“I took advantage of these detentions to visit the shores, and explore the country. In this way I became acquainted with some very strange Indian tribes. But I saw nothing of the Amazons—the female warriors you have read of. Nor did I meet with any one who ever had seen any of them. I did find a ruined fortress, but I never heard that the Amazons had anything to do with fortresses. They trusted to their bows and spears.
“In the place of these warlike females are gentle, inoffensive Indian women, who will sell you delicious fruits, or make you a hammock for a small sum of money, or a few ornaments.
“Immense forests stretch along both banks, filled with luxuriant vegetation. To a resident, a trip on the river, sailing between these lines of forests, is tedious, and monotonous. But a stranger is constantly interested in the beautiful and wonderful plants around him.
“There are also farms along the river, and occasionally a white settlement—usually a village; rarely a town.
“And, if the vessel gets on sand-bars as often as our good sloop, the Bella Donna, the stranger will have an opportunity of seeing some of the animals of the country, Some of them are not very pleasant to meet, especially the jaguar. But the monkeys are amusing.
“At some of the mission stations among the Indians he will also see a good deal to interest him. The Indians have been taught something of agriculture, and have some very primitive machines.
“In one of my rambles I came across a sugar-cane mill, in which three Indians were at work.
SUGAR-CANE MILL.
“It was an enormous affair, but worked entirely by man-power. The great wheels were made to revolve by a single man working in each, very much in the style in which squirrels turn toy wheels in their cages.