THE 
NATUKALIST ON THE AMAZONS. 
CHAPTER I. 
♦ 
SANTAREM. 
Situation of Santarem — Manners and customs of the inhabitants — 
Trade — Climate — Leprosy — Historical sketch — Grassy campos and 
woods — Excursions to Mapiri, Mahica, and Irura, with sketches 
of their Natural History ; Palms, wild fruit-trees, Mining Wasps, 
Mason Wasps, Bees, Sloths, and Marmoset Monkeys — Niatural 
History of Termites or White Ants. 
I HAVE already given a short account of the size, 
situation, and general appearance of Santarem. Al- 
though containing not more than 2500 inhabitants, it 
is the most civilised 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 und red-tiled houses sur- 
rounded 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 dilapidated condition, overlooks the streets, 
and forms the eastern limit of the mouth of the 
VOL. II. B 
