Narrative of a Journey from Lima to Para, across the Andes and down the Amazon
Undertaken with a View of Ascertaining the Practicability of a Navigable Communication with the Atlantic, by the Rivers Pachitea, Ucayali, and Amazon

Combining travel narrative and anthropological observations, this 1836 publication describes the authors' experiences in the Amazon basin.

William Smyth (Author), Frederick Lowe (Author)

9781108033794, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 September 2011

354 pages, 10 b/w illus. 3 maps
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.45 kg

During 1834–5 the British naval officer and artist William Smyth (1800–77) and his fellow officer Frederick Lowe (1811–47) went on an expedition to Peru and North-Eastern Brazil. This account of their journey, first published in 1836, combines a travel narrative with anthropological observation. Their objective was to explore the river Pachitea in Peru and investigate its potential as a route from the Andes via the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean that could reduce journey times and benefit Peruvian exports. The tone of the book is typical of early nineteenth-century European travel literature, in that it shows the authors to have been fascinated by the cultures they encountered while retaining a deep mistrust of the indigenous 'savages' some of whom were held to be 'cannibals'. It is, however, full of fascinating details about the rainforest and its inhabitants, the colonial settlers, and their interactions.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Commencement of land journey
3. An account of Cerro Pasco, the district which contains the principal silver mines belonging to Peru
4. Continuation and difficulties of the land journey
5. Hospitable reception at Huanuco, and description of that city
6. Arrival at Pozuzu and desertion of the escort and muleteers, compelling an abandonment of the plan projected
7. Embarkation in canoes on the Huallaga
8. Further progress down the river, and visit to the towns of Juan Guerra and Tarapoto
9. Impetuosity of the river at the Pass of Uraquiyacu, and the passage effected through the trees
10. Endeavours to persuade the missionary to assist in the ascent of the Ucayali and Pachitea to Mayro
11. Account of the mission and town of Sarayacu, its inhabitants and their manners
12. Account of the Indian tribes inhabiting the Pampa and neighbourhood of the Ucayali
13. Departure from Sarayacu
14. Arrival at Tabatinga, the frontier town of Brazil
15. Rio Negro.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]