248 



RIVER JAPURA. 



lingness to work afterwards. The Ticunas that I had with me, however, 

 were far the laziest and most worthless people that I had hitherto had 

 anything to do with. I believe that this is not characteristic of the 

 tribe, for they seemed well enough under Father Flores at Caballo-cocha, 

 and they have generally rather a good reputation among the whites on 

 the river. I imagine that the proximity of the garrison at Tabatinga 

 has not a good effect upon their manners and morals ; but, however 

 that may be, these men were too lazy to help to cook the provisions ; 

 and when we stopped to breakfast they generally seated themselves on 

 the thwarts of the boat, or on the sand of the beach, whilst the Saraya- 

 quinos fetched the wood and made the fire. They were ready enough 

 to eat when the breakfast was cooked. I couldn't stand this, when I 

 observed that it was a customary thing, and accordingly caused the 

 provisions issued to be divided between the two parties, and told my 

 Ticuna friends, "No cook, no eat." It would take many years of saga- 

 cious treatment on the part of their rulers to civilize this people, if it be 

 possible to do so at all. 



December 15. — We travelled till 11 p. m., for want of a beach to 

 camp on ; the men disliking to sleep in the woods on account of snakes. 



December 16. — Finding that I was on the southern bank, and having 

 an opening between two islands abreast of me, I struck off to the east- 

 ward for the mouth of the Japura. We ran through island passages 

 till we reached it at 3 p. in., distant one hundred and five miles from 

 the mouth of the Jurua. 



The Japura has two mouths within a few hundred yards of each other. 

 The one to the westward is the largest, being about one hundred yards 

 wide. It is a pretty stream of clear, yellow water, with bold and abrupt, 

 though not high banks, (ten or fifteen feet.) I pulled up about half a 

 mile, and in mid-stream found fifty-seven feet of water, which shoaled to 

 the mouth to forty-two; the bottom soft mud to the touch ; but the arming 

 of the lead brought up small quantities of black and white sand. There 

 was very little current — only three-fourths of a mile per hour. I thought 

 it might be affected by the rush of its greater neighbor, and that the 

 water so near the mouth was "back water" from the Amazon ; but the 

 current was quite as great close to the mouth as it was half a mile up. 

 The temperature of the water, to my surprise, was 85° ; that of the 

 Amazon, a quarter of an hour afterwards, was 81°. I had heard that, on 

 account of the gentleness of the current of the Japura, a voyage of a 

 month up this river was equal in distance to two on the lea. A month 

 up the Japura reaches the first impediment to navigation, where the 

 river breaks through hills called "As Serras das Araras," or hills of the 



