2IO 



THE LOWER AMAZONS 



islands. On the 31st we passed the last of these, and 

 then beheld to the south a sea-like expanse of water, 

 where the Madeira, the greatest tributary of the Amazons, 

 after 2000 miles of course, blends its waters with those 

 of the king of rivers. I was hardly prepared for a junction 

 of waters on so vast a scale as this, now nearly 900 miles 

 from the sea. Whilst travelling week after week along 

 the somewhat monotonous stream, often hemmed in be- 

 tween islands, and becoming thoroughly familiar with it, 

 my sense of the magnitude of this vast water S3'-stem had 

 become gradually deadened ; but this noble sight re- 

 newed the first feelings of wonder. One is inclined, in 

 such places as these, to think the Paracuses do not ex 

 aggerate much when they call the Amazons the Medi- 

 terranean of South America. Beyond the mouth of the 

 Madeira, the Amazons sweeps down in a majestic reach, 

 to all appearance not a whit less in breadth before than 

 after this enormous addition to its waters. The Madeira 

 does not ebb and flow simultaneously with the Amazons ; 

 it rises and sinks about two months earlier, so that it 

 was now fuller than the main river. Its current therefore 

 poured forth freely from its mouth, carrying with it a long 

 line of floating trees and patches of grass, which had 

 been torn from its crumbly banks in the lower part of 

 its course. The current, however, did not reach the 

 middle of the main stream, but swept along nearer to the 

 southern shore. 



A few items of information which I gleaned relative to 

 this river may find a place here. The Madeira is navig- 

 able for about 480 miles from its mouth ; a series of 

 cataracts and rapids then commences, which extends with 

 some intervals of quiet water, about 160 miles, beyond 

 which is another long stretch of navigable stream. Canoes 

 sometimes descend from Villa Bella, in the interior pro- 

 vince of Matto Grosso, but not so frequently as formerly, 

 and I could hear of very few persons who had attempted 

 of late years to ascend the river to that point. It was 

 explored by the Portuguese in the early part of the 

 eighteenth century ; the chief and now the only town 

 on its banks, Borba, 150 miles from its mouth, being 

 founded in 1756. Up to the year 1853, the lower part 

 of the river, as far as about 100 miles beyond Borba, was 

 regularly visited by traders from Villa Nova, Serpa, and 

 Barra, to collect salsaparilla, copaiiba balsam, turtle-oil, 



