Cuap. IX. BRAZILIAN MONEY. 217 
Portuguese or Brazilian traders, of whom there are one or two in every 
village of six hundred or seven hundred inhabitants, would honour my 
draft on the English house ; they having each a correspondent at Para 
who deals with the foreign merchants. Sometimes a Portuguese trader 
would hint at discount, or wish me to take part of the amount in goods, 
but the Brazilians were generally more liberal. At one period, when 
I was obliged to wait for remittances from England,* I sometimes ran 
short of money ; but I had only to say a word to one of these generous 
and considerate men, and the assistance was given without interest to 
the extent I required. The current money on the Amazons varied 
much during the eleven years of my stay. At first, nothing but copper 
coins and Brazilian treasury notes, the smallest representing 1000 reis 
(2s. 3d.), were seen ; afterwards (1852—1856), with the increase of the 
India-rubber trade, a large amount of specie was imported,—American 
gold coins, Spanish and Mexican dollars, and English sovereigns. 
These were the commonest medium of exchange in Para and on the 
Lower Amazons, until India-rubber fell suddenly in price, in 1855, 
when the gold again quickly disappeared. About the year 1857, new 
silver coin, issued by the Brazilian Government, was introduced ; 
elegant pieces of money of convenient values, answering nearly to our 
sixpenny, shilling, and two-shilling pieces. Neither gold, silver, nor 
paper, however, was of much use on a journey like the one I had now 
undertaken. All travellers on the branch rivers have to carry: cloth, 
cashaca, and small wares, to exchange for produce or food with the 
Indians ; a small quantity of copper money, the only coin whose value 
is understood amongst the remote settlers, being nevertheless necessary 
to balance exchanges. When I had to send collections down to Para 
to be shipped for England, which happened three or four times a year, 
I used to arrange with any trader who was dispatching a vessel to the 
capital with produce; the owners very often charging nothing for the 
carriage. Sometimes I had to entrust chests full of choice specimens 
to Indians for a voyage of thirty or forty days: a word to the pilot 
recommending him to keep the boxes free from damp was quite suf- 
ficient. I never suffered any loss or damage. 
Our course lay due west for about twenty miles. The wind increased 
as we neared Point Cururti, where the river bends from its northern 
course. A vast expanse of water here stretches to the west and south, 
and the waves, with a strong breeze, run very high. As we were 
doubling the point, the cable which held our montaria in tow astern, 
parted, and in endeavouring to recover the boat, without which we 
knew it would be difficult to get ashore on many parts of the coast, we 
were very near capsizing. We tried to tack down the river; a vain 
attempt with a strong breeze and no current. Our ropes snapped, the 
sails flew to rags, and the vessel, which we now found was deficient 
in ballast, heeled over frightfully. Contrary to José’s advice, I ran the 
cuberta into a little bay, thinking to cast anchor there and wait for the 
boat coming up with the wind; but the anchor dragged on the smooth 
* I take this opportunity of mentioning my obligations to Mr. George Brocklehurst, 
of the Para firm, by whom, during the latter years of my travels in the interior, my 
wants were attended to in the promptest and kindest manner 
