THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1894. 



117 



These streams are called " igaripes ;" 

 often they are broad and generally very 

 deep and navigable for canoes. When 

 the river is falling the water runs from 

 the lakes into the Amazon ; when the 

 water rises these " igaripes" run up 

 stream. One can easily lose himself in 

 these intricate water ways. This " var- 

 zea " region is not permanently habit- 

 able and only serves for pasturage, 



park ; immense trees scattered over it ; 

 the ground covered with short grass; 

 no undergrowth ; clear water lakes here 

 and there ; the whole forming a most 

 charming landscape. 



It is in the lakes and " igai'ipes" that 

 water plants abound, though in the 

 main river the voyager often finds 

 plenty floating on their way to the dis- 

 tant ocean, they having been torn from 



Victoria Regia. 



where not wooded, or for summer plant- 

 ations. It often is covered, especially on 

 the up23er river, with gigantic Bamboos, 

 sometimes with a very tall grass, and if 

 low enough to be permanently wet, is 

 an inextricable tangle of vines, prickly 

 Palms, generally species of Bactris, and 

 stinging grasses. Where it is high and 

 only flooded for a short time, it forms 

 in summer a very attractive region. 

 We have seen stretches of thousands of 

 acres which looked like a well kept 



their homes and borne from the lakes 

 by the current, dislodged b^" a falling 

 bank, or uprooted by a rise of the river. 

 In low water the shallow bays of the 

 Amazon grow up with grass, which, with 

 long floating root stocks, covers vast 

 areas. As the river rises these masses 

 are torn away and go floating down the 

 river. We have seen them at least half 

 an acre in area, and at times the whole 

 river is covered with them and looks 

 like a green field. In these masses are 



