218 



MOUTH OF CHIMORE RIVER. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Pass the mouth of Chimore river — White cranes — Rio Mamore— Woodbridge's 

 Atlas — Night watch — " Masi" guard- house — Pampas — Ant-houses — Cattle — 

 Eeligion — Sugar-cane — Fishing party of Mojos Indians — River Ybare — Pampas 

 of Mojos — Pasture lands — City of Trinidad — Prefect — Housed in Mojos — Don 

 Antonio de Barras Cordoza — Population of the Beni — Cotton manufactures — 

 Productions — Trade — Don Antonio's Amazonian boats — Jesuits — Languages — 

 Natural intelligence of the aborigines — Paintings — Cargoes of foreign goods 

 in the plaza. 



We ran down the river by the light of the moon ; sounding in from 

 three and a half fathoms to four ; half the crew pulled at a time, until 

 we passed the mouth of the Chimore river, which empties into the 

 Chapare from the south. We were obliged to come to as the morning 

 became cloudy and dark, which made it unsafe for us to pass through 

 the drift wood flowing from the Chimore. 



Canoes ascend the Chimore in the rainy season to the town. Near 

 its mouth, the river resembles the Chapare in width, color of water, and 

 swiftness of current ; but, from what I can learn, the Chapare is the 

 largest stream, and deeper at the head. 



The rains have been to the southeast ; therefore we find more drift- 

 wood coming out of the Chimore than we have in the Chapare. 



The country at their junction is all low, uninhabited, and unfinished. 

 The current of the Chapare continues the same below the junction. 

 Unless we had seen the Chimore enter, we should probably not have 

 known that the quantity of water was nearly double, the width of the 

 river and soundings being the same. 



Lightning flashes to the south during the night ; and, as the clouds 

 thicken, thunder roars among the distant mountains. 



May 30, 1852. — We have a strong wind from the east this morning, 

 with light rain and thunder to the south. The drops are small com- 

 pared with those which beat against the Andes in the boisterous 

 region. 



Files of white cranes of equal size stand in good order on the mud- 

 beach, with a tall one at each end of the file, of from fifteen to twenty 

 individuals, like sergeants. As we approach, a sergeant steps proudly 

 out, gives orders by a "quack/' and the party either faces back over 

 the mud-beach into a hollow, or flies down the river. The manners 



