The City of Manaos. 371 



gro. The soil, a stiff loam, is fertile in the tropical sense ; 

 and the climate is Neapolitan, nature having left little to 

 be desired in this respect. We did not see the mercury 

 rise above 93° at midday ; and the nights are invariably 

 cool, with bnt few mosquitoes. The country around is 

 quite romantic for the valley, being undulating and cov- 

 ered with picturesque vegetation ; while the famous " Cas- 

 cade " and the igarapes, or canoe-paths, winding through 

 the forest, are among the most charming features in the 

 Amazonian landscape. 



The city, for a long time stagnant, is now rapidly im- 

 proving. As we saw it in 1867, it was meanly built, with- 

 out a show of enterprise, without a hotel, and not 3000 in- 

 habitants. It now numbers 5000 souls, with 17,000 in the 

 district, a mixture of Brazilians, Portuguese, Negroes, In- 

 dians, Italians, Jews, Germans, and English ; it has a fine 

 cathedral (the last specimen of stone-work consecrated to 

 church architecture we are to see till we reach Chachapo- 

 yas), to cost, when completed, $200,000, and a president's 

 palace in process of construction ; two hotels and a mar- 

 ket, besides many elegant private houses. The city is 

 lighted with 500 kerosene-lamps, has day and night schools, 

 with an Episcopal Seminario, three newspapers, one dai- 

 ly; and one two-horse carriage, which is advertised " To let, 

 rain or shine." But there is neither bank nor bookstore, 

 and the streets are unleveled and unpaved. For scaven- 

 gers, there are flocks of black vultures, or urubus, "under- 

 takers in feathers," as a French writer calls them. 



The society of Manaos has greatly changed during the 

 last ten years, and business verily looks lively when the 

 steamers are loading or unloading. There are diverse 

 kinds of people here, officials (forming the upper crust), 

 shop-keepers, itinerant traders, soldiers, boatmen, and idlers. 

 There is a stiff formality on state occasions, yet a won- 



