258 



LAKE COARI. 



up by the Andes, and that the atmosphere in those parts is, from this 

 cause, compressed, and consequently heavier than it is farther from the 

 mountains, though over a less elevated portion of the earth. The 

 discovery of this fact has led me to place little reliance in the indica- 

 tions of the barometer for elevation at the eastern foot of the Andes. 

 It is reasonable, however, to suppose that this cause would no longer 

 operate at Egas, nearly one thousand miles below the mouth of the 

 Huallaga. 



I shall, therefore, give the height of Egas above the level of the sea, 

 from the temperature of boiling watejr, (208°. 2,) at two thousand and 

 fifty-two feet. Egas is about eighteen hundred miles from the sea ; this 

 would give the river a descent of a little more than a foot per mile, 

 which would about give it its current of two and a half miles per hour. 



December 29. — We drifted with the current, and a little paddling on 

 the part of the crew, until 10 p. m., when we made fast to a tree on the 

 right bank. 



December 30. — We started at 5 a. m. At 3 p. m., where the 

 river was quite a mile wide, I found but thirty feet in mid-channel; 

 and about two hundred yards on our right hand was a patch of grass, 

 with trees grounded on it. At 6 p. m., I judged from the appearance 

 of the shores on each side (bold, red cliffs) that we had all the width of 

 the river. It was only about a mile wide, and I thought it would be 

 very deep ; but I found only sixty feet. I could not try the current for 

 the violence of the wind. At seven we arrived at the mouth of the 

 Lake Coari, one hundred and fifteen miles from Egas, and made fast to a 

 schooner at anchor near the right bank. 



This schooner seemed to have no particular owner or captain, but to 

 be manned by a company of adventurers ; for all appeared on an equal- 

 ity. They were from Obidos, upwards of two months; and twenty-eight 

 days from Barra, which place we reached from here in five. They 

 were travelling at their leisure, but complained much of the strength of 

 the current and the want of strength of the easterly winds. I heard 

 the same complaints at Egas, but I have found the winds quite fresh 

 from the eastward, and the current, compared with that above, slight. 

 But there is a wonderful difference in the estimation of a current, or 

 the strength of a wind, when voyaging with and against them. 



The fault of the vessels navigating the Amazon is the breadth of 

 beam and want of sail. I am confident that a clipper-built vessel, 

 sloop, or rather ketch-rigged, with a large mainsail, topsail, topgallant- 

 sail, and studding sails — the last three fitted to set going up before the 

 wind, and to strike, masts and all, so as to beat down with the current 



