Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/187

 which it caused returned on the crumbly bank with tremendous force, and caused the fall of other masses by undermining them. The line of coast over which the landslip extended was a mile or two in length; the end of it, however, was hid from our view by an intervening island. It was a grand sight: each downfall created a cloud of spray; the concussion in one place causing other masses to give way a long distance from it, and thus the crashes continued, swaying to and fro, with little prospect of a termination. When we glided out of sight, two hours after sunrise, the destruction was still going on.

On the 9th of April we passed the mouth of a narrow channel which leads to an extensive lake called Anurí; it lies at the bottom of a long enseada or bay, on the north or left side of the river, around which sets the whole force of the current. The steamboat company have since established a station near this for supplying their vessels with firewood. A few miles beyond, on the opposite side, we saw the principal mouth of the Purús, a very large stream, whose sources are still unknown. Salsaparilla and Copaüba collectors, the only travellers on its waters, have ascended it in small boats a distance of two months' journey without meeting with any obstruction to navigation. This shows that its course lies to a very great extent within the level plain of the Upper Amazons. The mouth is not more than a quarter of a mile broad, and the water is of an olive-green colour.

We passed Cudajá on the 12th. This is a channel