VALLEY OF THE AMAZONS. 
221 
on the shore, within the bay, the sea has 
gained upon the land for a distance of two 
hundred yards during a period of only ten 
years. The latter fact is ascertained by the 
position of some houses, which were two hun¬ 
dred yards farther from the sea ten years ago 
than they now are. From these and the like 
reports, from my own observations on this 
part of the Brazilian coast, from some investi¬ 
gations made by Major Coutinho at the mouth 
of the Amazons, on its northern continental 
shore, near Macapa, and from the reports of 
Mr. St. John respecting the formations in the 
valley of the Paranahyba, it is my belief that 
the changes I have been describing are but a 
small part of the destruction wrought by the 
sea on the northeastern shore of this conti¬ 
nent. I think it will be found, when the coast 
has been fully surveyed, that a strip of land 
not less than a hundred leagues in width, 
stretching from Cape St. Roque to the northern 
extremity of South America, has been eaten 
away by the ocean. If this be so, the Para¬ 
nahyba and the rivers to the northwest of it, 
in the province of Maranham, were formerly 
tributaries of the Amazons; and all that we 
