( 296 ) 



sought. This is substantiated by a fact of later date, which is as 

 follows: — A grandson of Bart°. Bueno, under the direction of an 

 ancient journal of this discovery, describing the route to it, descended 

 by the river Das Mortes, and entered some extensive plains on its 

 western bank, on which he travelled westward for some days, when 

 - he arrived at a plain covered with white Mangaba trees, which were 

 designated in the journal. From this place they had a sight of some 

 detached high mountains between the north and west, three of which 

 were of the figure specified, and indicated the situation of the Minas 

 dos Martirios. An unexpected attack of the Indians, in which the 

 chief and many others of the adventurers were killed, dispersed the 

 party, and frustrated the object at the moment when it appeared to 

 be already attained. 



The river abounds in various products : cocoa is in plenty ; there 

 are some spices, and various indigenous fruits. 



The River Tapajos 

 is the third which derives its copious sources, flowing through nume- 

 rous large branches, from the capitania of Matto Grosso. It runs 

 north between the Madeira and the Chingu for three hundred 

 leagues, flowing into the Amazons in lat. 2° 24' 50", and long. 55**, 

 which is the geographical position of the town of Santarem, situated 

 at its mouth one hundred and eighteen leagues from the city of Para, 

 and one hundred and sixty-two by the shortest navigation. The 

 river Tapajos rises in the plains of the Parexis, so called from an 

 Indian nation which inhabits them. These plains occupy a vast 

 space, not level, but formed by undulating heaps of sand and light 

 earth, resembling large waves. The spectator who is in the midst of 

 them ever sees before him a distant and extended mount ; he ad- 

 vances towards it by a gentle and long declivity, traverses the 

 plain, and advances by an ascent equally gentle until he gains im- 

 perceptibly the heights he saw ; another eminence then presents it- 

 self, and he proceeds with the same recurring circumstances. The 



9 



