268 The Andes and the Amazon. 



of Pasto ; its mouth, as given by Herndon, is half a mile 

 broad, and its current two and three fourths miles an hour. 



Farther west are the ISTapo and Pastassa, starting from 

 the volcanoes of Quito. The former is nearly seven hun- 

 dred miles long, navigable ^yg hundred. The latter is an 

 unnavigable torrent. One of its branches, the Topo, is one 

 continued rapid ; " of those who have fallen into it, only 

 one has come out alive." Another, the Patate, rises near 

 Iliniza, runs through the plain to a little south of Cotopaxi, 

 receives all streams flowing from the eastern side of the 

 western Cordillera from Iliniza to Chimborazo, and unites 

 near Tunguragua with the Chambo, wdiich rises near San- 

 gai. Castelnau and Bates saw pumice floating on the Am- 

 azon ; it was probably brought from Cotopaxi by the Pas- 

 tassa. 



Crossing the Maranon, and going eastward, we first pass 

 the Huallaga, a rapid* river of the size of the Cumberland, 

 coming down the Peruvian Andes from an altitude of 

 eight thousand six hundred feet, and entering the great 

 river nearly opposite the Pastassa. Its mouth is a mile 

 wdde, and for a hundred miles up its average depth is 

 three fathoms. In July, August, and September the 

 steamers are not able to ascend to Yurimaguas. Canoe 

 navigation begins at Tinga Maria, three hundred miles from 

 Lima. The fertile plain through wdiich the river flows is 

 very attractive to an agriculturist. Cotton is gathered six 

 months after sowing, and rice in five months. At Tara- 

 poto a large amount of cotton -cloth is woven for export. 



The next great tributary from the south is the Ucayali. 

 This magnificent stream originates near ancient Cuzco, 

 and has a fall of .87 of a foot per mile, and a length near- 

 ly equal to that of the IS^egro. For two hundred and fifty 

 miles above its mouth it averages half a mile in width, and 

 has a current of three miles an hour. At Sarayacu it is 



