A VOYAGE TO THE LOWER AMAZON.

In another part of this volume there is an adventure related by Mr. Moore, in which he encountered a snow storm in a tropical country.

Mr. Moore had spent the earlier part of his life in South America; and, in after years, he was very fond of talking about these youthful days with his son George, who was a delighted listener to the travels and exploits of his father.

On one occasion Mr. Moore gave George an account of the first voyage he took on the lower part of the Amazon river, and I think it will prove almost as full of interest to my readers as it was to George Moore.

So here it is.

“I had made up my mind,” said Mr. Moore, “to overhaul the boat of Miguel Espartero. He was a Spanish South American, and captain of the sloop Bella Donna, which sloop, I had been told, was to start that very day on its voyage down the river to Para, to which place it was conveying coffee and chocolate, the produce of the river farms.

“I had some acquaintance with Captain Espartero; and I knew he did not want me on his sloop, and I guessed the reason. His ideas of hospitality would compel him to offer me his state-room, and he feared I would accept the offer. That was the reason he pretended not to see me when I first came in sight of him in the gapo. He rowed with all his might and main, without turning his head in my direction. But I thought if I could overtake him, and convince him I did not want his state-room, he would be very glad of my company.

THE CHASE IN THE GAPO.

“So I bribed my Indian rower to his best speed. The captain’s boat was several lengths ahead, and was lighter than ours, but he wasnot as much accustomed to rowing as my Indian, and I felt pretty sure of overtaking him in the gapo.

“What is a gapo?” said George.

“At certain seasons the Amazon river overflows its banks; and the forest land, covered by the waters, is called a gapo, and Captain Espartero was rowing through one of these to get to his sloop in the open river, and I was following him. I was afraid he would hoist sail, and away before I could reach the sloop, so I made up my mind to overhaul his boat.

“We overtook him after a little rapid rowing, and I made a bargain with him to take me down the river. He was in a hurry, he said, but I was all ready; and in half an hour we were on board the Bella Donna.”

“Why!” exclaimed George, “that is the name of a medicine!”

“The sloop was not named after the medicine, but Bella Donna is Spanish for Beautiful Lady.

“For several hours we drifted with the tide, which was running pretty fast; and then we stopped at a town to take on some chocolate. Here there were farm-houses on both banks of the river—low whitewashed buildings, looking very picturesque in the midst of the pretty cacao or chocolate trees.

“After leaving here, our progress was very slow; and, before night, we came to a dead stop. Our pilot had steered us upon a sand-bank! There was nothing for it but to wait for the tide to float us off. Fortunately we could go to sleep, and we did.

“It was a warm night, and I wrapped myself in my cloak, and laid down on some cushions on the deck. After a long time I was awakened by a splashing noise, and, lying quite still in the moonlight, I listened. There seemed to be many creatures swimming around our sloop. And then I plainly smelled a musky odor. I knew by that sign who our visitors were. I got up and looked over the side of the vessel.

“Yes, there they were! I was sure of it! Their long, villainous-looking heads were thrust out of the water, as if enjoying the moonlight. These were several alligators looking for something to eat, no doubt, and I was very glad they were not going to have a chance to eat me. I was safely out of their reach on the deck of the sloop, but the idea of having so many of these disgusting and ravenous beasts so near me disturbed my rest for a long time. So that my first night on the sloop was not particularly pleasant.

“But the second was worse. We floated off the sand-bar about daybreak, and made very good progress through the day. Very early in the night I retired to my little room in the cabin, and was soon sound asleep.

“After some time I awoke. I was conscious of a disagreeable sensation. I soon found that my hammock was rocking at a furious rate. Presently it gave a tremendous lurch, and banged my head against the wall. With some difficulty I managed to get out of the hammock, and, as soon as I put my feet on the floor, I fell down. The room was pitchy dark, and the vessel was evidently very pitchy too, though in a different way. On the deck there was a great trampling of feet.

“I scrambled up in haste, and was eager to get out of the cabin, and to see what had happened. But I could not find the door. I felt around the walls, but the door seemed to have vanished. I imagined that the ship was on fire and that I should be burned up in that little cell. I kicked, and pounded, and shrieked; and, after a long time, the uproar I made was heard on deck. Somebody came, and let me out.

A NIGHT TEMPEST.

“Then I found that a fearful storm was upon us. The scene had been entirely changed in an hour. All day it had been calm. There was not breeze enough to move a sail, and scarcely to ruffle the water. Now the wind was blowing violently, bending the trees until it seemed as if they would be torn up by the roots. The air was filled with whirling leaves. The river was lashed into waves, and white withfoam. The lightning was almost incessant, sometimes in blinding sheets, and sometimes with flaming lines crossing each other.

“The sloop was flying over the waves as gaily as a bird. There was not a thread of canvas out. We were rushing along under bare poles.

“The Indian sailors were of no use whatever—worse than useless, for they were in an agony of terror. They were all in the shrouds and rigging, holding on for dear life. If it had not been for the pilot, the captain, and one white sailor, I don’t know what would have become of us.

“The captain assured me there was no danger, so I secured myself on deck, and watched the tempest, admiring the fine display it made, but wishing from my heart it would stop. For I preferred the certainty of safety to the captain’s assurance that we were safe.

“Fearing that the wind would blow me off the slippery deck, I had tied one end of a rope around the mast, and the other end around my waist. I suppose I did not tie it firmly, for the rope slipped from me; and I felt that I was sliding swiftly over the wet deck, on my way to the river. The sloop was tipped up at such a high angle I could not save myself. I gave a shriek; there was a crash; and down I went into the raging waters!

“For an instant I had no sensation but that of terror. Then the horror of my situation forced me to think how to save myself. I was in the midst of this boiling river, at the mercy of the furious waves, and still more furious wind. The vessel was going at a frantic speed, and would soon be far away from me. At such a time I would not be missed; and, even if I were my companions could not save me. They could do nothing except to throw me a rope, and try to hold me up until I could get to the ship’s side, when there was a possibility they might haul me up. But all this was not probable.

“These thoughts flew through my mind in a moment. Then Ifound I was close to the ship, but I could not see distinctly. The lightning flashes seemed to have grown very faint, and everything was obscure. The only thing I could do was to try to get up the ship’s side, and I made a desperate clutch at it. My hands failed to get hold of anything, and down I went into the water again. But I did not sink. I seemed to be borne up on the top of the waves all the time. But, of course, I did not reflect upon the strangeness of this. I made another attempt to scramble up the side of the sloop; and this time, I caught hold of an iron ring!

“How desperately I clutched it! And how I shrieked for help! But the gale made such a noise no one heard me. I found to my surprise that the rolling of the vessel dipped only my feet in the water, and that the waves did not dash over me. My situation then did not seem to be quite so hopeless, and I redoubled my cries for help.

“Soon I heard the gruff voice of the Captain calling down to me:

‘What is the matter there?’”

“‘I am overboard, and drowning,’ I shrieked in reply.

“Upon this instead of lowering a rope, he extended me his hands, and helped me up—out of the cabin!

“The crash I had heard was the cabin hatchway, and I had fallen through it into the room below, and into about two feet of water! The iron ring was a hammock ring. No wonder I did not see the lightning flashes down in that hole.

“The raging waves, and the tossing about in the wind, and the vessel scudding away from me had only existed in my imagination. I was so certain that I had fallen into the river that I imagined the rest.

“The tempest soon ceased, but not the laugh at me. That lasted all the way to Para. Somehow my adventure seemed more ridiculous to the Captain and the sailors than it did to me!

STILL WATERS.

“We had lovely weather during the remainder of our trip. Our Bella Donna behaved very well except that she would get on a sand-baroccasionally. This was partly the pilot’s fault, and partly the fault of the river in having so many sand-bars.

‘Did not the Captain try to get his sloop off the sand-bars?’ George inquired.

“Yes, the sailors would try to work the vessel off, sometimes getting into the water, and working like Trojans. But they never did get her off; and we would just stick there until the next tide which invariably floated us on our way.

“I took advantage of these detentions to visit the shores, and explore the country. In this way I became acquainted with some very strange Indian tribes. But I saw nothing of the Amazons—the female warriors you have read of. Nor did I meet with any one who ever had seen any of them. I did find a ruined fortress, but I never heard that the Amazons had anything to do with fortresses. They trusted to their bows and spears.

“In the place of these warlike females are gentle, inoffensive Indian women, who will sell you delicious fruits, or make you a hammock for a small sum of money, or a few ornaments.

“Immense forests stretch along both banks, filled with luxuriant vegetation. To a resident, a trip on the river, sailing between these lines of forests, is tedious, and monotonous. But a stranger is constantly interested in the beautiful and wonderful plants around him.

“There are also farms along the river, and occasionally a white settlement—usually a village; rarely a town.

“And, if the vessel gets on sand-bars as often as our good sloop, the Bella Donna, the stranger will have an opportunity of seeing some of the animals of the country, Some of them are not very pleasant to meet, especially the jaguar. But the monkeys are amusing.

“At some of the mission stations among the Indians he will also see a good deal to interest him. The Indians have been taught something of agriculture, and have some very primitive machines.

“In one of my rambles I came across a sugar-cane mill, in which three Indians were at work.

SUGAR-CANE MILL.

“It was an enormous affair, but worked entirely by man-power. The great wheels were made to revolve by a single man working in each, very much in the style in which squirrels turn toy wheels in their cages.

“With the exception of my sad adventure during the tempest, I enjoyed the ten days’ trip on the Bella Donna very much. But ten days is enough for such a journey, and I was not sorry when I reached Para, and the sea coast.”

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