Large steamers ascend the Amazon for three thousand miles, passing the boundary line between Brazil and Peru at the port of Tabatinga and continuing beyond Iquitos for hundreds of miles up the Marañon and the Ucayali, Huallaga, or other tributaries. Yurimaguas, which is the most important port on the Huallaga, five hundred miles above Iquitos, is connected with the latter by a regular service of steamers of four hundred tons, nearly all the trade of the Departments of San Martin and Amazonas passing over this route. On the Ucayali are the commercial ports of Contamina and Masisea, the latter noted as the first station in the Montaña of the wireless telegraph system that connects Puerto Bermudez with the port of Iquitos. Steamers of four hundred tons ply between Iquitos and Contamina, seven hundred miles up the river; and, during the rainy season when the waterways are deeper than at other times, they ascend as far as Masisea, two hundred miles beyond Contamina. From Masisea, steam launches convey passengers and cargo up the Pachitea for two hundred miles to the Pichis—which unites with the Palcazu to form the Pachitea—and along the Pichis for about a hundred miles to the port of Bermudez, at the head of navigation on this branch of the Ucayali and the point of embarkation for travellers between Lima and Iquitos over what is known as the Central Route.

The length of time required to make the journey between Lima and Iquitos varies greatly according to the season and the condition of the rivers, the voyages up the water courses taking much longer than the descent. The trip may be made, under favorable circumstances, in fifteen or sixteen days. An interesting description of this trip, given in a recent report of one of the Peruvian government engineers, shows the kind of travelling one experiences in the Montaña and affords valuable information as to the equipment necessary for such a journey. As the route lies first across the Cordilleras, and the railway takes one only from Lima to Oroya, where it is necessary to take mules for the ride across the puna and down the eastern slope to the river, passengers are advised not to carry bulky luggage, about a hundred pounds being the heaviest that any single piece should weigh; the same rule applies in all mountainous regions where the path is narrow and pack-mules are the freight carriers. It is also recommended that trunks, bags, and everything holding perishable effects, be wrapped in waterproof material, as rain falls daily and in a deluge throughout the region of the lower Montaña.

But, if the traveller goes well equipped and prepared to make the best of an experience that has its agreeable features as well as its discomforts, the journey is likely to prove most interesting. One should be provided with an army cot, a mosquitero, or netting, as a protection from the prevailing pest of some sections of the river course, a waterproof coat and cap, and a small medicine case containing quinine, antiseptics, and ammonia. This precaution is advised as a general rule, and it does not mean that medicine is sure to be needed, nor that mosquitoes will torment the passenger throughout the entire journey. As has been said elsewhere, the railway trip from Lima to Oroya may be made in a day. After spending a night at Oroya, the traveller proceeds on muleback to Tarma, about twenty miles away, over a road that gives an excellent idea of Andean highways; the sturdy mules bred in these altitudes are the only safe animals for such a journey, which is a succession of steep ascents and narrow curves until the highest point is reached, after which the downward road begins, as hazardous and uncomfortable as the other. As the railway is nearly finished between Oroya and Tarma, this part of the trip will soon be made under less trying conditions. At present, it requires five or six hours to cover these twenty miles. From Tarma to the Pichis River, the road is less difficult, and, after passing Huacapistana, twenty-five miles northeast of Tarma, the region of the Montaña is soon reached, the traveller being then obliged to discard the heavy wraps required during the ride across the high sierras, and to put on summer clothing.

The third day’s ride brings one to La Merced, on the banks of the Chanchamayo River. This part of the journey is made over a fairly good road, the distance from Huacapistana to La Merced, about twenty miles, being covered easily in five hours. Puentes colgantes, or suspension bridges, cross the Tarma and other rivers of this region, the route to La Merced crossing at least half a dozen of these primitive-looking, but generally serviceable, structures. La Merced is situated at an altitude of about three thousand feet above sea level, and belongs to what may be called the upper Montaña, to distinguish it from the region of the plains, or the lower Montaña. The road from La Merced to Yapaz, a distance of thirty miles, may be travelled in one day, though many prefer to stop midway, at Pueblo Pardo, to break the journey, which is more fatiguing as the rains become heavier, soaking the ground and making progress difficult. But one learns to take life very leisurely in the tropics, and it is pleasanter to jog along for a few hours, enjoying the charm of the forest with its impressive silence, and resting when so inclined, than to make an extra effort to accomplish in one day what may be done just as well in two. If “Poor Richard” had lived in the Chanchamayo valley, he would probably have reversed his advice to read: “Never do to-day what you can put off till to-morrow.” A short distance beyond Pueblo Pardo, the Camino de Pichis, as the road to the river is called, crosses a suspension bridge over the Paucartambo River, built by the English colony of the Perené, whose haciendas may be seen at intervals between Pueblo Pardo and Yapaz.

From Yapaz to Enenas, eighteen miles, is another day’s journey, of five or six hours; from Enenas to Porvenir, twenty-seven miles, the ride is so fatiguing and difficult that it usually requires nine or ten hours to cover the distance. This part of the journey leads the traveller through the heart of the Montaña; and during the eighth day’s ride, which takes one from Porvenir to San Nicolas, not a single house is seen, nor any sign of human habitation. From Yapaz to San Nicolas, the climate is cool and pleasant, but, after passing the Azupizu River ten miles below, the heat becomes uncomfortable. Two days’ journey from San Nicolas is still required to bring one to the river Pichis, which is reached at a point called Puerto Yessup, where a canoe is in waiting to convey passengers to Puerto Bermudez. The muleback trip need not take more than ten days under ordinary circumstances. Most of the tambos, or lodging places, along the route from Oroya to Puerto Bermudez, have telephone connection with each other; and telegraphic stations are established at Oroya, Tarma, La Merced, Enenas, Puerto Bermudez and other points. The railway will be completed to Puerto Bermudez within a short time, and then the trip overland to Iquitos will be a question of days instead of weeks, as at present. A steamer makes the voyage from Puerto Bermudez to the port of Iquitos in five or six days, calling at Masisea and other ports en route.

The northern route from the coast to Iquitos has two starting points, and reaches the upper Amazon at two separate ports. The route most generally taken is that from Pacasmayo, via Cajamarca, Chachapoyas and Moyobamba to Yurimaguas; though the new railway will extend from Paita to Puerto Limon, on the Marañon, with a branch to Yurimaguas. Explorations have been made throughout this region, and reports have been sent to the government dealing with the question of railway building and road making in this part of the republic. The European explorer Zaham, who travelled from Lima to Iquitos by way of Moyobamba recently, wrote an enthusiastic letter in praise of this region, saying: “In no country of the world have I seen a more fertile land or a more suave and enchanting climate: nowhere have I seen such a variety of fruits, nor a more exuberant vegetation: wheat, maize, rice, sugar-cane, cacao, coffee, potatoes, and coca, equal to the products found in any other part of the globe, and the silkworm flourishing, as I have seen for myself.” The same writer adds that the only need of this region is good roads and colonists. The government is doing all in its power to secure both these advantages.

The navigation of the vast river system of the Montaña is a question that bears directly on the two important problems of transportation and immigration. It has been proved in the history of both North and South America that the tide of immigration is ever borne toward the sections of country traversed by railways or reached by steamers; and it is important that means of transportation should be guaranteed to colonists before they establish themselves in a new country. With this object in view, the Peruvian government is employing commissions to explore and examine rivers that have hitherto been known only as a name, and the results are most satisfactory. Voyages of discovery have been made up the main stream and branches of the Yurúa, Purús, Putumayo, Napo, Tigre, Morona, Pastaza, and others, and valuable knowledge has been gained regarding these waterways. Along all the rivers of the Amazon system on which lines of steamers and small craft are maintained, improvements have been inaugurated with a view to facilitating transportation so that more rapid and regular service may be secured. Merchant steamers, engaged in the rubber trade, and in the shipment of products from the forests of northern Cuzco to Iquitos and foreign ports, can ascend the main stream of the Ucayali for three hundred miles above the mouth of the Pachitea, and beyond the confluence of its great tributaries, the Tambo and the Urubamba, continuing along the latter river for another hundred miles until they reach the port of Mishagua, in the Department of Cuzco. A line of railway is projected from the city of Cuzco to this port, in accordance with the general plan of commercial development which the Peruvian government has adopted.

The port of Mishagua lies at the mouth of the Mishagua River, which, with its tributary, the Sarjali, is navigable for canoes for a distance of more than two hundred miles, to what is known as the portage of Fitzcarrald, a narrow isthmus across which the rubber shippers have made a path through the forest to the headwaters of the Madre de Dios. This important affluent of the Amazon’s mightiest tributary, the Madeira, has its rise very near the source of the Purús, another of the Amazon’s great branches. About twenty miles from its source, the Madre de Dios, known by the name of the Manu, is navigable for steam launches; and below its continence with the Pilcopata, where it takes the name of the Madre de Dios, merchant steamers of five hundred tons serve the purposes of transportation. If the channels of these rivers were dredged and cleared of obstructions, it would be possible to navigate them all the year round, in the dry as well as the wet season.

Under existing conditions, the extent of the Amazon waterways in Peru that are navigable all the year round,—including the main stream, which is navigable for four hundred miles above Tabatinga for vessels drawing twenty feet of water,—is estimated at over five thousand miles. Of this mileage, about one-third is navigable for steamers drawing from four to eight feet of water, and the remainder for lighter steamers, not requiring more than from two to four feet of depth for navigation. At high water, the river transportation facilities cover an extent of ten thousand miles for steamers, and about thirty thousand miles for light craft such as canoes and rafts, which penetrate the immense forests of the Montaña in every direction, along innumerable streams that feed the mighty current of the main waterway from a thousand sources.