Before commencing the narrative of our Amazon expedition, a few particulars relating to the early history of this river may not be uninteresting. For these I am in great part indebted to Southey, whose extensive work upon Brazil is the only one of authority readily accessible.

Seven years after the discovery of America, Vincente Yañez Pinzon, who under Columbus had commanded the Niña, obtained a commission from the Spanish sovereigns to go in search of hew countries. The first point at which he arrived is now called Cape St. Augustine, and here he landed and took formal possession of the country. Coasting thence northward the Spaniards came to what they called a sea of fresh water, and they supposed themselves in the mouth of some great river or rivers. It was the mouth of the Amazon. Without effecting further discovery beyond landing at one of the islands, Pinzon continued on to the Orinoco, and thence returned to Spain. He believed that the land which he had visited was India beyond the Ganges, and that he had sailed beyond the great city of Cathay, This expedition carried many curious productions of the country, but none excited so much astonishment as an opossum, an animal unknown in the old world. It was described as having the fore part of a fox, the hind part of a monkey, the feet of an ape, and the ears of a bat, and was sent to Seville, and then to Grenada, that the king and queen might see it. One or two other attempts were made to explore the vicinity of the entrance of the Amazon, within the next forty years, but without much success.