“By Land or Water”: The Tapajós and Xingu Rivers in Nineteenth-Century Amazonian Transportation Schemes

ABSTRACT

This article recovers important debates about navigation routes in Pará during the second half of the nineteenth century, with special attention to lived experiences along the Tapajós and Xingu Rivers. It draws on documents produced by the provincial and imperial administrations, as well as the annals of the Brazilian parliament. The article suggests that the imperial government’s actions can be understood as an attempt to encourage migration, occupation, and economic production in newly-connected areas. This migratory process opened new areas to cultivation and extraction, and brought new techniques to these regions.

Keywords:
Tapajós; Xingu; Transportation; Amazon; Nineteenth Century