Chap. III. 
LAKE OF QUARY. 
175 
great variety of forms, and is shown, as already observed 
in the Tapajos and other tributaries of the Lower 
Amazons. The mouth of the Quary, or the channel 
which connects the lake with the Solimoens, is only 
200 or 300 yards broad, and has but a very feeble 
current. It is about half a mile long, and opens on a 
broad sheet of water which is not of imposing magni- 
tude, as it is only a small portion of the lake, this 
having a rather sharp bend in its lower part, so that the 
whole extent is not visible at one view. There is a 
small village on the shores of the inner water, distant 
twelve hours' journey by boat from the entrance. We 
anchored within the mouth, and visited in the montaria 
two or three settlers, whose houses are built in pictu- 
resque situations on the banks of the lower lake not far 
inwards. Several small but navigable streams or inlets 
here fall into the Quary ; the land appeared to be of 
the highest fertility ; we crossed a neck of land on 
foot, from one inlet to another, passing through 
extensive groves of coffee, planted in a loose man- 
ner amongst the forest trees. One of the settlers 
was a Gibraltar Jew, established here many years, and 
thoroughly reconciled to the ways of life of the semi- 
civilised inhabitants. We found him barefoot, with 
trousers turned up to the knee, busily employed with a 
number of Indians — men, women, and children — shelling 
and drying cacao, which grows wild in immense pro- 
fusion in the neighbourhood. He seemed a lively and 
sensible fellow ; was a great admirer of the country, the 
climate, and the people, and had no desire to return to 
Europe. This was the only Jew I met with on the 
