The youths dipped some water from the two rivers and placed it in glasses side by side. That of the Amazon was like milk, as sometimes seen in boarding-houses or cheap restaurants, while the water of the Negro was clear, with a tinge of red. The difference in the banks of the rivers was as marked as that of their waters, those of the Amazon being low and broken, as on the Mississippi. The banks of the Negro gave no indication of alluvial washings, but presented many sandy beaches, backed by low hills covered with dark forests, in which few palms or similar trees were visible.
The steamer anchored in front of Manaos, and the little party went on shore. They found a town resembling some of the river-landings in Arkansas or Missouri, with the addition of tropical surroundings. It straggled along the shore and back over the undulating hills for a considerable distance, and at first glance resembled a city of no small importance. It had about four thousand inhabitants, but there is room for many times that number when all the "lots" are occupied with well-filled dwellings. On an elevation in the centre is the cathedral, which was unfinished at the time of Dr. Bronson's visit, and has been a work of very slow growth since its foundation.
Facing the river is a large open square with a few palm-trees on its borders, and near the water there are several buildings variously occupied as custom-house, hotel, and steamboat offices. A long avenue known as Brazil Street runs through the town, with its ends on two igaripés, or canals; these canals run back from the river, so that Manaos is surrounded on three sides by water. The houses are by no means crowded, as in most European cities, but each has a comfortable area of ground around it, affording good ventilation and plenty of moving space.
FRUIT-PEDLERS.
Manaos is destined to be the St. Louis of the Amazon Valley, as it is the diverging and converging point for a great deal of commerce. Freight up or down the Amazon and its tributaries is generally transshipped here, and at some seasons of the year the river front is a scene of much activity. The population is a mixed one, and includes negroes, Indians, Brazilians, Portuguese, Italians, and half a dozen nationalities of Europe, together with a few Chinese and East Indians, and occasionally Englishmen and North Americans. As the commerce of the Amazon Valley develops, Manaos will grow in population and wealth, and the day may not be far distant when ocean steamers will receive their cargoes at its docks instead of at Para.
ARRIVAL AT MANAOS.