Santaeem. 251 



prisoners (short, athletic men), the "Tapajos" sailed for 

 Santarem. The river scenery below Obidos loses its wild 

 and solitary character, and is relieved with scattered hab- 

 itations, factories, and cacao plantations. We arrived at 

 Santarem in seven hours from Obidos, a distance of fifty 

 miles. This city, the largest on the Amazon save Para, 

 stands on a pretty slope at the mouth of the Rio Tapajos, 

 and five hundred miles from the sea.* It mainly consists 

 of tliree long rows of whitewashed, tiled houses, girt with 

 green gardens. The citizens, made up of Brazilians, Por- 

 tuguese, mulattoes, and blacks, number about two thousand 

 five hundred. The surrounding country, which is an un- 

 dulating campo,with patches of wood, is sparsely inhabited 

 by Tapajocos. Cattle estates and cacao plantations are the 

 great investments, but the soil is poor. Considerable sar- 

 saparilla of superior quality, rubber, copaiba, Brazil nuts, 

 and farina come down the Tapajos. The climate is de- 

 lightful, the trade-winds tempering the heat and driving 

 away all insect pests. Leprosy is somewhat common among 

 the poorer class. At Santarem is one of the largest colonies 

 which migrated from the disaffected Gulf States for Brazil. 

 One hundred and sixty Southerners pitched their tents here. 

 Many of them, however, were soon disgusted with the coun- 

 try, and, if we are to believe reports, the country was dis- 

 gusted with them. On the 1st of January, 1868, only sev- 

 enty-five remained. The colony does not fairly represent 

 the United States, being made up in great part of the 

 " roughs" of Mobile. A few are contented and are doing 

 well. Amazonia will be indebted to them for some valua- 

 ble ideas. Bates says : " Butter-making is unknown in this 

 country ; the milk, I was told, was too poor." But these 

 Anglo-Saxon immigrants have no difficulty in making but- 



* Herndon makes Santarem 460 miles from the Negro, and 650 from the 

 sea. Bates calls it 400 miles from the Atlantic, and nearly 50 from Obidos. 



