Canoe-paths. 



265 



below Teff^ magnificent reaches, with blank horizons, and 

 forming a barrier between diif erent species of animals ; its 

 system of back channels, joining the tributaries, and linking 

 a series of lagunes too many ever to be named ; its network 

 of navigable waters stretching over one third of the con- 

 tinent; its oceanic fauna — porpoises and manatis, gulls 

 and frigate-birds — remind the traveler of a great inland 

 sea, with endless ramifications, rather than a river. The 

 side-channels through the forest, called by the Indians iga- 

 rapes, or canoe-paths, are one of the characteristic features 



Igarape, or Canoe path 



