THE 



NATUKALIST ON THE AMAZONS. 



CHAPTER I. 



PARA. 



Arrival — Aspect of the Country — The Para Piiver— First Avalk in the 

 Suburbs of Para — Free Negroes — Birds, Lizards, and Insects of 

 the Suburbs — Leaf-carrjdng Ant — Sketch of the climate, history, 

 and present condition of Para. 



I EMBARKED at Liverpool, with Mr. Wallace, in a 

 small trading vessel, on the 26th of April, 1848 ; and, 

 after a swift passage from the Irish Channel to the 

 equator, arrived, on the 26th of May, off Salinas. 

 This is the pilot-station for vessels bound to Para, 

 the only port of entry to the vast region watered 

 by the Amazons. It is a small village, formerly a 

 missionary settlement of the Jesuits, situated a few 

 miles to the eastward of the Para river. Here the 

 ship anchored in the open sea, at a distance of six 

 miles from the shore, the shallowness of the water far 

 out around the mouth of the great river not per- 

 mitting in safety a nearer approach ; and the signal was 

 hoisted for a pilot. It was with deep interest that my 



