Chap. I. 
CLIMATE. 
13 
the Seine, but from the idea, that all the world was a 
great river, and that the different places he had heard 
of must lie on one shore or the other. The fact of the 
Amazons being a limited stream, having its origin in 
narrow rivulets, its beginning and its ending, has never 
entered the heads of most of the people who have 
passed their whole lives on its banks. 
Santarem is a pleasant place to live in, irrespective of 
its society. There are no insect pests, mosquito, pium, 
sand-fly, or motuca. The climate is glorious ; during six 
months of the year, from August to February, very little 
rain falls, and the sky is cloudless for weeks together, 
the fresh breezes from the sea, nearly 400 miles distant, 
moderating the great heat of the sun. The wind is 
sometimes so strong for days together, that it is diffi- 
cult to make way against it in walking along the 
streets, and it enters the open windows and doors of 
houses, scattering loose clothing and papers in all direc- 
tions. The place is considered healthy ; but at the 
changes of season, severe colds and ophthalmia are 
prevalent. I found three Englishmen living here, who 
had resided many years in the town or its neighbour- 
hood, and who still retained their florid complexions ; 
the plump and fresh appearance of many of the middle- 
aged Santarem ladies, also bore testimony to the health- 
fulness of the climate. The streets are always clean 
and dry, even in the height of the wet season ; good 
order is always kept, and the place pretty well supplied 
with provisions. None but those who have suff'ered 
from the difficulty of obtaining the necessaries of life at 
any price in most of the interior settlements of South 
