364 The Andes and the Amazons. 



CHAPTER XXYII. 



Up the Amazons. — A Thousand Miles on the Great River. — Scenery. — 

 Santarem. — Manaos. — Vahie of Labor and Productions. — Duties and 

 Freights. 



A VOYAGE on the Amazons is excessively monotonous. 

 A vast volume of smooth, yellovp v^^ater, floating trees and 

 grass, low linear- shaped islets, two lines of the dark, even 

 forest in profile, and the winding river tapering in the dis- 

 tance to a slender thread, till it is lost in the mist of the 

 horizon — these are the general featui'es. No busy towns 

 are seen along the banks ; only here and there a palm hut 

 or Indian village, half buried in the wilderness. No mount- 

 ains break the horizon, only half a dozen table -topped 

 hills ; and while many bluffs of red and yellow clay are 

 visible, they are exceptional, the usual border being low 

 alluvial deposits, magnificently wooded, but half the year 

 covered with water. In spite of the glorious sunshine, 

 the scene is depressing from its sameness, vastness, and si- 

 lence. One never sees hei'e the riant beauty of an En- 

 glish park. We long for a clearing to break the straight 

 edge of the forest, or a little landscape gardening to modi- 

 fy the long streaks of yellow, green, and blue; The real 

 grandeur, however, of a great river like this ib derived from 

 reflecting upon its prospective commercial importance and 

 immense drainage. A lover of nature, moreover, can nev- 

 er tire of gazing at the picturesque grouping and variety 

 of trees with their mantles of creeping plants ; the wild, 

 unconquered race of vegetable giants ; the reckless energy 

 and selfish competition of all, big and little; the dense can- 



