RIVER BREVES 



149 



able ; the water, however, is very shallow over the 

 greater portion of the expanse. I noticed, both on this 

 and on the three subsequent occasions of passing this 

 place in ascending and descending the river, that the 

 flow of the tide from the east along the estuary, as well 

 as up the Breves, was very strong. This seems sufficient 

 to prove that no considerable volume of water passes by 

 this medium from the Amazons to the Para, and that the 

 opinion of these geographers is an incorrect one, who 

 believe the Pafa to be one of the mouths of the great 

 river. There is, however, another channel connecting 

 the two rivers, which enters the Para six miles to the 

 south of the Breves. The lower part of its course for 

 eighteen miles is formed by the Uanapu, a large and 

 independent river flowing from the south. The tidal 

 flow is said by the natives to produce little or no current 

 up this river ; a fact which seems to afford a little support 

 to the view just stated. 



We passed the village of Breves at 3 p.m. on the 26th. 

 It consists of about forty houses, most of which are oc- 

 cupied by Portuguese shopkeepers. A few Indian 

 families reside here, who occupy themselves with the 

 manufacture of ornamental pottery and painted cuyas, 

 which they sell to traders or passing travellers. The 

 cuyas — drinking-cups made from gourds — are some- 

 times very tastefully painted. The rich black ground- 

 colour is produced by a dye made from the bark of a 

 tree called Comateii, the gummy nature of which imparts 

 a fine polish. The yellow tints are made with the Taba- 

 tinga clay ; the red with the seeds of the Urucu, or 

 anatto plant ; and the blue with indigo, which is planted 

 round the huts. The art is indigenous with the Amazonian 

 Indians, but it is only the settled agricultural tribes be- 

 longing to the Tupi stock who practise it. 



Sept. 2yth-^oth. — After passing Breves we continued 

 our way slowly along a channel, or series of channels, of 

 variable width. On the morning of the 27th we had a 

 fair wind, the breadth of the stream varying from about 

 150 to 400 yards. The forest was not remarkable in 

 appearance ; the banks were muddy, and in low marshy 

 places groups of Caladiums fringed the edge of the water. 

 About mid-day we passed, on the western side, the mouth 

 of the Aturiazal, through which, on account of its swifter 

 current, vessels pass in descending from the Amazons to 



