The Sail through the Gkeat Rivee. 365 



opy of green, supported by crowded columns, branchless 

 for tif ty or eighty feet ; the parasites aud undergrowth 

 struggling for life aud light; the broad.-leaved bananas 

 and gigantic grasses; the colossal nut aud pod bearing 

 trees ; and, above all, the hundreds of species of palms, 

 each vying with the other in beauty aud grace. Through 

 such a densely-packed forest flows the Amazons with all 

 the grandeur of au oceau current. 



lu giving my voyage up the Great River to its source 

 among the Andes, I shall touch only at representative 

 points, and confine myself mainly to such commercial and 

 industrial facts as will be likely to interest the practical 

 man. From Para to Santarem, the first town of impor- 

 tance, is 543 miles. The passage can be made by steamer 

 once a week, sometimes oftener ; fare, $25 ; time, four 

 days. Twenty hours after leaving the capital, the steam- 

 er stops at the little village of Breves, on the south-west 

 corner of the great island of Marajo. Rubber is the chief 

 article of export. Here begins a labyrinth of narrow chan- 

 nels, connecting the Amazons with the Para; and as the 

 forest is unusually luxuriant, the sail through to the Great 

 River is the most memorable part of the whole voyage. 

 This first introduction to the Amazonian forest is worth a 

 voyage to Para. Here the palms are seen in all their glo- 

 ry ; the slender assai and j upati with their long, plume- 

 like leaves, the miriti with enormous fan-like leaves, and 

 the bussu with stiff, entire leaves, some thirty feet long. 

 The banks are frequently bordered with heart-shaped 

 arums and waving arrow-grass, or with plantations of the 

 cacao-tree and mandioca shrub. 



The first view of the Amazons is disappointing, as it is 

 nearly filled up with islands; but where the Xingii comes 

 in, it shows its greatness, being ten miles wide. Near the 

 mouth of this tributary is situated the pretty village of 



