Manao is located at 3 degrees 8 minutes 4 seconds south latitude, 67 degrees 27 minutes from the longitude passing through Paris.It is four hundred and twenty kilometers away from Belém.Just ten kilometers from the mouth of the Rio Negro.
Manao is not on the banks of the Amazon, but stands on the left bank of the Negro River.The Negro River is the most important and famous among the many tributaries of the Amazon River.The city is surrounded by picturesque private homes and public buildings.
The Negro River was discovered by the Spaniard de Vera in 1645.It rises in the mountains of the northwestern border of Brazil and New Grenada, just in the middle of Popayen Province, and it is connected to Ohonok, that is, by two tributaries - the Bimishum River and the Kasigal The river flows into Guyana.
After running for 1,700 kilometers, the black water of the Rio Negro flows into the Amazon River through an estuary about 1,700 wide.It flows so fast that the waters of the two rivers are still distinct and do not mix together for several miles across the river.Here the banks widen abruptly, forming a broad bay, about sixty kilometers deep, which extends to the Anavilana Islands.
In one of these narrow, toothed bays was the seat of Manao.Countless small boats are moored in the harbor, some of which are wet by the river, and set sail when the wind turns favorable, while others are parked in the river waiting for repairs.The city is densely covered with rivers, criss-crossing, quite like the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
At the confluence of the two rivers, a wharf for steamships was about to be built, and Manao's commerce was sure to prosper visibly.Building lumber, woodenware, cocoa, rubber, coffee, American herbs, sugarcane, indigo, cardamom, salted fish, turtle butter, and other commodities can be transported in all directions through the criss-crossing waterways: by the Rio Negro Accessible to the north and west, the Madeira River leads to the south and west, and finally the Amazon River, which flows east into the Atlantic Ocean.The city's geographical location is very advantageous, greatly promoting its prosperity.
Manao - also known as Manaus - was once called Mulla and then Barra de Negro.From 1757 to 1804 it was little more than a part of the Crown Stewardship.Because it is located at the mouth of the Negro River, people use this river to name it.But from 1826 it became the capital of the vast Amazonas province, which took its new name from a tribe of Indians who lived in Central America.
On several occasions it has been confused by unexplained travelers with the famous city of Mannar.Mannar is a magical city said to be located on the shores of the legendary Palima Lake.The lake appears to be the Alto Blanco River, which is nothing more than a tributary of the Rio Negro.It was also the seat of the empire of El Torador.According to legend, the emperor would paint his body with gold powder every morning, because the precious metal was found everywhere in this blessed land, and was usually mined with a shovel.However, it turns out that these so-called countless gold are just some worthless mica stones. Therefore, those who are deceived gold diggers often go away with good luck and return with bad luck.
All in all, Manao lacked the splendor of the legendary capital of the El Torradian empire.It's just a city of about five thousand inhabitants, at least thirty of whom serve in government offices.Therefore, there are many civil buildings in the city for these people to live in: the court, the municipal government, the finance bureau, the post office, the customs office, as well as a secondary school built in 1848 and a hotel built in 1851.In addition, there is a public cemetery built on the east slope of a hill. In 1669, in order to fight against the bandits on the Amazon River, a fortress was built on the hill, and now it has completely collapsed, which shows how much attention is paid to the civil administration buildings of this city.
There are only two religious buildings: the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception and the Church of Our Lady of Medicine, built on a hill overlooking Manao in the wilderness.
For a Spanish city, two churches are not many.In addition to these two churches, there is also a Cloth Monastery, which was destroyed by fire in 1850, and now only a pile of ruins remains.
Manao's population was only so large, in addition to government officials, clerks and soldiers, there were Portuguese traders and Indians from various tribes in the Rio Negro valley.
The whole city is mainly connected by three crooked streets; their names have their own meanings and fully reflect the local color, Holy Father Street, Holy Son Street, and Holy Spirit Street.In addition, a beautiful boulevard lined with more than a hundred orange trees stretches towards the sunset in the west, and the architects responsible for renewing the city's old look are religiously devoted to it.
Around the main street, there are some unpaved alleys vertically and horizontally, separated by four canals one after another, and the rivers are connected by wooden bridges.In some places, the gray river flows slowly through the vast wilderness covered with lush grass and gorgeous flowers: in these "natural parks", there are shady trees, and the tall "kapok trees" stand tall like a flock of chickens, This gigantic plant has a white bark and a huge canopy like a large parasol over its jagged trunk.
Among the hundreds of dilapidated houses stood private houses, some with tiled roofs, others with palm fronds, with balconies on the upper floors, and vestibules in shops, mostly Portuguese.
What do people look like when they walk out of these public buildings and private homes?The men looked haughty, in black tailcoats, silk top hats, well-polished shoes, brightly colored gloves, and diamonds on their ties; Dressing is also gradually Europeanized, so that in the central Amazon region, the local color is almost gone.
This is Manao, a city which, as the story requires, must be briefly introduced to the reader.Here the journey of the great raft is sadly interrupted; and in the short space of time the mysterious incident will take place in waves.
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