78 



THE TOCANTINS 



is a town of some importance, pleasantly situated on the 

 somewhat high terra firma of the left bank of the To- 

 cantins. I will defer giving an account of the place till 

 the end of this narrative of our Tocantins voyage. We 

 lost here another of our men, who got drinking with some 

 old companions ashore, and were obliged to start on the 

 difficult journey up the river with two hands only, and 

 they in a very dissatisfied humour with the prospect. 



The river view from Cameta is magnificent. The town 

 is situated, as already mentioned, on a high bank, which 

 forms quite a considerable elevation for this flat country, 

 and the broad expanse of dark-green waters is studded 

 with low, palm-clad islands, the prospect down river, 

 however, being clear, or bounded only by a sea-like 

 horizon of water and sky. The shores are washed by 

 the breeze-tossed waters into little bays and creeks, 

 fringed with sandy beaches. The Tocantins has been 

 likened, by Prince Adalbert of Prussia, who crossed its 

 mouth in 1 846, to the Ganges. It is upwards of ten miles 

 in breadth at its mouth ; opposite Cameta it is five 

 miles broad. Mr. Burchell, the well-known English tra- 

 veller, descended the river from the mining provinces 

 of interior Brazil some years before our visit. Unfortun- 

 ately, the utility of this fine stream is impaired by the 

 numerous obstructions to its navigation in the shape of 

 cataracts and rapids, which commence, in ascending, at 

 about 120 miles above Cameta, as will be seen in the 

 sequel. 



Aug. 7,0th. — Arrived, in company with Senhor Laroque, 

 an intelHgent Portuguese merchant, at Vista Alegre, 

 fifteen miles above Cameta. This was the residence of 

 Senhor Antonio Ferreira Gomez, and was a fair sample 

 of a Brazilian planter's establishment in this part of the 

 country. The buildings covered a wide space, the 

 dwelling-house being separated from the place of business, 

 and as both were built on low, flooded ground, the com- 

 munication between the two was by means of a long 

 wooden bridge. From the office and visitors' apart- 

 ments a wooden pier extended into the river. The 

 whole was raised on piles above high-water mark. There 

 was a rude mill for grinding sugar-cane, worked by 

 bullocks, but cashaga, or rum, was the only article manu- 

 factured from the juice. Behind the buildings was a 

 small piece of ground cleared from the forest, and planted 



