CHAPTER VI.

LIFE AT MANAOS.—VOYAGE FROM MANAOS TO TABATINGA.

ARRIVAL AT MANAOS.—MEETING OF THE SOLIMOENS WITH THE RIO NEGRO.—DOMESTICATED AT MANAOS.—RETURN OF PARTY FROM THE TAPAJOZ.—GENEROSITY OF GOVERNMENT.—WALKS.—WATER-CARRIERS.—INDIAN SCHOOL.—LEAVE MANAOS.—LIFE ON BOARD THE STEAMER.—BARREIRA DAS CUDAJAS.—COARI.—WOODING.—APPEARANCE OF BANKS.—GEOLOGICAL CONSTITUTION.—FOREST.—SUMAUMEIRA-TREE.—ARROW-GRASS.—RED DRIFT CLIFFS.—SAND-BEACHES.—INDIAN HUTS.—TURTLE-HUNTING.—DRYING FISH.—TEFFÉ.—DOUBTS ABOUT THE JOURNEY.—UNEXPECTED ADVISER.—FONTE BÔA.—GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF BANKS.—LAKES.—FLOCKS OF WATER BIRDS.—TONANTINS.—PICTURESQUE GROUPING OF INDIANS.—SAN PAOLO.—LAND-SLIDES.—CHARACTER OF SCENERY.—SCANTY POPULATION.—ANIMAL LIFE.—TABATINGA.—ASPECT OF THE SETTLEMENT.—MOSQUITOES.—LEAVE ONE OF THE PARTY TO MAKE COLLECTIONS.—ON OUR WAY DOWN THE RIVER.—PARTY TO THE RIVERS IÇA AND HYUTAHY.—AGROUND IN THE AMAZONS.—ARRIVAL AT TEFFÉ.

_September 5th._—Manaos. Yesterday morning we entered the Rio Negro and saw the meeting of its calm, black waters with the rushing yellow current of the Amazons, or the Solimoens, as the Upper Amazon is called. They are well named by the Indians the “living and the dead river,” for the Solimoens pours itself down upon the dark stream of the Rio Negro with such a vital, resistless force, that the latter does indeed seem like a lifeless thing by its side. It is true, that at this season, when the water in both the rivers is beginning to subside, the Rio Negro seems to offer some slight resistance to the stronger river; it struggles for a moment with the impetuous flood which overmasters it, and, though crowded up against the shore, continues its course for a little distance side by side with the Solimoens. But at the season when the waters are highest, the latter closes the mouth of the Rio Negro so completely that not a drop of its inky stream is seen to mingle with the yellow waters outside. It is supposed that at this season the Rio Negro sinks at once under the Solimoens; at all events, the latter flows across its mouth, seeming to bar it completely. It must not be supposed, from the change of name, that the Solimoens is anything more than the continuation of the Amazons; just as the so-called river Marañon is its continuation above Nauta, after crossing the Brazilian frontier. It is always the same gigantic stream, traversing the continent for its whole breadth; but it has received in its lower, middle, and upper course the three local names of the Amazons, the Solimoens, and the Marañon. At the point where the Brazilians give it the name of Solimoens it takes a sudden turn to the south, just where the Rio Negro enters it from the north, so that the two form a sharp angle.

We landed at Manaos and went at once to the house which Major Coutinho, with his usual foresight, has provided for us. As the day of our arrival was uncertain, the arrangements were not completed, and the house was entirely empty when we entered it. In about ten minutes, however, chairs and tables—brought, I believe, from the house of a friend—made their appearance, the rooms were promptly furnished, and presently assumed a very cosey and comfortable look, notwithstanding their brick floors and bare walls. We have some pleasant neighbors in a family living almost next door to us, old and intimate friends of Major Coutinho, who receive us for his sake as if we also had a claim on their affection. Here we rest from our wanderings, for a week at least, until the steamer sails for Tabatinga.

_September 9th._—We have passed such quiet days here, so far as any variety of incident is concerned, that there is little to record. Work has gone on as usual; the whole collection of fishes, made since we left Pará, has been so repacked as to leave it in readiness to be shipped for that port. Our companions have rejoined us on their return from the Tapajoz, bringing with them considerable collections from that river also. They seem to have enjoyed their excursion greatly, and describe the river as scarcely inferior to the Amazons itself in breadth and grandeur, having wide sand-beaches where the waves roll in, when the wind is high, almost as upon a sea-shore. Mr. Agassiz has done nothing in the way of collecting here, with the exception of securing such fishes as are to be had in the immediate neighborhood; he reserves his voyage on the Rio Negro for our return. And, by the way, we are met here by another practical evidence of the good-will of the Brazilian government. On leaving Rio, the Emperor had offered Mr. Agassiz the use of a small government steamer to make explorations on the Negro and Madeira rivers. On our arrival at Pará he was told that the steamer had been found to be so much out of repair that she was considered unsafe. Under these circumstances, he supposed that we should be obliged to resort to the small boats generally used. But to-day an official communication informs him that, as the Piraja is found not to be serviceable, another steamer will be furnished, which will meet us at Manaos on our return from the Upper Amazons. The following letter, acknowledging this favor, to the President of Pará, through whom it was received, contains some account of the scientific results thus far, and may not be uninteresting.

MANAOS, 8 Septembre, 1865.

_A Son Excellence M. Couto de Magalhaēs, Président du Pará._

MON CHER MONSIEUR:—Je vous remercie infiniment de l’aimable lettre que vous avez eu la bonté de m’écrire la semaine dernière et je m’empresse de vous faire part des succès extraordinaires qui continuent à couronner nos efforts. Il est certain dès-à-présent que le nombre des poissons qui peuplent l’Amazone excède de beaucoup tout ce que l’on avait imaginé jusqu’ici et que leur distribution est très limitée en totalité, bien qu’il y ait un petit nombre d’espèces qui nous suivent depuis Pará et d’autres pour une étendue plus ou moins considérable. Vous vous rappelez peut-être qu’en faisant allusion à mes espérances je vous dis un jour que je croyais à la possibilité de trouver deux cent cinquante à trois cents espèces de poissons dans tout le bassin de l’Amazone; et bien aujourd’hui, même avant d’avoir franchi le tiers du cours principal du fleuve et remonté par ci par là seulement quelques lieues au delà de ses bords j’en ai déjà obtenu plus de trois cents. C’est inouï; surtout si l’on considère que le nombre total connu des naturalistes ne va pas au tiers de ce que j’ai déjà recueilli. Ce résultat laisse à peine entrevoir ce qu’on découvrira un jour lorsqu’on explorera avec le même soin tous les affluents du grand fleuve. Ce serait une entreprise digne de vous de faire explorer l’Araguay dans tout son cours pour nous apprendre combien d’assemblages differents d’espèces distinctes se rencontrent successivement depuis ses sources jusqu’à sa jonction avec le Tocantins et plus bas jusqu’à l’Amazone. Vous avez déjà une sorte de propriété scientifique sur ce fleuve à laquelle vous ajouteriez de nouveaux droits en fournissant à la science ces renseignements.

Permettez moi de vous exprimer toute ma gratitude pour l’intérêt que vous prenez à mon jeune compagnon de voyage. M. Ward le mérite également par sa grande jeunesse, son courage et son dévouement à la science. M. Epaminondas vient de me faire part de vos généreuses intentions à mon égard et de me dire que vous vous proposez d’expédier un vapeur à Manaos pour prendre la place du Piraja et faciliter notre exploration du Rio Negro et du Rio Madeira. Je ne sais trop comment vous remercier pour une pareille faveur; tout ce que je puis vous dire dès-à-présent c’est que cette faveur me permettra de faire une exploration de ces fleuves qui me serait impossible sans cela. Et si le résultat de ces recherches est aussi favorable que je l’attends, l’honneur en reviendra avant tout à la libéralité du gouvernement Brésilien. Entraîné par les résultats que j’ai obtenus jusqu’ici, je pense que si les circonstances nous sont favorables en arrivant à Tabatinga, nous ferons une poussée jusque dans la partie inférieure du Pérou[59] tandis que mes compagnons exploreront les fleuves intermédiaires entre cette ville et Teffé; en sorte que nous ne serons probablement pas de retour à Manaos avant la fin du mois d’Octobre.

Agréez, mon cher Monsieur, l’assurance de ma haute consideration et de mon parfait dévouement.

L. AGASSIZ.[60]

There is little to be said of the town of Manaos. It consists of a small collection of houses, half of which seem going to decay, and indeed one can hardly help smiling at the tumble-down edifices, dignified by the name of public buildings, the treasury, the legislative hall, the post-office, the custom-house, the President’s mansion, &c. The position of the city, however, at the junction of the Rio Negro, the Amazons, and the Solimoens, is commanding; and, insignificant as it looks at present, Manaos will no doubt be a great centre of commerce and navigation at some future time.[61]

But when we consider the vast extent of land covered by almost impenetrable forest and the great practical difficulties in the way of the settler here, arising from the climate, the insects, the obstacles to communication, the day seems yet far distant when a numerous population will cover the banks of the Amazons, when steamers will ply between its ports as between those of the Mississippi, and when all nations will share in the rich products of its valley.[62] One of my greatest pleasures in Manaos has been to walk toward the neighboring forest at nightfall, and see the water-carriers, Indian and negro, coming down from the narrow pathways with their great red earthen jars on their heads. They make quite a procession at morning and evening; for the river water is not considered good, and the town is chiefly supplied from pools and little streamlets in the woods. Many of these pools, very prettily situated and embowered in trees, are used as bathing-places; one, which is quite large and deep, is a special favorite; it has been thatched over with palm, and has also a little thatched shed adjoining, to serve as a dressing-room.

Yesterday we passed an interesting morning at a school for Indian children a little way out of the city. We were astonished at the aptness they showed for the arts of civilization so uncongenial to our North American Indians: it reminded one that they are the successors, on the same soil, of the races who founded the ancient civilizations of Peru and Mexico, so much beyond any social organization known to have existed among the more northern tribes. In one room they were turning out very nice pieces of furniture,—chairs, tables, book-stands, &c., with a number of smaller articles, such as rulers and paper-knives. In another room they were working in iron, in another making fine fancy articles of straw. Besides these trades, they are taught to read, write, and cipher, and to play on various musical instruments. For music they are said to have, like the negro, a natural aptitude. In the main building were the school-rooms, dormitories, store-rooms, kitchen, &c. We were there just at the breakfast hour, and had the satisfaction of seeing them sit down to a hearty meal, consisting of a large portion of bread and butter and a generous bowl of coffee. I could not help contrasting the expression of these boys, when they were all collected, with that of a number of negro children assembled together; the latter always so jolly and careless, the former shy, serious, almost sombre. They looked, however, very intelligent, and we were told that those of pure Indian descent were more so than the half-breeds. The school is supported by the province, but the fund is small, and the number of pupils is very limited. Our pleasure in this school was somewhat marred by hearing that, though it purports to be an orphan asylum, children who have parents loath to part with them are sometimes taken by force from the wild Indian tribes to be educated here. The appearance of a dark cell, barred up like the cell of a wild animal, which was used as a prison for refractory scholars, rather confirmed this impression. Whenever I have made inquiries about these reports, I have been answered, that, if such cases occur, it is only where children are taken from an utterly savage and degraded condition, and that it is better they should be civilized by main force than not civilized at all. It may be doubted, however, whether any providence but the providence of God is so wise and so loving that it may safely exercise a compulsory charity. Speaking of the education of the Indians reminds me that we have been fortunate enough to meet a French padre here who has furnished Mr. Agassiz with a package of simple elementary Portuguese books, which he has already sent to our literary Indian friend, José Maia. This kind priest offers also to take the boy, for whom Maia was so anxious to secure an education, into the seminary of which he is director, and where he receives charity scholars.

_September 12th._—On Sunday we left Manaos in the steamer for Tabatinga, and are again on our way up the river. I insert here a letter which gives a sort of _résumé_ of the scientific work up to this moment, and shows also how constantly we were attended by the good-will of the employés on the Amazonian line of steamers, and that of their excellent director, Mr. Pimenta Bueno.

MANAOS, 8 Septembre, 1865.

_Senhor Pimenta Bueno._

MON CHER AMI:—Vous serez probablement surpris de recevoir seulement quelques lignes de moi après le temps qui s’est écoulé depuis ma dernière lettre. Le fait est que depuis Obydos je suis allé de surprise en surprise et que j’ai à peine eu le temps de prendre soin des collections que nous avons faites, sans pouvoir les étudier convenablement. C’est ainsi que pendant le semaine que nous avons passée dans les environs de Villa Bella, au Lago José Assú et Lago Maximo, nous avons recueilli cent quatre-vingts espèces de poissons dont les deux tiers au moins sont nouvelles et ceux de mes compagnons qui sont restés à Santarem et dans le Tapajoz en ont rapporté une cinquantaine, ce qui fait déjà bien au delà de trois cents espèces en comptant celles de Porto do Moz, de Gurupá, de Tajapurú et de Monte Alégre. Vous voyez qu’avant même d’avoir parcouru le tiers du cours de l’Amazone, le nombre des poissons est plus du triple de celui de toutes les espèces connues jusqu’à ce jour, et je commence à m’apercevoir que nous ne ferons qu’effleurer la surface du centre de ce grand bassin. Que sera-ce lorsqu’on pourra étudier à loisir et dans l’époque la plus favorable tous ses affluents. Aussi je prends dès-à-présent la résolution de faire de plus nombreuses stations dans la partie supérieure du fleuve et de prolonger mon séjour aussi long-temps que mes forces me le permettront. Ne croyez pas cependant que j’oublie à qui je dois un pareil succès. C’est vous qui m’avez mis sur la voie en me faisant connaître les ressources de la fôret et mieux encore en me fournissant les moyens d’en tirer parti. Merci, mille fois, merci. Je dois aussi tenir grand compte de l’assistance que m’ont fournie les agents de la compagnie sur tous les points où nous avons touché. Notre aimable commandant s’est également évertué, et pendant que j’explorais les lacs des environs de Villa Bella il a fait lui-même une très belle collection dans l’Amazone même, où il a recueilli de nombreuses petites espèces que les pecheurs négligent toujours. A l’arrivée du Belem, j’ai reçu votre aimable lettre et une partie de l’alcohol que j’avais demandé à M. Bond. Je lui écris aujourd’hui pour qu’il m’en envoie encore une partie à Teffé et plus tard davantage à Manaos. Je vous remercie pour le catalogue des poissons du Pará; je vous le restituerai à notre retour, avec les additions que je ferai pendant le reste du voyage. Adieu, mon cher ami.

Tout à vous,

L. AGASSIZ.[63]

Although no longer on board an independent steamer, we are still the guests of the company, having government passages. Nothing can be more comfortable than the travelling on these Amazonian boats. They are clean and well kept, with good-sized state-rooms, which most persons use, however, only as dressing-rooms, since it is always more agreeable to sleep on the open deck in one’s hammock. The table is very well kept, the fare good, though not varied. Bread is the greatest deficiency, but hard biscuit makes a tolerable substitute. Our life is after this fashion. We turn out of our hammocks at dawn, go down stairs to make our toilets, and have a cup of hot coffee below. By this time the decks are generally washed and dried, the hammocks removed, and we can go above again. Between then and the breakfast hour, at half past ten o’clock, I generally study Portuguese, though my lessons are somewhat interrupted by watching the shore and the trees, a constant temptation when we are coasting along near the banks. At half past ten or eleven o’clock breakfast is served, and after that the glare of the sun becomes trying, and I usually descend to the cabin, where we make up our journals, and write during the middle of the day. At three o’clock I consider that the working hours are over, and then I take a book and sit in my lounging-chair on deck, and watch the scenery, and the birds and the turtles, and the alligators if there are any, and am lazy in a general way. At five o’clock dinner is served, (the meals being always on deck,) and after that begins the delight of the day. At that hour it grows deliciously cool, the sunsets are always beautiful, and we go to the forward deck and sit there till nine o’clock in the evening. Then comes tea, and then to our hammocks; I sleep in mine most profoundly till morning.

To-day we stopped at a small station on the north side of the river called Barreira das Cudajas. The few houses stand on a bank of red drift, slightly stratified in some parts, and affording a support for the river-mud, shored up against it. Since then, in our progress, we have seen the same formation in several localities.

_September 13th._—This morning the steamer dropped anchor at the little town of Coari on the Coari River,—one of the rivers of black water. We were detained at this place for some hours, taking in wood; so slow a process here, that an American, accustomed to the rapid methods of work at home, looks on in incredulous astonishment. A crazy old canoe, with its load of wood, creeps out from the shore, the slowness of its advance accounted for by the fact that of its two rowers one has a broken paddle, the other a long stick, to serve as apologies for oars. When the boat reaches the side of the steamer, a line of men is formed some eight or ten in number, and the wood is passed from hand to hand, log by log, each log counted as it arrives. Mr. Agassiz timed them this morning, and found that they averaged about seven logs a minute. Under these circumstances, one can understand that stopping to wood is a long affair. Since we left Coari we have been coasting along close to the land, the continental shore, and not that of an island. The islands are so large and numerous in the Amazons, that often when we believe ourselves between the northern and southern margins of the river, we are in fact between island shores. We have followed the drift almost constantly to-day,—the same red drift with which we have become so familiar in South America. Sometimes it rises in cliffs and banks above the mud deposit, sometimes it crops out through the mud, occasionally mingling with it and partially stratified, and in one locality it overlaid a gray rock in place, the nature of which Mr. Agassiz could not determine, but which was distinctly stratified and slightly tilted. The drift is certainly more conspicuous as we ascend the river; is this because we approach its source, or because the nature of the vegetation allows us to see more of the soil? Since we left Manaos the forest has been less luxuriant; it is lower on the Solimoens than on the Amazons, more ragged and more open. The palms are also less numerous than hitherto, but there is a tree here which rivals them in dignity. Its flat dome, rounded but not conical, towers above the forest, and, when seen from a distance, has an almost architectural character, so regular is its form. This majestic tree, called the Sumaumeira (Eriodendron Sumauma), is one of the few trees in this climate which shed their leaves periodically, and now it lifts its broad rounded summit above the green mass of vegetation around it, quite bare of foliage. Symmetrical as it is, the branches are greatly ramified and very knotty. The bark is white. It would seem that the season approaches when the Sumaumeiras should take on their green garb again, for a few are already beginning to put out young leaves. Beside this giant of the forest, the Imbauba (Cecropia), much lower here, however, than in Southern Brazil, and the Taxi, with its white flowers and brown buds, are very conspicuous along the banks. Close upon the shore the arrow-grass, some five or six feet in height, grows in quantity; it is called “frexas” here, being used by the Indians to make their arrows.

_September 14th._—For the last day or two the shore has been higher than we have seen it since leaving Manaos. We constantly pass cliffs of red drift with a shallow beach of mud deposit resting against them; not infrequently a gray rock, somewhat like clay slate, crops out below the drift; this rock is very distinctly stratified, tilting sometimes to the west, sometimes to the east, always unconformable with the overlying drift.[64] The color of the drift changes occasionally, being sometimes nearly white in this neighborhood instead of red. We are coming now to that part of the Amazons where the wide sand-beaches occur, the breeding-places of the turtles and alligators. It is not yet quite the season for gathering the turtle-eggs, making the turtle-butter, &c., but we frequently see the Indian huts on the beaches, and their stakes set up for spreading and drying fish, which is one of the great articles of commerce here. This morning we have passed several hours off the town of Ega, or Teffé as the Brazilians call it. It takes its name from the river Teffé, but the town itself stands on a small lake, formed by the river just before it joins the Amazons. The entrance to the lake, which is broken by a number of little channels or igarapés, and the approach to the town, are exceedingly pretty. The town itself, with a wide beach in front, standing on the slope of a green hill, where sheep and cattle, a rare sight in this region, are grazing, looks very inviting. We examined it with interest, for some of the party at least will return to this station for the purpose of making collections.

_September 15th._—For the last two or three days we have been holding frequent discussions as to the best disposition of our forces after reaching Tabatinga;—a source of great anxiety to Mr. Agassiz, the time we have to spend being so short, and the subjects of investigation so various and so important. Should he give up the idea of continuing, in person, his study of the fishes in the upper Amazons, leaving only some parties to make collections, and going himself into Peru, to visit at least the first spur of the Andes, with the purpose of ascertaining whether any vestiges of glaciers are to be found in the valleys, and also of making a collection of fishes from the mountain streams; or should he renounce the journey into Peru for the present, and, making a station somewhere in this region for the next month or two, complete, as far as may be, his investigation of the distribution and development of fishes in the Solimoens? Had the result of the Peruvian journey been more certain, the decision would have been easier; but it is more than likely that the torrential rains of this latitude have decomposed the surface and swept away all traces of glaciers, if they ever existed at so low a level. To go on, therefore, seemed a little like giving up a certain for an uncertain result. Earnestly desirous of making the best use of his time and opportunities here, this doubt has disturbed Mr. Agassiz’s waking and sleeping thoughts for several days past. Yesterday morning, at Teffé, a most unexpected adviser appeared in the midst of our council of war. Insignificant in size, this individual, nevertheless, brought great weight to the decision. The intruder was a small fish with his mouth full of young ones. The practical plea was irresistible,—embryology carried the day. A chance of investigating so extraordinary a process of development, not only in this species but in several others said to rear their young in the same fashion, was not to be thrown away; and, besides, there was the prospect of making a collection and a series of colored drawings, from the life, of the immense variety of fishes in the river and lake of Teffé, and perhaps of studying the embryology of the turtles and alligators in their breeding season. Mr. Agassiz, therefore, decides to return to Teffé with his artist and two or three other assistants, and to make a station there for a month at least, leaving Mr. Bourget, with our Indian fisherman, at Tabatinga to collect in that region, and sending Mr. James and Mr. Talisman to the river Putumayo, or Iça, and afterwards to the Hyutahy for the same purpose. This dispersion of parties to collect simultaneously in different areas, divided from each other by considerable distances, will show how the fishes are distributed, and whether their combinations differ in these localities as they have been found to do in the Lower Amazons.

I insert here a letter to the Emperor on the subject of this curious fish, which happened to be one which Mr. Agassiz had formerly dedicated to him.

TEFFÉ, 14 Septembre, 1865.

SIRE:—En arrivant ici ce matin j’ai eu la surprise la plus agréable et la plus inattendue. Le premier poisson qui me fut apporté était l’Acara que votre Majesté a bien voulu me permettre de lui dédier et par un bonheur inouï c’était l’époque de la ponte et il avait la bouche pleine de petits vivants, en voie de développement. Voilà donc le fait le plus incroyable en embryologie pleinement confirmé, et il ne me reste plus qu’à étudier en detail et à loisir tous les changements que subissent ces petits jusqu’au moment où ils quittent leur singulier nid, afin que je puisse publier un récit complet de cette singulière histoire. Mes prévisions sur la distribution des poissons se confirment; le fleuve est habité par plusieurs faunes ichthyologiques très distinctes, qui n’ont pour lien commun qu’un très petit nombre d’espèces qu’on rencontre partout. Il reste maintenant à préciser les limites de ces régions ichthyologiques et peut-être me laisserai-je entraîner à consacrer quelque temps à cette étude, si je trouve les moyens d’y parvenir. Il y a maintenant une question qui devient fort intéressante, c’est de savoir jusqu’à quel point le même phénomène se reproduit dans chacun des grands affluents du Rio Amazonas, ou en d’autres termes si les poissons des régions supérieures du Rio Madeira et du Rio Negro, etc., etc., sont les mêmes que ceux du cours inférieur de ces fleuves. Quant à la diversité même des poissons du bassin tout entier mes prévisions sont de beaucoup dépassées. Avant d’arriver à Manaos j’avais déjà recueilli plus de trois cents espèces, c. à. d. le triple des espèces connues jusqu’à ce jour au moins. La moitié environ out pu être peintes sur le vivant par M. Burkhardt; en sorte que si je puis parvenir à publier tous ces documents, les renseignements que je pourrai fournir sur ce sujet dépasseront de beaucoup tout ce que l’on a publié jusqu’à ce jour.

Je serais bien heureux d’apprendre que Votre Majesté n’a pas rencontré de difficultés dans son voyage et qu’Elle a atteint pleinement le but qu’Elle se proposait. Nous sommes ici sans nouvelles du Sud, depuis que nous avons quitté Rio, et tout ce que nous avions appris alors était qu’après une traversée assez orageuse votre Majesté avait atteint le Rio Grande. Que Dieu protège et bénisse votre Majesté! Avec les sentiments du plus profond respect et de la reconnaissance la plus vive,

Je suis de votre Majesté

le très humble et très obéissant serviteur,

L. AGASSIZ.[65]

The character of the banks yesterday and to-day continues unchanged; they are rather high, rising now and then in bluffs and presenting the same mixture of reddish drift and mud deposit, with the gray, slaty rock below, cropping out occasionally. This morning we are stopping to wood at a station opposite the village of Fonte Bôa. Here Mr. Agassiz has had an opportunity of going on shore and examining this formation. He finds a thick bed of ferruginous sandstone underlying a number of thinner beds of mud clay, resembling old clay slate with cleavage. These beds are overlaid by a bank of ochre-colored sandy clay (designated as drift above), with hardly any signs of stratification. Yesterday we passed several lakes, shut out from the river by mud-bars, and seemingly haunted by waterfowl. In one we saw immense flocks of what looked at that distance either like red Ibises or red spoonbills, and also numbers of gulls. Our sportsmen looked longingly at them, and are impatient for the time when we shall be settled on land, and they can begin to make havoc among the birds.

_September 17th._—Last evening we took in wood from the shore some miles below the town of Tonantins. I sat watching the Indians on the bank, of whom there were some fifteen or twenty, men, women, and children; the men loading the wood, the women and children being there apparently to look on. They had built a fire on the bank, and hung their nets or cotton tents, under which they sleep, on the trees behind. They made a wild group, passing to and fro in the light of the fire, the care of which seemed the special charge of a tall, gaunt, weird-looking woman, who would have made a good Meg Merrilies. She seemed to have but one garment,—a long, brown, stuff robe, girt round the waist; as she strode about the fire, throwing on fresh logs and stirring the dying embers, the flames blazed up in her face, lighting her tawny skin and long, unkempt hair, flickering over the figures of women and children about her, and shedding a warm glow over the forest which made the setting to the picture. This is the only very tall Indian woman I have seen; usually the women are rather short of stature. When the Indians had made their preparations for the night, they heaped damp fuel on the fire till it smouldered down and threw out thick clouds of smoke, enveloping the sleeping-tents, and no doubt driving off effectually the clouds of mosquitoes, from which the natives seem as great sufferers as strangers. These upper stations on the Amazons are haunted by swarms of mosquitoes at night, and during the day by a little biting fly called Pium, no less annoying.

_September 18th._—Another pause last evening at the village of San Paolo, standing on a ridge which rises quite steeply from the river and sinks again into a ravine behind. Throughout all this region the banks are eaten away by the river, large portions falling into the water at a time, and carrying the trees with them. These land-slides are so frequent and so extensive as to make travelling along the banks in small boats quite dangerous. The scenery of the Solimoens is by no means so interesting as that of the Lower Amazons. The banks are ragged and broken, the forest lower, less luxuriant, and the palm growth very fitful. For a day or two past we have scarcely seen any palms. One kind seems common, however, namely, the Paxiuba Barriguda—Pa-shee-oo-ba (Iriartea ventricosa), a species not unlike the Assai in dignity of port, but remarkable for the swelling of its stem at half height, giving it a sort of spindle shape. The cut of the foliage is peculiar also, each leaflet being wedge-shaped. The steamer is often now between the shores of the river itself instead of coasting along by the many lovely islands which make the voyage between Pará and Manaos so diversified; what is thus gained in dimensions is lost in picturesqueness of detail. Then the element of human life and habitations is utterly wanting; one often travels for a day without meeting even so much as a hut. But if men are not to be seen, animals are certainly plenty; as our steamer puffs along, great flocks of birds rise up from the shore, turtles pop their black noses out of the water, alligators show themselves occasionally, and sometimes a troop of brown Capivari scuttles up the bank, taking refuge in the trees at our approach. To-morrow morning we reach Tabatinga, and touch the farthest point of our journey.

_September 20th._—On Monday evening we arrived at Tabatinga, remaining there till Wednesday morning to discharge the cargo,—a lengthy process, with the Brazilian method of working. Tabatinga is the frontier town between Brazil and Peru, and is dignified by the name of a military station, though when one looks at the two or three small mounted guns on the bank, the mud house behind them constituting barracks, with half a dozen soldiers lounging in front of it, one cannot but think that the fortification is not a very formidable one.[66] The town itself standing on a mud bluff, deeply ravined and cracked in many directions, consists of some dozen ruinous houses built around an open square. Of the inhabitants I saw but little, for it was toward evening when I went on shore, and they were already driven under shelter by the mosquitoes. One or two looked out from their doors and gave me a friendly warning not to proceed unless I was prepared to be devoured, and indeed the buzzing swarm about me soon drove me back to the steamer. The mosquitoes by night and the Piums by day are said to render life almost intolerable here. Under these circumstances we could form little idea of the character of the vegetation in our short stay. But we made the acquaintance of one curious palm, the Tucum, a species of Astrocaryum, the fibre of which makes an excellent material for weaving hammocks, fishing-nets, and the like. It is gradually becoming an important article of commerce. The approach to Tabatinga, with two or three islands in the neighborhood, numerous igarapés opening out of the river, and the Hyavary emptying into it, is, however, one of the prettiest parts of the Solimoens. We found here four members of a Spanish scientific commission, who have been travelling several years in South and Central America, and whose track we have crossed several times without meeting them. They welcomed the arrival of the steamer with delight, having awaited their release at Tabatinga for two or three weeks. The party consisted of Drs. Almagro, Spada, Martinez, and Isern. They had just accomplished an adventurous journey, having descended the Napo on a raft, which their large collection of live animals had turned into a sort of Noah’s ark. After various risks and exposures they had arrived at Tabatinga, having lost almost all their clothing, except what they wore, by shipwreck. Fortunately, their papers and collections were saved.[67] We are now on our way down the river again, having left Mr. Bourget at Tabatinga to pass a month in making collections in that region, and dropped Mr. James and Mr. Talisman last evening at San Paolo, where they are to get a canoe and Indians for their further journey to the Iça. This morning, while stopping to wood at Fonte Bôa, Mr. Agassiz went on shore and collected a very interesting series of fossil plants in the lower mud deposit; he was also very successful in making a small collection of fishes, containing several new species, during the few hours we passed at this place.

_September 25th._—Teffé. On Friday, the day after my last date, we were within two or three hours of Teffé; we had just finished packing our various effects, and were closing our letters to be mailed from Manaos, when the steamer came to a sudden pause with that dead, sullen, instantaneous stop which means mischief. The order to reverse the engines was given instantly, but we had driven with all our force into the bed of the river, and there we remained, motionless. This is sometimes rather a serious accident at the season when the waters are falling, steamers having been occasionally stranded for a number of weeks. It is not easily guarded against, the river bottom changing so constantly and so suddenly that even the most experienced pilots cannot always avoid disaster. They may pass with perfect safety in their upward voyage over a place where, on their return, they find a formidable bank of mud. During three hours the crew worked ineffectually, trying to back the steamer off, or sinking the anchor at a distance to drag her back upon it. At five o’clock in the afternoon the sky began to look black and lowering, and presently a violent squall, with thunder and rain, broke upon us. The wind did, in an instant, what man and steam together had failed to do in hours. As the squall struck the steamer on her side, she vibrated, veered and floated free. There was a general stir of delight at this sudden and unexpected liberation, for the delay was serious to all. One or two of the passengers were merchants, to whom it was important to meet the steamer of the 25th at Manaos, which connects with other steamers all along the coast; and the members of the Spanish scientific commission, if they could not at once transfer their effects to the other steamer, would not only miss the next European steamer, but must be at the expense and care of storing their various luggage and maintaining their live stock at Manaos for a fortnight. And lastly, to Mr. Agassiz himself it was a serious disappointment to lose two or three days out of the precious month for investigations at Teffé. Therefore, every face beamed when the kindly shock of the wind set us afloat again; but the work, so vainly spent to release us, was but too efficient in keeping us prisoners. The anchor, which had been sunk in the mud at some distance, was so deeply buried that it was difficult to raise it, and in the effort to do so we grounded again. Indeed, environed as we were by mud and sand, it was no easy matter to find a channel out of them. We now remained motionless all night, though the Captain was unremitting in his efforts and kept the men at work till morning, when, at about seven o’clock, the boat worked herself free at last, and we thought our troubles fairly over. But the old proverb “There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip” never was truer; on starting once more we found that, in the strain and shock to which the ship had been submitted, the rudder was broken. In view of this new disaster, the passengers for Pará gave up all hope of meeting the steamer at Manaos, and the rest resigned themselves to waiting with such philosophy as they could muster. The whole of that day and the following night were spent in rigging up a new rudder, and it was not until eight o’clock on Sunday morning that we were once more on our way, arriving at Teffé at eleven o’clock.

Footnote 59:

As will be seen hereafter, want of time and the engrossing character of his work in the Amazons, compelled Mr. Agassiz to renounce the journey into Peru, as also the ascent of the river Madeira.

Footnote 60:

_To His Excellency M. Couto de Magalhaēs, President of Pará._

MY DEAR SIR:—I thank you sincerely for the kind letter you were so good as to write me last week, and I hasten to inform you of the extraordinary success which continues to crown our efforts. It is certain from this time forth, that the number of fishes inhabiting the Amazons greatly exceeds all that has hitherto been imagined, and that their distribution is very limited on the whole, though a small number of species have followed us since we left Pará and others have a range more or less extensive. You remember, perhaps, that, when alluding to my hopes, I told you one day that I believed in the possibility of finding from two hundred and fifty to three hundred species of fish in the whole basin of the Amazons; even now, having passed over less than one third of the main stream, and only diverged here and there to some points beyond its shores, I have already obtained more than three hundred. It is incredible, above all, if one considers that the total number known to naturalists does not reach one third of what I have already collected. This result scarcely allows one to foresee the discoveries to be made whenever the affluents of the great river are explored with the same care. An exploration of the Araguay for its whole course, in order to teach us how many different combinations of distinct species occur in succession, from its sources to its junction with the Tocantins and lower down till it meets the Amazons, would be an enterprise worthy of you. You have already a sort of scientific property in this river, to which you would add new rights in furnishing science with this information.

Permit me to express to you all the gratitude I feel for the interest you take in my young travelling companion. Mr. Ward is worthy of it, alike from his youth, his courage, and his devotion to science. Mr. Epaminondas has just communicated to me your generous intentions towards myself, and your purpose of sending a steamer to Manaos to take the place of the Piraja, and facilitate our exploration of the Rio Negro and the Rio Madeira. I do not know how to thank you enough; all that I can say is, that this favor will allow me to make an exploration of these rivers which would be otherwise impossible. If the result of these researches be as favorable as my hopes, the honor will be due, in the first instance, to the liberality of the Brazilian government. Encouraged by the results thus far obtained, I think that, if the circumstances are favorable, on arriving at Tabatinga, we shall make a push into the lower part of Peru, while my companions will explore the rivers intermediate between this town and Teffé; so that we shall probably not return to Manaos before the end of October.

Accept, my dear Sir, the assurance of my high regard, &c., &c.

L. AGASSIZ.

Footnote 61:

Some English travellers have criticised the position of the town, and regretted that it is not placed lower down, at the immediate junction of the Rio Negro with the Solimoens. But its actual situation is much better, on account of the more quiet port, removed as it is from the violent currents caused by the meeting of the two rivers.—L. A.

Footnote 62:

When this was written there was hardly any prospect of the early opening of the Amazons to the free commerce of the world. The circumstance that since the 7th of September last this great fresh-water ocean has been made free to the mercantile shipping of all nations will, no doubt, immensely accelerate the development of civilization in these desert regions. No act could have exhibited more unequivocally the liberal policy which actuates the Brazilian government than this. To complete the great work, two things are still wanting,—a direct high road between the upper tributaries of the Rio Madeira and Rio Paraguay, and the abolition of the subsidies granted to privileged companies, that the colossal traffic of which the whole basin is susceptible may truly be thrown open to a fair competition.—L. A.

Footnote 63:

_Senahor Pimenta Bueno._

MY DEAR FRIEND:—You will probably be surprised to receive only a few lines from me after the time which has elapsed since my last letter. The truth is, that, since Obydos, I have passed from surprise to surprise, and that I have scarcely had time to take care of the collections we have made, without being able to study them properly. Thus, during the week we spent in the environs of Villa Bella, at Lago José Assú and Lago Maximo, we have collected one hundred and eighty species of fishes, two thirds of which, at least, are new, while those of my companions who remained at Santarem and upon the Tapajoz have brought back some fifty more, making already more than three hundred species, including those of Porto do Moz, of Gurupá, of Tajapurú, and of Monte Alégre. You see that before having ascended the Amazons for one third of its course, the number of fishes is more than triple that of all the species known thus far, and I begin to perceive that we shall not do more than skim over the surface of the centre of this great basin. What will it be when it becomes possible to study all its affluents at leisure and in the most favorable season! I have resolved to make more numerous stations in the upper part of the river and to stay as long as my strength and means will allow. Do not think, however, that I forget to whom I owe such a success. It is you who have put me on the path, by making known to me the resources of the forest, and, better still, by furnishing me with the means to profit by them. Thanks, a thousand times, thanks. I ought also to acknowledge the assistance afforded me by the agents of the Company, at all the points where we have touched. Our amiable commander has also exerted himself, and while I explored the lakes in the neighborhood of Villa Bella, he made a very fine collection in the Amazons, especially of the numerous small species always overlooked by fishermen. On the arrival of the Belem I received your kind letter and a part of the alcohol I had asked from Mr. Bond. I am writing to-day to ask him to send me a part to Teffé, and, somewhat later, more to Manaos. Thank you for the catalogue of Pará fishes; I shall give it back on our return, with the additions I shall make during the remainder of the voyage. Adieu, my dear friend.

Ever yours,

L. AGASSIZ.

Footnote 64:

In the course of the investigation, I have ascertained that this slaty rock, as well as the hard sandstone seen along the river-banks at Manaos, forms part of the great drift formation of the Amazons, and that there is neither old red sandstone, nor trias, here, as older observers supposed.—L. A.

Footnote 65:

TEFFÉ, 14 September, 1865.

SIRE:—On arriving here this morning I had the most agreeable and unexpected surprise. The first fish brought to me was the Acara, which your Majesty kindly permitted me to dedicate to you, and by an unlooked-for good fortune it was the breeding season, and it had its mouth full of little young ones in the process of development. Here, then, is the most incredible fact in embryology fully confirmed, and it remains for me only to study, in detail and at leisure, all the changes which the young undergo up to the moment when they leave their singular nest, in order that I may publish a complete account of this curious history. My anticipations as to the distribution of fishes are confirmed; the river is inhabited by several very distinct ichthyological faunæ, which have, as a common link, only a very small number of species to be met with everywhere. It remains now to ascertain with precision the limits of these ichthyological regions, and I may perhaps be drawn on to devote some time to this study, if I find the means of accomplishing it. There is a question which now becomes very interesting; it is to know how far the same phenomenon is reproduced in each one of the great affluents of the river Amazons, or, in other words, whether the fishes of the upper regions of the Rio Madeira, the Rio Negro, &c., &c., are the same as those of the lower course of these rivers. As to the diversity of fishes in the whole basin, my expectations are far surpassed. Before arriving at Manaos I had already collected more than three hundred species, that is to say, at least three times the number of species thus far known. About half have been painted from life by Mr. Burkhardt; if I can succeed in publishing all these documents, the information I shall be able to furnish on this subject will exceed all that has been thus far made known. I should be very glad to learn that your Majesty has not met with difficulties on the voyage, and has been able fully to accomplish the ends proposed. We are here without news from the South since we left Rio, and all we had learned then was, that after a very stormy passage your Majesty had reached the Rio Grande. May God protect and bless your Majesty!

With sentiments of the most profound respect and the liveliest gratitude, I am

Your Majesty’s very humble and obedient servant,

L. AGASSIZ.

Footnote 66:

At this point the Amazonian meets the Peruvian steamer, and they exchange cargoes. Formerly the Brazilian company of Amazonian steamers extended its line of travel to Laguna, at the mouth of the Huallaga. Now this part of the journey has passed into the hands of a Peruvian company, whose steamers run up to Urimaguas on the Huallaga. They are, however, by no means so comfortable as the Brazilian steamers, having little or no accommodation for passengers. The upper Marañon is navigable for large steamers as far as Jaen, as are also its tributaries, the Huallaga and Ucayali on the south, the Moronha, Pastazza, and Napo on the north, to a great distance above their junction with the main stream. There is reason to believe that all these larger affluents of the Amazons will before long have their regular lines of steamers like the great river itself. The opening of the Amazons, no doubt, will hasten this result.—L. A.

Footnote 67:

These gentlemen descended the river with us as far as Teffé, and we afterwards heard of their safe arrival in Madrid. They had, however, suffered much in health, and Mr. Isern died soon after his return to his native land.