Up the Amazon and Madeira rivers, through Bolivia and Peru

In Short

This book is a detailed, practical account of an overland and river journey across the midsection of South America in the 1870s. After work halts on the Madeira and Mamoré Railway, civil engineer Edward D. Mathews decides to return home to England by traveling up the Amazon and Madeira rivers, traversing the interior of Bolivia, and crossing the Andes into Peru. Blending precise technical observations, daily log entries, and vivid social sketches, the narrative endures as a fascinating, grounded record of late nineteenth-century South American transport, commerce, and geography.

The Story

The narrative opens along the mouth of the Amazon River, where Mathews surveys the steamship routes and commercial hubs from Pará up to Manáos. Having served as Resident Engineer for the projected Madeira and Mamoré Railway in Matto Grosso, Brazil, he finds his work temporarily suspended. Rather than retracing his steps back to the Atlantic coast, he elects to make a perilous transcontinental journey west toward the Pacific, keeping a daily journal of his progress, expenses, and geographic findings.

Departing from the lower rivers, Mathews boards steam vessels and then transitions into a heavily laden garitea canoe to navigate the treacherous rapids of the Madeira River. Guided by native boatmen and traveling in company with Bolivian merchants, he contends with arduous portages, whirlpools, unpredictable river currents, and dense rainforests. The expedition faces constant friction from severe weather, sudden fever attacks among the crew, and short food rations. Through it all, Mathews diligently notes the economic potential of local resources, recording details about wild rubber harvesting, tobacco curing in Borba, the production of guaraná fruit paste, and the trade in dried meats and coca leaves.

Upon ascending the Mamoré and Chapari rivers into Bolivia, Mathews leaves the water behind at the port of Coni and transitions to mule travel. He ascends steep mountain trails, emerging from tropical river basins onto the cold, high-altitude plains of the Andes. His journey takes him through key urban centers including Cochabamba, Sucre, Potosí, and Oruro. In Cochabamba, he observes political evening social gatherings and traditional sugar processing mills run by local headmen; in Potosí, he examines the dirty streets, the historic mint with its American-built steam machinery, and the debased silver currency issued under past regimes. Further along at Oruro, he inspects silver and tin mines, recording how local miners select and process high-grade ore.

The final leg of his journey leads across bleak, cold high-altitude mountain passes, past grim sites like Sepulturas—noted for its heavy losses of pack animals to mountain sickness—and down the western slope of the Andes toward the Peruvian coast. He finishes the land journey at Tacna, takes a short rail line to the port of Arica, and boards a steamship bound for Panamá and ultimately Southampton, closing his account with complete financial estimates and practical advice for future travelers who wish to cross the continent.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Mathews leaves the Brazilian coast at Pará and travels up the Amazon River aboard commercial steamships. He records the surrounding vegetation, river navigation rules, and regional trading settlements like Santarem and Manáos.

Ascending the Madeira Transitioning to large river canoes at San Antonio, Mathews joins Bolivian merchants to tackle the dangerous rapids of the Madeira River. The crews haul baggage over difficult overland portages, battle fierce currents, and manage continuous risk from falling riverbanks.

Life along the tributaries The party travels along the Mamoré and Chapari rivers, hunting otters and alligators for food while battling fever and cold winds. Mathews studies local native settlements, sugar-mill operations run by Indian headmen, and the harvesting of coca plantations on the eastern mountain slopes.

Into the Bolivian heartland Leaving the river system at Coni, Mathews switches to mule transport to reach the upland cities of Cochabamba and Sucre. He attends formal social gatherings, observes political dynamics in the Bolivian Congress, and travels along narrow mountain ravines vulnerable to sudden flash floods.

The heights of Potosí and Oruro Reaching historic mining regions, Mathews inspects the mint at Potosí, noting its unique steam engine and regional silver coinage. At Oruro, he visits working silver mines to document the extraction methods and the manual sorting of rich ores by Indian laborers.

Crossing the Andes to the sea The trek continues across bleak, high-altitude passes where mountain sickness claims many pack animals at the notorious campsite of Sepulturas. Descending the western slopes to Tacna and Arica, Mathews connects with steamships along the Pacific coast to complete his journey home.

The People

Edward D. Mathews The author and main narrator, an English civil engineer who takes advantage of a pause in his railway project to cross South America. He wants to document a practical, low-cost travel route while recording the economic resources of the interior; he endures feverish nights, heavy manual paddling, and dangerous rapids, remaining a pragmatic observer throughout.

Señor Morales and Don Miguel Bolivian merchants traveling in company with Mathews up the Madeira River. They seek to transport commercial cargoes of guaraná, farinha, and trade goods safely past the rapids; their presence provides essential extra boat hands, guidance, and security for the shared fleet of canoes.

Señor José Aqurusa (Taita Crusa) A tall, grey-headed native headman of the Cayubabas and former corregidor of Exaltacion. He maintains firm authority over local agricultural workers and operates a large, timbered estate featuring a bullock-driven sugar mill that produces high-quality sugar.

Candido Cayuva and Pedro Yche Members of Mathews's canoe crew. Candido Cayuva suffers severely from ague and sudden fever during wet river crossings; Pedro Yche serves as an assertive, self-willed canoe captain who frequently risks high currents along falling riverbanks to avoid cold winds.

Mr. Penny An English mine owner who has lived in Bolivia for over twenty-five years. He welcomes Mathews to his property, the San José Chica mine near Oruro, demonstrating local silver extraction methods and explaining the technical difficulties caused by underground water influx.

In Its Own Voice

"During that journey I kept up my ordinary custom of keeping a rough diary, and I have since dressed up my notes into something of a consecutive form."

Mathews explains how his daily field logs were compiled into a continuous narrative to assist future travelers crossing the continent.

"The passage of the rapids of Ribeirão, being considered both difficult and dangerous, accounts for an extra allowance of the chanting the night before the first corrientes were ascended."

He describes the soothing evening prayers sung by his Christianized Bolivian boatmen while moored in perilous waters.

"To see a circle of say ten or a dozen people rocking away, some vigorously and others lackadaisically, while endeavouring to keep up a conversation, has a very funny look..."

During an evening social gathering in Cochabamba, Mathews observes the strict local etiquette of discussing politics and scandal from rocking chairs.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book examines the economic isolation of South America's interior and the immense physical challenges of establishing trade routes across the continent. Mathews approaches the landscape with an engineer's eye, continually evaluating how rivers, roads, and rail lines might connect isolated landlocked communities to European markets. Beneath the travel narrative lies an inquiry into how geography dictates human settlement, commercial trade, and political development. He contrasts the untapped natural wealth of regions like Bolivia and Matto Grosso—such as rubber, mineral deposits, and fertile agricultural land—with the primitive transport networks that hold back their economic development.

Why Read It Today

This work will appeal to readers of historical travel literature, industrial history, and South American exploration. Rather than offering dramatic exaggeration or polished literary flourishes, Mathews provides an authentic, matter-of-fact account of nineteenth-century overland travel. Reading the book feels like opening a precise, unpretentious journal filled with practical details—from the daily temperature logs and canoe portage techniques to itemized lists of mule rentals and boatmen wages.

Readers should be prepared for period-specific language, technical discussions of river hydrology, and nineteenth-century colonial perspectives on indigenous populations. Yet the narrative remains compelling because of its steadfast focus on real-world mechanics: how to safely navigate a heavy garitea up a raging rapid, how sugar mills were constructed from forest timber, and how silver was minted on the high Andean plateau. Mathews leaves behind an insightful, grounded portrait of a continent on the cusp of modern industrial change.