“NOTWITHSTANDING the slow rate at which commerce and civilisation advance in the interior of South America, the opening up of routes of communication is becoming daily of more importance, and is exciting greater interest among the inhabitants. Some of the mighty rivers of that continent might seem to have been made by nature’s hand expressly for steam navigation, being so wide and deep, and flowing with so gentle and equable a descent, as to allow vessels of considerable size to reach the very foot of the mountains whence they take their rise; such are the Amazons, the Magdalena, and the Plata, with its tributary the ParanÁ; while others, of scarcely inferior volume, such as the Orinoco, the Rio Negro, the Madeira, and the Cauca (the main tributary of the Magdalena), are navigable for a considerable distance in their lower and upper parts, but towards the middle of their course are beset by rapids and cataracts, which can only be ascended, even by small boats, with infinite trouble, risk, and delay. In the case of the Orinoco and Rio Negro, the cataracts occupy so short a space, the actual fall is so slight, and the nature of the ground is such, that the obstructions might be easily turned or avoided by a navigable canal or a railroad, neither of which is likely to be constructed until the exigencies of commerce or colonisation shall make it an imperative necessity. The Madeira, however, the largest tributary of the Amazons, has no less than two hundred and forty miles of its middle course rendered practically unnavigable by a succession of rapids and cataracts, below which it is navigable down to its mouth,—a distance of five hundred miles,—for steamers of a thousand tons; and above them for smaller vessels for an equal distance, counting the navigation of its tributary, the MamorÉ, which was explored by Lieut. Gibbon, of the U. S. navy, in 1851. Its other large tributaries, the BÉni, the UbahÝ, and the GuaporÉ, are said to be navigable for an equal or even greater distance. Now the navigation of the Madeira is of the first importance to the Brazilians, not only as a means of communication with the western part of the empire, but also with the highlands of Bolivia and Southern Peru, and it has been proposed to obviate its difficulties, 1. By opening a road from the point where it ceases to that where it begins again to be navigable, along which cargos might be transported on beasts of burden, and then be re-embarked above the falls; or, 2. By exploring the rivers running to the Amazon from the southward, between the Madeira and Ucayali, in the belief that some one of them might prove to be navigable up to a point beyond the last falls of the Madeira. The three principal of these rivers, beginning with the most easterly, or that nearest the Madeira, are the PurÚs, the YutahÝ, and the YauarÝ (or JavarÍ). All these rivers are stated by Baena[465] to take their rise in the highlands of Peru, and the PurÚs has always been considered the largest of the three; for although it drains a far narrower basin than the Madeira, and its stream is much less wide and rapid, it is still a noble river, with deep water for a very long way up. People have gone up it from the Amazon and the Barra do Rio Negro, in quest of turtle, brazil-nuts, and sarsaparilla, for months without encountering any obstacle to its navigation. Lieutenant Herndon, in descending the Amazon in 1851, found the mouth of the PurÚs to be half a mile wide, with a depth of 16 fathoms, while at one mile up the depth was 18 fathoms.

“The PurÚs communicates with the Amazon by one principal mouth, and by four narrow channels (called furos) which leave the PurÚs at a good way up, and enter the Amazon, three above and one below the real mouth. Along these channels the water sometimes flows from the PurÚs into the Amazon, and sometimes in the contrary direction, according to the variable height of the water in the two rivers; and sometimes, when both rivers are very low, the channels are left nearly dry. The middle one of the three upper channels is called the Furo de CochiuarÁ, a name which AcuÑa applies to the whole river, and writes it ‘CuchiguarÁ.’ It is a famous and navigable river, he says, and adds, ‘Although there are rocks in some places, it has plenty of fish, a great number of turtle, abundance of maize and mandioc, and all things necessary for facilitating the entrance of an expedition.’[466] The rocks of which he speaks, we shall afterwards find to be cliffs rising from the river’s edge, and offering no hindrance whatever to navigation.

“When I was at the Barra do Rio Negro in 1851, a man of colour, named Serafim Salgado, arrived there from the PurÚs, where he had spent some six months, trading with the PurupurÚ (or Spotted) Indians, who inhabit the lower part of the river, and from whom it takes its name; and also with the CatauixÍs, whose settlements extend upwards to a distance of two months’ journey from the mouth.[467] I purchased from him various warlike and other instruments used by the CatauixÍs, which are now deposited in the Museum of Vegetable Products at Kew; and obtained from him some curious information about the customs of those Indians. They use the powder of the roasted seeds of Acacia Niopo as a stimulant and narcotic, as I have also seen it used by the Guahibos on the Orinoco, where it is called Niopo, and by the MÚras and other Indians on the Amazon, where it is called ParicÁ. For absorbing the ParicÁ by the nose, a tube is made of the bone of a bird’s leg cut in two, and the pieces joined again at such an angle, that one end being applied to the mouth the other reaches the nostrils; a portion of snuff is then put into the tube and blown from it with great force up the nose. A ParicÁ clyster-pipe (which seems peculiar to the river PurÚs, as I have myself nowhere seen it used) is made on the same principle, of the long shankbone of the TuyuyÚ (Mycteria Americana). The effect of the ParicÁ, taken as snuff, is to speedily induce a sort of intoxication, resembling in its symptoms that produced by the fungus Amanita muscaria. Taken as a clyster it is a purge, more or less violent according to the quantity employed. When the CatauixÍ Indian is about to set forth on the chase, he takes a small clyster of ParicÁ, and administers another to his dog, the effects on both being (it is said) to clear their vision and render them more alert! His weapon is generally the blowing cane, from which he propels slender darts tipped with UirarÍ poison. Attached to the quiver that holds the darts is a slender tube of bamboo, two inches and a half long, filled with soot, with which he smears his face when he approaches his hut, if he returns successful from the chase. By this signal his family are advertised beforehand whether or not they will have to go without supper.—The CatauixÍ name for the blowing-cane darts is ArarÁicohÍ, and for the poison ArinulihÁ—the only two words I possess of their language.

“When in 1852 the upper part of the Amazon, and the adjacent territory east and west of it (corresponding to the ancient Capitania do Rio Negro), were separated from the province of ParÁ, and erected into a province, under the name of ‘Amazonas,’ the exploration of the rivers entering the Amazon on the south was taken up in earnest by the new president and the provincial assembly; and Serafim Salgado was appointed to explore the PurÚs, with instructions “to seek a passage to the towns of Bolivia, by the river PurÚs and the savannahs of the Beni, shorter than that by the Madeira, and free from the cataracts of that river.” Unfortunately he was not furnished with a single instrument—not even a compass, or so much as a lead line for soundings; and his diary of his long and tedious voyage is deficient in information on almost every point of importance; yet, meagre as it is, as no account of that river has ever appeared in print, I give here a translation of it, appending thereto a few deductions which I think may be legitimately made from it.[468]

“‘Most illustrious and excellent Sir,—I have the honour to present to your Excellency the report of the voyage which I made from this capital to the 7th Maloca (village) of the PurÚs, which river I ascended during the space of four months and nineteen days. Along with it your Excellency will find also a list of the articles which I expended during this long and painful voyage, and another of the presents and other objects which were furnished me to enable me to undertake it.

“Your Excellency will allow me to mention that I have not yet paid the TuxaÚa (chief) MamuritÉ, and the PurupurÚ Indian BaidÁ, who accompanied me on this voyage, and who have hitherto received no pay whatever. The first will be satisfied with a few presents and clothes, and the second with something less. I regret much that I have not been able to perform better the task which your Excellency’s most excellent predecessor confided to me, and (from circumstances specified in the Report) that I could not go forward until I reached some Bolivian town; although I believe there is none such on the banks of the PurÚs, because at the seventh village of the Cucamas, which is the highest point I reached, the river is so narrow and obstructed, that it would be impossible to ascend much beyond it even in the season of flood.

“‘I beg your excellency to kindly excuse the incompleteness of my performance, and to honour me by receiving it, with the expressions of faithful respect and attachment that I offer to your Excellency.

“‘Deos guarde Á V. Exª. Barra do Rio Negro, 20 de Dezembro de 1852.

“‘Serafim da Silva Salgado.

“‘To the most illustrious and excellent Senhor Dr. Manoel Gomes Correa de Miranda, 1st Vice-president of the Province of Amazonas.’

“‘Report of the voyage made by the undersigned from the capital of the Province of Amazonas to the limit of navigation of the river PurÚs.

“‘Honoured by being appointed, on the 5th of May of the current year, by his Excellency the President of the Province, to explore the river PurÚs, and furnished with the necessary instructions, I set out from this city of the Barra on the evening of the 10th of May, in two canoes, manned by twelve Indians, and accompanied by a corporal and twelve soldiers with their arms and ammunition, and travelled as far as the lake Curupira, twelve hours’ journey. It was six in the evening of the 11th when I reached that lake, where I remained until the 13th, occupied in making toldas[469] for the canoes. I started again on the morning of the 14th, and at nightfall was within the furo[470] of Aranduba, and as we could not pass it with daylight we remained there, and on the 15th passed out at the other end, and that day reached another furo called Bode.

“‘On the 16th reached the Caldeirao;[471] the 17th the mouth of the furo ArapapÁ; the 18th the farm of JosÉ Antonio Barrozo; the 19th a little way above the lake Calado; the 20th lake ManacapurÚ, where we had to remain till the 24th to mend the ironwork of the helm of one of the canoes. On the 24th, continuing to ascend the Solimoes,[472] we reached the upper point of the island Marrecao; on the 25th the island ParatarÝ; on the 26th the paranÁ-merÍm of the same name,[473] along which we sailed the three following days, passing along the lake Berury (already within the mouth of the PurÚs) on the 30th, and on the 31st the Castanha lake. In front of Berury on the right (ascending the PurÚs) is the paranÁ-merÍm of S. ThomÉ.

“‘River PurÚs.

“‘June 1st. Navigated as far as the upper point of the island NanÁ, passing lake Estopa on the right hand as night closed in.

“‘June 2nd. Reached the mouth of lake Mathias, passing the mouths of lakes SunÁra and UbÍm.

“‘June 3rd. Reached Paricatuba, where there was a guard of soldiers, having passed this day the mouths of lakes CuiuanÁ, CÁua, and TapurÚ on the right, and Xaviana on the left. Here we remained until the 5th, to make a tolda for an additional canoe.

“‘June 6th. Reached the mouth of lake UaiapuÁ, and on the left hand lake Paricatuba.

“‘June 7th. To the beach called CarapanÁ.[474]

“‘June 8th. To lake UarumÁ on the left.

“‘June 9th. To the paranÁ-merÍm of Yary, along which we navigated all through the 10th and 11th.

“‘June 12th. To the paranÁ-merÍm of Macaco.

“‘June 13th. To the paranÁ-merÍm of SapiÁ.

“‘June 14th. To lake Taboca, on the right bank.

“‘June 15th. To the mouth of lake Campina.

“‘June 16th. To the paranÁ-merÍm of Guajaratuba, along which we went all through the 17th, before we got out again into the main river.

“‘June 18th. Along the paranÁ-merÍm of Chapeo.

“‘June 19th. Rested this day below TanÁ-merÍm, the site of an ancient maloca of the Muras. Started again on the 20th, and on the 21st reached the sitio of Hygino (a man of colour), where we remained all through the 22nd, and on the 23rd reached the beaches of TabocÁl.

“‘June 24th. Went on until we passed the ParanÁ-pixuna.

“‘June 25th. Reached Itaituba, so called from its rocky cliffs.

“‘June 26th. To the beaches of QuatÍ.

“‘June 27th. Drew up in front of ArimÁ, a place where they are founding a new village. We passed this day the mouth of lake JacarÉ, on the left.

“‘June 28th. Went on this day without stopping, and on the 29th reached the beach called Paxiuba, and on the 30th the mouth of the TanariÁ Grande. Passed the outlet of lake ManarÝ on the left, and that of the TauarÍ on the right. Throughout this month the voyage was not interrupted by any untoward occurrence, but we suffered much from the heavy rains and the great plague of mosquitos.

“‘July 1st. This day reached the beach of TauanÁ on the left. Went on all through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, and on the 5th reached the beach of ItuÁ. During this time eight MÚra Indians, part of our crew, deserted, and we were obliged to seek hands to supply their place in the village of ArimÁ, in which we succeeded by the aid of the TuxÁua MarÝ. We could then start again, and on the 6th reached the beach of JaburÚ.

“‘July 7th. This day halted in front of the furo MuahÁn, and on the 8th in the mouth of the furo CaiaupÉ.

“‘July 9th. To the mouth of the river TapauÁ, which enters on the right.

“‘July 10th. Reached the beach of MacuquirÝ.

“‘July 11th. To the beach of AramiÁ, passing the mouth of the PauatrarÝ on the right.

“‘July 12th. To the beach of MapuahÁn.

“‘July 13th. To the beach of PucutihÁn.

“‘July 14th. To the beach of Cauarchan.

“‘July 15th. To beyond lake CapihÁn.

“‘July 16th. To the beach of JuihÁn.

“‘July 17th. Below lake CaquatahÁn, where we met rafts of PurupurÚ Indians.

“‘July 18th. To the beach Arapapa, passing the mouths of the rivers MucuÍn and CaquatahÁn on the left. We went along the margin of the same beach all through the 19th, 20th, and 21st, and arrived on the 22nd at the beach of Auaboneny, the 23rd at that of UarimÁ, and the 24th at that of CurianhÁn, passing this day the mouth of the river ApituhÁn.

“‘July 25th. Navigated this day along the river bank, and on the 26th reached the beach of Mapuahan; on the 27th that of Assaituba, where we remained all the 28th to repair one of the canoes.

“‘July 29th. Reached this day the beach of PacihÁ, having passed the mouth of the river MarÝ, and on the 31st reached the beach of JurihÁn.

“‘During this month the voyage was continued without any other interruption than the desertion of the Mura Indians, and the necessity of repairing the canoes. On some days we went on until midnight to make up for the delay in the mornings, when the thick fog was not dissipated by the sun’s rays until eight or ten o’clock.

“‘August 1st. Reached the beach of JurucuÁ; on the 2nd that of Capim; on the 3rd that of SituahÁn; on the 4th that of TerrahÁn; on the 5th that of CatarrahÁn; on the 6th that of Boto, passing this day a point called CatatiÁ on the right.

“‘August 7th. Reached the beach of MaquirahÁn, and passed the mouth of the river CunhuaryhÁn.

“‘August 8th. To the beach of ParahÁn, having passed this day some high cliffs called CumarihÁn.

“‘August 9th. To the beach of CurianÁ, passing lake LearihÁn on the right.

“‘August 10th. To the beach of QuarÝ, passing the mouth of lake TumehÁn, where there are rocky cliffs.

“‘August 11th. Reached the beach of MamurihÁn-merÍm, which is on the right bank; the 12th the beach of GamuhÍm; the 13th that of ItirapuÁ; the 14th that of CaÇadua; the 15th that of GuajarÁ; the 16th that of ArutÁ; the 17th the mouth of the river PaninÝ; the 18th the beach of ParahÁn; the 19th the mouth of the river ChiriuinÝ. From this river begins a very long beach, along which we navigated all through the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th, and on the 26th arrived at another beach called Pedreira. On the 27th we were alongside another extensive beach, by which we went on until the end of the month. Nothing worth mentioning happened throughout this month; but the voyage began to grow more difficult, because the river got gradually narrower, much obstructed with trunks of trees, and so very tortuous, that we have sometimes gone on a whole day without advancing scarcely anything, on account of the great bends of the river.

“‘September. Continuing to ascend the river during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, on the 4th passed the mouth of the igarapÉ MacuianÝ, said to be inhabited by a horde of cannibals, of the tribe Jamamadi, to the number of about four hundred. Thus we went on until the 11th, when we passed another igarapÉ, the EuacÁ, on the left, in which also there are numerous Jamamadi Indians. In the mouth of this stream, and on an adjacent beach, there was an encampment of more than a hundred people who had been drawn together by hearing our rÉveillÉ.

“‘On the 12th passed the mouth of the river CanaquirÝ, whose sources are in the campos of the river Madeira. In this river appeared sixteen ubÁs and cascas[475] with Indians of the tribe CanamarÝ (cannibals), who came out to meet us; they were in all sixty-five souls. By an Indian who accompanied our expedition, and who understood a little of their language, we learnt that the CanamarÝs were plotting among themselves to surprise our canoes by night, kill us all, and carry off our goods. Profiting by this timely warning, I had the canoes anchored in the middle of the stream, and prepared our troops to resist any attack that should be attempted by night. Early in the morning the Indians dispersed, but not before we had bought of them their arrows and curabÍs (poisoned arrows), and then, telling them that another canoe was following us, we got rid of them.

“‘On the 18th reached the first malÓca (village) of the Cucama Indians; on the 23rd we drew up at the second; on the 29th at the third, and, although the voyage began to be very arduous, we went on all day of the 30th.

“‘October. After having gone on the whole of the 1st, we arrived on the 2nd of this month at the fourth maloca of Cucamas; on the 4th, at the fifth maloca; on the 6th, at the sixth maloca; and on the 9th, at the seventh maloca.

“‘These Indians, gathered together in malocas, to the number of thirty, forty, or fifty each, subsist on aipÍm (=Manihot Aypi Pohl.)[476] and bananas of which they have plantations, and on game. They are light-coloured, well-made (that is, the men, for of women we saw not a single one, because they hide them away, except the old ones), and they bore the under lip. They wear ponchos. They had no iron tools of any kind, and they were well content with some axes which we gave them. They would employ this tool to make their canoes, for they make their clearings by fire alone.

“‘They were highly delighted when they saw us approach, for they had never before seen civilised people; although they mentioned a few names of persons whom they had seen at the headwaters of the JuruÁ.

“‘Many of these Indians wished to go down the river with our expedition, but, as our farinha was nearly exhausted, I did not venture to take them; besides, as their principal aliment is aipÍm and bananas, and we had a great distance to go before coming to those plants again, they would necessarily have suffered much by the way.

“‘They live unceasingly persecuted by the tribes CanamarÝs, ApurinÁs, and OainomarÍs (all cannibals), who unite to harass them, rob them, and kill those they meet in order to devour them.

“‘The Cucamas have such a way of speaking that they seem to us to belong to Bolivia, for they make use of several Spanish words, and call, for instance, an axe hacha, a cutlass machÉte, a knife cuchillo, etc.

“‘It was quite impossible to ascend higher than the seventh maloca, for the river was so narrow, and so much obstructed, that it did not admit the passage of even the smallest canoes.

“‘For this cause we set out to return on the 10th, and, going along without stopping, we reached this capital on the 30th of November, about eight o’clock at night.

“‘Finally, in all this long and painful voyage, we had not to deplore any fatal accident.

“‘Barra do Rio Negro, 20th of December, 1852.

“‘Serafim da Silva Salgado.’

“With the ‘Report’ before us, let us endeavour to ascertain the extreme point of Serafim’s navigation on the PurÚs. As he says not a word about bearings and distances, the only guide we have to the latter is the time occupied in the ascent, and I find that, deducting the days when he was stationary, he travelled from the Barra to the head of navigation on the PurÚs in 141 days. Now, if we take a known distance on the Amazon, viz. from the Barra to ManacapurÚ, which is 82 nautical miles (following the course of the river), we find that Serafim spent just 8 days over it, being at the rate of 10¼ miles per day. In the month of May, when he started, the Amazon would already have risen considerably and the current would be difficult to stem; hence this slow rate of progress.[477] The PurÚs in its lower part has a much gentler current than the Amazon, and there he would no doubt get on better; but it would attain its highest level during the period of Serafim’s voyage up it, and would then run much more than usual; and he mentions expressly that in its upper part the current became from day to day more rapid as he proceeded; so that I think we may safely assume 10¼ miles a day as the average rate of progress throughout the voyage, and travellers who have had to creep up South American rivers in canoes will agree with me that it is rather over than under the mark. This would give us for

the whole length of Serafim’s navigation of the PurÚs, including all the bends of the river, from which at least one-third (but probably more) would have to be deducted to reduce it to a straight line. Taking off the third part, leaves 863 miles for the shortest distance between the extreme points of the navigation of the PurÚs, or say in round numbers 800 miles, which is possibly still in excess of the actual distance. Supposing that on the map of Spix and Martius (which is even yet the best we possess for a great part of South America) the general direction assigned to the PurÚs is correct (N.E., or rather N. 46° E.), and measuring on that rhumb for 800 miles, we reach a point which is in lat. 12° 30´ S., long. (from Greenwich) about 70° W. To ascertain where this takes us to we must go to the Andes of the S. E. of Peru, and inquire what streams flow northward from thence, between the headwaters of the Ucayali on the west, and those of the Madeira on the east. The fullest and probably the only trustworthy account we have of those streams is contained in two memoirs, by Mr. Clements Markham, published in the journals of the Royal Geographical Society, giving an account of an expedition made to the north-east of Cuzco in 1853, and of another in the adjacent province of Carabaya in 1860. He found the streams there divided into three groups, the most westerly uniting to form the river called the Madre de Dios, or Amaru-mayu, while the streams of the middle group formed the InambarÍ, and the most easterly were tributaries of the Tambo-pata. He descended the Tono (as the upper part of the Madre de Dios is called) to a point in about lat. 12° 45´ S., long. 70° 30´ W.; the Sandia to where it unites with the Huari-huari to form the InambarÍ, in lat. about 13° 10´ S., long. 69° 15´ W.; and the Tambo-pata to lat. 12° 18´ S., long. 68° 38´ W. Now if the PurÚs be prolonged but forty miles beyond the point to which Serafim is supposed to have ascended in 1852, it brings us exactly to where Mr. Markham descended on the Madre Dios in the following year (1853). In so savage a region it is quite possible that two explorers, the one starting from the mouth and the other from the head of a river, might reach nearly the same point on it, at the very same time, and yet not only be unaware of each other’s proximity, but afterwards, in comparing their itineraries, not find therein a single name common to both. There is, however, one name on Mr. Markham’s map, that of the river InambarÍ, which I feel pretty confident is the same as the OainamarÍ mentioned by Serafim as the name of an Indian nation who harassed the pacific and agricultural Cucamas at the head of the PurÚs. The Indian name of a river is generally that of a nation inhabiting its banks, as in the case of the PurÚs itself. Besides, the Indian of the Amazon, following the genius of their language (the TupÍ), are very apt to prefix to names, especially such as begin with a vowel, a sound like that of the English w, which the Portuguese and Spaniards have variously represented by the letters u, o, oa, hu, gu, and even b; thus, to the northward of the Amazon, we have the river GuaupÉs, UaupÉs, or AupÉs; the GuasiÉ, SiÉ, or XiÉ (pron. ShiÉ); precisely analogous instances to OainamarÎ, UinamarÍ, or Inam(b)arÎ; for (it should be added) the letter b is generally a modern interpolation in names of the plain, not heard from the month of a native Indian.[478]

“Serafim does not tell us, and probably did not ascertain, whether his OainamarÍ Indians lived on a river which fell into the PurÚs. Mr. Markham’s impression, after visiting the Madre de Dios, the InambarÍ, and the Tambo-pata, and noting their direction at the lowest point he attained on them, was that all three united to form one river, which he supposed to be the PurÚs; and his opinion is entitled to great weight, as that of the only person capable of giving an account of what he saw, who has visited all the three rivers. Here, however, is the difficulty, which only a new and thorough exploration can clear up; for all speculation on such a point is uncertain and valueless. Comparing the maps of Martius and Markham, and bearing in mind the statement of Baena, one would be tempted to say that the Tambo-pata was the head of the PurÚs, the InambarÍ of the YutahÝ, and the Madre de Dios of the YauarÝ; or the Madre de Dios may really be the origin of the PurÚs, and the other two streams may flow into the Beni. There are other possible modes of combination, and there is even another tributary of the Amazon, intermediate between the YutahÝ and the PurÚs, I mean the YuruÁ, which, though a smaller river, has so long a course, that we see (in Serafim’s story) Cucamas of the PurÚs having intercourse with people at the head of the YuruÁ.

“It is clear from Serafim’s report, that the plain through which the PurÚs flows has a scarcely perceptible declivity, for he nowhere encountered cataracts, or even rapids. Indeed, on referring to the maps, and considering the nature of the ground, we see that the head of navigation of the PurÚs must needs be on a lower level than that of the Beni and MamorÉ; and yet on a tributary of the latter (the ChaparÉ) Gibbon found that water boiled at 209° 5´, indicating an elevation above the sea of only four hundred and sixty-five feet. This goes far to show that Humboldt may be correct in his supposition of a strip of low land extending from the Amazon valley, between the Andes on the one hand, and the mountains of Brazil on the other, all through the provinces of Mojos and Chiquitos to the basin of the river Plate. The navigable part of the PurÚs extends to the southward, along this lowland, apparently to far beyond the last falls of the Madeira; its depth is probably great enough to admit of its being navigated by steamers at least up to within two hundred miles of the highest point reached by Serafim; and we may therefore be allowed to predict that the PurÚs will at some future day become one of the great highways between the Andes and the Amazon.

“Like other affluents of the Amazon flowing through a champaign country, the PurÚs has numerous lakes, and but very few rivers tributary to it. I have ascended two rivers, entering the Amazon from the northward, which have precisely the same character, viz., the Trombetas and the Pastasa. The latter of these two rivers is in some parts nearly two miles in breadth, but its stream is generally sluggish and so shallow that, although I entered it when the waters were at their highest level, yet when they partially subsided during the voyage, we had great difficulty in finding a channel sufficiently deep to float our canoes, although the latter were merely hollowed trunks, and we were still some distance below the confluence of the Bobonasa. On the PurÚs, however, Serafim does not once mention being impeded by insufficient depth of water. He complains of the foggy mornings, such as I have experienced on all the rivers whose course is northerly or southerly; whereas on the Amazon, and even on the Rio Negro, so long as its course (in ascending) is westerly, the easterly trade-wind usually prevents any accumulation of fog, especially in the dry season, when that wind prevails most.”

“Richard Spruce.”

“June 13th, 1864.”