Wf\t^ Hcrbcirt H. Smith Coricctlon 
 
 OF BOOKS ON SOUTH AMERICA 
 
 PURCHASED PROM THE 
 
 Base SEndomtnent l^and 
 1896 
 
Cornell University Library 
 
 arY751 
 
 On the races of the Peruvian Andes, and 
 
 3 1924 032 181 947 
 olin.anx 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032181947 
 
( 1 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of 10th July, 1871. 
 [Registered for transmission abroad, aad published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 ROYAL GEOaRAPHICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Session 1870-71. 
 Extra-Sessional Meeting, Monday, IQih July, 1871. 
 
 Majok-General Sir HENRY C. EAWLINSON, k.c.b., Peesbdent, 
 
 in tte Chair. 
 
 Elections. — Sir William George Anderson, k.c.b.; George Tournay 
 Biddtdph, Esq. ; J. M. L. Down, Esq., m.d. ; William EUiot, Esq., c.e. ; 
 William Goodwin, Esq. ; George Johnson, Esq., m.d. ; the Might Hon. 
 the Earl of Pernbrohe and Montgomery ; A. H. Seed, Esq. ; William 
 George Thorpe, Esq. 
 
 Accessions to the Library from June 26th to July 9th, 1871. 
 — ' Eeisen in Ost-Afrika.' By Baron 0. C. von der Decken. Vol. 
 II, Purcliased. ' Geological Survey of Canada, from 1866 to 1869.' 
 By A. E. C. Selwyn. Montreal, 1870. Presented. ' Wilhelm 
 Haidinger.' By M. A. Becker. Wien, 1871. Presented. 'Voyages 
 dans la Basse et la Hante Egypte.' 1809. By V. Denon. Donor 
 Admiral Sir W. Hall. ' Florida ; its Climate, Ac' New York, 1870. 
 Donor S. M. Holmes, Esq. ' Astronomical and Meteorological Ob- 
 servations, TJ. S. Naval Observatory, in 1868.' Washington, 1871. 
 Donor Commodore B. F. Sands. ' The Industrial Progress of New 
 South Wales.' Sydney, 1871. Donor Charles Cooper, Esq. 
 
 Accessions to the Map-room since the last Meeting of June 
 26th, 1871. 'Atlas e Eelatorio concernente a ExploragSto do Eio 
 de S. Francisco, desde a caohpeira da Pirapora ate ao Oceano 
 Atlantico, levantado por ordem do governo de S. M. I. Dom 
 Pedro II. Pelo Engenheiro Civil, Henrique Gnilherme Fernando 
 
 Halfeld, em 1852, 1853, e 1854-. Eio de Janeiro, I860.' ' Atlas do 
 
 Imperio do Brazil comprehendendo as respectivas divisioes, admi- 
 nistrativas, eoclesiasticas, eleitoraes, e judiciaria dedicado a sua 
 Magestade o Imperador o Senhor D. Pedro II., destinado a Instruc5ao 
 Publica no Imperio com especialidade a dos Alumnos do Imperial 
 Collegio de Pedro II., organisado por Candido Mendes de Almeida. 
 
 Eio de Janeiro, 1868.' ' Trabalhos Hydrographicos ao Norte do 
 
 Brazil dirigidos pelo Capitao de Fragata d' A. N. I. Jose da Costa 
 Azevedo. Primeiros tra90s geraes da carta particular do Eio 
 Amazonas no curso Brazileiro Levantada pelo S' Joao Scares. 
 Pinto Capitao-Tenente d' A. N. I. Coadjuvado de Belem a Teffe' 
 pelo S' Vincente Pereira Dias, Primeiro-Tenante do Corpo D'En- 
 genheiros nos annos de 1862, a 1864.' 
 
 This extra-Sessional Meeting having been called together by the 
 Council in order to give His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, who 
 is one of the Honorary Members, an opportunity of attending a 
 Meeting of the Society, the President opened the business by 
 saying, that the Fellows of the Society were always glad to 
 welcome any of their Honorary Members who might attend their 
 evening meetings; but they were especially proud of an occasion 
 like the present, when they were honoured by the presence of 
 one whose connexion with the Society was owing not so much to 
 his distinguished position among the sovereigns of the world, as to 
 the earnestness and' success with which, from congeniality of tastes 
 and appreciation of the value of geographical pursuits, he had 
 availed himself of his exalted position to advance the true interests 
 of this branch of science. To enumerate the various ways in which 
 the Emperor of Brazil had shown himself a true friend of geography 
 (2E ) 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Gegoraphical Society of lOth July, 1871. 
 [Eegistered for transmission abroad, and published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 miles, with an average width between the sea-shore and the Ama- 
 zonian forests of 300 miles. This vast tract comprises every variety 
 of climate, and contains within its limits the most prolific tropical 
 forests, valleys with the climate of Italy, a coast region resembling 
 Sind or Egypt, temperate hill-sides and plateaux, bleak and chilling 
 pasture-lands, and lofty peaks and ridges within the limits of 
 eternal snow. In such a country, with such a variety of climates 
 and products, and where communication is so difficult, the various 
 nations appear to have gradually developed their capabilities in 
 almost complete isolation, and much influenced by the circum- 
 stances which surrounded them, during a course of ages. The tribal 
 divisions of the empire of the Yncas agree well with its leading 
 physical aspects. They consist of six clearly-defined regions : four 
 following the lines of the Cordilleras, one on the sea-coast, and the 
 last in the eastern forests. The first is included in the old king- 
 dom of Quito, having its southern termination at the knot of Loxa. 
 The second reaches from the mountain mass of Loxa to the saddle 
 which separates the drainage of the Huallaga and Ucayali basins, 
 a distance of 450 miles, and comprises the Ohincha-suyu division. 
 The third, and most important region, is that which is drained by 
 affluents of the Ucayali ; it includes the home of the Imperial tribe, 
 and I have, therefore, called it the Ynoa division. The fourth com- 
 prises the basin of Lake Titicaca, and is known as the Collao. The 
 fifth is the coast region, and extends along the shores of the Pacific 
 from the bay of Guayaquil to the desert of Atacama, — a distance of 
 1 200 miles. The sixth is that portion of the dense forest-covered 
 region to the eastward of the Andes, which is peopled by emigrants 
 from the mountains. 
 
 The Ynoa region extends from the water-partings between, the 
 basins at the Huallaga and Ucayali at Cerro Pasco, to that between 
 the basins of the Ucaj'ali and Lake Titicaca, at the base of the famous 
 Peak of Vilcanota,- — a distance of 380 miles. It is enclosed between 
 the maritime cordillera and the eastern Andes, and is entirely drained 
 by the affluents of the Ucayali, except at one point, where it extends 
 over the coast watershed. Every variety of climate is met with in 
 this mountain region. Here Nature has worked on her grandest and 
 most imposing scale. The scenery is glorious ; the products of every 
 zone are collected on one mountain-side ; but the difficulties in the 
 way of advancing civilization, caused by the mighty obstacles of 
 Nature, are such as to tax man's ingenuity to the utmost. Humboldt 
 has well observed, that " when enterprising races inhabit a land 
 where the form of the ground presents to them difficulties on a grand 
 scale, which they may conquer and overcome, the contest with Nature 
 becomes a means of increasing their strength and power, as well as 
 their courage." A country like this was well adapted for the cradle 
 of an imperial race. It was inhabited by six aboriginal nations, — 
 the Yncas, Canas, Quichuas, Chanoas, Huancas, and Eucanas. 
 
 These nations were closely allied, and seem to have had a common 
 origin. Inhabiting regions alike in all respects, their development 
 depended on the same causes, and they had to encounter the same 
 difficulties in their first advances towards civilization. In the pre- 
 historic times there were, doubtless, many struggles for supremacy 
 and leadership, until finally the Ynca nation achieved undisputed 
 sway. The Ynca country, as defined by Garcilasso, was bounded on 
 the west by the precipitous gorge of the Apurimao, and on the east 
 by the Paucartambo river. North and south it extended along the 
 valley of the Vilcamayu, which passed through its centre. It thus 
 consisted' of a rich and fertile central valley, enjoying an Italian 
 climate, and yielding corn and fruit in abundance, and a mountainous 
 tract on either side, with pastures and rugged heights. Cuzco is on 
 the western highland, between the central valley and the Apurimac. 
 This district is about 70 miles by 60 in extent. 
 
C 5 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of lOth July, 1871. 
 [Ue!j;istered lor transmission abroad, and published September 25tb, 1871.] 
 
 The proper name for the people of this tract is Tnca. All the 
 heads of families were called Yncas, and it was not until later times 
 that the name was assumed as the. special title of the royal family. 
 Even then the headmen of this original cradle of the imperial race 
 retained the name of Yncas, but it was pretended that the title had 
 heen conferred upon them as a great favour. The universal tradition 
 among the people was that the Yncas first appeared nearly in the 
 centre of the home district. Thus, as far as tradition can pierce 
 into the past, their civilization was altogether of indigenous origin 
 and growth. The general belief, both of rulers and people, was that 
 the first Ynca was of native and local origin, and they had no know- 
 ledge of the appearance of any strangers more civilized than them- 
 selves. A contrary belief, that the Yncas came from Lake Titicaca, 
 rests upon a story alleged by Garcilasso to have been told him when 
 he was a child, and on a similar version, received, possibly from the 
 same source, by Zarate and Acosta. As against the united testimony 
 of every other authority, this Titicaca story must be rejected as un- 
 worthy of credence. 
 
 We thus come to the consideration of a people which had been 
 established from pre-historic times in the districts round Cuzco, and 
 had gradually developed an indigenous power and civilization until 
 it commenced a career of conquest, and its dominions assumed im- 
 perial proportions. It is not the object of my paper to discuss the 
 various interesting points relating to Ynca civilization ; excepting so 
 far as some of them will assist us to eliminate Ynca elements in the 
 history of other tribes, and so to attain correct notions of their original 
 condition. With that end, however, I have considered the nature 
 of the religious belief, of some of the customs, and of the language of 
 the Yncas, as well as the character of their architecture, and the pro- 
 gressive stages of their advance in the art of building. 
 
 These points require more time for their discussion than it is 
 possible to devote to them on the present occasion ; and it would be 
 useless to refer to such conclusions as are likely to be disputed, 
 without quoting the authorities on which they are based. It will 
 be sufficient here to say, that the six nations of this central Andsean 
 region appear to have worked out their advances in civilization by 
 separate roads, until increasing population brought them in contact 
 with each other, when a struggle for supremacy ended in the mastery 
 of the fittest — the Yncas. Being closely-allied branches of one 
 family, speaking dialects of one language, they were soon welded 
 together ; and such people were sure, in the course of time, to 
 overcome more distant tribes living in regions less favoured by 
 Nature. 
 
 South of the Ynca region is that of the Collao, forming the basin 
 of Lake Titicaca, which is about 300 miles long by about 150. It 
 is bounded east and west by the mighty chains of the Andes and 
 the coast cordillera, with the saddle of Vilcanota connecting the two 
 ranges as its northern boundary, and with all the drainage from 
 these surrounding mountains flowing into the great lake. The 
 region thus enclosed averages 12,000 feet above the level of the sea, a 
 hilly and broken plateau where no com (save quinoa) will grow, and 
 only yielding edible roots and coarse pasture for llamas and alpacas — 
 a bleak and treeless series of unproductive plains and uplands. Such 
 a country, difiering so widely from the Ynca region, was not adapted 
 for the development of indigenous civilization ; and before the Ynca 
 conquest it was inhabited by the rudest and most savage tribes in 
 the Andes. Without timber, without corn, they dwelt in stone 
 huts, tended their flocks, raised crops of ocas and papas, and engaged 
 in incessant feuds. They were brave and warlike, but their only 
 arms were slings and bolas, and they suffered much in encounters 
 with the civilized soldiers of the Yncas. Their language was a rude 
 
( 6 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of lOth July, 1871. 
 [Registered for tranmission abroad, and published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 dialect of the Ynca or Quichua, containing a most imperfect system 
 of numeration, few words to express abstract ideas, ami none for 
 many things whiot are indispensable in the first beginnings of 
 civilized life. The Oollao must have been conquered by the Yncas 
 in very remote times, and they conferred incalculable benefits on 
 the inhabitants by teaching them a cultivated language and the arts 
 of civilized life. The aboriginal tribes of the CoUao were the 
 Collas, Lupacas, Pacajes, Carangas, Quillacas, Urus, and Collahuayas. 
 I have discussed at some length, in my paper, the evidences of Ynca 
 influence on the language and habits of these tribes, and have thus 
 endeavoured, by separating all Ynca elements, to obtain a correct 
 notion of their aboriginal condition. My final conclusion is, that no 
 grounds exist for believing that they were ever anything more than 
 a race of barbarous uncultured shepherds before they came under 
 the humanizing influence of their conquerors, and that there never 
 existed any form of civilization in the basin of Lake Titicaca other 
 than that introduced by the Yncas. 
 
 The tribes of the Chincha-suyu and Quito regions are also treated 
 of in my paper : all available information respecting their original 
 condition has been collected together, and the elimination of Ynca 
 elements has been attempted ; but space will not admit of my 
 dwelling on these points, and I pass on to the interesting tribes of 
 the Peruvian coast. 
 
 The numerous valleys on the Peruvian coast, separated by sandy 
 deserts of varying width, only required careful irrigation to render 
 them capable of sustaining a large population. In these valleys we 
 meet with a race of people who had made considerable advances in 
 civilization, but who are quite distinct from the people of the Andes. 
 They appear to have formed separate communities in the different 
 valleys, each under a chief more or less independent. The most 
 civilized and powerful was the Chimu, who ruled over the valley 
 where the city of Truxillo now stands. The subjects of this prince 
 were civilized, and his vast palaces, near the sea-shore, now form 
 extensive ruins. The system of irrigation of the Chimu Indians 
 was most efficient, and they had made considerable advances in the 
 arts. But the Ynca conquest had almost obliterated the names and 
 traditions of these coast tribes, even before the arrival of the 
 Spaniards, and nearly all the names of places belong to the Quichua 
 language. The fragments of the coast languages that have been 
 preserved prove that the people were wholly unconnected with the 
 Yncas and other mountaineers. Their languages are entirely distinct, 
 both as regards vocabulary and grammatical constniction. 
 
 This difference of language proves that the coast Indians did not, 
 like their conquerors the Yncas, descend from the region of the 
 Andes into the warm valleys. I have given detailed reasons, in my 
 paper, for thinking that they were not the aboriginal inhabitants of 
 the coast. Two alternatives remain. They either came from the 
 north, and were offshoots from the gold workers and lapidaries of 
 the Quito sea-board, or they arrived from beyond seas. We can 
 form no opinion on the former possibility without a comparison with 
 the languages of the northern tribes. There remains the other sug- 
 gestion, that they arrived from across the Pacific Ocean ; and the 
 Indians of Lambayeque gave a full account to the Spanish conquerors 
 of the arrival of their ancestors in a large fleet, with a green stone 
 idol. The coast Indians have now almost entirely disappeared. 
 Their languages are disappearing, the most important have ceased 
 to be spoken ; but their civilization is attested by several old writers, 
 and is illustrated by ruins and by many works of art. They are the 
 most mysterious as regards their origin, and in that respect the most 
 interesting of all the tribes which formed the great empire of the 
 Yncas. 
 
 It will be seen that these numerous tribes resolve themselves into 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of lOiA Jidy, 1871. 
 [Eegistered for transmission abroad, and published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 two primary divisions, distinguished bj^ a complete difference of 
 language, sufficient to establish an entirely separate origin. These 
 are the people of the four Andean regions, and the tribes of the 
 coast. Their languages, when carefully studied, give us an insight 
 into the original condition of the different tribes, and, with the aid 
 of evidence collected from the earliest writers, we are thus enabled 
 to resolve the great Ynca empire into its elements, and to classify 
 its component parts. 
 
 It remains to notice the sixth division of the empire of the Yncas, 
 which embraced a portion of the vast Amazonian basin. It was a 
 part of the wise and enlightened policy of the Yncas to send 
 colonies from the Andes into the great forests to the eastward, in 
 order that there might be an interchange of products between the 
 emigrants and their friends at home, and a consequent increase lo 
 their material comfort and well being. Great warlike expedition.s 
 were also despatched into those interminable forests. One of these, 
 described by Garcilasso, is certainly historical. The Ynca Yupanqui , 
 about a century and a half before the Spanish conquest, sent a large 
 army in a flotilla down the rivers Amaru-mayu and Beni, and 
 established an Ynca colony in the province of the Moxos or Musus. 
 Some of the tribes conquered by the Yncas, also, unable to endure 
 a life of subjection, fled from their mountain homes into the 
 eastern forests ; as in the case of the Chancas; who emigrated from 
 the lofty plateaux near Guamanga into the valley of the Huallaga. 
 These several causes led to the establishment of many colonies from 
 the Andes in the basin of the Amazons ; and Velasco enumerates 
 a number of important tribes, especially on the Ucayali and upper 
 Amazon, as having been of Ynca origin. 
 
 Thus the tribes of the Ynca empire moved down the slopes of the 
 eastern Andes, and penetrated down some of the afiBuents of the 
 Amazons. Here they encountered the tribes of the great Tupi 
 family, and the limits where one race begins and the other ends 
 cannot now be exactly traced. The subsequent disintegration of 
 the nations in the Amazonian basin has obliterated old landmarks, 
 and led to the disappearance and change of names and languages ; 
 so that it is no longer possible to identify the descendants of the 
 Andaan emigrants. 
 
 The Yncas understood the inexhaustible wealth of the eastern 
 forests, and the value of the rivers as a means of communication ; 
 and the wise measures they adopted secured all the benefits that 
 their resources rendered possible from those rich and prolific regions. 
 The mighty Andes, with their snow-capped peaks, the thousand 
 rivers issuing from their sides, and the teeming forests remain 
 the same for ever. But great changes have come over their in- 
 habitants since those early efforts were made. The imperial Yncas 
 have passed away ; and, though strange vicissitudes and terrible 
 calamities have pressed upon their descendants, there they still are, 
 peopling the plateaux and slopes of the Andes, and, in these days, 
 looking more than ever to the eastern forests and the mighty rivers 
 for an interchange of products ; and above all for the readiest means 
 of communication with the outer world. 
 
 The Yncas did not dream that the livers dashing down from their 
 mountains into the dark forests of Anti-suyu, led to an ocean whence 
 the arts and products of the whole world might be brought to their 
 doors. Their descendants have dreamt this through many years, 
 and now the dream is about to become a reality. The people of Peru, 
 of Bolivia, and of Ecuador, see, in the mighty Amazon and her tribu- 
 taries, a means of saving the ruinous land-carriage to the Pacific coast, 
 and of turning Cape Horn by a flank march. The way is no longer 
 through interminable forests, where no help can be found nor hoped 
 for. Now a civilized empire extends over all the mouths and 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of 10th July, 1871. 
 [Registered for transmission abroad, and published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 lower courses of the rivers flowing from'tlie land of tlae Yncas ; and 
 
 the enlightened policy of Brazil now does more than help, it takes 
 
 the lead in opening the way from the Andes to the Atlantic, and from 
 the Atlantic to the Andes, for the commerce of the world. The efforts 
 of the last twenty years, and those now being made, while open- 
 ing these great fluvial highways, and thus cementing the friendship 
 and increasing the wealth of the riverJne nations, will also have 
 the effect of solving the most interesting questions in South 
 American geography. They will have a momeufous influence on 
 the future of the races which formed the empire of the Tncas ; and 
 no time can be more auspicious than the present for a survey of 
 the progress of the great work of exploration in the basin of the 
 Amazons. 
 
 Few enterprises are more romantic than those of the first ex- 
 plorers of the mighty Amazons : the descent of the river by 
 Orellana, the heart- stirring tale of the pirate Aguirre's cruise, the 
 exploring voyage of Pedro de Texeira, the narrative of Acuiia, 
 the work of Condamine, and the labours of the missionaries. Yet 
 thirty years ago less was known of the region through which the 
 upper courses of the principal rivers flow, that rise in the Andes, 
 than in the time of the Yncas. Since then the steady efforts of the 
 Brazilian Government, with some assistance from Peru, and more 
 recently from Bolivia, have done much to complete those ex- 
 plorations which are destined, in future years, to lead to such 
 momentous results. In October, 1861, as is well known, the 
 Treaty was signed between Brazil and Peru to promote the navi- 
 gation of the Amazons. Ireneo de Souza received his privileges 
 in. 1852, and by the year 1857 the Brazilian Company had eight 
 steamers running from the mouth of the Amazon to Nauta in Peru, 
 with periodical service up the principal affluents ; while in 1867 a 
 noble and generous Imperial Decree opened the rivers to the flags 
 of all nations. The example of Brazil has led to' attempts at 
 emulation among the Spanish republics of the Andes, and, in Peru 
 especially, several exploring expeditions in the valleys of the 
 Huallaga, the Ucayali, and the Beni, helve been undertaken with 
 good results in recent years by Nyestrom, Maldonado, Eaymondi, 
 and more recently by a party led by Admiral Tucker of the 
 Peruvian navy. Thus the whole course of the Ucayali, that great 
 stream which drains the Ynca region, and its main feeders, has 
 now been explored to within 360 miles of Lima. The Huallaga 
 and Maranon are also well known. But the Beni, which drains 
 the rich forest-covered hills and plains to the eastward of Cuzco, 
 and those in part of Bolivia, is still little known ; while its ex- 
 ploration will result in the opening up of one of the richest 
 countries in the world — the montafias of Cuzco, of Caravaya, of 
 Pelechuco, and of Apolobamba. For years the course of the 
 Amaru-mayu, or "serpent river," flowing east from Cuzco and 
 draining the slopes of the eastern Andes in that latitude, was the 
 most interesting and the most eagerly discussed geographical pro- 
 blem connected with Peru. It is true that the old Ynca Garcilasso 
 had told us, nearly 300 years ago, that it flowed into the country 
 of the Moxos, and was, therefore, a tributary of the Beni. Yet 
 modern geographers chose to assume that the Amaru-mayu, or 
 Madre de Dies, was a main source of the River Purus, and, guided 
 by these authorities, I was fully under the impression that I was 
 exploring the sources of the Purus, when I penetrated to the 
 Madre de Dios in 1853, and down the valley of Sandia in 1860. 
 In 1865, however, Mr. Chandless made that thorough exploration 
 of the Purus, by which he nobly earned the Gold Medal of this 
 Society, and proved that the Purus did not reach to the Andes, and 
 that, consequently, the Madre de Dios was not one of its tribu- 
 
( 9 )., 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of \Qth July, 1871. 
 [Registered for transmission abroad, and published September 25tli, 1871.] 
 
 taries. He then expressed an opinion that the Madre de Dios was 
 one of the sources of the Beni, but we had all forgotten that 
 Garoilasso de la Vega had stated this as a fact 260 years before. 
 Afterwards, in 1867, we received intelligence that an enterprising 
 Peruvian, named Faustino Maldonado, had actually solved the 
 problem, and confirmed the accuracy of the old Ynca chronicler, 
 though at the cost of his life. He embarked in a canoe on the 
 Madre de Dios, and was drowned in a rapid ; but his surviving 
 comrades continued the voyage and entered the great Eiver Madeira, 
 just as the Yncas had done four centuries earlier. If we had read 
 our Grarcilassos more carefully, and had relied upon the Ynca's 
 accuracy, we should never have been led into these erroneous 
 geographical guesses; and we must all now rejoice that it was 
 reserved for one of the Ynca's countrymen to set us right, though 
 at the cost of his life. 
 
 But these courageous attempts to explore the headwaters of the 
 Madeira will not lead to practical results, unless the question of 
 turning its rapids, and mating the lower part of its course navi- 
 gable, is grappled with and overcome. The Government of that 
 great South American empire, which has now for many years made 
 resolute and successful efforts to develop the resources and foster 
 the trade of the Amazon valley, may well be trusted to continue 
 this good work ; and the Brazilians have already caused an elabo- 
 rate survey, by M. Keller, to be made of the Madeira rapids.* Mean- 
 while the Bolivian Navigation Company has just sent out a small 
 steamer, the Explorador, to act as a scout for an expedition about to 
 sail from New York. She is to make the transit of the Madeira 
 Eapids without being taken to pieces, by being rolled overland. 
 She will then complete the exploration of all the chief affluents of 
 the Madeira, including the Beni ; will probably penetrate to within 
 a hundred miles of Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Yncas ; and 
 will thus realize the dreams which have been indulged in, for 
 many years, by some of the more enthusiastic inhabitants of that 
 grand old city. Colonel Church, the Manager of the Bolivian 
 Navigation Company, has been working indefatigably to complete 
 the preparations for this important expedition, and for the con- 
 struction of a railway round the Madeira Eapids ; to which all true 
 geographers must heartily wish success. While showing the way 
 to the traders of Peru and Bolivia, the Company will be the means 
 of promoting geographical exploration, and of completing our 
 knowledge of a very important but hitherto little known part of 
 South America. 
 
 Commerce is already treading close upon the heels of discovery ; 
 and Peruvian bark, hitherto shipped exclusively from ports of the 
 Pacific, is now beginning to find its way to England, by the Amazon 
 and Para. Senor Eada, and his young wife, were the first Boli- 
 vians to attempt this route, and their success, in 1868, has led others 
 to follow in their wake. The brave enterprise of the Senora Eada 
 reminds us that, if the mighty river is not entitled to the name of 
 Amazons because the female warriors of OreUana are apocryphal, 
 it yet may well have a name which will serve as a memorial of 
 female heroism ; for in no other region have the adventures of 
 ladies been more wonderful, and in none has their endurance and 
 courage been more signally displayed. There is nothing in romance 
 
 * Madeira Bapids. (18.) 
 
 Height of falls 26-4 to 0-98 feet. Broken water 5000 to 328 feet. 
 
 Total height 272 feet. Total broken water 64,50.5 feet. 
 
 Length of river in part containing rapid 229'38 miles 
 
 j^ ,, „ 12-20 miles of broken water. 
 
 Difference between low water and floods, 10 to 23 feet. 
 Already there are 4 steamers below the rapids. 
 Railway round the rapids (projected) 168 miles. 
 
 Above the rapids, 2 steamers of 150 tons building (to come out in pieces.) 
 3000 miles of navigable rivers above the rapids. 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of 10th July, 1871. 
 [Eegistered for transmission abroad, and published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 to be compared with the tale of Inez do Atienza, and her voyage 
 down the Maranon. Madame Godin, after all her companions had 
 died of fatigue, pushed bravely on in her brother's boots, during 
 nine days of wretchedness and nights of horror ; until she reached 
 a mission village of the Amazons, and effected her object — a junction 
 with her husband. Finally, the young Senora Eada has been the 
 pioneer of trade between Bolivia and England, by way of the great 
 Brazilian river. If that river had a doubtful title to its name in 
 the first instance, the heroic deeds of these brave ladies have 
 assuredly made it most appropriate now, using the word in its best 
 and most respectful sense. 
 
 Time will not permit that I should even touch upon other under- 
 takings connected with the exploration of the Amazons and its 
 tributaries, such as that of the Yavari, by the recent Boundary Com- 
 mission, and others. In all these enterprises the Brazilian Govern- 
 ment has taken the lead, and has shown an enlightened apprecia- 
 tion of the boundless capabilities of that great basin of the Amazons 
 which Providence has blessed so wonderfully, and for which a 
 bright future must surely be in store. The mind is almost bewil- 
 dered in the endeavour to grasp within its compass a due conception 
 of the stupendous proportions of that grand river, which flows so 
 majestically through the most fertile of soils, and receives tribu- 
 taries whose sources are thousands of miles distant from each 
 other on either side. One naturally flies from the tension of 
 intellect consequent on the study of its physical features, to dwell 
 with pleasure on the picture of the great future which must be in 
 store for the broad basin of the Amazons, when a constant flow of 
 commerce will add fresh interest to its ceaseless tide. Nothing 
 can be more likely to conduce to this consummation, than the 
 thorough examination of those splendid navigable rivers which 
 form its chief affluents, and some of the more important of which 
 are still so little known to geographers. In no other part of the 
 world is there a grander field for geographical discovery and 
 research. In no other part will the labours of the explorer be 
 more richly repaid. I may venture to add, that irT no other country 
 has a more enlightened and liberal spirit been fostered and encou- 
 raged by a Government than in that great Brazilian empire, the 
 ruler of which is himself a geographer. We all hope that His 
 Majesty may long be spared, and that it will be his high destiny 
 to enrich his own subjects by opening a way to the Atlantic for 
 those Andffian races, who are the descendants of the tribes which 
 formed the empire of the Yncas. 
 
 The original and more detailed memoir of Mr. Markham will be 
 published, entire, with Map, in the ' Journal,' Vol. xli. 
 
 Captain Shebard Osbobn, after referring to a residence of some years on 
 the eastern ouast of South America, in what he called his " salad daj'S," with 
 Mr. Markham, bore testimony to that gentleman's zeal and enthusiasm in 
 the cause of South American discovery, and said that the man who had 
 carried the Cinchona plant from the western to the eastern hemisphere had 
 done enough to make himself a name in the world. In looking at the map of 
 South America he was struck by the sublime, yet simple, phj-sioal features 
 which the continent of South America represented. To rightly appreciate this 
 vast continent, a person must imagine himself in the home of the ancient 
 Imperial race to whom Mr. Markham alluded, on the plateaux of that gigantic 
 ran^e whose culminating points rose twenty thousand feet above the sea, and 
 which rose on both sides almost like a wall— that range running four thousand 
 miles from north to south, from Tierra del Fuego to 10 degrees north of the 
 equator. There, from the heights on which rested the gi-eat lake of Titicaca, 
 was spread out beneath them, and looking eastward, a vast continent in the 
 form of a triangle, comprising all the lands between the Andes and the 
 Atlantic Ocean. Its area was twice the area of all Europe. In its centre 
 and facing you, rose a great irregular wedge-shaped block of land, the point 
 towards you ; that was the table-land of Brazil, estimated to be in itself of 
 twice the extent of Russia in Europe. That wedse-shaped block separated 
 tropical America from temperate and southern America. The northern plains 
 were watered by the Amazon and the Orinoco, and those plains were cal 
 culated by Professor Mahlmann of Berlin, in Prince Adalbert's voyao-e to 
 be twelve times the area of Germany. The great plains to the south were 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of 10th July, 1871. 
 [Eegistered for transmission abroad, and published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 watered by the La Plata, the Parana, and the Paraguay. Such were some of 
 the grand physical features of South America. The magnificent plain to the 
 north was described by a German philosopher as an " ocean of forest," extending 
 from almost the top of the eastern crest of the Andes to the shores of the Atlantic. 
 The rivers were manifestly intended by Providence, hereafter, as a means of 
 intercommunication over the whole of that vast continent. Mr. Markham had 
 pointed out what was being accomplished in this direction. Gradually and 
 slowly communication was being opened up from the mouths of the Orinoco 
 down to the months of the La Plata. The promotion of those objects offered 
 an unlimited field for a future generation of geographers. He was sure the 
 enlightened potentate who had honoured them with his presence would do all 
 in his power to foster and to encourage a spirit of geographical discovery, not 
 only for the interests of his own vast empire, but for the benefit of the world 
 at large. He had only to refer to the enlightened edict of the Emperor of 
 Brazil, by which the navigation of the Amazon was thrown open to all nations, 
 as a proof of his Majesty's disposition. It was a fortunate circumstance that 
 this portion of the South American continent, which was the most progressive, 
 was also the nearest to Europe. Already forty thousand Germans were settled 
 in the high lands in the southern portion of Brazil. There was room there for 
 the redundau t populations of Europe, to be filled up, not perhaps in our own 
 time, but in our children's time. He had recently turned his attention to the 
 inilustrial and commercial prosperity of Brazil, and he was astonished, not 
 having touched the subject foi' many years, to observe the marked progress that 
 had been made. He might remark that a line drawn from Lisbon to Cape San 
 Eoque, in Brazil, was not greater than a line from Ushant to Kew York, passing 
 by Halifax. We felt quite close, now-a-days, to New York ; and he saw no 
 reason why, in the course of a few years, our relations with Brazil should not 
 be developed to a similar extent. Looking back to the past history of that 
 country. Englishmen might recollect with pride that it was our Kaleighs, our 
 Ansons, and our Drakes who brought us into communication with South 
 America ; and, looking forward to the future, he could not help thinking there 
 might be men, not so remarkable for their warlike temperament and their 
 Conquistador spirit, who would help to promote the intercourse between Brazil 
 and Europe, and also the development of the whole of the South American 
 continent. 
 
 Mr. Gekstenbebg said, in connection with the introduction of the Chinchona 
 plant into India by Mr. Markham, great credit was also due to Earl Derby, who, 
 when at the head of the India Office as Lord Stanley, gave every facility to those 
 who brought the subject under his notice. Also, in reference to the opening up 
 of the Amazon, it was right to remember that Baron Maui, who had had 
 the exclusive privilege of navigating the Amazon for forty years with his own 
 vessels, bad voluntarily and gratuitously given up his privilege. He might 
 also mention, in connection with the examination of the Purus by Mr. Chandless, 
 that by the treaty of Ildafonso, in 1771 or 1776, the limits between Peru and 
 Brazil were determined-by the course of the Funis. Since then the course of 
 the Purus had been pushed to the westward many degrees ; consequently, Peru 
 had lost and Brazil had gained a large quantity of land. We had never heard 
 how that had been settled. Next, with reference to the communication betwen 
 the Atlantic and the Andes, he was far more sanguine than Captain Sherard 
 Osborn as to the period at which it would be realized. At the present moment 
 nothing seemed to be impossible, with the mechanical skill, the power of steam, 
 and the enormous public credit, which distinguislied the present century. Nor 
 was he satisfied with the prospect simply of a communication between the 
 Atlantic and the slopes of the Andes. Any communication which stopped 
 short at the Andes would not solve the requirements of the age. The task of 
 the luture would be to connect the Atlantic with the Pacific, as the United 
 States had done without great difficulty ; and he thought the task was 
 feasible, because in the immense chain of the Andes there was a break in 
 Ecuador which might be crossed. It would be a yreat joy when Brazil would 
 be enabled not only to go up by the water to the foot of the Andes, but to 
 connect the Atlantic coast with the Pacific coast. 
 
 Mr. Howard said he could bear his testimony to the skill,- energy, and 
 enterprise which conducted to a successful termination the journey of Sefior 
 Eada, resulting in the opening tip of the river on the frontiers of Brazil to the 
 traffic in Bolivian bark, specimens of which were on the table, and were worth 
 from three to four shillings a pound. Sefior Kada had to traverse some of the 
 worst roads in the world to establish himself in the forests of Eastern Bolivia, 
 where he had to provide for the felling of the trees, varying from 120 to 150 
 feet in height. In tins he was assisted by his lady, and the task, though 
 difficult, was accomplished. They had to build boats, in order to transport the 
 bales of bark, which were tied up in the skins of animals, down the River 
 Beni to Pueblos. Here they had to abandon the course of the river for fear 
 of the savages, and to build carts, in which they conveyed the bark 60 miles 
 across to another river to the east, called Mamor^. They then had to provide 
 larger boats, and to navigate the Mamor6 until it joined the Madeira. 
 There they had the assistance of a steamboat down the Madeira, and so by 
 the Amazons to Liverpool. The course of the Madeira was full of rapids, and 
 the journey down was full of peril and adventure. A second expedition with 
 bark had just arrived, but on this occasion Sefior Eada had not accompanied it. 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of 10th July, 1871. 
 [Registered for transmission abroad, and published September 25th, 1871.] 
 
 Mr. Sbablb wished to add his testimony to the services which had been 
 rendered by the Emperor of Brazil. Previous to the opening of the river in 
 1867, he gave free passage to the Peruvian expedition, and he also granted the 
 use of the arsenal at Para for the construction of two steamers. They must 
 also recollect the services he had rendered to science by the assistance be gave 
 to the expedition under Professor Agassiz, by placing a sloop of war at his 
 disposal for the navigation of the Amazon. Mr. Markham had scarcely done 
 justice to Peru. As long ago as 1865 the Peruvian Government had established 
 a line of steamers, which had been regularly running from the Brazilian frontier 
 to Yurimaguas, on the Huallaga. 
 
 Mr. Bates felt that anything he could say vpith regard to the Kiver Amazon 
 would be an old story. It was twelve years since he quitted South America, 
 and eight years since the account of his adventures was published. He 
 spent eleven years upon the river, wholly within the Brazilian territory. 
 He was there long before steamers navigated those wonderful waters ; there- 
 fore, he had to make his way by open boat, Indian-canoe, fishing- vessel, or 
 the sailing schooners of the native traders. Afterwards, when steamers were 
 established, he made many voyages by steamer. In that way he visited all 
 the ins-and-outs, the nooks, creeks, and lakes of that magnificent labyrinth of 
 waters. He ascended the river for a distance of 1800 miles from the sea. 
 Nothing gave him a more exalted idea of the navigability of the Amazon than 
 a voyage he once made by steamer, for a distance of 400 miles on the Upper 
 Amazon. The voyage was made in the height of the dry season, when the 
 waters were at their lowest, and yet, in the darkness of an equatorial 
 night, the steamer sped along at the rate of ten or twelve knots an hour. 
 So broad and so deep was the channel, that there was no fear of running 
 aground on either side, and that at a distance of from 1400 to 1800 miles from 
 the sea. On each side of the main channel there was a system of side channels, 
 both to the north and to the south of the stream, sometimes connected with 
 great lakes, 20, 30, and 50 miles in circumference, all deep enough for the 
 navigation of large vessels, and having a habitable and fertile territory all 
 round. The Brazilians called the Amazons the " Mediterranean of South 
 America," and that was an apt and true expression ; it was a Mediterranean 
 of fresh water, with tracts of countiy on its banks capable of supporting a 
 populous and wealthy nation. His investigations bad little to do with thei 
 political and social questions which the paper had suggested ; but it was 
 impossible to avoid putting to oneself the question what was to become of that 
 great countiy, and that great system of inland navigation. For a distance 
 of 1900 miles, with an average breadth of 400 or 500 miles of river valley, 
 the whole population did not exceed that of an ordinary agricultural county 
 in England. Where was the population to come from to occupy this vast 
 domain ? That vsras one of the great questions of the future. He had faith 
 in the future, and he believed this country would become the abode at some 
 future day of a happy, civilised race of men. 
 
 The Bakl of Derby said it was trueJia^Jiad heenin South America ;. but 
 it had never been his good fortune to set foot within the empire of Brazil. 
 This he would say, that those who had not witnessed the scenery of the South 
 American continent, did not know what the splendour, glory, and beauty of 
 Nature could be. With the single exception of the United States, there was 
 no territory comprised within a single geographical area and under one 
 government which could compete in point of natural capability with the 
 Brazilian empire. Although it was our interest and our duty to be upon good 
 terms with all the nations of the world, if they would let us, yet there were 
 peculiar reasons why a cordial understanding should exist between England 
 and Brazil. The reason was this, — that each country possessed what the other 
 wanted, and each wanted what the other possessed. We, with our limited 
 area, had an enormous command of capital, and a supply of skilled labour 
 which was practically without limit. On the other hand, Brazil had an enor- 
 mous geographical area with vast undeveloped resources, and a scanty population 
 with small capital. Therefore, on one side there was a State, whose natural 
 function was to supply capital, and, on the other side, a State whose function 
 it was to utilize the capital so supplied. On the one hand, a State whose econo- 
 mical destiny it was to produce raw material in continually increasing quantities • 
 and, on the other hand, a state whose natural destiny it was to work up that 
 raw material so supplied. More than that, it seemed to be our function to send 
 out continually to one country or another, able, hardy, and energetic emiorants 
 whose destmy it was to mix with other nations, and to influence the future of 
 the world. Brazil had an unlimited area to receive emigrants, and althouoh 
 undoubtedly, tropical countries, as a rule, did not suit European constitu lions' 
 still, that was a rule to which there were many exceptions, and in Brazil was 
 to be found almost every variety of climate. In past times there had been some 
 diplomatic differences between the two States, connected with questions which 
 were now for ever set at rest. But they were disposed of; and he knew 
 no reason, political, social or economical, why the relations between the 
 empire of Brazil and the British empire should not be of the most friendlv 
 and most cordial character. He heartily hoped and firmly believed that it 
 would be so. 
 
 The PBE81DENT, iu closiug the proceedings, said the discussion furnished 
 an instructive commentary on a doctrine he had frequently propounded • that 
 geography, after all, was a thoroughly practical and utilitarian science! He 
 had frequently remarked that the explorer of unknown regions must not be 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 Slip of Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of 10th My, 1871. 
 [Registered for transmission abroad, and published September 25tli, 1871.] 
 
 viewed in the light of a mere dilettante traveller, but as the pioneer of com- 
 merce and the herald of civilization. Such had been the case with regard to 
 Brazil. He would not attempt to follow in detail the information which they 
 had been receiving from so many sources with regard to the geography and 
 economical wants of Brazil ; be would merely draw attention to the vast area 
 which they had been considering. The entire length of the Amazon from the 
 coast to its source was 3500 miles, of which 3000 miles were navigable. Such 
 a navigation truly deserved to be called the Mediterranean of South America. 
 In conclusion, he begged to assure the Emperor of Brazil, in the name of the 
 Meeting, that the Royal Geographical Society thoroughly sympathised in all 
 his Majesty's efforts to promote geographical discovery ; and that they 
 heartily desired to co-operate with him in any measures which he might 
 introduce for that purpose; sincerely hoping that what already had been 
 so auspiciously commenced, might in the future be carried to its full de- 
 velopment. 
 
 Printed for the Boycd Geographical Society, 
 by Messrs. W. Clowes and Sons, 
 September 25th, 1871. 
 
U^i 
 
 it/-j4. 
 
 ^t. 
 
 Sl^iMS 
 
 m>j