To the Amazon and Home 343 



wonderful Amazon itself, the mighty river which con- 

 tains one tenth of all the running water of the globe. It 

 was miles across, where we entered it; and indeed we 

 could not tell whether the farther bank, which we saw, 

 was that of the mainland or an island. We went up it 

 until about midnight, then steamed up the Rio Negro for 

 a short distance, and at one in the morning of April 30 

 reached Manaos. 



Manaos is a remarkable city. It is only three degrees 

 south of the equator. Sixty years ago it was a nameless 

 little collection of hovels, tenanted by a few Indians and 

 a few of the poorest class of Brazilian peasants. Now it 

 is a big, handsome modern city, with opera-house, tram- 

 ways, good hotels, fine squares and public buildings, and 

 attractive private houses. The brilliant coloring and odd 

 architecture give the place a very foreign and attractive 

 flavor in northern eyes. Its rapid growth to prosperity 

 was due to the rubber-trade. This is now far less remu- 

 nerative than formerly. It will undoubtedly in some de- 

 gree recover; and in any event the development of the 

 immensely rich and fertile Amazonian valley is sure to 

 go on, and it will be immensely quickened when closer 

 connections are made with the Brazilian highland country 

 lying south of it. 



Here we found Miller, and glad indeed we were to see 

 him. He had made good collections of mammals and 

 birds on the Gy-Parana, the Madeira, and in the neigh- 

 borhood of Manaos ; his entire collection of mammals was 

 really noteworthy. Among them was the only sloth any 

 of us had seen on the trip. The most interesting of the 

 birds he had seen was the hoatzin. This is a most curious 



