YURIMAGUAS. 



171 



We saw turtle-tracks in the sand to-day for the first time ; camped on 

 the beach. 



August 27. — Saw flesh-colored porpoises; also a small seal, which 

 looked like a fur-seal ; got turtle-eggs. The turtles crawl out upon the 

 beach during the night, deposit their eggs, and retreat before dawn, 

 leaving, however, broad tracks in the sand, by which their deposits are 

 discovered. We must have got upwards of a thousand ; I counted one 

 hundred and fifty taken from one hole. Since we have passed the 

 Pongo we have encountered no stones ; the beaches are all of sand. 



August 28. — Arrived at Yurimaguas. This little village, situated 

 upon a hill immediately upon the banks of the river, and numbering two 

 hundred and fifty inhabitants, now appears almost entirely deserted. 

 We could procure neither peons nor canoes. The men were away in the 

 forest collecting wax for a fiesta, ordered by the curate ; and the sub- 

 prefect of the province, who had been gold-hunting up the Santiago, had 

 taken all the canoes up the Cachiyacu with him on his return to Moyo- 

 bamba. I was told that his expedition for gold up the Santiago, which 

 consisted of a force of eighty armed men, had been a failure ; that they 

 got no gold, and had lost five of their company by the attacks of the 

 Huambisas and other savages of the Santiago. This may not be true. 

 The sub-prefect (I was told) said that the expedition had accomplished 

 its purpose, which was simply to open friendly communications with the 

 savages, with a view to further operations. 



With great difficulty, and by paying double, I persuaded our Chasu- 

 tinos to take us on to Sta. Cruz, where I was assured I could be ac- 

 commodated both with boats and men. We could buy nothing at 

 Yurimaguas but a few bunches of plantains and some salt fish out of a 

 passing boat. 



An island divides the river three-fourths of a mile above Yurimaguas, 

 The southern branch is the channel ; the northern one is closed at its 

 lower end by a sand-bank opposite the village. 



We left Yurimaguas after breakfasting. Half a mile below the village 

 is the mouth of the Cachiyacu. This river is the general route between 

 Moyobamba and the ports of the Amazon. It is navigable for large 

 canoes, when full, (which is from January to June,) as far as Balza 

 Puerto, a considerable village, five days' journey from Moyobamba. It 

 takes nine days for a loaded canoe to ascend as far as Balza Puerto. 

 Lieutenant Maw descended this river in 1827. Communication is also 

 had by the Cachiyacu with many villages situated in the fine country be- 

 tween the Maraiion and Huallaga rivers : so that Yurimaguas, situated at 

 the mouth of this river, and having open communication with the Atlantic, 



