It would be, in truth, as if a part of the fazenda of Iquitos had
been cut away from the bank and carried down the Amazon with all that
composed the family of the fazender--masters and servants, in their
dwellings, their cottages, and their huts.

The settlement of Iquitos included a part of those magnificent
forests which, in the central districts of South America, are
practically inexhaustible.

Joam Garral thoroughly understood the management of these woods,
which were rich in the most precious and diverse species adapted for
joinery, cabinet work, ship building, and carpentry, and from them he
annually drew considerable profits.

The river was there in front of him, and could it not be as safely
and economically used as a railway if one existed? So every year Joam
Garral felled some hundreds of trees from his stock and formed
immense rafts of floating wood, of joists, beams, and slightly
squared trunks, which were taken to Para in charge of capable pilots
who were thoroughly acquainted with the depths of the river and the
direction of its currents.

This year Joam Garral decided to do as he had done in preceding
years. Only, when the raft was made up, he was going to leave to
Benito all the detail of the trading part of the business. But there
was no time to lose. The beginning of June was the best season to
start, for the waters, increased by the floods of the upper basin,
would gradually and gradually subside until the month of October.