252 



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 oa 

 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 1G. — 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. m., 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 of two on the lea. A month 

 up the Japur4 reaches the first impediment to navigation, where the 

 river breaks through hills called "As Serras das Arams/' or hills of the 



