Remember the Rainforest 1

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How much the purity of the waters depends in particular on the state of the flooding and ebb periodicity; in the highest floods, they carry dirty water turbid with fine mud particles. In the ebb, the Xingu has purer water; after him, and the Tapajos; Their water in a glass is crystal clear. Then comes the Rio Negro, Japura, Madeira, and finally the Amazon River. We tried to measure the density of these waters by means of a Baume areometer. The following table gives the result of this investigation.

In all these investigations, it was the water harvested in the middle of the river at the busiest point, and therefore also the dirtiest from the riverbed. The water of the Amazon, when it is left 24 or 30 hours in poorly cooked clay jars to filter, deposits most of its fine particles of soil.

The water thus filtered indicated 5 ° of Baume's areometer or the specific weight of 1.0360, which is identical to that of Madeira wine. Its temperature is thus low between 15 ° and 18 °; and pleasant in taste; and when harvested in agitated spots, it is thought by the inhabitants to be healthier than the calmer waters of the other rivers, particularly the Rio Negro and the nearby lakes. In their travels, Indians often drink water as soon as it is harvested from the river, which is perhaps the cause of the worms, among them so common and to a high degree developed. One could almost believe that only this disease is endemic in the river, as travelers are not affected by either intermittent or pernicious fevers, hepatitis and other diseases of the tropical countries, provided that some cautious precautions are observed; and the inhabitants also become much more ill from their own dehydration and excesses than from climate action.

During the dry season of the year, that is, from June to October, the general wind blows along the river at least at dawn, and in the afternoon violent thunderstorms and showers purify the atmosphere. The nights are never cold, to the point that temperature change may unpleasantly affect the high susceptibility of the skin; most damaging are the misty night and the fog, and running away from them should be the general rule for travelers. Night fogs are frequent, especially on the sea coast, where it has already caused many shipwrecks, as well as inland to the Obidos Strait; thereafter, however, the more land is traversed inland, the more decisive the character of the continental climate becomes. The nights, illuminated by the soft, magical brightness of the tropical moon, become more serene and transparent, and the atmosphere loses its moist exhalations.

The worst plague for travelers is always, therefore, the dense swarms of mosquitoes, whose inexpressible torment cannot be imagined in Europe. It really seems that the wind influences the passage of these possessive demons; the country, however, could get rid of

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