55 
The Chauiayqi river is not navigable, on ac- 
count of a great number of small cascades ; 
I found* its fall five hundred and forty-two 
metres from the ford of Pucara to its mouth, in 
the river of Amazons, below the village of Cho- 
rus, in the small distance of eighteen leagues. 
The postman is called in the country the swim- 
ming postman ( el coreo que nada) . The 31st 
plate represents him as we saw him in the village 
of Chamaya, at the moment he entered the 
water. In order to fatigue himself less in de- 
scending the river, he supports himself on a log 
ofbombax or ochroma (palo de valza), trees of 
very light wood. When a ledge of rocks inter- 
sects the bed of the river, he lands above the 
cascade, crosses the forest, and reenters the 
water when he sees no farther danger. He has 
no need of taking provision with him, for he 
finds a welcome in a great number of huts, sur- 
rounded with plaintain trees, and situate along 
the banks of the river between las Huertas de 
Pucara, Cavico, Sonanga, and Tomependa. 
Sometimes, to render the journey more agree- 
able, he is accompanied by another Indian. 
The rivers, which mingle their waters with those 
of the Marannon above Pongo de Mayasi, are 
happily not infested with crocodiles; the savage 
hordes, therefore, almost all travel like the Pe- 
* See my .Recueii d’Observ. Astron. vol. 1, p. 314. 
