AMAZONAS, a department of northern Peru', on the east ern slopes of the Cordillera between the departments of Loreto and Cajamarca, with Ecuador on the north (area, 13,947 sq.m., estimated pop. 8o,000). The north-eastern part of the territory is a low-lying equatorial virgin forest inhabited by savage tribes. The southern provinces, where the few towns are located, are more rugged. The capital, Chachapoyas, at an altitude of 7,600ft., with about 6,000 inhabitants, has a warm, malarial climate. The chief industry is the plaiting of very fine "Panama" hats. In valleys and on lower slopes, sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco, cacao, coca and cereals grow luxuriantly. Rainfall is abundant through out, and the rivers, tributaries of the Maranon which crosses the department, are navigable for canoes and rafts ; trails are usually impassable. The great Maranon, parent of the Amazon, crosses the eastern Cordillera at the Pongo de Manseriche (4° 30' S.), a narrow gorge only a few hundred feet wide. The mountains are rich in minerals, but remoteness from markets as well as lack of transportation facilities make these resources of little value. In Dec., 1926, a contract was signed for the construction of a rail way from the coast to Yurimaguas on the Huallaga, which will pass through Chachapoyas.