376 
TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 
\May, 
gage ; and I had to wait in patience for the arrival of a 
small canoe from the Solimoes, in which Senhor Hen- 
riqne guaranteed me a passage to Para. 
Before proceeding with my journey, I will note the 
few observations that occur to me on the character and 
customs of the inhabitants of this fine country. I of 
course speak solely of the province of Para, and it is 
probable that to the rest of Brazil my remarks may not 
in the least apply ; so different in every respect is this 
part of the Empire from the more southern and better- 
known portion. There is, perhaps, no country in the 
world so capable of yielding a large return for agricul- 
tural labour, and yet so little cultivated ; none where the 
earth will produce such a variety of valuable productions, 
and where they are so totally neglected; none where ,^^ 
the facilities for internal communication are so great, or 
where it is more difficult or tedious to get from place to 
place ; none which so much possesses all the natural re- - ik. 
quisites for an immense trade with all the world, and 
where commerce is so limited and insignificant. 
This may well excite some wonder, when we remem- ^ ^ 
ber that the white inhabitants of this country are the 
Portuguese and their descendants, — the nation which a 
few centuries ago took the lead in all great discoveries 
and commercial enterprises, — which spread its colonies 
over the whole world, and exhibited the most chivalric 
spirit of enterprise in overcoming the dangers of naviga- 
tion in unknown seas, and of opening a commercial in- 
tercourse with barbarous or uncivilized nations. 
But yet, as far as I myself have been able to observe, ' 
their national character has not changed. The Portu- "y 
