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 *t 

 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 23d. 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 



