At the time of my visit it was on the
decline, in consequence of the growing distrust, or increased
cunning, of the Indians, who once formed a numerous and the sole
labouring class, but having got to know that the laws protected
them against forced servitude, were rapidly withdrawing
themselves from the place. When the new province of the Amazons
was established, in 1852, Barra was chosen as the capital, and
was then invested with the appropriate name of the city of
Manaos.
The situation of the town has many advantages; the climate is
healthy; there are no insect pests; the soil is fertile and
capable of growing all kinds of tropical produce (the coffee of
the Rio Negro, especially, being of very superior quality), and
it is near the fork of two great navigable rivers. The
imagination becomes excited when one reflects on the possible
future of this place, situated near the centre of the equatorial
part of South America, in the midst of a region almost as large
as Europe, every inch of whose soil is of the most exuberant
fertility, and having water communication on one side with the
Atlantic, and on the other with the Spanish republics of
Venezuela, New Granada, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
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