CHAPTER I 



PARA 



I EMBARKED at Liverpool, with Mr. Wallace, in a small 

 trading vessel, on the 26th of April, 1848 ; and, after a 

 swift passage from the Irish Channel to the equator, ar- 

 rived, on the 26th of May, off Salinas. This is the pilot- 

 station for vessels bound to Para, the only port of entry 

 to the vast region watered by the Amazons. It is a small 

 village, formerly a missionary settlement of the Jesuits, 

 situated a few miles to the eastward of the Para river. 

 Here the ship anchored in the open sea, at a distance of 

 six miles from the shore, the shallowness of the water far 

 out around the mouth of the great river not permitting 

 in safety a nearer approach ; and the signal was hoisted 

 for a pilot. It was with deep interest that my com- 

 panion and myself, both now about to see and examine 

 the beauties of a tropical country for the first time, gazed 

 on the land, where I, at least, eventually spent eleven of 

 the best years of my life. To the eastward the country 

 was not remarkable in appearance, being slightly un- 

 dulating, with bare sand-hills and scattered trees ; but 

 to the westward, stretching towards the mouth of the 

 river, we could see through the captain's glass a long 

 line of forest, rising apparently out of the water ; a 

 densely-packed mass of tall trees, broken into groups, 

 and finally into single trees, as it dwindled away in the 

 distance. This was the frontier, in this direction, of the 

 great primaeval forest characteristic of this region, which 

 contains so many wonders in its recesses, and clothes 

 the whole surface of the country for two thousand miles 

 from this point to the foot of the Andes. 



On the following day and night we sailed, with a light 

 wind, partly aided by the tide, up the Para river. To- 

 wards evening we passed Vigia and Colares, two fishing 

 villages, and saw many native canoes, which seemed like 

 toys beneath the lofty walls of dark forest. The air was 

 excessively close, the sky overcast, and sheet lightning 

 played almost incessantly around the horizon, an ap- 

 propriate greeting on the threshold of a country lying 

 close under the equator ! The evening was calm, this 

 being the season when the winds are not strong, so we 

 glided along in a noiseless manner, which contrasted 



A 



