46 On the Navigation of the Mar anon o?' Amazoiis. 



the Maranon runs, but not fit for use, so that unless coals were 

 sent out, wood must be depended on for fuel ; it is superabund- 

 ant on all parts of the river's banks, but as there is a certain acid 

 which proceeds from wood in burning, and which is liable to 

 affect the boilers, it would perhaps be necessary that those parts 

 of the boilers exposed to the immediate action of the furnace 

 should be stronger or thicker. Wood has been, however, and is 

 still, used in different parts of the world as fuel for steam vessels. 



There would not be difficulty as to depth of water. I sounded 

 down to the Brazilian frontier, beyond which I should not have 

 been permitted, and found that from St Joaquin de Omaguas, 

 where there is a remarkable basin of still water, with 9 to 13 

 fathoms depths between two currents, and which would form a 

 fine harbour. There is water for vessels of almost any class. 

 It would of course be necessary to keep clear of the sawyers, 

 &c. ; but as they have been avoided on the Mississippi, so they 

 might on the Maranon. 



It has been objected, and it is true, that there is at present 

 scarcely any population above the Rio Negro ; districts are un- 

 occupied that might be taken possession of by any one, provided 

 the government of the country did not object, which they would 

 scarcely be likely to do, as it is the evident advantage of all go- 

 vernments to bring their territory into cultivation. There is, 

 however, sufficient population to employ two such vessels as I 

 have mentioned below the Rio Negro, and was a steam com- 

 munication once opened I think there would be above. My 

 reasons for thinking so, are : by mismanagement and ill-treat- 

 ment, the Indians have been driven from flie banks of the Mara- 

 non, where, from the advantages that were afforded in obtaining 

 food by catching fish, &c. they were formerly more numerous, 

 into forests, where they have probably decreased in numbers, 

 and become more savage. 



Europeans or Brazilians who have been educated, and who 

 can obtain the means of living in civilized countries, do not in 

 the present state of these regions choose to be banished there. 

 But let a steam communication once be opened, and the case 

 will be altered ; merchants, and a superior class of settlers, will 

 then know that they can not only send their produce, and receive 

 regular supphes, but if they please, can leave without difficulty; 



