entered that portion of the Brazilian empire which has no boundary to
the east except the Atlantic.
“How magnificent!” remarked Minha, over and over again.
“How long!” murmured Manoel.
“How beautiful!” repeated Lina.
“When shall we get there?” murmured Fragoso.
And this was what might have been expected of these folks from the
different points of view, though time passed pleasantly enough with
them all the same. Benito, who was neither patient nor impatient, had
recovered all his former good humor.
Soon the jangada glided between interminable plantations of
cocoa-trees with their somber green flanked by the yellow thatch or
ruddy tiles of the roofs of the huts of the settlers on both banks
from Obidos up to the town of Monto Alegre.
Then there opened out the mouth of the Rio Trombetas, bathing with
its black waters the houses of Obidos, situated at about one hundred
and eighty miles from Belem, quite a small town, and even a
_”citade”_ with large streets bordered with handsome habitations, and
a great center for cocoa produce. Then they saw another tributary,
the Tapajos, with its greenish-gray waters descending from the
south-west; and then Santarem, a wealthy town of not less than five
thousand inhabitants, Indians for the most part, whose nearest houses
were built on the vast beach of white sand.
After its departure from Manaos the jangada did not stop anywhere as
it passed down the much less encumbered course of the Amazon. Day and
night it moved along under the vigilant care of its trusty pilot; no
more stoppages either for the gratification of the passengers or for
business purposes. Unceasingly it progressed, and the end rapidly
grew nearer.
On leaving Alemquer, situated on the left bank, a new horizon
appeared in view. In place of the curtain of forests which had shut
them in up to then, our friends beheld a foreground of hills, whose
undulations could be easily descried, and beyond them the faint
summits of veritable mountains vandyked across the distant depth of
sky. Neither Yaquita, nor her daughter, nor Lina, nor old Cybele, had
ever seen anything like this.
But in this jurisdiction of Para, Manoel was at home, and he could
tell them the names of the double chain which gradually narrowed the
valley of the huge river.
“To the right,” said he, “that is the Sierra de Paracuarta, which
curves in a half-circle to the south! To the left, that is the Sierra
de Curuva, of which we have already passed the first outposts.”
“Then they close in?” asked Fragoso.
“They close in!” replied Manoel.
And the two young men seemed to understand each other, for the same
slight but significant nodding of the head accompanied the question
and reply.
At last, notwithstanding the tide, which since leaving Obidos had
begun to be felt, and which somewhat checked the progress of the
raft, the town of Monto Alegre was passed, then that of Pravnha de
Onteiro, then the mouth of the Xingu, frequented by Yurumas Indians,
whose principal industry consists in preparing their enemies’ heads
for natural history cabinets.
To what a superb size the Amazon had now developed as already this
monarch of rivers gave signs of opening out like a sea! Plants from
eight to ten feet high clustered along the beach, and bordered it
with a forest of reeds. Porto de Mos, Boa Vista, and Gurupa, whose
prosperity is on the decline, were soon among the places left in the
rear.
Then the river divided into two important branches, which flowed off
toward the Atlantic, one going away northeastward, the other
eastward, and between them appeared the beginning of the large island
of Marajo. This island is quite a province in itself. It measures no
less than a hundred and eighty leagues in circumference. Cut up by
marshes and rivers, all savannah to the east, all forest to the west,
it offers most excellent advantages for the raising of cattle, which
can here be seen in their thousands. This immense barricade of Marajo
is the natural obstacle which has compelled the Amazon to divide
before precipitating its torrents of water into the sea. Following
the upper branch, the jangada, after passing the islands of Caviana