h is found at a few feet above the earth, trees with
shining russet bark dotted with gray tubercles, each pointed stem of
which supports a horizontal parasol; and _"bombax"_ of superb stature,
with its straight and smooth white stem. Among these magnificent
specimens of the Amazonian flora there fell many _"quatibos"_ whose
rosy canopies towered above the neighboring trees, whose fruits are
like little cups with rows of chestnuts ranged within, and whose wood of
clear violet is specially in demand for ship-building. And besides there
was the ironwood; and more particularly the _"ibiriratea,"_ nearly black
in its skin, and so close grained that of it the Indians make
their battle-axes; _"jacarandas,"_ more precious than mahogany;
_"caesalpinas,"_ only now found in the depths of the old forests which
have escaped the woodman's ax; _"sapucaias,"_ one hundred and fifty feet
high, buttressed by natural arches, which, starting from three yards
from their base, rejoin the tree some thirty feet up the stem, twining
themselves round the trunk like the filatures of a twisted column, whose
head expands in a bouquet of vegetable fireworks made up of the yellow,
purple, and snowy white of the parasitic plants.

Three weeks after the work was begun not one was standing of all the
trees which had covered the angle of the Amazon and the Nanay. The
clearance was complete. Joam Garral had not even had to bestir himself
in the demolition of a forest which it would take twenty or thirty
years to replace. Not a stick of young or old wood was left to mark the
boundary of a future clearing, not even an angle to mark the limit of
the denudation. It was indeed a clean sweep; the trees were cut to the
level of the earth, to wait the day when their roots would be got out,
over which the coming spring would still spread its verdant cloak.

This square space, washed on its sides by the waters of the river and
its tributary, was destined to be cleared, plowed, planted, and sown,
and the following year fields of manioc, coffee-shrubs, sugar-canes,
arrowroot, maize, and peanuts would occupy the ground so recently
covered by the trees.

The last week of the month had not arrived when the trunks, classified
according to their varieties and specific gravity, were symmetrically
arranged on the bank of the Amazon, at the spot where the immense
jangada was to be guilt--which, with the different habitations for the
accommodation of the crew, would become a