768 



THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



of its immense bulk and weight. The num- 

 ber of turtles which were seen swimming in 

 quiet shoaly bays passed on the road, also 

 gave us much amusement. They were seen 

 by dozens ahead, with their snouts peering 

 above the surface of the water, and, on the 

 steamer approaching, turning round to stare, 

 but not losing confidence till the vessel had 

 nearly passed, when they appeared to be 

 [suddenly smitten with distrust, diving like 

 ducks under the stream. 



The river scenery about the mouth of the 

 Japura is extremely grand, and was the sub- 

 ject of remark among the passengers. Lieu- 

 tenant Nunes gave it as his opinion that 

 there was no diminution of width or grand- 

 eur in the mighty stream up to this point, a 

 distance of 1500 miles from the Atlantic ; and 

 yet we did not here see the shores of the river 

 on both sides at once ; lines of islands or 

 tracts of alluvial land, having by-chaimela 

 in the rear, intercepting the view of the 

 northern mainland, and sometimes also of the 

 southern. Beyond the Issa, however, the river 

 becomes evidently narrower, being reduced to 

 an average width of about a mile ; there were 

 then no longer those magnificent reaches, with 

 blank horizons, which occur lower down. 

 We had a dark and rainy night after passing 

 Tunantins, and the passengers were all very 

 uneasy on account of the speed at which we 

 were travelling, twelve miles an hour, with 

 every plank vibrating with the force of the 

 engines. Many of them could not sleep, 

 myself among the number. At length, a lit- 

 tle after midnight, a sudden shout startled 

 us : " Back her !" (English terms being 

 used in matters relating to steam-engines.) 

 The pilot instantly sprang to the helm, and 

 in a few moments we felt our padddle box 

 brushing against the wall of forest into 

 which we had nearly driven headlong. For- 

 tunately, the water was deep close up to the 

 bank. Early in the morning of the 10th of 

 September we anchored in the port of St. 

 Paulo, after five days' quick travelling from 

 Ega. 



St. Paulo is built on a high hill, on the 

 southern bank of the river. The bill is 

 formed of the same Tabatinga clay which 

 occurs at intervals over the whole valley of 

 the Amazons, but nowhere rises to so great 

 an elevation as here, the height being about 

 100 feet above the mean level of the river. 

 The ascent from the port is steep and slip- 

 pery ; steps and resting-places have been 

 made, to lighten the fatigue of mounting, 

 otherwise the village would be almost inac 

 eessible, especially to porters of luggage and 

 cargo, for there are no means of making a 

 uircuitous road of more moderate slope, "the 

 dill being steep on all sides, and surrounded 

 by dense forests and swamps. The place 

 contains about 500 inhabitants, chiefly half- 

 3astes and Indians of the Tucunia and Col- 

 ana tribes, who are very little improved 

 from their primitive state. The streets are 

 aarrow, and in rainy weather inches deep in 

 mud ; many houses are of substantial struc- 

 ture, but in a ruinous condition, and the 

 olace altogether presents the appearance, like 



Fonte Boa, of having seen better daya, 

 Signs of commerce, such as meet the eye at 

 Ega, could scarcely be expected in this re- 

 mote spot, situate 1800 miles, or seven 

 months' round voyage by sailing-vessels,, 

 from Para, the nearest market for produce. 

 A very short experience showed that the in- 

 habitants were utterly debased, the few Por- 

 tuguese and other immigrants having, in- 

 stead of promoting industry, adopted the lazy 

 mode of life of the Indians, spiced with the 

 practice of a few strong vices of their own 

 introduction. 



The head-man of the village, Senhor An- 

 tonia Ribeiro, half -white, half-Tucuna. pre- 

 pared a house for me on landing, and intro- 

 duced me to the principal people. The sum- 

 mit of the hill is grassy table-land, of two or 

 three hundred acres in extent. The soil is 

 not wholly clay, but partly sand and gra- 

 vel ; the village itself, however, stands 

 chiefly on clay, and the streets, therefore, 

 after heavy rains, become filled with muddy 

 puddles. On damp nights the chorus of 

 frogs and toads which swarm in weedy back 

 yards, creates such a bewildering uproar 

 that it is impossible to carry on a conversa- 

 tion in-doors except by shouting. My house 

 was damper even than the one I occupied at 

 Fonte Boa, and this made it extremely diffi- 

 cult to keep my collections from being 

 spoiled by mould. But the general humidity 

 of the atmosphere in this part of the river 

 was evidently much greater than it is lower 

 down ; it appears to increase gradually in as- 

 cending from the Atlantic to the Andes. It 

 was impossible at St. Paulo to keep salt for 

 many days in a solid state, which was not 

 the case at Ega, when the baskets in which 

 it is contained were well wrapped in leaves. 

 Six degrees further westward, namely, at the 

 foot of the Andes, the dampness of the climate- 

 of the Amazonian forest region appears to 

 reach its acme, for Poeppig found at Chin- 

 chao that the most refined sugar in a few 

 days dissolved into syrup, and the best gun- 

 powder became liquid, even when enclosed 

 in canisters. At St. Paulo refined sugar- 

 kept pretty well in tin boxes, and I had no 

 difficulty in keeping my gunpowder dry in. 

 canisters, although a gun loaded over-night- 

 could very seldom be fired off in the morn- 

 ing. 



I remained at St. Paulo five months ; five 

 years would not have been sufficient to ex- 

 haust the treasures of its neighborhood in. 

 zoology and botany. Although now a for- 

 est-rambler of ten years' experience, the- 

 beautiful forest which surrounds this settle- 

 ment gave me as much enjoyment as if I had . 

 only just landed for the first time in a tropi- 

 cal country. Tae plateau on which the vil- 

 lage is built extends on one side nearly a 

 mile into the forest, but on the other side the 

 descent into the lowland begins close to the 

 streets, the hill sloping abruptly toward a 

 boggy meadow surrounded by woods,, 

 through which a narrow winding path con- 

 tinues the slope down to a cool, shady glen, 

 with a brook of icy-cold water flowing at the- 

 bottom. At mid-day the vertical sun peiie- 



