Frank declared it the perfection of travelling comfort to lie in a hammock and study the scenery with hardly the motion of a muscle; it surpassed the indolence of a chair on the deck of a transatlantic steamship, or the fauteuil of a Pullman car from New York to San Francisco. But it is proper to add that neither of the young gentlemen adhered closely to his hammock during the daytime, in spite of any theories in that direction. They were here, there, and everywhere on the steamboat; now studying the magnificent forest that passed before their eyes, or gazing into the dark waters through which they ploughed their way. Turtles and great fishes were their delight, and of the former at least there was no lack. When a sand-bar was approached they eagerly scanned it with their glasses in search of alligators, and as these products of the river were abundant and sand-bars were numerous, they had plenty of amusement in this line. The ordinary life on the steamboat, so far as meals were concerned, was as follows: coffee was served as soon as the passengers were out of their hammocks, and if they were specially inclined to laziness they had it before they rose. Breakfast was served at ten o'clock, dinner at five, and tea at eight. At breakfast and dinner there was a plentiful supply of meat, sometimes half a dozen courses being served of meats alone. Live turtles and fowls were kept on board for the wants of the table; on the large steamers on the lower Amazon there are always a few bullocks carried along and slaughtered when wanted, in addition to chickens and turtles. Rice and farina are abundantly supplied at every meal, and the cook (a Chinaman) brought back recollections of Java and India in his skill in making curries and _pilaufs_. The captain of a steamer on the Amazon has an allowance for feeding the passengers and crew; sometimes he delegates the purchases to the cook, but quite as often he takes the matter into his own hands and does his buying in person. By so doing he avoids extravagance, and escapes the inevitable "squeezes" of the cook. [Illustration: PIRA-RUCÛ, A FISH OF THE AMAZON.] The captains are usually paid a salary, and commissions on the freight and passengers; in a prosperous season the commissions will amount to more than the salary, and if the captain has an inclination to dishonesty his opportunities are excellent. Most of the steamboats receive a subsidy from the government, which guarantees them against loss, and altogether their business shows a very good profit. With stoppages at the various landings where real or imaginary villages existed, the voyage from the mouth of the January River to the junction of the Madeira and the Amazon occupied four days. It was enlivened by several incidents of an amusing character, and one or two that threatened to be serious. [Illustration: DEPOSITS IN THE AMAZON VALLEY.]