difficulty of obtaining fresh provisions would increase. I
intended, therefore, to spend the next three months at Para, in
the neighbourhood of which there was still much to be done in the
intervals of fine weather, and then start off on another
excursion into the interior.


CHAPTER VI

THE LOWER AMAZONS-PARA TO OBYDOS

Modes of Travelling on the Amazons--Historical Sketch of the
Early Explorations of the River--Preparations for Voyage--Life on
Board a Large Trading Vessel--The narrow channels joining the
Para to the Amazons--First Sight of the Great River--Gurupa--The
Great Shoal--Flat-topped Mountains--Santarem--Obydos

At the time of my first voyage up the Amazons--namely, in 1849--
nearly all communication with the interior was by means of small
sailing-vessels, owned by traders residing in the remote towns
and villages, who seldom came to Para themselves, but entrusted
vessels and cargoes to the care of half-breeds or Portuguese
cabos. Sometimes, indeed, they risked all in the hands of the
Indian crew, making the pilot, who was also steersman, do duty as
supercargo. Now and then, Portuguese and Brazilian merchants at
Para furnished young Portuguese with merchandise, and dispatched
them to the interior to exchange the goods for produce among the
scattered population. The means of communication, in fact, with
the upper parts of the Amazons had been on the decline for some
time, on account of the augmented difficulty of obtaining hands