northeast of Arica.

Such are the principal branches above the village of Iquitos. Down
the stream the tributaries become so considerable that the beds of
most European rivers would fail to contain them. But the mouths of
these auxiliary waters Joam Garral and his people will pass as they
journey down the Amazon.

To the beauties of this unrivaled river, which waters the finest
country in the world, and keeps along its whole course at a few
degrees to the south of the equator, there is to be added another
quality, possessed by neither the Nile, the Mississippi, nor the
Livingstone--or, in other words, the old Congo-Zaira-Lualaba--and
that is (although some ill-informed travelers have stated to the
contrary) that the Amazon crosses a most healthy part of South
America. Its basin is constantly swept by westerly winds. It is not a
narrow valley surrounded by high mountains which border its banks,
but a huge plain, measuring three hundred and fifty leagues from
north to south, scarcely varied with a few knolls, whose whole extent
the atmospheric currents can traverse unchecked.

Professor Agassiz very properly protested against the pretended
unhealthiness o the climate of a country which is destined to become
one of the most active of the world's producers. According to him, "a
soft and gentle breeze is constantly observable, and produces an
evaporation, thanks to which the temperature is kept down, and the
sun does not give out heat unchecked. The constancy of this
refreshing breeze renders the climate of the river Amazon agreeable,
and even delightful."