Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon

and negroes who were to stay behind at the fazenda. At six o'clock in the morning the jangada received all its pass

got into his place at the bow, and the crew, armed

Benito and Manoel, supe

ank so as to give the jangada a start. The current was not long in seizing it, and c

hundred leagues from this little Peruvian village, if nothing happened to

s away, after having swept across the huge plain of the Sacramento. Had the raft been provided with masts and sails she would have felt the effects of the breeze, and her

ely perceptible. It has been calculated that between Tabatinga on the Brazilian frontier, and the source of this huge body of water, t

agues in twenty-four hours, and sometimes, while the droughts are on, it is even less. However, du

here are also to be taken into account the stoppages occasioned by the bends in the river, the numerous islands which had to be rounded, the shoals which had to be avoided, and the

, vegetable remains, islets of plants constantly torn from the banks, formed quite a flotil

int on the left bank, which, with its carpet of russet grasses tinted

een the numerous picturesque islands, of which

maneuvered very ably when passing through this archipelago. At his word of command fifty poles from each sid

and Cybele, was getting everything in order, a

company with Padre Passanha, and from time to time the lady stopped and w

o, "do you know a more ag

e padre; "it is truly traveli

Manoel; "we might do hundreds o

s it not seem to you as if we were afloat on an island drifted quietly

epeated t

it belongs to us, and I prefer it to all the islan

m your pride. Besides, I am not allowed

should teach Manoel to scold me when I deserve it.

Manoel, "I shall profit by th

wh

learned about everything connected with the Upper Amazon. We know very little about it in Pa

good of tha

s of names in the 'Tupi' dialect with which these islands are dressed out? It is enough to know

much for that numerical system; it conveys nothing to the imagination-Sixty-fourth Island or S

he shadows of those gigantic palm-trees with their drooping leaves! And the girdle of reeds which encircles them through which a pirogue can with difficulty make its way! And the mangrove trees,

enthusiastic to-da

happy to see everybo

of Yaquita was heard call

irl smiling

said the padre. "All the joy of the

eatly, and the padre is right. However, if you do not mar

ied Manoel. "Believe me, I have a pres

sta, walks, all took place as if Joam Garral and his p

he rivers Itinicari, Maniti, Moyoc, Tucuya, and the islands of this name on the right, were passed without accident. The nig

nk of the river, is almost abandoned for the new settlement, whose population consists of Indians belonging to the Mayoruna and Orejone tribes. Nothing can be more picturesque th

own tributaries of no importance. For a moment there was a chance of her grounding on the easterly shore of the isla

ch here comes in from the north-northwest, and mingles its waters with those of the Amazon through a mout

as abreast the little island of Mango, which causes the Nap

enish opal of absinthe. At the same time he corrected some of the measurements of La Condamine. But then the mouth of the Napo was sensibly increased by the floods and

f their ears lengthened to their shoulders by the weight of heavy rings of precious wood. Some women were with them. None of them showed any intention of coming on board. It is ass

s cluster of magnificent trees, towering above a few huts roofed with straw, over which there dro

ward the right side of the river, which he had not yet approached. The maneuver was not accomplished w

on with the river. One of these, bearing the name of the Lagoon of Oran, is of fair size, and receives the water by a large strait. In the middle of the stream are scattered seve

t bank, sometimes under the right, according to the conditio

the commercial side of the expedition, kept himself principally to his room, thinking and writing. What he was writin

If, however, the forests of Iquitos failed him with their wild beasts, agoutis, peccaries, and cabiais, the birds flew in flocks from the banks of the river and fearlessly perched on the jangada. When they were of such quality as to figure fairly on the table, Benito shot them; and, in the interest of all, his sister raised no objection; but if he came across any gray or

the mouth of the Ambiacu, the jangada arrived at Pevas on

and a cabiai, not to mention a dozen partridges, enriched the larder after this fortunate excursion. At Pevas, where there is a population of two hundred and sixty inhabitants, Benito would perhaps have done some trade

slands, after having left the village of the latter name on the right. Several mouths of smaller u

of their ears, noses, and lower lips, appeared for an instant on the shore. They were armed with arr