All the commerce of the Department of Loreto passes through its capital, Iquitos, which is the chief port of the Amazon in Peru, and is one of the important rubber-exporting centres of the world. It is a city of about twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and is situated on the left bank of the great river, over two thousand miles from its mouth and a few leagues below the confluence of the Marañon with the Ucayali. Iquitos overlooks a broad expanse of water, more like an inland sea than a stream, the channel at this point being nearly three miles wide; in front of the city lies a large island. The depth of the river makes it possible for ocean steamers to anchor in the port, which has an average of twenty-five feet of water, and, in summer, when the rainy season is at its height, has twice that depth.

Not only does all the commerce of Loreto pass through Iquitos, but the largest share of the imports and exports of the entire region of the upper Amazon is distributed from this point. Merchandise for the rubber camps is brought up the Amazon from foreign ports to Iquitos and is here reshipped on smaller river steamers to the various interior towns along the tributaries of the upper Amazon,—ports of the Ucayali, Huallaga, Pastaza, Morona,—from which they are again reshipped in launches and canoes to towns on the smaller branches of these waterways. Sometimes the river boats carry enterprising explorers, gold hunters, rubber gatherers, and commercial travellers in a strangely mixed company, with usually but one idea in common—the prospect of fulfilling long-cherished dreams. Material for adventure, romance, and scholarship is mingled in the characters that one sees on such a trip, conversation on board bringing out the most unexpected revelations.

Several steamship lines make regular trips between Iquitos and European and North American ports. The Booth Steamship Company has been engaged in this trade for some years, and has a line of commodious steamers for carrying passengers and cargo. Bi-monthly trips are made from England, returning by way of the United States, and vice versa, calling at Pará and Manaos en route. This company recently built its own docks at Iquitos, and other improvements are under consideration which will greatly benefit the interests of trade in this port. The Red Cross Line has monthly steamers to Iquitos; and a number of Peruvian merchants have smaller fleets on the rivers from Iquitos to the interior. The Liberal, a trim little steamer of a hundred and fifty tons, with a speed of ten miles an hour, is one of the best of these river boats; it is of modern construction, is lighted by electricity and is provided with excellent accommodations for a limited number of passengers.

Iquitos is quite cosmopolitan, its population including representatives of many nations; North American and European importers have branch houses here, and the growing prosperity of the city has attracted enterprising merchants from other parts of Peru and from neighboring republics. The climate is healthful and not so oppressive as one might suppose, considering the locality, less than four degrees south of the equator and only a hundred and fifty feet above the level of the river. It represents the aspect of a growing commercial centre with its new wharves, warehouses and modern buildings that are rapidly replacing the straw-thatched cottages and comfortless chozas, or huts, which were features of the town a dozen years ago. Brick and iron are now largely used in the construction of buildings, the roofs being of zinc or tiles. The government house, the municipal chambers, churches, hospital, and other public edifices, reflect the spirit of progress which is beginning to animate the people. A flourishing Chamber of Commerce gives further evidence of local enterprise. The city is surrounded by thick bosques, or woods, in which every variety of vegetation abounds, and tropical foliage is riotous in color and luxuriance. The frequent and heavy rains of the summer season keep the verdure fresh and beautiful, though it is a welcome relief to the inhabitants when winter comes and with it a lessening of the heavy rainfall. In reality, very little change may be noted in the thermometer, which averages from eighty-five to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, all the year round.

The development of commercial traffic through the port of Iquitos may be judged by a comparison of the trade of 1907 with that of preceding years, the total duties on exports and imports of last year amounting to nearly three hundred thousand pounds sterling, while those of the previous year reached less than two hundred thousand pounds sterling, and in 1895 the custom house receipts of this port did not exceed one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. This rapid growth of trade signifies that the region of the Montaña, particularly the Department of Loreto, has been developing resources heretofore unexploited; and, when the further possibilities of industrial activity in this part of Peru are considered, the prospect for its future wealth appears very bright.

The Department of Loreto includes the provinces of Alto Amazonas, Bajo Amazonas, and Ucayali. At the time of the Independence, all this vast territory belonged to the Intendencia of Trujillo, and was known as the province of Mainas; it was made a province of the Department of La Libertad, and, later, of Amazonas, until, in 1853, the Littoral Province of Loreto was formed, with the city of Moyobamba as its capital. A few years afterward, President Castilla raised the province to the dignity of a maritime military department, with jurisdiction over all the Amazon region bordering on the neighboring republics. At that time the department consisted of the provinces of Moyobamba, Huallaga, Alto and Bajo Amazonas; Huallaga was divided later to form the province of San Martin, from which the present province of Ucayali was separated a few years ago. The creation of the new Department of San Martin in 1905 took from Loreto the provinces of Moyobamba, Huallaga, and San Martin, though this still remains the largest political division of Peru, covering an area of more than a hundred thousand square miles, according to Peruvian claims.

The provinces of Loreto are completely watered by the tributaries of the Amazon; the main stream, under the name of Marañon, crosses Alto and Bajo Amazonas through a territory of the greatest fertility, rich in rubber, hardwoods, and tropical fruits; and along the eastern border of Ucayali province, the river of the same name flows in a serpentine course northward, receiving innumerable small streams that descend the western slope of the central Cordilleras. The popular route from the Pacific Coast to the forests of Loreto is by the Ucayali River to its confluence with the Marañon, and thence along the great waterway down to Iquitos; though a very interesting journey may be made by the northern route, through Cajamarca, Chachapoyas and Moyobamba to the port of Yurimaguas on the Huallaga River. Along both routes the luxuriance of the Montaña is seen in all its glory; the forest is aglow with the brilliant hues of a thousand birds and butterflies; the trees are alive with chattering monkeys that swing back and forth by the long parasitic vines which hang like ropes from the highest branches. In the heart of the Montaña the trees become larger, the palms and ferns of denser growth, and the creeping vines form a network about the overarching boughs. Plantations of cacao, plantains, yucca, and other products appear from time to time as a clear space separates the wooded tracts; and, in the neighborhood of the great rivers, the jebe and caucho gatherers may be seen working their way through the estradas, or journeying to some point on the river to take a boat down to Iquitos, the metropolis of the rubber country. The sentiment of hospitality prevails everywhere, and a traveller is usually treated with the greatest kindness when he arrives at a settlement in the Amazon forest, whatever his business or nationality. The men whose tasks keep them buried for years in the heart of the rubber country are always glad to have news from the outside world.

In the development of trade on the Amazon, the port of Iquitos has been placed in direct communication with the head of navigation on all the large tributaries of the great river, and explorations have been made far up the smaller streams toward their source in the Cordilleras. The expeditions sent out by the Peruvian government with this object in view have added many interesting contributions to the knowledge already existing in reference to the resources and wealth of Loreto and the promising future of its chief port.