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55 



The Chamaya river is not navigable, on ac- 

 count of a great number of small cascades ; 

 I found* its fall five hundred and forty-two 

 metres from the ford of Pucara to its mouth, in 

 the river of Amazons, below the village of Cho- 

 ras, in the small distance of eighteen leagues. 

 The postman is called in the country the swim- 

 ming postman ( el coreo que nada) . The 31st 

 plate represents him as we saw him in the village 

 of Chamaya, at the moment he entered the 

 water. In order to fatigue himself less in de- 

 scending the river, he supports himself on a log 

 of bombax or ochroma (palo de valza), trees of 

 very light wood. When a ledge of rocks inter- 

 sects the bed of the river, he lands above the 

 cascade, crosses the forest, and reenters the 

 water when he sees no farther danger. He has 

 no need of taking provision with him, for he 

 finds a welcome in a great number of huts, sur- 

 rounded with plaintain trees, and situate along 

 the banks of the. river between las Huertas de 

 Pucara, Cavico, Sonanga, and Tomependa, 

 Sometimes, to render the journey more agree- 

 able, he is accompanied by another Indian. 

 The rivers, which mingle their waters with those 

 of the Marannon above Pongo de Mayasi, are 

 happily not infested with crocodiles ; the savage 

 hordes, therefore, almost all travel like the Pe- 



* See my Eecueil d'Qbserv, Astron. vol. 1, p. 314. 



