282 



GUAJARA-ASSU FALLS. 



of a mile in length. "We followed the channel down on the Bolivia 

 side to its lower end at a rapid rate ; when we came to the foot of the 

 first fall we looked back up-hill, to see the number of streams rushing 

 down, each one contributing its mite to the roaring noise that was con- 

 stantly kept up. We saw no fish, but last night met large flocks of 

 cormorants, flying in a line stretching across the river, close to the sur- 

 face of the water ; this morning they came down again. These birds 

 spend the night over the warm bed of the Itenez, and return here in 

 the day to feed. 



No sooner had we cleared these falls than we found ourselves at 

 the head of another rapid, more steep, called " Guajara-assu." Pedro 

 took us to the upper end of a path in the woods, on the Brazil shore, 

 where Don Antonio had transported his cargo overland, three hundred 

 and fifty paces, to the foot of the falls. His large boats were hauled 

 through the water by means of strong rcpes rove through large blocks. 



Our cargo was landed, and while Richards, with one man, was en- 

 gaged carrying the baggage down, I took the boat over on the Bolivian 

 side, and we hauled her three hundred yards over the rocks and through 

 the small channels, down an inclined shelf of about twelve feet fall. 

 The main channel is in the middle of the river, with waves rolled up 

 five feet high by the swiftness of the current, through which a steam- 

 boat could pass neither up nor down. 



The river cuts its way through an immense mass of rock, stretching 

 across the country ea^ and west like a great bar of iron. The navigation 

 of the river Mamore is completely obstructed here ; the river's gate is 

 closed, and we see no way to transport the productions of Bolivia to- 

 wards the Amazon, except by a road through the Brazilian territory. 

 On the east side of the river, hills are in sight, and among them a road 

 may be found where a cargo might pass free from inundations. 



The navigable distance by the rivers Chapare and Mamore, from near 

 the base of the Andes, at Vinchuta, to Guajara-merim falls, is about 

 five hundred miles. We anxiously pulled across towards the baggage, 

 as the division of a party in this wild region is attended with great risk. 

 This day's work gave us some little experience in the new mode of nav- 

 igation. The sun is powerfully hot, but the negroes strip themselves, 

 and ease the little boat gently down in the torrent between rough rocks. 

 Don Antonio's advice was of the greatest importance to us in the choice 

 of a boat and men. The long canoes of Bolivia would have been bro- 

 ken to pieces in this first day's travel among the rapids. There are no 

 paths through the wilderness by which we could travel in case of an 

 accident, and rafts we had seen enough of at the head of the Madre-de- 



