254 The Andes and the Amazon. 



to be sailing through a deep gorge ; in some places it was 

 so narrow it was nearly overarched by the foliage. One 

 hundred and twenty-five miles from G-urupa is Breves, a 

 busy little town on the southwest corner of the great island 

 of Marajo. The inhabitants, mostly Portuguese, are en- 

 gaged in the rubber trade ; the Indians in the vicinity man- 

 ufacture fancy earthen-ware and painted cuyas or cala- 

 bashes. 



Soon after leaving Breves we entered the Para River, 

 which suddenly begins with the enormous width of eight 

 miles. It is, however, shallow, and contains numerous 

 shoals and islands. It is properly an estuary, immense vol- 

 umes of fresh water fiowing into it from the south. The 

 tides are felt through its entire length of one hundred and 

 sixty miles, but the water is only slightly brackish. It has 

 a dingy orange-brown color. A narrow blue line on our 

 left, miles away, was all that was visible, at times, of the 

 island of Marajo ; and as we passed the broad mouth of 

 the Tocantms, we were struck with the magnificent sea-like 

 expanse, for there was scarcely a point of mainland to be 

 seen. 



At 4 P.M., eighteen hours from Breves, we entered the 

 peaceful bay of Goajara, and anchored in front of the city 

 of Para. Beautiful was the view of the city from the laar- 

 bor in the rays of the declining sun. The towering sjjires 

 and cupolas, the palatial government buildings, the long 

 row of tall warehouses facing a fleet of schooners, ships, 

 and steamers, and pretty white villas in the suburbs, nest- 

 ling in luxuriant gardens, were to us, who had just come 

 down the Andes from mediaeval Quito, the ultima thule 

 of civilization. We seemed to have stepped at once from 

 the Amazon to IS^ew York oi* London. We might, indeed, 

 say ne plus ultra in one respect — we had crossed the con- 

 tinent, and Para was the terminus of our wanderings, the 



