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Cornugaya Directory 08
Page 07
It was rather interesting to note that the formation of the right bank
was exactly the same as that of the Paredao Grande we had seen in Matto
Grosso. Vertical sides in great rectangles were noticeable, intersected
by passages--regular canons--where small huts could be seen at the foot
of the picturesque rocks, especially at places where small streamlets
entered the Tapajoz. I was told that little lakes had formed beyond those
frontal rocky masses, the entrances to which were blocked at low water by
sand-bars. Beyond that row of vertical red rocks was a more or less
confused mass of hills, some dome-like, others of a more elongated form,
but still with a well-rounded sky-line. The water of the stream had now
changed colour altogether, and had become of a deep green. Islets could
be seen far, far away to the left side of the river, mere white dots and
lines along the water-line, most of them having white sand-beaches around
them; while on the right bank the great red walls in sections continued
for many miles. As we neared the mouth of the Tapajoz, the river had
the immense width of 14 kil. On the right, after going through the
Passagem dos Surucue, we passed the mountain of Jaguarary, which stood
prominent along a flat elevation on the right bank.
In the evening, while we were sitting at dinner, there was a big bump. We
had run aground somewhat heavily on a sand-dune. The captain rather
frightened me as he said that on a previous occasion they had stuck on a
sand-bank for several days before they could get off. As luck would have
it that night, partly by the aid of a steel cable several hundred metres
long, which had been fastened to a number of big trees on the shore,
partly by her own power, we were able to back out and get her free. Only
six hours were wasted. The tide, which reaches a long way up the Tapajoz
River when the latter is low, helped us a great deal. At high tide the
level of the water is raised more than one foot. It seemed amazing that
the tide of the ocean could extend its influence by forcing the water
back so far up the Amazon and its tributaries.
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