OBSTRUCTIONS TO NAVIGATION. 



289 



falls beyond which he did not go, but returned and continued his course 

 down the Madeira to the foot of its falls, when he retraced his steps to 

 Mojos by the way he came. We have accounts of many falls on the 

 Beni river from the province of Yungas down to the town of Reyes, 

 between which falls the river is navigated by the Indians in wooden 

 balsas. The Beni has never been explored throughout its length, but 

 with the falls above Reyes and those seen by Senor Palacios near its 

 mouth, which appear to have prevented him from ascending this stream 

 on his return, we have reason for saying the Beni is not navigable 

 for steamboats. The outlet for the productions of the rich province of 

 Yungas is to be sought through the country from the gold washings of 

 Tipuani to the most convenient point on the Mamore between Trinidad 

 and Exaltacion. The distance from the latter place to Reyes, on the 

 Beni, is not very great. From the general conformation of the bottom 

 of the Madeira Plate, we are of the impression that the road would have 

 to be cut high up towards the base of the Andes, so as to clear the 

 annual floods. The Mamore, therefore, is the only outlet for the eastern 

 part of the department of La Paz, as well as a great part of the depart- 

 ment of Santa Cruz. The ridge of hills and mountains at the base of 

 which the Beni flows, stretching from the falls of the Madeira to the 

 sources of the river Madre-de-Dios, or Purus, separates the Madeira 

 Plate from the Amazon basin, and divides the department of the Beni 

 from the Gran Paititi district in Brazil, which extends north to the 

 Amazon river. Paititi, it may be remembered, was the name given by 

 Padre Revello to our favorite dog, lost on the road from Cuzco to Lake 

 Titicaca. 



We are about to pass out of the Madeira Plate, having arrived at the 

 the northeast corner of the territory of Bolivia. The lands about the 

 mouths of the Beni and Mamore are .now inhabited by wild Indians ; 

 some parts of them are free from inundation. Cacao grows wild in the 

 forests. The head of the Madeira contains a number of islands. Here 

 we find the outlet of streams flowing from the Andes and from the 

 Brazils collected together in one large river. Water from hot springs 

 and cold springs, silvered and golden streams joining with the clear 

 diamond brooks, mingled at the temperature of 82° Fahrenheit. 



The Madeira river flows through the empire of Brazil, and keeps the 

 northerly course pointed out for it by the Mamore. The first falls we 

 met were close to the junction of the Mamore and Beni, called " Madeira,"' 

 three-quarters of a mile long. It is difficult to judge the difference of 

 level between the upper and lower surfaces of the river. As the falls 

 are shelving, and extend a great distance in length, the distance we run 

 19 



