THE ANT-EATER ASLEEP.
Fred interrupted the conversation by calling attention to an ant-eater, the property of one of the passengers, which was secured in a cage containing an upright branch of a tree for its accommodation. Manuel said the beast made his home in the trees, and lived on the tree-ants, which were numerous in Brazil. He sleeps by day, and roams at night, and when he sleeps he gives his whole mind to it. He has strong claws and a prehensile tail; by the use of these, and by placing his head in the fork of a limb, he can slumber without any fear of falling out of bed.
The fellow was taking his afternoon nap, and the youths did not disturb him. Fred make a sketch of the ant-eater in repose, and pronounced him a model drawing-model, as he did not move a muscle during the time required for taking his portrait.
The first stopping-place of the steamer was at Serpa, thirty miles below the mouth of the Madeira; it was a town of about one hundred houses, with as mixed a population as that of Manaos, though not as numerous. The proportion of negroes seemed larger than at Manaos, and Manuel said they would find this the case in each of the river towns as they approached Para. They took on board a considerable quantity of rubber, and then steamed onward.
THE MOUTHS OF THE AMAZON.
One hundred and fifty miles farther on they stopped at Villa Nova, the twin brother of Serpa in size and general appearance. Here the Amazon began to contract its banks, and the current increased in strength until, at Obidos, one hundred miles beyond Villa Nova, they found it narrowed to about a mile in width. The river is here two hundred and fifty feet deep, and its velocity, according to Professor Orton, is 2.4 feet per second. All the water of the Amazon does not go through this passage, as there are lateral channels which carry off a considerable quantity. Obidos is on a high bank of hard clay, and presents a bold front to the river. There are many cacao plantations in the vicinity; from Villa Nova to Para these plantations are numerous, and the industry is more important than anything else.
The river widened again as they moved on to Santarem, which is fifty miles below Obidos, and occupies a healthy position at the mouth of the Rio Tapajos, five hundred miles from the ocean. This river sends to market rubber, sarsaparilla, Brazil nuts, farina, and copaiba, and there are several cattle estates along its banks. Colonists from the southern states of North America settled here after our civil war; some of them established a prosperous business, but the greater number went away disappointed. Those who remain cultivate the sugar-cane and make sugar; some are engaged in commerce, and others have gone to rearing cattle and making butter. The latter industry was formerly unknown here, all butter used in Para, and elsewhere on the Amazon, being imported from Europe or the United States.
Below Santarem the river increased in width so greatly that at times both banks were not visible from the steamer. Several unimportant points were visited; rubber, cacao, and other products were received at the landings; and the horizon of tropical forest along the banks retained its luxuriance and monotony. There were few signs of animal life beyond an occasional hut of a rubber-maker, or a group of natives gazing idly at the steamer.