h of the current.

Then came the Tocantins, whose waters, due to the different rivers
of the province of Goyaz, mingle with those of the Amazon by an
_embouchure_ of great size, then the Moju, then the town of Santa Ana.

Majestically the panorama of both banks moved along without a pause,
as though some ingenious mechanism necessitated its unrolling in the
opposite direction to that of the stream.

Already numerous vessels descending the river, ubas, egariteas,
vigilandas, pirogues of all builds, and small coasters from the lower
districts of the Amazon and the Atlantic seaboard, formed a procession
with the giant raft, and seemed like sloops beside some might
man-of-war.

At length there appeared on the left Santa Maria de Belem do Para--the
"town" as they call it in that country--with its picturesque lines of
white houses at many different levels, its convents nestled among
the palm-trees, the steeples of its cathedral and of Nostra Senora de
Merced, and the flotilla of its brigantines, brigs, and barks, which
form its commercial communications with the old world.

The hearts of the passengers of the giant raft beat high. At length they
were coming to the end of the voyage which they had thought they would
never reach. While the arrest of Joam detained them at Manaos, halfway
on their journey, could they ever have hoped to see the capital of the
province of Para?

It was in the course of this day, the 15th of October--four months and a
half after leaving the fazenda of Iquitos--that, as they rounded a sharp
bend in the river, Belem came into sight.

The arrival of the jangada had been signaled for some days. The whole
town knew the story of Joam Dacosta. They came forth to welcome him, and
to him and his people accorded a most sympathetic reception.

Hundreds of craft of all sorts conveyed them to the fazender, and soon
the jangada was invaded by all those who wished to welcome the return of
their compatriot after his long exile. Thousands of sight-seers--or
more correctly speaking, thousands of friends crowded on to the floating
village as soon as it came to its moorings, and it was vast and solid
enough to support the entire population. Among those who hurried on
board one of the first pirogues had brought Madame Valdez. Manoel's
mother was at last able to clasp to her arms the daughter whom her son
had chosen. If the good lady had not been able to come to Iquitos, was
it not as though a portion of the faz