A history of the Brazil

by James Henderson

The waters of Rio Negro and the Madeira increase the width of the Maranham to nearly four miles, and when there are parallel islands it is at some places eight, and at others much more.

About two hundred miles in a direct line, or three hundred by the course of the river, below the Madeira, is the mouth of the large river Tapajos; and two hundred miles further to the east that of the river Xingu, equal if not superior to the preceding; both coming from the district of Cuiaba, and neither with less than eight hundred miles of course.

At the confluence of the latter the Amazons inclines to the north-east for the distance of one hundred and forty miles, augmenting sensibly in width as it approaches the equator, where it discharges itself into the ocean by a mouth of from twenty-five to thirty miles.

Eighty miles below the mouth of the Xingu there is a channel called Tagypuru, in certain parts very narrow, and running towards the south-east as far as the mouth of the river Annapu, where it becomes upwards of fifteen miles in width, with many islands, and flows to the east until it enters the river Tucantins, which comes from the centre of the province of Goyaz, and at this part inclines to the north-east, increasing considerably in width, and entering the ocean by an embouchure equal to that of the Amazons, with this difference, that for some leagues up it is impregnated with salt water, whilst the other carries its volume of pure waters many leagues into the sea, perfectly fresh, having acquired, by its rapidity and prodigious body, a preponderating power over the first essays of its saline opponent till the ocean buries it in fathomless depths.

On the northern margin of the Amazons, below the Rio Negro, are discharged, among other smaller streams, the Matary, which flows from some handsome lakes; the Urubu, otherwise Barururu; the Aniba, denominated sometimes Saraca; the Trombetas; the Gurupatuba; and the Annarapucu.

The lateral lands of the Amazons from Borja, where the falls and currents terminate, are flat and covered with woods. The current is always rapid, even at its greatest diminution, and the waters when drawn are of an orange colour, and at the floods are never muddy. Its bed is an archipelago, leaving, in the space of above one thousand miles, few places where the navigator can distinctly see both sides of the continent. These islands increase and decrease annually, not only in number but in size at the period of the floods, which, in parts, divide one into two, and in others accumulate many into one by filling up the channels which separated them. Here portions of land are violently torn away from the continent, there from the islands, with which either the existing ones are augmented or new ones formed. Some are of great extent, and usually covered with large trees.

The vessels which are navigated to the high Amazons are formed of trunks of trees of from forty to sixty feet in length; they are excavated into the form of canoes, with the power of fire and water, and the greatest width is given that they are susceptible of; being preserved in this state with knees, to which are nailed planks to make them higher, having around prow, and a poop with a cabin, and a rudder. They always retain the appellation of canoes, and have two masts, with round sails, in order to proceed up before an easterly wind, and descend by the impulse of the current. It is dangerous to navigate near the margins, where frequently large trees fall into the river without any wind, the current having excavated the ground upon which they stood.

The tide advances to the town of Obydos, more than five hundred miles above Macappa, computing by the bed of the river. With a strong wind it swells like the sea, but immediately the wind subsides it becomes tranquil by the power of the current, which dissipates the advancing waves in a moment.

Amongst other species of fish with which it is stored are the gorujuba, the large perahyba, doirado, pescada, and puraquez, which possesses the property of benumbing the arm of the fisherman. A species of seal, denominated by the Indians manahy, and by the Portuguese peixe-boy, (ox fish, or sea calf,) in consequence of the similarity of its snout or head to that animal, is the largest, and feeds upon herbs which grow upon the margins, without going out of the river. It is viviparous and gives milk to its young like the whale, and has extremely small eyes; the flesh is like veal and of a good flavour, of which is also made sausages, called mixiras; the oil extracted from it not only serves for lights but for seasoning various eatables. The Dutch, when they had a footing in these parts, derived a lucrative branch of commerce from this fish. The pirarucu is large, and esteemed good; its tongue serves the Indians for a rasp to grate the guarana fruit; the internal parts, after being dried in the sun, form a good glue, and when reduced to powder exceed every thing for clarifying coffee. Alligators are numerous and very large; and the tortoise is very bulky and abundant, but its shell is of no value: it is amphibious, and deposits at one time more than a hundred eggs in holes which it makes in the sand at a short distance from the water, covering them over; the heat of the sun hatches them, and the young, disengaging themselves from the sand, immediately proceed to the river; many, however, in this short march, are devoured by the hawk.

The river Moju, which is spacious and deep, even as far as the tide reaches, originates in the territory of the Camecran Indians beyond the woods, which it afterwards traverses northward until it enters the bay of Guajara. In the forests or woods above mentioned, consisting of most excellent timber, and where the chestnut-tree of the country abounds, there is a great scarcity of game, caused, no doubt, by the continued huntings of the Ammanius, Pochetys, Appinages, and Norogages, tribes of Indians who dwell in the circumjacent country. The want of this resource is the alleged reason for establishments not having been formed in the fertile territory watered by this river, navigable to its centre.