William Lewis Herndon, Lieutenant, U.S.N.

“ Every one whom I conversed with on the subject of the Amazon advocates with earnestness the free navigation of the river, and says that they will never thrive until the river is thrown open to all, and foreigners are invited to settle on its banks. ”

“ We are frequently compelled to lay by, and are sometimes in danger of being swamped, even in the little nooks and bays where we stop. The most comfortable way of travelling is to make the boat fast to a floating-tree, for this keeps the boat head on to the wind and sea, and drags her along against these with the velocity of the current.
About fifteen miles above Villa Nova, which is one hundred and fifty miles below Serpa, a boat manned by soldiers pulled out from a hut on the shore, and told us we must stop there until examined and despatched by the officer in charge, called inspector. ”

“ We found the current of the “Negro” so slight that, with our heavy boat and few men, we could make no way against a smart breeze blowing up the river: we, therefore, a mile or two below Barra, pulled into the shore and made fast till the wind should fall, which it did about 3 p.m., when we got under way and entered the Amazon.
Entering this river from the Negro, it appears but a tributary of the latter, and it is generally so designated in Barra. If a fisherman just in is asked where he is from, he will say, from the mouth of the Solimoens. ”

“ I was told afterwards, in Obidos, that, when the river was low in the months of August, September, and October — there was very little current, and that a vessel might reach Borba from the mouth in three days; but that, when it is full and falling — in the months of March, April, and May — there is no tributary of the Amazon with so strong a current; and then it requires twenty days to reach Borba.
The eastern mouth is a mile and a quarter wide. The island which divides the mouths is low and grassy at its outer extremity, but high and wooded at its upper. ”

“ The country about Maués is described as a great grazing plain, intersected and cut up with streams and canals, all navigable for the largest class of vessels that now navigate the Amazon. The soil is very rich:, and adapted to the cultivation of cotton, coffee, and cocoa. The rivers give abundance of fish; any number of cattle may be pastured upon the plains; and the neighboring woods yield cloves, cocoa, castanbas, India-rubber, guaraná, sarsaparilla, and copaiba. ”

“ When they are young they need more attention, and two people are necessary. The trees are kept clean about the roots, and insects are carefully destroyed; but the ground is never cleared of its thick covering of dead leaves, which are suffered to rot and manure it.
The earth of the cacoaes that I saw opposite Obidos is a rich, thick black mould, and is the best land I have seen. It is low, particularly at the back of the plantations; and the river, by means of creeks, finds its way there, and frequently floods the grounds, destroying many trees. ”

“ Serpa has a considerable lake back of it called Saraca, on the lower end of which is the village of Silves, a little larger than Serpa. That entrance to the lake which communicates with the Amazon near Serpa is not large enough for my boat to enter; that near Silves will admit large schooners. A mark on a tree shows that the river rises about twelve feet above its present level.
We left Serpa at 6 p.m., and drifted all night. We are compelled to travel at night, for there is so much wind and sea during the day that we make no headway. ”

“ In good ground, and without accident, every thousand trees will give fifty arrobas of the fruit; but the average is probably not over twenty-five. A tree in good condition, and bearing well, is worth sixteen cents; the land in which it grows is not counted in the sale. One person will take care of two thousand trees. The value of the arroba in Pará is one dollar. With these data, calculation will make the cultivation of the cocoa, in the neighborhood of Obidos, but a poor business; and, indeed, I heard that most of the cultivators
were in debt
300 OBIDOS. ”

“ All persons are so accustomed to travel from Barra downwards at night, and to keep out far from the shore, that they do not carry musquito curtains, which the travellers on the upper Amazon and its tributaries would perish without. ”

“ There are no roads or means of hauling timber through the forests. McCulloch told me that a young American in Pará offered to join him in the erection of a saw-mill, and to advance ten thousand dollars toward the enterprise. He said that he now thought he was unwise to refuse it, for with that sum he could have purchased a small steamer (besides building and fitting the mill) with which to cruise on the river, picking up the cedros and taking them to the mill. ”

“ The only drawback is the pleasure of a walk through them arises from the quantity of musquitoes, which in some places, and at certain times, are unendurable to one not seasoned to their attacks. I could scarcely keep still long enough to shoot some of the beautiful birds that were flitting among the trees. ”

“ This is the time of the harvest, and we found the people of every plantation engaged, in the open space before the house, in breaking open the shells of the fruit, and spreading the seed to dry in the sun on boards placed for the purpose. They make a pleasant drink for a hot day by pressing out the juice of the gelatinous pulp that envelops the seeds ”

“ I should have had sails fitted to her in Barra.
After crossing the river, we passed the mouth of two considerable streams. The lower one, called Uauta, is two hundred yards wide at its mouth, and has a considerable current. It is said to have a large lake near its head-waters, with outlets from this lake, communicating with the Amazon above, and also with the Madeira; that is, it is a paranamiri of the Amazon, widening into a lake at some part of its course. At half-past 8 p.m. we made fast for the night to some bushes on the low, western bank of the Madeira. ”

“ Some of them grow to be of great size; between Serpa and Villa Nova we made our boat fast to one that was floating on the river, which measured in length from the swell of the root to that of the first branches (that is a clear, nearly cylindrical trunk) ninety-three feet, and was nineteen feet in circumference just above the swell of the roots, which would probably have been eight feet from the ground when the tree was standing. ”

“ The whole country back of the village is very much cut up by lakes, (with water communications between them,) where the greater part of the fish is taken. The sub-delegado gave me a sketch of it from his own personal knowledge and observation. This being the frontier town of the province of Amazonas, there is a custom-house established here. I heard that it had collected one thousand dollars since the steamer passed up in December. This gives an indication of the trade of the country; foreign articles, which are the cargoes of vessels bound up, paying one and a half per cent. on their value ”