Raimondi, who is considered an excellent authority, gives the Peruvian province of Loreto, which stretches from Ecuador to Cuzco, and from the crest of the Andes to the Brazilian frontier, a population of less than seventy thousand. He puts the wild Indians at forty thousand, and allows thirty thousand for all other races and kinds of men! [Illustration: A RIVER TOWN.] In their voyage down the river, Frank and Fred found that many of the towns marked on the map had no existence whatever, and some of the most pretentious could not boast half a dozen huts. Several towns had each but a single dwelling, and one was only to be recognized by a post set in the bank to uphold a sign-board bearing the name of the place. Dr. Bronson said he was reminded of the days of land speculations in the West, when elaborate maps were printed of so-called "cities," which never had any existence beyond the paper one of the speculative founders. Back from the river the population is as scattered and scanty as upon its banks; there is room for millions of people in the valley of the Amazon, and but for the great density of the forests, the fevers and other diseases, and the pestiferous insects that fill the air from beginning to end of the year, the country would doubtless attract emigration from the overcrowded cities and rural districts of Europe. Brazil has made repeated efforts to attract emigration, but thus far they have amounted to very little; a few thousand Germans and others have gone there, but their experience has not been such as to encourage the coming of others. It will doubtless be a long time before the Amazon Valley can honestly claim half a dozen inhabitants to the square mile. In due time the steamer returned from San Antonio, and our friends continued their journey. They were the only passengers, and had things their own way. The steamer had a large upper saloon, open on all sides, but capable of being closed in by curtains in bad weather. There was a long table in the centre at which meals were served, and at each corner of the saloon stood an earthen jar filled with drinking water which had been carefully filtered. The water of the Amazon and its tributaries contains many vegetable impurities; it should not be drank without filtering, and the prudent traveller will also have it boiled. Between the table and the sides of the saloon there were hooks for suspending hammocks; Manuel explained that they could hang their hammocks in any unoccupied places, sleeping there by night and reclining during the day. They could have private cabins on the main-deck if they preferred, but the private rooms were less airy, and not to be desired. By a party just from the trip over the Andes and down the Beni such a proposal was naturally laughed at; the youths and their mentor swung their hammocks where they liked, and enjoyed the beautiful panorama that was unfolded to their eyes as the steamer moved on her course.