230 The Ai^jes and the Aiiazon. 



CHAPTEE XYI. 



Down the Amazon. — Steam on the Great River. — Loreto. — San Antonio. — 

 Tabatinga. — Brazilian Steamers. — Scenery on the Amazon. — Tocantius — 

 Fonte Boa. — Ega. — Rio Negro. — Manaos. 



We left Pebas for Tabatinga in the Peruvian steamer 

 " Moroua," Captain Eaygado. Going up to Jerusalem by 

 railroad, or ascending the Nile by a screw whisking the 

 sacred waters, is not so startling as the sight of a steamer 

 in the heart of South America. There is such a contrast 

 between the primeval wildness of the country and the peo- 

 ple and this triumph of civilized life ; and one looks for- 

 ward to the dazzling future of this great valley, when the 

 ships of all nations will crowd the network of rivers for 

 the gold and perfumes, the gems and woods of this west- 

 ern Ophir. The natives call the steamer the "devil's 

 boat," or " big canoe ;" but they manifest little curiosity. 

 Our Napo Indians were evidently afraid of it, and stood 

 afar off. The first steamers that broke the deep solitude 

 of the Maranon were the " Huallaga" and " Tirado," 

 brought out in 1853 by Dr. Wliittemore, for Peru. They 

 were built in New York, of Georgia pine, costing Peru 

 $75,000, and reflected no credit on the United States; 

 they lie rotting near Nauta. Peru has now two iron 

 steamers of London make — the " Morona" and " Pastassa" 

 — besides two smaller craft for exploring the tributaries. 

 These steamers are for government ser\ice, but three more 

 are building in England with passenger accommodations. 

 The " Morona" has a tonnage of five hundred, and an en- 

 gine of one hundred and fifty horse-power. The engineers 



