A voyage up the River Amazon : including a residence at Pará

Preface

In these stirring times, when all Anglo-Saxondom is on the qui-vive for novelty, and the discovery of a new wateringplace is hailed with more enthusiasm than the discovery of a new planet, — when the " universal Yankee nation " has so nearly exhausted all the whereabouts which modern facilities for locomotion have brought so conveniently within its reach, — when the Old World has become also an old story, and summer excursions to St. Petersburg and Tornea, and winter sojourns in Australia and Typee, have afforded amusement, not only to travellers themselves, but to those who, at their own fire-sides, like equally well to take a trip to the ends of the earth in their comfortable arm-chairs ; it has been a matter of surprise to me, that those who live upon the excitement of seeing and telling some new thing have so seldom betaken themselves to our Southern continent.

Promising indeed to lovers of the marvellous is that land, where the highest of Earth's mountains seek her brightest skies, as though their tall peaks sought a nearer acquaintance with the most glorious of stars ; where the mightiest of rivers roll majestically through primeval forests of boundless extent, concealing, yet bringing forth, the most beautiful and varied forms of animal and vegetable existence ; where Peruvian gold has tempted, and Amazonian women have repulsed, the unprincipled adventurer ; and where Jesuit missionaries, and luckless traders, have fallen victims to cannibal Indians and epicurean anacondas.

With a curiosity excited by such wonders, and heightened

a2 iv PREFACE.

by the graphic illustrations in school Geographies, where men riding rebellious alligators form a foreground to tigers bounding over tall canes, and huge snakes embrace whole boats' crews in their ample folds, the writer of this unpretending volume, in company with his relative, Amory Edwards, Esq,, late U. S. Consul at Buenos Ayres, visited Northern Brazil, and ascended the Amazon to a higher point than, to his knowledge, any American had ever before gone.

As an amusement, and by way of compensation to himself for the absence of some of the monsters which did not meet his curious eye, he collected as many specimens in different departments of natural history as were in his power, at the same time chronicling the result of his observations, in the hope that they might not be unacceptable to the naturalist or to the general reader.

To the science of a naturalist he makes no pretensions, but, as a lover and devout worshipper of Nature, he has sought her in some of her most secret hiding-places, and from these comparatively unexplored retreats has brought the little which she deigned to reveal to him.

The country of the Amazon is the garden of the world, possessing every requisite for a vast population and an extended commerce. It is, also, one of the healthiest of regions ; and thousands who annually die of diseases incident to the climates of the North might here find health and long life.

If this little book shall contribute to a more general knowledge of the advantages of such a country, the labour of its preparation will be amply repaid.

New York, May, 1847.

C ONTENTS.

Chapter I

Leave New-York for Para — Sunset — Curiosities of the sea — Luminous water — Approach the mouth of the Amazon — Salinas — Entrance of the river — Scenery — Arrival at Para ....... Page 1

CHAPTER IT.

Morning view of the harbour and city — Visit — Land at the Punto de Pedras — Novel scene — Reception at Mr. Norris's — Garden and plants — Electrical eel — Anaconda — Religious procession ..... 4

Chapter III

Founding of Para — Late disturbances — Site and vicinity — Form of the city — Rosinhas — Houses — Largo da Palacio, da Polvora, da Quartel — Public buildings — Churches — Palaces — Theatre — Cathedral — Rua da Mangabeiras — Nazare — Mr. Henderson's plantation — Rosinha of Mr. Smith, and fruit-trees — Coffee — Pine-apples — Oranges — Limes — Mangoes — Inga — Alligator pears — Custard-apple — Flowers ..... 9

Chapter IV

Licence of residence — Officials — Provincial government— Church establishment— Troops — Enrolment of Indians — Drilling recruits — Absence of inns — Foreigners — Citizens — Manner of living — Public ball — Mechanics — Obstructions to labour — Apprentices and school — Carrying burdens — Water-jars — Rearing of children — Food of lower classes — Mandioca and preparation of farinha — Tapioca — Fish — Beef — Vegetables — Fruits — Pacovas — Cocoa-nuts — Assai-palms . . . . . . 18

Chapter V

Leave Para for the rice-mills — Boatmen — Night scene upon the water — Arrival— Vicinity of the mills — A Brazilian forest — Sporting — Toucans — Chatterers — Motmots — Manikins — Humming-birds — Snake stories — Absence of flies — Ants — Salibas — Cupims — Little ant-eater — Lakes — Nests of troopials — Sloth — Armadillo — Beetles — Puma — Monkeys — Indian boy — Description of the mills — Blacks — Sleeping in hammocks — Vampire bats — Wasps' nests — Visit Corentiores — Sporting there — Reception — Breadfruit — Larangeira — Cotton-tree — Maseranduba or cow-tree — Walk through the forest to the city — Spider — Flowers .... 26 vi CONTENTS.

Chapter VI

Start for Caripe — Island scene — Arrival — Vicinity — Tomb of Mr. Graham — Dinner — Shelling in the bay — Varieties of shells — Martins — Terns — Nuts and fruits — Mode of fishing — Four-eyed fish — Ant-tracks — Moqueens — Forest — Creeping-plants — Wild hogs, or peccaries — Traps — Agoutis — Pacas — Squirrels — Birds — Chapel and singing of the blacks — Andiroba oil .......... . Page 45

Chapter VII

Leave for Tauaii — Indians — Arrival at midnight — Morning view — The estate— Tilaria or pottery — Lime-kiln— Slaves — Castanha-tree— Cuya or gourd-tree — Ant-hills — An ant battle — Forest — Macaws — Doves — Other birds — Sloth — Coati— Macura — Butterflies —Return to the city — Festival of Judas — Visit Senhor Angelico, upon the Guama — Brazilian country-house — Curious air-plant — Seringa, or rubber-trees — Harpy eagle — Monkeys 52

Chapter VIII

Leave Para for Vigia — Boatmen — Inland passage — Egrets and herons — Stop at sugar-plantation — Cupuassu — Mangroves — Insolence of pilot — Vigia — Arrival at Senhor Godinho's — Reception — The Campinha and its scenery — Sporting— Parrots — Employes — Sun-bird — Boat-bill — Tinami —Iguana lizard — Sugar-cane— Mill— Slaves— Leave the Campinha— Kingfishers— Go below for ibises — Sand-flies — Return to Para — A pet animal 63

Chapter IX

First discovery of the Amazon by Pinzon — Expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro — Descent of Orellana— Settlement of Para — Second descent — Ascent of Teixera and arrival at Quito — He descends with Acuna — Indian tribes — Rivers, &c. — Their report of the country — Number of tribes — Indian customs—Languages— Lingoa Geral— Cannibals — System of the Jesuits — Their banishment — Present system and condition of the Indians — Their Government — Compulsory labour 74

Chapter X

Preparations for ascending the Amazon — Our companions — The galliota — Indians— Provisions— Difficulties at starting— Detained at Senhor Lima's —Incident— An afternoon upon the beach— Another sitio— Marajo— The Tocantins— Islands — Ciganas and other birds — Wood scene— Habits of our Indians — Arrive at Braves — Pottery painting — Water-jars — Filing the teeth — Funeral o^ a child — A palm-swamp — Seringa-trees and gum-collectors— Sloth^liSvvlftflgnnonKeys— An adventu^— Enter the Amazon

Arrive at Gurupa— Situation of the town— Reception by the Commandante —An egg hunt— Storm— Cross the Xingu— Carapanas— Cedar-logs— H arpy eagle— Birds— Mountains— Indian cooking— Forest-trees— Snake-

CONTENTS. vii birds — A toucan's nest — Mutiicas — Indian improvidence — Grass-fields— Enter an igaripe — Hyacinthine macaws — Passion-flowers — Pass Pryinha — Monte Alegre — Arrive at sitios — Thrush — Campo — Incident — Enter the Tapajos — White herons — Flowering trees — Arrival at Santarem — Captain Hislop— Morning calls— Beef— River Tapajos— Feather dresses— Embalmed heads— Description of Santarem — Departure — A slight difficulty Page 92

Chapter XII

The xlmazon thus far — A cacao sitio — Politeness — Runaways — Growing of cacao — An alligator — High bank — Deserted sitio — Kingfishers — Romancas — -Water-birds — Arrive at Obidos — Rio des Trombetas — Incidents upon leaving — Manner of ascending the river — Shells — Stop at a sitio — High bluff — Water-plants — Capitan des Trabalhadores — Arrive at Villa Nova — Festa of St. Juan — Water scene — A Villa Nova house — Turtles — Stroll in the woods — Lakes ......... 104

Chapter XIII

Leave Villa Nova — Our manner of living — Shells — Jacamars — Paroquets — Monkeys — Scorpion — Enter an igaripe — A deserted sitio — Wild duck — Scarlet tanagers — A deserted sitio — Tobacco — Shells — A colony of monkeys — A turtle's revenge — Immense trees — Albino monkey — A selfcaught fish — Porpoises — Curassows and nests — A turtle-feast — Squirrel — Wild Indians — White herons — Shells — Umbrella chatterer — Cross to the northern shore — Periecu and tambaki — Arrive at Serpa — Senhor Manoel Jochin — An Indian dance . . . . . . .116

Chapter XIV

Fourth of July at Serpa — Lake Saraca— An accession — Pic-nic — An opossum — Narrow passage — Swallow-tailed hawks — Sitio of the Delegarde — River Madeira — Village of our Taucha — Appearance of his party on arriving at home — The old rascal — Bell-bird — Stop at a sitio, and reception — Orioles — A cattle sitio — Swift current — Enter the Rio Negro — Arrive at Barra 128

* CHAPTER XV.

Rio Negro at Barra — The town — Old fort — Senhor Henriquez and family — Manner of living — Venezuelans — Piassaba rope — Grass hammocks — Feather-work —Descent of the Negro — Gallos de Serra — Chili hats — Woods in the vicinity — Trogons — Chatterers — Curassows — Guans — Parrots and toucans — Humming-birds — Tiger-cats — Squirrels — A Tiger story — The casueris — A Yankee saw-mill — Mode of obtaining logs — A pic-nic — Cross the river to a campo — Cattle and horses — A select ball 137

Chapter XVI

A new river — Rio Branco — Turtle-wood — Unexplored region — Traditions — Peixe boi or cow-fish — Turtles — Influences at Barra — Indians — ■ Foreigners — Indian articles — Poison used upon arrows — Traffic — Balsam Copaivi — Salsa — Quinia — Vanilla — Tonga beans — Indigo — Guarana — Pixiri or nutmeg — Seringa — Wild cotton — Rock salt — The Amazon above the Rio Negro — The Rio Negro , . . * . . .148 viii CONTENTS.

Chapter XVII

Prepare to leave Barra — Difficulty in obtaining men — The mail — Kindness of our friends — lie-enter the Amazon — Arrive at Serpa — A desertion — Working one's passage — Disorderly birds — Pass Tabocal — Snake-bird — Marakong geese — Breeding-place of herons-^- Arrive at Villa Nova — The commandante — Visit to the lake — Boat-building — Military authorities — School — King of the vultures — Parting with Senhor Bentos — Pass Obidos — Caracara eagle — Our crew — Indian name of the Amazon . Page 160

Chapter XVIII

Arrive at Santarem— Negro stealing — Pass Monte Alegre— Strong winds- Usefulness of the sun-bird — Family government — Reformation in the Paroquets — Low shore — A Congress— Otters — Enter the Xingu — Gurupa — Leave the Amazon — Assai-palms — A friend lost and a friend gained — Braves — Our water-jars — Crossing the bay of Limoeiro — Seringa-trees- A lost day — Town of Santa Anna — Igaripe Merim— Enter the Mojii- Manufacture of rubber shoes — Anatto — Arrival at Para . . . 170

Chapter XIX

Our Lady of Nazareth — Nazare legend — Procession — Commencement of the festa — A walk to Nazare — Gambling — Services in the chapel- An interesting incident . . . . . . . . .181

Chapter XX

Leave Para for Marajo — Voyage — Cape Magoary — Islands — A morning scene — Arrive at Jungcal — A breakfast — Birds— Vicinity of Jungcal 186

Chapter XXI

Description of Marajo — Cattle — Tigers — Alligators — Snakes — Antas — "Wild ducks — Scarlet ibises — Roseate spoonbills — Wood ibises — Other birds — Island of Mixiana — Indian burial-places — Caviana — Macapa — Bore or Pororoca — Leave Jungcal for the rookery — A sail among the trees — Alligators— The rookery — Return — An alligator's nest — Adieu to Jungcal — Violence of the tide — Loading cattle — Voyage to Para . . .190

Chapter XXII

Want of emigrants and labourers — Inducements to settlers, and disadvantages — Citizenship — Import and export duties and taxes — Want of circulating medium — Embarrassments of government — Capabilities of the province — Effect of climate on the whites — The blacks — Inducements to the formation of a steamboat company— Seasons — Temperature — Health- Superior advantages to invalids — Farewell to Para — Voyage home 200

YOYAGE UP THE RIVER AMAZON.

Chapter I

It was a cold morning, the 9th of February, 1846, that we left New York, in the bark Undine, Capt. Appleton, for Para. Our fellow-passengers were Mr. Smith, the U. S. Consul of that port, his lady, and two young gentlemen, in quest, like ourselves, of adventures. Scarcely out of sight of Sandy Hook, a furious north-wester burst upon us, and for a week we dashed on before it, at a rate to startle a landsman, had not the accompanying motion speedily induced that peculiar state in which one would as lief not be as be, and inclined to consider a bed beneath the waters as preferable to present torture. But the golden-haired spirit at the prow always smiled hopefully, and gallantly the noble bark sped onward to calmer waters and warmer skies. Here the sea was all loveliness, and, night by night, the scantily apparelled sky of the north was disappearing before the as steadily advancing brilliance of the tropics. We watched the gradual descending of the north star ; and when at last it sank below the horizon, it seemed as though an old and familiar friend had deserted us, — one whose place was not to be supplied even by the splendour of the southern cross.

By the twentieth day we were near land, to the eastward of Salinas, having seen and enjoyed the usual sea-sights. Most memorable of these was a sunset, as we lay becalmed. The few snow-piled clouds that rested upon the water gradually became suffused with flame, and the sea's surface was a sheen of green and gold, varying from one colour to the other as the rolling of the vessel changed our angle of view. A vapour fringe of rainbow hues circled the horizon, more lovely because rapidly chang-

B

A VOYAGE UP THE RIVER AMAZON. [chap. r.

ing, and beheld, as it were, through an atmosphere of floating golden particles. One by one the stars peeped out, and we fancied that we could detect a shade of sadness over their beautiful faces at having come too late.

We had seen sharks and brilliant-robed dolphins. A grampus had risen under the bow, and flying-fish had repeatedly flown on board. Many an hour we had whiled in fishing up gulf-weed, and in observing the different species of animals with which it was filled.

As we neared the equator, the water became luminous ; the waves were crested with fire ; the vessel's path was one broad track of light, "and, as we took our shower-bath under the pump, liquid flames dashed over us, and every drop was a splendour. To heighten our interest in the phenomenon, a score of porpoises were playing about in every direction, their tracks a living flame, contorted, zigzag, like fiery serpents. Now they would shoot out, rocket-like, leaving trains of thirty feet ; now, darting back, pursue each other round and round, till their path appeared a tangled skein of light.

The blue had changed to green ; and long before land was visible the green had lost itself in the muddy brown of the Amazon. Everywhere were discernible currents, known from afar, by their different hues, and by the furious boiling of their surfaces. Old Ocean was battling with the King of Rivers. Tossed about in the commotion were vast quantities of drift wood, fruits, and plants. Huge fish-hawks were lazily flapping along. Gulls and terns were screaming.

In the night, a number of beautifully marked moths, attracted by our lights, visited us, and soon after daybreak an inquisitive humming-bird came for a peep at the strangers, flitted about us a little time, then darted away to his home.

Salinas is an island at the mouth of the river, conspicuous from a distance, owing to its broad, white beach. It is principally inhabited by fishermen. We observed a few red-tiled houses, and an ancient white church. Here, vessels bound to Para usually take a pilot ; but, owing to the vexatious delays often experienced, American captains prefer trusting to their own skill. Directly at the entrance of the river are two banks, Braganzaand Tigoca, dreaded by sailors; beyond these the navigation is easy. Para is situated about eighty miles above ; but chap, i.] ENTRANCE OF THE RIVER. 3

such is the force of the descending tide and current, that from twenty-four to thirty hours are frequently required to overcome the short distance.

It was delightful to find ourselves once more in quiet water, and a luxury only appreciable by those who have been rolled and pitched about, until every bone seems rheumatic, and every muscle jelly-like, to sleep as stilly as on land. We had anchored inside the banks : before daybreak we were again advancing ; and, that morning, every passenger was early upon the look-out. The speedy termination of the voyage put us all in high spirits, and impatiently we snuffed the perfumed air that came wafted from the yet scarce visible shore. The island of Marajo gradually became distinguishable on the right, its tree-tops but just fringing the water. To the left, long, low islands extended to within a few miles of the city. All day our course was near these, and to one never before conusant of tropical luxuriance, and a truant from the wintry skies of the north, everything was enchanting.

Impervious as a hedge, tall trees shot up their arrow-like stems ; broad palm-leaves undulated with every breath. A thousand shades of green were enamelled with flowers, in red, and white, and gold. The loud notes of the toucans, the shrill cries of parrots, greeted our welcome ; and about the vessel twittered delightedly numbers of martins, the same old friends who used, at home, to disturb us in the early morning. Here and there, little patches of clearing, and haystack-shaped huts, indicated the home of some ease-loving Indian. Some of these huts consisted merely of a few poles, covered with palm thatch, but, occasionally, a delicious little retreat would peep at us through the almost concealing shrubbery, surrounded by a grass-plot, and overshadowed by the huge leaves of the banana or the feathery tufts of the cocoa-tree. In front of one hut, upon a grassy knoll facing the river, stood a large cross, designed to warn away any evil spirit that should venture there. Happy ones ! none but fairies and good angels should be welcome to such a paradise.

Often we saw men and women walking upon the beach, or variously employed, and it was amusing to observe their pantomimic movements. Huge canoes, hollowed from single trees, and with mat sails, crept alongshore ; and the first strange voice that we had heard since leaving New York hailed us from one of these with the friendly " O Amigo."

b2

4 A VOYAGE UP THE RIVER AMAZON. [chap. ii.

Twenty miles below the city, a number of islands are sprinkled about the channel, one of which was pointed out as the last resort of the inhabitants of Para, when the city was sacked by the rebel Indians a few years since. Upon that lovely spot of green five thousand persons died of exposure and starvation.

Para is situated upon a little bay, forming a safe anchorage, and is visible, from below, a little more than ten miles. At about that distance is the Quarantine, not now a terror to travellers. Here, a little boat, rigged with two antique triangular sails, and manned by negroes bare to the waist, pulled alongside, and left with us a custom-house guard, who was to prevent intercourse with the shore.

Night was coming on, but still there was light enough to display to our eager eyes the position of the city, nestled in its bed of green, and smiled upon by an archipelago of islands. Rain commenced pouring, and we were fain to go below. The guard at the fort bid us pass on, and by eight we were anchored off the custom-house. It was too late for a visit, and we turned in, impatient for the morning. All night long church-bells were ringing and clocks striking, and, at intervals, we could distinguish the notes of a bugle or the loud cry of the patrol ; all doubly cheerful, after the mournful wailing of the wind through the rigging, and the monotonous dashing of the sea, which had been our melancholy lullaby for so many weeks.

Chapter II

We had arrived in the midst of the wet season, and all night the rain poured incessantly. But as the sun rose the clouds broke away, and our first view was rendered still more agreeable by the roseate mist that draped the tree- tops and lingered over the city. Anchored about us were vessels of various nations and strange-looking river craft, under whose thatched roofs whole families seemed to be living, and upon which green parrots and macaws were clambering and screaming.

Canoes, bound to the market, were constantly passing, loaded with all kinds of produce. Fine-looking buildings, of three and chap, ii.] PUNTO DE PEDRAS— NOVEL SCENE.

four stories' height, faced the water, all yellow in colour, and roofed with red tiles. Vast cathedrals and churches, covered with the mould of age, shot up their tall spires, their walls and roofs affording sustenance and support to venerable mosses and shrubs of goodly size. Garden walls were overhung with creeping vines, like ancient ruins. Vultures were leisurely wheeling over the city, or in clusters upon the house tops, spreading their wings to the sun. Mid the ringing of bells and the discharge of rockets, a long procession was issuing from the church of San Antonio ; and a Babel of sounds from dogs and parrots, and strange tongues, came over the water.

At about nine o'clock the doctor of the port visited us ; and soon after an official of the custom-house examined our passports, and left with each of us a notification to present ourselves, within three days, to the chief of police, and to obtain from him a licence of residence. AVe were then pronounced at liberty to go on shore.

It was low tide, and, as no wharves run out for the convenience of vessels, we were obliged to land at the market-place, the Punto de Pedras, a long narrow pier. It would be impossible to conceive a more utterly novel tableau than here broke upon us. It was an introduction, at once, to half that was curious in the city. Files of canoes skirt the whole length of the pier, high and dry above the water. The more fortunate occupants who have sold their wares are variously engaged : some sleeping ; others preparing their morning meal ; others combing and arranging thek* luxuriant tresses — for even an Indian woman has a little vanity ; and others, the most of all, chattering with their neighbours, or screaming in shrill tones to friends on shore. Here are negroes of every shade of colour, from the pure Congo to the almost pure white ; some buying, some selling. There stands one, with his basket of coarse cotton-cloth and his yard stick ; and close by an old wench is squatted by a pot of yellow soup, the extract of some palm-nut. Here are strings of inviting fish, and piles of less captivating terrapins ; coarse baskets, filled with Yigia crabs, the best in the world ; and others of palm-leaves, fashioned like a straw reticule, are swelled out with the delicious snails. Monkeys, fastened to clogs, entice you to purchase them by their antics ; and white herons, and various other wild birds,

A VOYAGE UP THE EIVER AMAZON. [chap. ii.

by their beauty. Everywhere, and most numerous of all, are the fruit-dealers ; and for a mere nothing: all the luxuries of this fruit-prolific clime are yours. Beautiful bouquets of flowers invite a purchaser ; and now, for the first time, you observe the singularly neat appearance of the women, each dressed in white, and with a flower in her hair, and you remember that it is a holiday. Oddly dressed soldiers mingle among the crowd ; inquisitive officials peer about for untaxed produce ; sailors, from vessels in the harbour, are constantly landing ; gentlemen of the city are down for their morning stroll ; beautiful Indian girls flit by like visions ; and scores of boys and girls, in all the freedom of nakedness, contend with an equal number of impudent goats for the privilege of running over you.

Through this motley assemblage we picked our way, accompanied by Captain Appleton, to the house of Mr. Norris, the consignee of the Undine. Mr. Norris received us with all the warmth of an old friend, and immediately insisted upon our making his house our home. It was a home to us during our stay at Para ; and the generosity of Mr. N. has placed us under obligations easily understood by those who, like ourselves, have found a home and a friend among; strangers.

Our first excursion extended no farther than the garden at the rear of the house; but even that little distance opened to us a new world. It was laid out in home style, with neat walks and raised flower-beds. A number of curious birds were skulking among the shrubbery, or stalking along the path with the dignity and self-possession of birds at home. This domestication of wild birds we afterwards found to be common throughout the province. They are restrained from truancy by the high fences that surround the gardens ; and ibises and spoonbills, varieties of herons, rails, et multi alii, are as frequently seen as domestic fowls. But the legitimate occupants were of greater interest than these strangers ; and here grew in perfection the banana, the orange, the fig, the tamarind, the cotton-tree, the sugar-cane ; and over the fence, on the soil of a neighbour, a lofty cocoa-tree displayed its clusters of ripening nuts. Instead of the puny sensitive-plant, that in the north struggles almost hopelessly for frail existence, a giant shrub threw out its nervous arms, all flowering, and the attraction of passing butterflies.

chap, ii.] ELECTRICAL EEL— ANACONDA.

Amid this profusion, there was nothing to remind us of the home that we had left ; but afar off, in one lone corner, stood a solitary stalk of Indian corn, lank and lean, an eight-feet spindling, clasped nervously by one sorry ear. Poor thing, it spoke touchingly of exile.

Passing out of the garden, our next visit was complimentary to an eel : not one of the unhallowed denizens of muddy ponds or stagnant waters, but an electrical eel, large and handsome, swimming about in his tub of clear rain water with the grace of a water king. This fellow was about four feet in length, and along his whole lower part extended a wide fin, by whose curvings he appeared to propel himself. We often afterwards amused our leisure in observing this eel, and in experimenting upon his electrical power. This did not seem to be concentrated in any particular part or organ, for, touch him where we would, the violence of the shock seemed the same, and equalled an ordinary shock from a machine. When very hungry, or particularly spiteful, he would transmit his power through the water to a considerable distance. His usual food was crabs, and, when these were thrown in to him, he swam towards them, stunned them by a touch of his head, and either caught them immediately, or allowed them to fall to the bottom of the tub to be devoured at leisure.

These eels are common in the small streams about Para, and, indeed, throughout the whole northern part of the continent, and they often attain great size. One that we afterwards saw at Senhor Pombo's was about six feet long, and five or six inches in diameter. We heard frequent accounts of their power over large animals in the water. The negroes catch them by first teazing them, until they have exhausted the electrical power. We ate of them at different times, but they were too fishy in taste to be agreeable without strong correctives.

Near by was disclosed to us a young anaconda, nicely coiled up in the bottom of a barrel, and looking as innocent as a dove. This fellow was pointed out as something rather diminutive, but to our unfamiliar eyes a snake of ten feet length seemed very like a monster. His customary food was rats. These snakes are kept about many houses in Para for protection against rats, and two which had escaped from Mr. Norris's barrels now prowled at large, and effectually cleared the premises of these vermin.