Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon/Volume 1



32D CONGRESS, }      SENATE       {EXECUTIVE 2d Session                                        No. 36.

EXPLORATION

OF THE

VALLEY OF THE AMAZON,

MADE UNDER DIRECTION OF

THE NAVY DEPARTMENT,

BY

WM. LEWIS HERNDON AND LARDNER GIBBON, LIEUTENANTS UNITED STATES NAVY.

WASHINGTON: ROBERT ARMSTRONG, PUBLIC PRINTER.

LETTER OF THE

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY,

COMMUNICATING

A Report of an Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon and its tributaries, made by Lieut. William Lewis Herndon, in connection with Lieut. Lardner Gibbon.

FEBRUARY 10, 1853. — Referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs and ordered to be printed.

MARCH 3, 1853. — ordered that 10,000 additional copies be printed for the use of the Senate.

To the Senate and House of Representatives.

I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by the first part of Lieut. Herndon’s Report of the Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon and its tributaries, made by him, in connection with Lieut. Lardner Gibbon, under instructions from the Navy Department.

MILLARD FILLMORE. WASHINGTON, February 9, 1853.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, February, 1853. To the President:

SIR, In compliance with the notice given in the annual report of this department to the President, and communicated to Congress at the opening of its present session, I have the honor herewith to submit the first part of the Report of Lieut. Herndon, of the Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon and its tributaries, made by him, in connection with Lieut. Lardner Gibbon, under instructions from this department, dated the 15th of February, 1851.

I am happy to be able to inform you that Lieut. Gibbon reached Pará on his homeward journey some weeks ago, and may very soon be expected to arrive in the United States. When he returns, Lieut.

4  CORRESPONDENCE.

Herndon will have all the materials necessary to complete his report, and will devote himself to that labor with the same assiduity which has characterized his present work.

I would respectfully beg leave to suggest that, in submitting this report to the House of Representatives, it be accompanied with a request to that body, if it should think proper to direct the printing of this valuable document, that the order for that purpose may include all the remaining portions of the report which may hereafter be furnished; and that the order for printing shall include a suitable direction for the engraving and publication of the maps, charts, and sketches, which will be furnished as necessary illustrations of the subjects treated of in the report.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, your obedient servant,

JOHN P. KENNEDY.

WASHINGTON city, January 26, 1853.

To the Hon. JOHN P. KENNEDY, Secretary of the Navy.

SIR: I have the honor to submit part first of the Report of an Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, made by me, with the assistance of Lieut. Lardner Gibbon, under instructions of the Navy Department, bearing date February 15, 1851.

The desire expressed by the department for an early report of my exploration of the Amazon, and the general interest manifested in the public mind with regard to the same, have induced me to lay before you at once as full an account of our proceedings as can be made before the return of my companion. he general map which accompanies the report is based upon maps published by the Society for the diffusion of Useful Knowledge, but corrected and improved according to my own personal observations, and on information obtained by me whilst in that country.

The final report of the expedition will be submitted as soon after Lieut. Gibbon’s return as practicable. I am in daily expectation of intelligence from him. At the latest accounts (26th of July, 1852) he was at Trinidad de Moxos, on the Mamoré, in the republic of Bolivia, making his preparations for the descent of the Madeira.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. LEWIS HERNDON, Lieut. U. S. Navy.

CHAPTERS

CHAPTER I. U. S. ship Vandalia — Valparaiso — Santiago — Vicente Pazos — Prepatory orders — Lima — Means of information — Conquests of the Incas in the Montaña — First explorations of the Spaniards — Madame Godin. CHAPTER II. Orders — Investigation of routes — Lake Rogoaguado — River Beni — Chanchamayo — Cuzco route — River Madre-de-Dios — Gold mines of Carabaya — Route through the cities of Truxillo, Caxamarca, Chachapoyas, Moyobamba, &c. Preparations for the journey — The start. CHAPTER III. Passports — Means of defence — The road — Pacayar — Chaclacayo — Narrow pass — Yanacoto — Bridge — Cocachacra — Tribute money — Dividing line between the coast and the Sierra — Moyoc — Varieties of the potato — Matucana — San Mateo — Mines of Parac — Narrow valley — Summit of the Cordillera — Refections. CHAPTER IV. Mines of Morococha — A Yankee’s house — Mountain of Puypuy — Splendid view — Pachachaca — Lava stream — Chain bridge at Oroya — Descent into the valley of Tarma — Tarma — American physician — Customs — Dress Religious observances — Muleteers and mules — General Otero — Farming in the Sierra — Road to Chanchamayo — Perils of travel — Gold mies of Matichacra — View of the Montaña — Fort San Ramon — Indians of Chanchamayo — Cultivation. CHAPTER V. Division of the party — Acobamba — Plain of Junin — Lake Chinchaycocha — Preservation of potatoes — Cerro Pasco — Drainage of the mines — Boliches. CHAPTER VI. Departure from Cerro Pasco — Mint at Quinua — San Rafael — Ambo — Quicacan — Huanuco — Cerro de Carpis — Chinchao valley — Huallaga river. CHAPTER VII. Itinerary — Tingo Maria — Vampires — Blow-guns — Canoe navigation — Shooting monkeys — Tocache — Sion — Salt hills of Pilluana. CHAPTER VIII. Tarapoto — Pongo of Chasuta — Chasuta — Yurimaguas — Sta. Cruz — Antonio, the Paraguá — Laguna — Mouth of the Huallaga. CHAPTER IX. Entrance into the Amazon — Nauta — Upper and lower Missions of Mainas — Conversions of the Ucayali — Trade in Sarsaparilla — Advantages of Trade with this country. CHAPTER X. Nauta — River Ucayali — Sarayacu — The missionaries — The Indians of the Ucayali. CHAPTER XI. Upper Ucayali — M. Castelnau — Length of navigation — Loss of the priest — Departure from Sarayacu — Omaguas — Iquitos — Mouth of the Napo — Pebas — San José de los Yaguas — State of Indians of Peru. CHAPTER XII. Chochiquinas — Caballo Cocha — Alligators — Indian incantations — Loreto — Tabatinga — River Yavari — San Paulo — River Ica — Tunantins — Making Manteiga — River Jutay — Fonteboa — River Juruá — River Japurá. CHAPTER XIII. Egas — Trade — Lake Coari — Mouth of the Rio Negro — Barra — Trade — Productions. CHAPTER XIV. Town of Barra — Foreign residents — Population — Rio Negro — Connexion with the Oronoco — River Purus — Rio Branco — Vegetable productions of the Amazon country. CHAPTER XV. Departure from Barra — River Madeira — Serpa — Villa Nova — Maués — River Trombetas — Cocoa plantations — Obidos — Santarem. CHAPTER XVI. Santarem — Population — Trade — River Tapajos — Cuiaba — Diamond region — Account of the Indians of the Tapajos. CHAPTER XVII. Departure from Santarem — Monte Alegre — Prainha — Almeirim — Gurupá River Xingu — Great estuary of the Amazon — India-rubber country — Method of collecting and preparing the India-rubber — Bay of Limoeiro — Arrival at Pará. CHAPTER XVIII. Pará CHAPTER XIX. Resume.