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the riverbed. Rocks that were evidently sedimentary were of two main forms, either finely granulated
or coarse conglomerates that in their exceptional hardness suggested quartzes and granites. The com-
bination or separation of these formations created the distinct character of the cascades, which either
plummeted dramatically in one drop, now in successive steps, now into mighty rapids, or descended
intochutesbristlingwithoutcrops,passingthroughhugedismantledboulders.Wechangedourtactics
in order to master them. We didn't analyze the geology in detail. I don't want to abuse the patience
of Your Excellency by relating the monotony of the ascent of seventy-three falls, forty-six large ones
and twenty-seven small, which we indicate on the map.
Then there was the final stop. When we arrived at the headwaters on the 28th of July, we en-
counteredthePeruvianCommission,whichhadalreadypassedthroughtheobstaclesandwascamped
out upriver.
I immediately recognized the difficulties: the river, now dammed up by outcrops of the conglom-
erate that I already referred to, would be blocked during the flood season by a major cataract. But
now, in full ebb, the entire river plunged through a fissure on the right, with a violence that increased
with the narrowness enclosing it. But to the left all the way to the bank was the riverbed, mostly dry,
pounded and plowed up by immense blocks and riddled with boulders. I knew then that we would
have to drag our canoes through this rock bed after unloading them. The task appeared greater than
our strength. The Peruvian
comissário
made it clear that he shared this conviction, in declaring to me
that they continue camping nearby, just two beaches up.
As usual, they did not offer even minimal help. And I, as usual, did not ask for it. I told them, iron-
end of several days' labor we arrived at the Peruvian encampment. Having come this far, it was clear
that no natural obstacle would make us turn back. I then noticed that paradoxically the system of reg-
ular cascades was quite beneficial for upriver travel in the dry season. They created dams at regular
intervals, without which everything would have sunk into impassable flat swamps. Finally, with our
boatmen exhausted from dragging the canoes through the muddy stretches left by the drained waters,
we heard with delight the noise of the falls upriver, and this fired them to redouble their efforts, later
compensated by a time of open, free navigation.
ThusweadvancedtotheconfluenceofCavaljani,wherewearrivedsomedaysafterdepartingFor-
quilha. We were finally at the headwaters of the Purús. The river, as one can note on the map, still
revealed its interesting dichotomy, so well expressed in the forks at the Acre and those of the Curanja
andCuriúja.Itdivideditselfintotwoalmostequalbranches,onetothesouth,theCavaljani, theother
to the north, which still carries the name Purús. It was on that branch that Chandless proceeded, and
the river dried up a few miles past the fork. So we went via the Cujar, now shallow and epitomizing
all the unfavorable conditions of the bifurcating river.
. . .
. . . We were but nine, me, a dedicated aide, Dr. Arnaldo do Pimento da Cunha, a sergeant, a soldier,
and five representatives of all colors, united at random in Manaus. We arrived at this far point com-
pletelydefeated.Ourcommissionwouldsoondisband,boundaswewereonlybycircumstances—we
had been shipwrecked on the way, and what was saved from the catastrophe would barely feed that
reduced and foolhardy group. By luck, . . . we arrived at that remote position where we had traveled
for days on quarter-rations—leftovers of jerky and manioc meal, which was both our salvation and
our despair, without other additions to extend our unnatural diet.
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