VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS 283 



CHAPTER IX 



VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS 



June, 1852. — I will now proceed to relate the incidents 

 of my principal excursion up the Tapajos, which I began 

 to prepare for, after residing about six months at San- 

 tarem. 



I was obliged, this time, to travel in a vessel of my own ; 

 partly because trading canoes large enough to accommo- 

 date a Naturalist very seldom pass between Santarem 

 and the thinly-peopled settlements on the river, and 

 partly because I wished to explore districts at my ease, 

 far out of the ordinary track of traders. I soon found 

 a suitable canoe ; a two-masted cuberta, of about six 

 tons' burthen, strongly built of Itaiiba or stone-wood, a 

 timber of which all the best vessels in the Amazons 

 country are constructed, and said to be more durable than 

 teak. This I hired of a merchant at the cheap rate of 

 500 reis, or about one shilling and twopence per day. I 

 fitted up the cabin, which, as usual in canoes of this class, 

 was a square structure with its floor above the water- 

 line, as my sleeping and working apartment. My chests, 

 filled with store-boxes and trays for specimens, were 

 arranged on each side, and above them were shelves and 

 pegs to hold my little stock of useful books, guns, and 

 game bags, boards and materials for skinning and pre- 

 serving animals, botanical press and papers, drying cages 

 for insects and birds, and so forth. A rush mat was 

 spread on the floor, and my roUed-up hammock, to be 

 used only when sleeping ashore, served for a pillow. The 

 arched covering over the hold in the fore part of the vessel 

 contained, besides a sleeping place for the crew, my heavy 

 chests, stock of salt provisions and groceries, and an assort- 

 ment of goods wherewith to pay my way amongst the half- 

 civilized or savage inhabitants of the interior. The goods 

 consisted of casha^a, powder and shot, a few pieces of 

 coarse checked-cotton cloth and prints, fish-hooks, axes, 

 large knives, harpoons, arrow-heads, looking-glasses, 

 beads, and other small wares. Jose and myself were busy 

 for many days arranging these matters. We had to salt 

 the meat and grind a supply of coffee ourselves. Cooking 

 utensils, crockery, water-jars, a set of useful carpenter's 

 tools, and many other things had to be provided. We 



