Chap. III. LAKE OF QUARY. 175 



great variety of forms, and is shown, as already observed 

 in the Tapajos and other tributaries of the Lower 

 Amazons. The mouth of the Quary, or the channel 

 which connects the lake with the Solimoens, is only 

 200 or 300 yards broad, and has but a very feeble 

 current. It is about half a mile long, and opens on a 

 broad sheet of water which is not of imposing magni- 

 tude, as it is only a small portion of the lake, this 

 having a rather sharp bend in its lower part, so that the 

 whole extent is not visible at one view. There is a 

 small village on the shores of the inner water, distant 

 twelve hours' journey by boat from the entrance. We 

 anchored within the mouth, and visited in the montaria 

 two or three settlers, whose houses are built in pictu- 

 resque situations on the banks of the lower lake not far 

 inwards. Several small but navigable streams or inlets 

 here fall into the Quary ; the land appeared to be of 

 the highest fertility ; we crossed a neck of land on 

 foot, from one inlet to another, passing through 

 extensive groves of coffee, planted in a loose man- 

 ner amongst the forest trees. One of the settlers 

 was a Gibraltar Jew, established here many years, and 

 thoroughly reconciled to the ways of life of the semi- 

 civilised inhabitants. We found him barefoot, with 

 trousers turned up to the knee, busily employed with a 

 number of Indians — men, women, and children — shelling 

 and drying cacao, which grows wild in immense pro- 

 fusion in the neighbourhood. He seemed a lively and 

 sensible fellow ; was a great admirer of the country, the 

 climate, and the people, and had no desire to return to 

 Europe. This was the only Jew I met with on the 



