanding an exten- 
sive view of the river west and east, and is one of the few 
points at which the southern and northern shores are seen 
at the same time. The bluff of Obydos is crowned by a 
fortress, which has stood here for many years without 
occasion to test its power. It may be doubted whether U 
would be very effectual in barring the river against a hostile 
force, inasmuch as its guns, though they carry perfectly 
well to the opposite side, are powerless nearer home. The 
slope of the cliff on which the fortress stands intervenes 
between it and the water below, so that by keeping well in 
to shore the enemy could pass with impunity immediately 
under the guns. The hill consists entirely of the same red 
drift so constantly recurring on the banks of the Amazons 
and its tributaries. Here it is more full of pebbles than at 
Manaos or at Teffe ; and we saw these pebbles disposed in 
lines or horizontal beds, such as are found in the same de- 
posit along the coast and in the neighborhood of Rio. The 
city of Obydos is prettily laid out, its environs are very 
picturesque, its soil extremely fertile ; but it has the same 
aspect of neglect and hopeless inactivity so painfully strik- 
ing in all the Amazonian towns. 
January 2od. Yesterday, in the early morning, we 
arrived at Santarem, and went on shore for a walk at half 
past seven. The town stands on a point of land dividing 
the black waters of the Tapajoz, on the one side, from the 
yellow flood of the Amazons on the other, and has a very 
attractive situation, enhanced by its background of hills 
stretching away to the eastward. Our first visit was to the 
church, fronting on the beach and standing invitingly open. 
We had, however, a special object in entering it. In 1819 
Martins, the naturalist, on his voyage of exploration on the 
