"Para is on the southern side of this estuary; opposite is the island of Marajo, one hundred and fifty miles in length, and about one hundred miles wide in its broadest part. Half of it is covered with forest, and the other, the northeastern half, with an extensive _campos_ or prairie, dotted here and there with clumps of trees. The forests are the haunt of rubber collectors, as the rubber-trees are abundant; the campos is an immense grazing land, with a curious history, which is told in this wise: "The advantages of the island for raising cattle and horses were recognized by the early settlers, who founded _estancias_, or ranches, there, some of them of immense extent. At the end of the last century there were a million horses, and half as many oxen and cows, on the island; the horses were nearly or quite wild, and drove the cattle to the swamps where many of them died. About the year 1825, the settlers complained so much about the ravages of the horses that the government gave licenses permitting enterprising men to slaughter these animals for their hides, and the work of destruction went on rapidly. In a few years hundreds of thousands of horses had been killed off; the bodies were left to rot on the ground, and bred a pestilence which destroyed most of the remaining horses and cattle. Its effects still continue, and the farmers have sought the assistance of government to protect the remaining animals, and stop the ravages of the disease. [Illustration: SOURRÉ AND SALVATERRA.] "We were not able to visit any of the estancias, but confined our inspection of Marajo to the villages of Sourré and Salvaterra, on the southern side of the island, at the entrance of the Igarapé Grande. They are picturesquely situated on opposite banks of the igarapé, Sourré being a little farther inland than its sister place with the longer name. We crossed the Para River on a steamer that rolled viciously under the effect of the wind blowing in from the Atlantic, and long before we reached the other shore more than half the passengers were overcome with sea-sickness and unable to move. "The accommodations were not of the best, but we were accustomed to rough life, and had no reason to complain. Both these places are filled from August to January by many people from Para, to whom Sourré and Salvaterra are as Newport or Long Branch to New-Yorkers. The tide brings in a fine flow of sea-water, and the breezes are stronger and cooler than at the capital city. There is a good beach for bathing, and when it is not occupied by the fashionables it is the scene of a great deal of activity on the part of the natives. We hired a boat and a couple of Indians to paddle us two or three miles up the igarapé and back again. The banks are lined with gardens, from which many vegetables are sent to the market of Para.