278 



THE PURUS. 



tion of commercial Europe," much more should they occupy ours. A 

 glance at the map, and a reflection upon the course of the trade-winds, 

 will show conclusively that no ships can sail from the mouths of the 

 Amazon and Oronoco without passing close by our southern ports. 

 Here, then, is the natural depot for the rich and varied productions of 

 that vast region. Here, too, can be found all that the inhabitants of 

 that region require for their support and comfort ; and I have not the 

 slightest doubt, if Brazil should pursue a manly policy, and throw open 

 her great river to the trade of the world, that the United States would 

 reap far the largest share of the benefits to be derived from it. 



Whilst at Barra, I had conversations with a man who had made 

 several trading voyages up the "Purus." Ever since I had read the 

 pamphlet of Father Bobo de Revello, in which he attempts to show 

 that a navigable river, which he saw to the eastward of Cuzco, and 

 which he calls Madre de Bios, is identical with the Purus, this river 

 has had for me a great interest. I sent Mr. Gibbon to look for its 

 head-waters, and I determined, if possible, to ascend it from its mouth. 

 I am not aware of the reasons which induced Gibbon to abandon the 

 search for its sources, though I suspect they arose from the well-known 

 fierce and hostile character of the savages who dwell on its upper banks. 

 But, for myself, I am compelled to acknowledge that when I arrived at 

 Barra, near the mouth of the Purus, I was broken down, and felt con- 

 vinced that I could not stand the hardship and exposure necessary for a 

 thorough examination of this river. 



According to the statements of my informant — a very dark Brazilian, 

 named Seraphim — the Purus commences to rise in October, and to fall 

 in May. The best time to ascend it is when the river is quite full and 

 done rising — in May. The beaches are then covered, and slack water 

 is found close in to the proper shores of the river. 



Fifteen days, or about two hundred and fifty miles from the mouth, is 

 the mouth of a stream called Parana-pishuna, which, by a succession 

 of lakes and a portage of a day, connects the Purus with the Madeira* 

 The connexion is only passable when the river is full. About the mouth 

 of this stream, the sezoens, or intermittent fevers, are said to be very 

 fatal; but a few days of navigation takes the voyager above their locality 

 and out of their influence. There are several large lakes between the 

 mouth of the Purus and that of the Parana-pishuna. 



Thirty days from the mouth of the Purus is the mouth of a river 

 called the Mucuin, which also communicates with the Madeira, above 

 the rapids of that river. The banks of the Mucuin are low and level; 

 the river is shallow, and the rocks make the passage up and down tedious 



