The Tapajos and Madeika, 



341 



of the Tapajos, the Juiniena 

 and Arinos, rise very near 

 the head of this Argentine 

 river, in the plateau of Mat- 

 to-Grosso. From Itaitiiba 

 down, the Tapajos spreads 

 out into a shallow expanse 

 of quiet water, from four to 

 seven miles wide. It takes 

 nearly four months to go 

 from Santarem to the ex- 

 treme of canoe-navigation, 

 Porto Yelho, a distance of 

 about 1200 miles. From 

 Itaitiiba to Mauhes is eight 

 days' travel. 



Just beyond Obidos en- 

 ters the Trombetas, navi- 

 gable one hundred miles, 

 and with heavily timbered 

 banks. A community of 

 fugitive slaves is said to 

 live up this river. 



The great Madeira* en- 

 ters the Amazons almost at 

 right angles, and its flood 

 of waters changes the course 

 of the main stream from a 



* The old Indian name was Cai- 

 ary, which the Portuguese changed 

 to express the characteristic feature 

 of this river, the enormous quantity 

 of drift-wood left on the rocks, par- 

 ticularly just below the mouth of the 

 Beni. 





-^ 0"S 



