GEOLOGY OF THE RIO NEGRO. IR^ 



bad been almost without food, presented us with a large 

 turtle, which our Indians carried to the boat, rejoicing in 

 the prospect of a sumptuous meal. Hospitality is one of 

 the prominent virtues of the people of this country. They 

 often have but little they can give, but that is freely shared 

 Avith the stranger who chances among them. 



Furnishing ourselves with turtles and other supplies 

 sufficient for five or six days, the time supposed necessary 

 in which to reach Manaos, we left Barcellos. When out 

 of sight of the town, our Indians undressed themselves, 

 and, rolling up their garments, tucked them carefully away, 

 for use upon our arrival at the next village. We were now 

 probably upon the widest portion of the Rio Negro. The 

 breadth of the river in its broadest parts has been esti- 

 mated by some as great as ten leagues. Wallace, in speak- 

 ing of the river, says he is convinced that in some places 

 it is between twenty and thirty miles wide, and for a con- 

 siderable part of its course from Manaos to San Isabel, 

 fifteen to twenty. By persons Avell acquainted with the 

 Rio Negro, we were informed that at Barcellos, where it 

 probably spreads out to its greatest breadth, the opposite 

 shores are about four leagues apart. Our own experiences 

 in crossing the river confirmed us in the correctness of 

 this estimate. In the lower part of its course, the fall is 

 so slight that the current, as you approach the mouth, is 

 scarcely perceptible, and often the voyager is in doubt 

 whether he is ascending or descending the river. In the 

 season of greatest floods many of its islands are beneath 

 its surface, presenting the appearance of forest growing out 

 of the water, while its low banks are, in parts, overflowed, 

 and wide strips of the country upon either side inundated. 



On the night of the 28th, our float was interrupted sev- 

 eral hours by a strong wind which blew up the river. 

 Breezes on the Rio Negro are but little felt above Barcel- 

 los, but below that point they are quite constant up the 



