236 SANTAREM 



and vomit at 9 o'clock in the morning. Whilst the 

 people of the house went down to the town for the medi- 

 cines I ordered, I wrapped myself in a blanket and walked 

 sharply to and fro along the verandah, drinking at inter- 

 vals a cup of warm tea, made of a bitter herb in use 

 amongst the natives, called Pajemarioba, a leguminous 

 plant growing in all waste places. About an hour after- 

 wards, I took a good draught of a decoction of elder 

 blossoms as a sudorific, and soon after fell insensible into 

 my hammock. Mr. Philipps, an English resident with 

 whom I was then lodging, came home in the afternoon 

 and found me sound asleep and perspiring famously. I 

 did not wake till towards midnight, when I felt very 

 weak and aching in every bone of my body. I then took 

 as a purgative, a small dose of Epsom salts and manna. 

 In forty-eight hours the fever left me, and in eight days 

 from the first attack, I was able to get about my work. 

 Little else happened during my stay, which need be re- 

 corded here. I shipped off all my collections to England, 

 and received thence a fresh supply of funds. It took 

 me several weeks to prepare for my second and longest 

 journey into the interior. My plan now was first to make 

 Santarem headquarters for some time, and ascend from 

 that place the river Tapajos, as far as practicable. After- 

 wards I intended to revisit the marvellous country of the 

 Upper Amazons, and work well its natural history at 

 various stations I had fixed upon, from Ega to the foot 

 of the Andes. 



CHAPTER VIII 



SANTAREM 



I HAVE already given a short account of the size, situa- 

 tion, and general appearance of Santarem. Although 

 containing not more than 2500 inhabitants, it is the most 

 civilized and important settlement on the banks of the 

 main river from Peru to the Atlantic. The pretty little 

 town, or city as it is called, with its rows of tolerably 

 uniform, white-washed and red-tiled houses surrounded 

 by green gardens and woods, stands on gently sloping 

 ground on the eastern side of the Tapajos, close to its 

 point of junction with the Amazons. A small eminence 

 on which a fort has been erected, but which is now in a 



