On the Navigation of the Mar anon or Amazons. 47 



order and a different mode of proceeding will be established ; 

 and the Indians, finding themselves differently treated, and ob- 

 taining superior advantages, will come from the forests as they 

 did in the time of the Jesuits. Moreover, those now employed 

 in the tedious and inefficient navigation may be employed in 

 agriculture. 



I have said that settlers might take possession of districts^ 

 provided the government which claims dominion did not object. 

 No person will, I fancy, contradict this. Nevertheless, as par- 

 ticular facts are more satisfactory than general statements, I shall 

 give an example. 



On our way down the Maranon, and about 1500 miles above 

 Para, we visited a lake called Prixelana, the fish-lake ; its waters 

 were clear and dark, and abounded with fish, whence it derived 

 its name. It was about a league in length, and half a league 

 across, communicating with the Maranon by a navigable chan- 

 nel, about three quarters of a mile long, and 60 or 70 yards 

 broad. The banks were high and healthy, and were not much 

 troubled by musquitoes. This district had been taken posses- 

 sion of about theee years befpre, by a family who were living 

 much in the style of the patriarchs. The father was a fine, 

 stout, healthy looking person, of about fifty years of age ; there 

 were numerous children, of various ages and sizes, all of whom 

 appeared healthy, and were remarkably handsome. The eldest 

 daughter was married to a Portuguese, who had got up the 

 river, and was settled on the opposite side of the lake, but who 

 did not appear equal to his father-in-law. The old man gave a 

 favourable account of his position during the time he and his fa- 

 mily had been settled there ; they had cleared away considerable 

 spaces of ground, and had cultivated mandioca, a root used in- 

 stead of bread, coffee, tobacco, cotton, and latterly indigo, which 

 they intended to manufacture. Finding their circumstances im- 

 prove, they were building a house on rather a large scale, hav- 

 ing a store at one end, a platform for drying cotton, cocoa, and 

 coffee at the other, and a thatched veranda in front. When not 

 employed in their plantations, they went into the woods to col- 

 lect wild cocoa, which is considered better than that raised by 

 cultivation, sarsaparilla, &c. 



It must not, however, be supposed, that this family had 



