Beadle's Pocket Library No. 472

This is *The Boy Cruisers; or, Joe and Jap's Big Find*, a story of adventure by Edward Willett, published in 1893 by Beadle and Adams. The narrative follows two American boys, eighteen-year-old Jasper Hundley and younger Joe Baggs, who travel up the Amazon and Yapura rivers with guide Juan Ortiz to rescue Jasper's father, a naturalist held captive by the Yuaquira Indians. Departing from Belem, Brazil, the party is equipped with three specially-built cedar canoes fitted with provisions and rifles. After boarding a steamer crowded with traders, planters, and missionaries, they disembark near the Yapura's mouth. An unnamed Indian passenger observes their conversations with suspicious interest before departing. The expedition begins at night, with Ortiz maintaining watch while the boys sleep fitfully, disturbed by unfamiliar wildlife sounds. The narrative indicates complications emerging at dawn.