Chap. VI. RIVER SCENERY. 393 



mid-day hours. This Indian was a man of steady reso- 

 lution, ambitious and enterprising ; very rare qualities 

 in the race to which he belonged, weakness of reso- 

 lution being one of the fundamental defects in the 

 Indian character. He was now on his return home to 

 the banks of the Issa from Para, whither he had been to 

 sell a large quantity of salsaparilla that he had collected, 

 with the help of a number of Indians, whom he induces, 

 or forces, to work for him. One naturally feels inclined 

 to know what ideas such a favourable specimen of the 

 Indian race may have acquired after so much experi- 

 ence amongst civilised scenes. On conversing with our 

 fellow-passenger, I was greatly disappointed in him ; 

 he had seen nothing, and thought of nothing, beyond 

 what concerned his little trading speculation, his mind 

 being, evidently, what it had been before, with regard 

 to all higher subjects or general ideas, a blank. The 

 dull, mean, practical way of thinking of the Amazonian 

 Indians, and the absence of curiosity and speculative 

 thought which seems to be organic or confirmed in their 

 character, although they are improveable to a certain 

 extent, make them, like common-place people every- 

 where, most uninteresting companions. Caracara-i dis- 

 embarked at Tunantins with his cargo, which consisted 

 of a considerable number of packages of European wares. 

 The river scenery about the mouth of the Japura is 

 extremely grand, and was the subject of remark amongst 

 the passengers. Lieutenant Nunes gave it as his 

 opinion, that there was no diminution of width or 

 gi^andeur in the mighty stream up to this point, a dis- 

 tance of 1500 miles from the Atlantic; and yet we did 



