306 



MXJRAS INDIANS. 



from six hundred to a thousand yards. The country is level ; the growth 

 of trees decreasing in size the lower we go. 



October 4. — At 9 a. m., thermometer, 88°; water, 81°. The small 

 streams which flow in from the eastern side are of a deep green color r 

 at 8 1° temperature. The banks are twelve feet high, and break down 

 perpendicularly. 



October 5. — This morning we met four " Muras" Indians fishing with 

 bows and arrows mid-channel, in small canoes, hewn from one log. 

 One canoe contained a woman and two children, under the thatched 

 roof of a little cabin. These people were all dressed in decent fashion. 

 The women wore a calico frock ! The men were larger than the Cari- 

 punas, and more reserved ; it was with difficulty we could get them to* 

 stop and sell us a paddle ; we wanted to replace a broken one. A knife 

 was paid for it, when they desired to push off from us. Probably they 

 were ashamed of being fishermen without any fish ; or had, at some 

 time, met with ill treatment. Sounded with twenty-three fathoms, no 

 bottom. A short distance further down, got bottom at thirty-six feet, 

 and lost both lead and line. There are a few snags in the channel, 

 among which our line was entangled. 



My bilious has now turned to ague and fever. The stench from the 

 muddy banks, and stagnant pools of water, has become exceedingly of- 

 fensive, and at night we have musquitoes, which we were not troubled 

 with among the fall^ The current varies in its speed from an half to 

 two miles per hour, showing an uneven surface. The ground over 

 which it flows is sloping in steps, or shelving, which gives the outward 

 motion of the water a jerking impetus. Islands, long and narrow, di- 

 vide the stream into two channels ; yet the depth of water, and width 

 of the passages, are sufficient for all commercial purposes. Pedro tells 

 me the " Toras" tribe of Indians inhabit the east side of the river ; we, 

 however, saw nothing of them. 



October 6. — We landed on the west bank, at " Eoscenia de Crato," 

 which is a frontier post of the Brazilians, on the Madeira. The entire 

 country between this settlement and the town of Exaltacion, in Bolivia, 

 is inhabited by savages. The Portuguese have ascended the Amazon 

 and Madeira thus far on their southwestward emigration. The Span- 

 iards, who crossed the Isthmus of Panama and the mountains of Bolivia, 

 are now on their northeast descent, to meet the Brazilians. The move- 

 ment, on both sides, is slow, but the white man is crowding close upon 

 each flank of the savage, who now occupies but a narrow strip of land 

 between the emigrants from Spain and Portugal — gradually working 

 through the wilderness towards each other. 



