Chap. III. CUDAJA. 173 



which it caused returned on the crumbly bank with 

 tremendous force, and caused the fall of other masses by 

 undermining them. The line of coast over which the 

 landslip extended was a mile or two in length ; the end 

 of it, however, was hid from our view by an intervening 

 island. It was a grand sight : each downfall created a 

 cloud of spray ; the concussion in one place causing other 

 masses to give way a long distance from it, and thus the 

 crashes continued, swaying to and fro, with little pro- 

 spect of a termination. When we glided out of sight, 

 two hours after sunrise, the destruction was still 

 going on. 



On the 9th of April we passed the mouth of a narrow 

 channel which leads to an extensive lake called Anuri ; 

 it lies at the bottom of a long enseada or bay, on the 

 north or left side of the river, around which sets the 

 whole force of the current. The steamboat company 

 have since established a station near this for supplying 

 their vessels with firewood. A few miles beyond, on the 

 opposite side, we saw the principal mouth of the Purus, 

 a very large stream, whose sources are still unknown. 

 Salsaparilla and Copauba collectors, the only travellers 

 on its waters, have ascended it in small boats a distance 

 of two months' journey without meeting with any 

 obstruction to navigation. This shows that its course 

 lies to a very great extent within the level plain of the 

 Upper Amazons. The mouth is not more than a quarter 

 of a mile broad, and the water is of an olive-green 

 colour. 



We passed Cudaja on the 12th. This is a channel 



