168 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



slopes abruptly down, and from its brow one looks across 

 a wide plain covered with low forest, to the mountain on 

 the other side, from which the town takes its name. Look- 

 ing southward, the foreground is filled with lakes divided 

 from each other by low alluvial lands, forming the level 

 flats alluded to above. Though one of the earliest settle- 

 ments on the Amazons, this town is, by all accounts, 

 rather decreasing than increasing in population. In the 

 midst of its public square stands what seems at first to 

 be the ruin of a large stone church, but which is, in fact, 

 the framework of a cathedral begun forty years ago, and 

 standing unfinished to this day. Cows were pastured in 

 its grass-grown aisles, and it seemed a rather sad memorial, 

 bespeaking a want of prosperity in the place. We were 

 most kindly entertained in the house of Senhor Manuel, 

 who, finding that the mosquitoes were likely to be very 

 thick on board the steamer, invited us to pass the night 

 under his roof. This morning we are sailing about in 

 the neighborhood, partly for the sake of getting fish, but 

 passing also a couple of hours at a cattle-farm near by, 

 in order to bring on board a number of cows and oxen 

 for the Manaos market. It seems that one of the chief 

 occupations here is the raising of cattle. This, with the 

 sale of fish, cacao, and India-rubber, constitutes the com- 

 merce of the place. 



August 26th. This morning found us again on the 

 southern side of the river, off Santarem, at the mouth of one 

 of the great branches of the Amazons, the Tapajoz. Here 

 we leave a number of our party. Mr. Dexter, Mr. James, 

 and Mr. Talisman, a young Brazilian who joined our party 

 at Para, go on a collecting expedition up the Tapajoz. 

 Mr. Bourget and Mr. Hunnewell remain at Santarem, the 



