VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. 
Chap. II. 
were then at their highest point, and my canoe had 
been anchored close to the back door of our house. The 
morning was cool and a brisk wind blew, with which 
we sped rapidly past the white-washed houses and 
thatched Indian huts of the suburbs. The charming 
little bay of Mapiri was soon left behind ; we then 
doubled Point Maria Josepha, a headland formed of 
high cliffs of Tabatinga clay, capped with forest. This 
forms the limit of the river view from Santarem, and 
here we had our last glimpse, at a distance of seven or 
eight miles, of the city, a bright line of tiny white build- 
ings resting on the dark water. A stretch of wild rocky 
uninhabited coast was before us, and we were fairly 
within the Tapajos. 
Some of my readers may be curious to know how I 
managed money affairs during these excursions in the 
interior of the South American continent : it can be 
explained in a few words. In the first place, I had an 
agent in London to whom I consigned my collections. 
During the greater part of the time I drew on him for 
what sums I wanted, and an English firm at Para (the 
only one in the country which traded regularly and 
directly with England) cashed the drafts. I found no 
difficulty in the interior of the country, for almost any 
of the larger Portuguese or Brazilian traders, of whom 
there are one or two in every village of 600 or 700 
inhabitants, would honour my draft on the English 
house ; they having each a correspondent at Para who 
deals with the foreign merchants. Sometimes a Portu- 
guese trader would hint at discount, or wish me to take 
part of the amount in goods, but the Brazilians were 
