FROM mo DE JANEIRO TO THE lUPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 
•11 
Avc Avere cletaiiKxl iiiuob longer than avc liad anticipated; for, notwdth- 
stauding the efforts of the President, Ave Avere nnahle to get, cither there 
or in the Aneiuity, the required number of roAvers for our expedition, 
though AA'C offered high A\^agcs. 
The Indians and Mestizoes of these countries are extremely indolent, 
and Avill AAmrk just enough to keep themselA’cs from starAUitiou. The Pio 
iXegro being full of exeollcnt fish, Avhich sell Avell and are caught Avith 
very little trouble, and the soil being as fertile as it can possibly be, they 
spend the greater part of their time lolling comfortably in their ham- 
mocks, in a state of pleasant droAV'siucss, Avhich they Avould not exchange 
for reguliU' activity for any money. More or less they are all like the 
mestizo, Avdio replied to a surAoyor, offering him a high rate for his 
services as guide, pathller, hunter, and fisher; “Eeturn to-morrow, after 
1 have sold my fish in toAni, and I’ll give you double if you will let 
me alone for the future.” 
At last Ave Avore able, to bid good-bye to Mauaos, after simnouutiug 
innumerable difficulties, caused chiefly by the incapacity and carelessness 
of the Secretary to the Minister of Public Works at Ilio, and the jealousy 
of the mighty Amazon Steam Company, Avho suav a dangerous rival in 
some future Madeira CompauA". 
Tlu-ough the Ilolivian consul, Don Ignacio do Arauz, Ave had made 
the acquaintance of an Italian merchant, settled in Boli\da, udio was 
retiuniug thither, and Avho, for due compensation, agreed to cede to us 
some of his uiiAvieldy boats* Avith the required number of Mojos and 
Cauiehana Indians. These broad-shouldered sous of the plains of the 
* Most of the vessels .oa tlie Amazon hav’e apjieUatious cpiite dilferent from those 
used on the coast. For instance, a schooner with a sort of wooden awning on deck is 
called Coberta ; a broad slooi) with an arched covering of palm-leaves, Baleldo ; a 
smaller half-covered boat for rowing and sailing, Igarite ; while the canoe is called 
Monluria, as it takes the jdace, so to say, of tho horse (montaria, from moiitar a 
cuvaUo). The shape of these vessels, especially of the smaUer ones, often recalls the 
Chinese junks with their peculiai-ly formed jjrows. The details of their construction 
are rather curious. The bottom is made of one piece of tho elastic wood of the 
J acai'ouba ( CalophyUum Brasilmm), in Bolivia called Palo Maiia. To make a bout of 
two or three yards in breadth, a trunk of about ouo yard in diameter is carefully 
hoUowed, slowly heated over a coal fire, kept carefiilly asunder by wooden levoi-s to tho 
re<pdred width, and left so till it is perfectly cooled by fi-equently pouring water on it. 
Tho boat will Jiot alter from the shape thus given to it. A few ribs, a stem, a prow, 
and some benches are put in, a board is uailerl all roimd, and the boat is ready to be 
launched and to jmss through currents and catsvracts. It is true tliese bouts are not 
what could be culled elegant, but they answer well for the hard work they have to 
undergo. The price of an igarite of ten tons is about 800 milreis=£40. 
