es passed through the middle of this island.

Above, the river is Peruvian, and is called the Maranon, as has been
said. Below, it is Brazilian, and takes the name of the Amazon.

It was on the evening of the 25th of June that the jangada stopped
before Tabatinga, the first Brazilian town situated on the left bank, at
the entrance of the river of which it bears the name, and belonging to
the parish of St. Paul, established on the right a little further down
stream.

Joam Garral had decided to pass thirty-six hours here, so as to give
a little rest to the crew. They would not start, therefore, until the
morning of the 27th.

On this occasion Yaquita and her children, less likely, perhaps, than
at Iquitos to be fed upon by the native mosquitoes, had announced their
intention of going on ashore and visiting the town.

The population of Tabatinga is estimated at four hundred, nearly all
Indians, comprising, no doubt, many of those wandering families who
are never settled at particular spots on the banks of the Amazon or its
smaller tributaries.

The post at the island of the Ronde has been abandoned for some years,
and transferred to Tabatinga. It can thus be called a garrison town, but
the garrison is only composed of nine soldiers, nearly all Indians, and
a sergeant, who is the actual commandant of the place.

A bank about thirty feet high, in which are cut the steps of a not very
solid staircase, forms here the curtain of the esplanade which carries
the pigmy fort. The house of the commandant consists of a couple of huts
placed in a square, and the soldiers occupy an oblong building a hundred
feet away, at the foot of a large tree.

The collection of cabins exactly resembles all the villages and hamlets
which are scattered along the banks of the river, although in them
a flagstaff carrying the Brazilian colors does not rise above a
sentry-box, forever destitute of its sentinel, nor are four small
mortars present to cannonade on an emergency any vessel which does not
come in when ordered.

As for the village properly so called, it is situated below, at the
base of the plateau. A road, which is but a ravine shaded by ficuses and
miritis, leads to it in a few minutes. There, on a half-cracked hill of
clay, stand a dozen houses, covered with the leaves of the _"boiassu"_
palm placed round a central space.

All this is not very curious, but the environs of Tabatinga are
charming, particularly at the mouth of the J