VALLEY OF THE AMAZONS. 
181 
where. As I was detained by indisposition 
at Manaos, for some days, at the time we had 
appointed for the excursion, Major Coutinho 
preceded me, and had already made one trip to 
the serra, with some very interesting results, 
when I joined him, and we made a second 
journey together. 
Monte Alegre lies on a side arm of the Ama¬ 
zons, a little off from its main course. This 
side arm, called the Rio Gurupatuba, is simply 
a channel running parallel with the Amazons, 
and cutting through from a higher to a lower 
point. Its dimensions are, however, greatly 
exaggerated in all the maps thus far published, 
where it is usually made to appear as a con¬ 
siderable northern tributary of the Amazons. 
The town stands on an elevated terrace, sep¬ 
arated from the main stream by the Rio Guru¬ 
patuba, and by an extensive flat, consisting of 
numerous lakes divided from each other by 
low alluvial land, and mostly connected by 
narrow channels. To the west of the town, 
this terrace sinks abruptly to a wide sandy 
plain called the Campos, covered with a low 
forest growth, and bordered on its farther limit 
by the picturesque serra of Errerc. The form 
