The Tushaúa came to pay us a visit almost every day, to talk a little, and sometimes drink a cup of coffee. His wife and some of his daughters, who possessed a "saía," also often came, bringing us pacovas, mandiocca-cake, and other things, for which they always expected to be paid. We bought here a good number of stools and baskets, which cost five or six hooks each; also fowls, parrots, trumpeters, and some other tame birds. When we first arrived, almost the whole body of the inhabitants came to visit us, requesting to see what we had brought to sell; accordingly we spread out our whole stock of fish-hooks, knives, axes, mirrors, beads, arrow-heads, cottons and calicoes, which they handled and admired in unintelligible languages, for about two hours. It is necessary to make this exposition in every village, as they will bring nothing to sell unless they first know that you have what they want in exchange.Two days after the dance we bade adieu to Jauarité, and bymidday reached Jukeíra, where we had determined to spend another week. There was no regular house here for the accommodation of travellers, so we had to take possession of an unoccupied shed, which the Tushaúa had prepared for us, and where we soon found we were exposed to a pest abundant in all Indians' houses, the "bichos do pé," or chegoes. Nor was this all, for the blood-sucking bats were abundant, and the very first night bit Senhor L., as well as his little boy, who in the morning presented a ghastly sight, both legs being thickly smeared and blotched with blood. There was only one bite on the toe, but the blood flows plentifully, and as the boy was very restless at night, he had managed to produce the sanguinary effect I have mentioned. Several of the Indians were also bitten, but I escaped by always well wrapping my feet in my blanket.The paths in the forest here were not so good as those at Jauarité, and produced me very few insects; the Indians, however, were rather better in bringing me birds and fish. I obtained some very pretty little tanagers, and several new fish. In one lot of small fish brought to me in a calabash were seven different species, five of which were quite new to me. A species ofChalceus, called Jatuarána, was abundant here, and most delicious eating, almost, if not quite, equal to the Waracú, but like it very full of forked spines, which require practice and delicate handling to extract, or they may produce dangerous effects. Several Indians of the Coveu nation, from considerably higher up the river, were staying here. They are distinguished by the ear-lobe being pierced with so large a hole as to be plugged with a piece of wood the size of a common bottle-cork. When we entered their house they set before us, on the ground, smoked fish and madiocca-cake, which Senhor L. informs me is the general custom higher up the river, where the Indians have not lost any of their primitive customs by intercourse with the whites. Senhor L. had bought a quantity of "coroá" (the fibres of a species ofBromelia, very like flax), and he set these and several other Indians to twist it into thread, which they do by rolling it on their breasts, and form a fine well-twisted two-strand string, of which fine maqueiras are netted. Each one in two or three days produced a ball of string of a quarter of a pound weight, and they were well satisfied with a small basin of salt or half-a-dozen hooks in payment.On one or two days of bright sunshine, a beautifulPapiliocame about the house, settling on the ground in moist places: I succeeded in taking two specimens; it is allied toP. Thoas, and will probably prove a new species. This was my only capture worth mentioning at Jukeíra. I had seen the same species at Jauarité, but could not take a specimen. I purchased one of the red macaws painted as I have mentioned above. Senhor L. was here quite a martyr to the chegoes, frequently extracting ten or a dozen in a day, which made his feet so full of holes and wounds as to render walking painful, as I had experienced at Cobáti and Javíta. I, however, escaped pretty well, seldom having to take out more than two or three at a time, partly I believe owing to my being a good deal in the forest and to my always wearing slippers in the house. When a person has only one or two now and then, it is a trifling affair, and one is apt to think, as I for a long time did, that the dread of chegoes was quite unnecessary, and the accounts of their persecutions much exaggerated. Let any one, however, who still thinks so, take a trip into this part of the country, and live a month in an Indian's house, and he will be thoroughly undeceived.After staying here six days, finding little to be done, we proceeded on our downward passage to São Jeronymo. On the second day, in the morning, we reached Urubuquárra, the malocca of Bernardo, situated just above the falls. There is a path from this place through the forest, about three miles, to the village; and as there were no Indians here to assist us in passing the falls, we set ours to work, carrying part of the cargo along it. In the afternoon Bernardo's son, who had returned before us with a canoe-load of farinha, came in, and we arranged to pass the falls the next morning. The river had risen considerably since we ascended, and had now reached a higher point than had been known for several years, and the rapids were proportionally more dangerous. I therefore preferred going through the forest, carrying with me two small boxes, containing the insects I had collected, and my drawings of fish,—the loss of which would have been irreparable. The morning was fine, and I had a pleasant walk, though the path was very rugged in places, with steep descents and ascents at the crossing of several small brooks. Arrived at São Jeronymo, I waited for Senhor L., at the house of Senhor Augustinho,the young Brazilian before mentioned, who had returned from Jauarité before us, with upwards of a hundred alqueires of farinha. About midday a tremendous storm of wind and rain came on, and in the afternoon Senhor L. arrived with the canoe, thoroughly soaked; and informed me that they had had a most dangerous passage, a portion of the path where the cargo had to be carried through the forest being breast-deep in water; and at some of the points, the violence of the current was so great that they narrowly escaped being carried down to the great fall, and dashed to pieces on the rocks.Here was a good house for travellers, (though without doors,) and we took possession and settled ourselves for a week or ten days' stay. We nearly filled the house with farinha, pitch, baskets, stools, earthen pots and pans, maqueiras, etc.; we had also near a hundred fowls, which had been brought crammed into two huge square baskets, and were now much pleased to be set at liberty,—as well as a large collection of tame birds, parrots, macaws, paroquets, etc., which kept up a continual cawing and crying, not always very agreeable. All these birds were loose, flying about the village, but returning generally to be fed. The trumpeters and curassow-birds wandered about the houses of the Indians, and sometimes did not make their appearance for several days; but being brought up from the nest, or even sometimes from the egg, there was little danger of their escaping to the forest. We had nine pretty little black-headed parrots, which every night would go of their own accord into a basket prepared for them to sleep in.From what I had seen on this river, there is no place equal to it for procuring a fine collection of live birds and animals; and this, together with the desire to see more of a country so interesting and so completely unknown, induced me, after mature deliberation, to give up for the present my intended journey to the Andes, and to substitute another voyage up the river Uaupés, at least to the Juruparí (Devil) cataract, the "ultima Thule" of most of the traders, and about a month's voyage up from its mouth. Several traders who had arrived at São Jeronymo on the way up, as well as the more intelligent Indians, assured me that in the upper districts there are many birds and animals not met with below. But what above all attracted me, was the information that a white species of thecelebrated umbrella-chatterer was to be found there. The information on this point from several parties was so positive, that, though much inclined to doubt the existence of such a bird at all, I could not rest satisfied without one more trial, as, even if I did not find it, I had little doubt of obtaining many new species to reward me. The worst of it was, that I must go to Barra and return—a voyage of fifteen hundred miles—which was very disagreeable. But there was no remedy, for I had a considerable lot of miscellaneous collections here and at Guia, as well as what I left at Barra, which must be packed and sent off to England, or they might be destroyed by damp and insects. Besides which I could not undertake a voyage on this wild river for several months, without being well supplied with necessaries, and articles for barter with the Indians, which could only be obtained at Barra; moreover, the best season for ascending would not arrive for two or three months, so that I could do scarcely anything if I remained here. The months of November, December, January, and February, are the "vasante," or low water, and then is the summer-season, when the river presents a totally different and a much more agreeable aspect, being everywhere bordered with fine sandy or rocky beaches, on which one can eat and sleep with comfort at any hour. Fish are then much more abundant; turtles of a new species are said to be found on the sands, in the upper part of the river, and to lay abundance of eggs; the delicious fruit of the baccába and patawá palms are then ripe, and birds and insects of all kinds more easily procurable. These four months I hoped, therefore, to spend there, so as to be able to descend to Barra, and thence to Pará, in time to return to England by July or August, with a numerous and valuable collection of live animals. It was on account of these, principally, that I determined to return to England a year before the time I had fixed upon, as it was impossible to send them without personal care and attendance.And so, having once made up my mind to this course, with what delight I thought upon the sweets of home! What a paradise did that distant land seem to me! How I thought of the many simple pleasures, so long absent,—the green fields, the pleasant woods, the flowery paths, the neat gardens,—all so unknown here! What visions of the fireside did I conjure up, of the social tea-table, with familiar faces around it!What a luxury seemed simple bread and butter!—and to think that, perhaps in one short year, I might be in the midst of all this! There was a pleasure in the mere thought, that made me leap over the long months, the weary hours, the troubles and annoyances of tedious journeys, that had first to be endured. I passed hours in solitary walks thinking of home; and never did I in former years long to be away in this tropic-land, with half the earnestness with which I now looked forward to returning back again.Our stay at São Jeronymo was prolonged by the nonappearance of Bernardo. Insects were not so plentiful even as at Jauarité; but I generally found something in my walks, and obtained two fine species ofSatyridæquite new to me. In a little patch of open bushy campo, which occurs about a mile back from the village, I was delighted to find abundance of orchids. I had never seen so many collected in one place; it was a complete natural orchid-house. In an hour's ramble, I noticed about thirty different species;—some, minute plants scarcely larger than mosses, and one large semi-terrestrial species, which grew in clumps eight or ten feet high. There were but few in flower, and most of them were very small, though pretty. One day, however, I was much delighted to come suddenly upon a magnificent flower: growing out of a rotten stem of a tree, just level with my eye, was a bunch of five or six blossoms, which were three inches in diameter, nearly round, and varying from a pale delicate straw-colour to a rich deep yellow, on the basal portion of the labellum. How exquisitely beautiful did it appear in that wild, sandy, barren spot! A day or two afterwards I found another handsome species, the flowers of which, unlike those of most of the family, were of very short duration, opening in the morning, and lasting but a single day. The sight of these determined me to try and send some to England, as from such a distant and unexplored locality there would probably be many new species. I accordingly began bringing a few home every day, and, packing them in empty farinha-baskets, placed them under a rough stage, with some plantain-leaves to defend them from the heat of the sun, till we should be ready to embark. I was rather doubtful of the result, as they could not arrive in England before the winter, which might be injurious; but on my next voyage, I looked forward to bringing a larger collectionof these beautiful and interesting plants, as they would then arrive in a good season of the year.São Jeronymo is celebrated for its abundance of fish, but at this season they are in all places difficult to take. However, we had on most days enough for breakfast and supper, and scarcely a day passed but I had some new and strange kinds to add to my collection. The small fishes of these rivers are in wonderful variety, and the large proportion of the species here, different from those I had observed in the Rio Negro, led me to hope that in the upper parts of the river I should find them almost entirely new.Here we were tolerably free from chegoes, but had another plague, far worse, because more continual. We had suffered more or less from pium͂s in all parts of the river, but here they were in such countless myriads, as to render it almost impossible to sit down during the day. It was most extraordinary that previously to this year they had never been known in the river. Senhor L. and the Indians all agreed that a pium͂ had hitherto been a rarity, and now they were as plentiful as in their very worst haunts. Having long discarded the use of stockings in these "altitudes," and not anticipating any such pest, I did not bring a pair, which would have been useful to defend my feet and ankles in the house, as the pium͂, unlike the mosquito, does not penetrate any covering, however thin.As it was, the torments I suffered when skinning a bird or drawing a fish, can scarcely be imagined by the unexperienced. My feet were so thickly covered with the little blood-spots produced by their bites, as to be of a dark purplish-red colour, and much swelled and inflamed. My hands suffered similarly, but in a less degree, being more constantly in motion. The only means of taking a little rest in the day, was by wrapping up hands and feet in a blanket. The Indians close their houses, as these insects do not bite in the dark, but ours having no door, we could not resort to this expedient. Whence these pests could thus suddenly appear in such vast numbers is a mystery which I am quite unable to explain.When we had been here about a week, some Indians who had been sent to Guia with a small cargo of farinha, returned and brought us news of two deaths, which had taken place in the village since we had left. One was of Jozé, a little Indianboy in Senhor L.'s house, who had killed himself by eating dirt,—a very common and destructive habit among Indians and half-breeds in the houses of the whites. All means had been tried to cure him of the habit; he had been physicked and whipped, and confined indoors, but when no other opportunity offered he would find a plentiful supply in the mud-walls of the house. The symptoms produced were swelling of the whole body, face, and limbs, so that he could with difficulty walk, and not having so much care taken of him after we left, he ate his fill and died.The other was an old Indian, the Juiz of the festa of St. Antonio, which took place shortly after we left. He was poisoned with caxirí, into which had been put the juice of a root which produces the most dreadful effects: the tongue and throat swell, putrefy, and rot away, and the same effects seem to take place in the stomach and intestines, till, in two or three days, the patient dies in great agony. The poisoner was not known, but it was suspected to be a young woman, sister of an Indian who died in the village a short time before, and whose death they imagined to be caused by charms or witchcraft; and the present murder was probably in revenge for this supposed injury. Coroners' inquests are here unknown, and the poor old man was buried, and nothing more thought about the matter; perhaps, however, his friends may resort to the same means to repay the suspected parties.A few days afterwards a boy died in São Jeronymo, and for several hours a great crying and wailing was made over the body. His maqueira, and bow and arrows, were burnt in a fire made at the back of the house, within which, according to the universal custom of these Indians, he was buried, and the mother continued her mournful wailing for several days.The only additions I made to my collections during the time I stayed here, were a prehensile-tailed ant-eater, and one of the small nocturnal monkeys called "Juruparí Macaco," or Devil Monkey, a species very closely allied to that called "Iá," which inhabits the Solimões. After waiting anxiously a fortnight, Bernado made his appearance with three of his wives and a host of children: he had been unsuccessful in his projected attack, the parties having obtained notice of his motions and absconded. He had taken every precaution, by entering in a different river from that in which the attack wasto be made, and penetrating through the forest; but his movements were, no doubt, thought suspicious, and it was considered safer to get out of his way; he was, however, confident of succeeding next time in another place, where he thought he could arrive unawares.Having now no further cause for delay, we loaded our canoes, and the next morning left São Jeronymo, on our return to Guia, where we arrived on the morning of the 24th, having been absent on our trip fifty days.The most important event that had occurred in the village was the arrival from Barra of Manoel Joaquim, a half-breed Brazilian, some time resident at Guia. This man was a specimen of the class of white men found in the Rio Negro. He had been a soldier, and had been engaged in some of the numerous revolutions which had taken place in Brazil. It was said he had murdered his wife, and for that, or some other crimes, had been banished to the Rio Negro, instead of being hung, as he deserved. Here he was accustomed to threaten and shoot at the Indians, to take their daughters and wives from them, and to beat the Indian woman who lived with him, so that she was obliged to hide for days in the forest. The people of Guia declared he had murdered two Indian girls, and had committed many other horrible crimes. He had formerly been friendly with Senhor L., but, a year or two ago, had quarrelled with him, and had attempted to set fire to his house; he had also attempted to shoot an old Mulatto soldier, who was friendly with Senhor L. For these and other crimes, the Subdelegarde de Policia of the district had indicted him, and after taking the depositions of the Indians and of Senhor L. against him, had wished to send him prisoner to Barra, but could not do so, because he had no force at his command. He therefore applied to the Commandante of Marabitánas, who was at Guia at the time; but he was Manoel Joaquim's "compadre," and took his part, and would not send him as a prisoner, but let him go in his own canoe, accompanied by two soldiers, bearing a recommendation from the Commandante in his favour.This had happened shortly before we left for the Uaupés; and now we found that Manoel Joaquim had returned in great triumph—firing salutes and sending up rockets at every village he passed through. He had gone on to Marabitánas; but ina day or two more returned, and brought me some letters and papers from Barra. There also came a letter to Senhor L. from the Delegarde de Policia in Barra, saying, that Manoel Joaquim had presented himself, and that he (the Delegarde) had asked him if he came a prisoner; that he replied, "No; he came to attend to his own business." "Well, then," said the Delegarde, "as you have not been incommoded by this indictment, it is better to treat these slanders and quarrels with disdain;" and said he to Senhor L., "I would advise you to do the same." And so ended the attempt to punish a man who, if one-half the crimes imputed to him were true, ought, by the laws of Brazil, to have been hung, or imprisoned for life. The poor Subdelegarde, it seems, through pure ignorance, committed some informalities, and this was the reason why Manoel Joaquim so easily and gloriously escaped.The best of it is that there is a special officer in Barra and in every other city, called the "Promotor Publico," whose sole duty it is to see that all the other officers of justice and of police do their duty, so that no criminal may escape or injustice be done, by the laxity or connivance of any of these parties. Yet, with all this, nothing is easier in the Rio Negro, than for any person possessed of friends or money, to defeat the ends of justice.I now found another unavoidable delay in my projected voyage to Barra. A canoe that was making for me was not yet ready, and I did not know where to obtain one sufficiently capacious to take all my luggage and collections: but, a few days after, a Spaniard, or Venezuelano, arrived at Guia with a canoe for Manoel Joaquim; and as he was to return by Marabitánas, I took the opportunity of writing to the Commandante, asking the loan of his igarité, for the voyage to Barra and back. He very kindly consented, and in about a week I received it; but I was as badly off as ever, for a canoe without men was of no use; and the Indians, fearing the results of Manoel Joaquim's return, had all left Guia, and retired to their sitios in distant igaripés, and in the most inaccessible depths of the forest. The Commandante had sent orders to two Indians to go with me, but these were not sufficient to descend the falls with safety; so, as Senhor L. was about to remove to São Joaquim, at the mouth of the Uaupés, I agreed to go with him, and try and procure more men there. My Indians took nearly a fortnightto prepare the canoe with new toldas—about two days work; but then, though I was in a hurry, they were not.Senhor L. had not a single man left with him, and had to take his canoe down himself, and bring back Indians to assist him to remove his goods and his family, when we went all together to São Joaquim, where he intended to reside some time. I now thought I should be able to leave immediately, but found it not such an easy matter, for every Indian I applied to had some business of his own to attend to, before he could possibly go with me to Barra. One said, his house was very much out of repair, and he must first mend it; another had appointed a dance to take place in a week or two, and when that was over, he was at my service; so I still had to wait a little longer, and try the Brazilian remedy for all such annoyances—"paciencia."CHAPTER XI.ON THE RIO NEGRO.Difficulties of Starting—Descending the Falls—Catching an Alligator—Tame Parrots—A Fortnight in Barra—Frei Jozé's Diplomacy—Pickling a Cow-Fish—A River Storm—Brazilian Veracity—Wanawáca—Productiveness of the Country—A Large Snake—São Gabriel—São Joaquim—Fever and Ague.Atlength, on the 1st of September, after another week's delay, having succeeded in procuring two more Indians and a pilot, I left on my long-desired voyage. One Indian I could only persuade to go, by sending four others to assist him for three days in clearing his mandiocca rhossa, without doing which he would not leave. My canoe went fully loaded, as I took a quantity of farinha and miscellaneous goods for Senhor L., and I had some little fear of the passage of the falls, which was not diminished by my pilot's being completely stupefied with his parting libations of caxirí. He was also rather fearful, saying, that the canoe was overloaded, and that he did not know the channel well below São Gabriel; and that from there to Camanaú I must get another pilot.The rapids, before arriving at São Gabriel, are not very dangerous, and much to my satisfaction we arrived there in safety, about four in the afternoon. We there partially unloaded, to pass the narrow channel at the Fort, which was also accomplished with safety; though not without danger at one point, where the canoe got out of the proper course, and the waves dashed in rather fearfully. I then succeeded in agreeing with a good pilot to take us down the next morning, and was much relieved by his informing me, that, the river being very full, the falls were not dangerous, and the canoe would pass with perfect safety without more unloading. I therefore willingly paid him what he asked, four milreis (about nine shillings); and the next morning, having got the canoe properly reloaded, we bade adieu to the Commandante, and in two hours had passed safely down to Camanaú.The navigation of these falls is of a character quite distinct from anything in our part of the world. A person looking at the river sees only a rapid current, a few eddies, swells, and small breakers, in which there appears nothing very formidable. When, however, you are in the midst of them, you are quite bewildered with the conflicting motions of the waters. Whirling and boiling eddies, which burst up from the bottom at intervals, as if from some subaqueous explosion, with short cross-waves, and smooth intervening patches, almost make one giddy. On one side of the canoe there is often a strong down-current; while, on the other, it flows in an opposite direction. Now there is a cross stream at the bows, and a diagonal one at the stern, with a foaming Scylla on one side and a whirling Charybdis on the other. All depends upon the pilot, who, well acquainted with every sunken rock and dangerous whirlpool, steers clear of all perils,—now directing the crew to pull hard, now to slacken, as circumstances require, and skilfully preparing the canoe to receive the impetus of the cross currents that he sees ahead. I imagine that the neighbourhood of the arches of Old London Bridge, at certain states of the tide, must have presented on a small scale somewhat similar dangers. When the river is low, the descent is more perilous; for, though the force of the waters is not so great, they are so crammed with rocks in all stages of submersion, that to avoid them becomes a work requiring the greatest knowledge and care on the part of the pilot. Having passed these much-dreaded rapids, we proceeded pleasantly to São Jozé, where I stayed a day, to take out part ofSenhor L.'scargo, and reload the canoe properly for the voyage to Barra.In the afternoon, a fine specimen of one of the smaller species of alligator, or Jacaré, was brought in, and preparations were made to cut it up for supper. I, however, immediately determined to skin it, and requested to be allowed to do so, promising to get out the tail and body, for culinary purposes, in a very short time. After about an hour's hard work, I extracted the most meaty part of the tail, which is considered the best; and in another hour delivered up the body, leaving the head andlegs to be cleaned the next day in the canoe. The animal was nearly six feet long, and the scales of the belly could only be cut by heavy blows with a hammer on a large knife. It was caught with a line, to which was attached, by the middle, a short strong pointed stick baited with fish; when swallowed, the stick remains firmly fixed across the stomach of the animal. The flesh has a very strong but rather agreeable odour, like guavas or some musky fruit, and is much esteemed by Indians and many whites; but it requires to be young, fat, and well dressed, to form, in my opinion, a palatable meal. I had plenty of work the next day, cleaning the head and limbs, and these furnished a supply of meat for my Indians' supper.I called at the sitio of Senhor Chagas, whom I had met at Guia, and from him I again received the most positive information of the existence, on the river Uaupés, of a white umbrella-bird, having himself seen a specimen, which one of his Indians had killed.On the 6th I reached the sitio of Senhor João Cordeiro, the Subdelegarde, where I stopped to breakfast; and arranged with him to remain a few days at his house, on my return voyage, in order to skin and prepare the skeleton of a cow-fish, which he promised to procure for me, as they are very abundant in the river Urubaxí, which enters the Rio Negro just above his house, and where he, every year, takes great numbers with the net and harpoon. At breakfast we had some of the meat,—preserved, by being boiled or fried in its own oil; it is then put into large pots, and will keep many months. On taking my leave, he sent me a plate of the meat, and some sausages for my voyage.I here finished stuffing my Jacaré, and was obliged to borrow a drill to make the holes to sew up the skin. I had no box to put it in, and no room for it in the canoe, so I tied it on a board, and had a palm-leaf mat made to cover it from rain, on the top of the tolda. Senhor João told us to visit his "cacoarie," or fish-weir, on our way down, and take what we found in it. We did so, and of fish only got one,—a curious mailed species, quite new to me, and which gave me an afternoon's work to figure and describe. There were also five small red-headed turtles, which were very acceptable, and furnished us with dinner for several days.We proceeded pleasantly on our voyage, sometimes with rainand sometimes with sunshine, and often obliged to make a supper of farinha and water, on account of there being no land on which to make a fire; but to all these inconveniences I was by this time well inured, and thought nothing of what, a year before, was a very great hardship. At the different sitios where I called, I often received orders for Barra; for everybody whom I had once seen was, on a second encounter, an old friend, and would take a friend's privilege. One requested me to bring him a pot of turtle oil,—another, a garafão of wine; the Delegarde wanted a couple of cats, and his clerk a couple of ivory small-tooth combs; another required gimlets, and another, again, a guitar. For all these articles I received not a vintem of payment, but was promised the money certain on my return, or an equivalent in coffee or tobacco, or some other article current in the Rio Negro. To many persons, with whom I had never spoken, I was nevertheless well known, and addressed by name; and these would often hint that such and such an article they were much in want of, and, without directly requesting me to get it for them, would intimate that if I should bring it, they would be happy to purchase it of me.The only live animals I had with me were a couple of parrots, which were a never-failing source of amusement. One was a little "Marianna," or Macaí of the Indians, a small black-headed, white-breasted, orange-neck and thighed parrot; the other, an Anacá, a most beautiful bird, banded on the breast and belly with blue and red, and the back of the neck and head covered with long bright red feathers margined with blue, which it would elevate when angry, forming a handsome crest somewhat similar to that of the harpy eagle; its ornithological name isDerotypus accipitrinus, the hawk-headed parrot. There was a remarkable difference in the characters of these birds. The Anacá was of a rather solemn, morose, and irritable disposition; while the Mariánna was a lively little creature, inquisitive as a monkey, and playful as a kitten. It was never quiet, running over the whole canoe, climbing into every crack and cranny, diving into all the baskets, pans, and pots it could discover, and tasting everything they contained. It was a most omnivorous feeder, eating rice, farinha, every kind of fruit, fish, meat, and vegetable, and drinking coffee too as well as myself; and as soon as it saw me with basin in hand, would climb up to the edge, and not be quiet without having a share,which it would lick up with the greatest satisfaction, stopping now and then, and looking knowingly round, as much as to say, "This coffee is very good," and then sipping again with increased gusto. The bird evidently liked the true flavour of the coffee, and not that of the sugar, for it would climb up to the edge of the coffee-pot, and hanging on the rim plunge boldly down till only its little tail appeared above, and then drink the coffee-grounds for five minutes together. The Indians in the canoe delighted to imitate its pretty clear whistle, making it reply and stare about, in a vain search after its companions. Whenever we landed to cook, the Marianna was one of the first on shore,—not with any view to an escape, but merely to climb up some bush or tree and whistle enjoyment of its elevated position, for as soon as eating commenced, it came down for a share of fish or coffee. The more sober Anacá would generally remain quietly in the canoe, till, lured by the cries and whistles of its lively little companion, it would venture out to join it; for, notwithstanding their difference of disposition, they were great friends, and would sit for hours side by side, scratching each other's heads, or playing together just like a cat and a kitten; the Marianna sometimes so exasperating the Anacá by scratches and peckings, and by jumping down upon it, that a regular fight would ensue, which, however, soon terminated, when they would return to their former state of brotherhood. I intended them as presents to two friends in Barra, but was almost sorry to part them.On the 15th of September, exactly a fortnight after leaving São Joaquim, we arrived safely at Barra. The whitened houses and open situation of the city appeared quite charming, after being so long accustomed to the mud-walled, forest-buried villages of Rio Negro. I found that my friend Mr. Spruce was in the city, being a prisoner there, as I had been at Guia, for want of men. He occupied a house, made classic to the Naturalist by having been the abode of Dr. Natterer, where he kindly accommodated me during my stay, which I intended should be as short as possible.Bad news was awaiting me from Pará. Letters, dated more than three months back, from my correspondent, Mr. Miller, informed me of the dangerous illness of my brother, who had been attacked by yellow fever; and when the canoe left, which brought the letter, was exhibiting such symptoms asleft little hope of his recovery. The only additional information brought since, was that thePrincess Victoria, with a valuable cargo, had been lost entering Pará; and that the consequent excitement and anxiety of Mr. Miller, had led to an attack of brain fever, which had terminated in his death. From no one could I obtain a word of information about my brother, and so remained in a state of the greatest suspense. Had he recovered, he would himself, of course, have written; but, on the other hand, it was strange that none of the English residents in Pará had sent me a line to inform me of his death, had it occurred.I was a fortnight in Barra, busily occupied buying and selling, and arranging and packing my miscellaneous collections. I had to make insect-boxes and packing-cases, the only carpenter in the place having taken it into his head to leave a good business, and, like everybody else, go trading about the rivers.In the evening, and at all spare moments, we luxuriated in the enjoyments of rational conversation,—to me, at least, the greatest, and here the rarest of pleasures. Mr. Spruce, as well as myself, much wished that we could ascend together; but my canoe was too small to accommodate us both, and my men were too few for his, loaded, as it would be, with our combined cargoes. No men were to be obtained at Barra for love or money. Even the authorities, when they require to make some journey on official business, are obliged, frequently, to beg men of Senhor Henrique or some other negociante. To such a state is this fine country reduced by Brazilian misrule and immorality!Just as I was about to start, the Subdelegarde sent to inform me I must take a passport, an annoyance I had quite forgotten. However, there was no remedy, as the clerk does not like to lose his fee of a "crusado." I had first to get paper stamped (and the Stamp-office was not open), and then to go the other end of the city to where the clerk lived, to get the passport. As everything was on board and all ready, this was a great bore, and Senhor Henrique advised me to go without a passport, and he would send it after me. As I knew the Subdelegarde would not send after me to fetch me back, I took his advice and started. Mr. Spruce came with me for a day's trip, taking a couple of boys and a montaría to return in. We hada fine wind, which took us across the great bays above Barra; and about four in the afternoon we landed on a sandy beach, near which were a couple of cottages. Here Mr. S. found some handsome new flowering shrubs and trees, and I obtained five specimens of a small fish, a pacú new to me, so we both had work till supper-time; after which meal we hung our redes under the bushes as we best could, and passed an agreeable night. The next morning we bade each other farewell; Mr. S. returning to Barra, and I pursuing my voyage up the river. On arriving at a sitio, where I had on the way down left my montaría in order that it might not be stolen in Barra, I found my precaution had been of no avail, as it had been stolen a few days before by an Indian of the Rio Branco. He had had his own canoe taken from him near that place, by a man going to the Solimões, who tried to compel the owner to go also, and so, in self-defence, the Indian took mine to pursue his journey. I had no remedy, so we went on, trusting to buy a montaría somewhere shortly. We had several strong "trovoádos," which were rather dangerous, owing to my canoe being very much loaded. One came on with great violence from the other side of the river, raising tremendous waves, which would have driven us on shore and broken our boat all to pieces, had there not luckily been some bushes in the water, to which we fastened prow and poop, and remained tossing and rolling about more than an hour, baling out the water as fast as it came in, and in constant fear of shipping a sea that would send us to the bottom.The same evening I overtook Frei Jozé, who was on a pastoral and trading visit to Pedreiro. We stayed at the same place to sleep, and I went to converse a little with him in his canoe, which was large and commodious. Our conversation turning on the prevalence of the small-pox in Pará, he related an anecdote of his own diplomatic powers with respect to that dreadful disease, on which he appeared to pride himself considerably."When I was in Bolivia," said he, "there were several nations of very warlike Indians, who plundered and murdered travellers on the way to Sta. Cruz. The President sent the soldiers after them, and spent much money in powder and ball, but with very little effect. The small-pox was in the city at the time, and the clothes of all who died of it were ordered to be burnt,to prevent infection. One day conversing with his Excellency about the Indians, I put him up to a much cheaper way than powder and ball for exterminating them. "Instead of burning the clothes," said I, "just order them to be put in the way of the Indians: they are sure to take possession of them, and they'll die off like wildfire." He followed my advice, and in a few months there was no more heard of the depredations of the Indians. Four or five nations were totally destroyed." "For," added he, "the bixiga plays the devil among the Indians." I could hardly help a shudder at this cool account of such a cold-blooded massacre, but said nothing, consoling myself with the idea that it was probably one of the ingenious fabrications of Frei Jozé's fertile brain; though it showed that he would look upon the reality as a very politic and laudable action.At Pedreiro I bought a couple of fine turtles, and stayed half a day to kill and cook one. It was very fat, so we fried almost all the meat and put it in a large pot with the oil, as it keeps a long time, and, boiled up with a little rice, makes an excellent dinner when fish are not to be had. The insides, all of which are eatable, together with the meat adhering to the upper and lower shell, and some of the eggs (of which there were near two hundred) were sufficient for all the crew for two days. At Carvoeiro I stayed a day to get my guns mended, some large hooks made, and the tolda (which the Indians had made very badly in Barra) repaired. Senhor Vasconcellos gave me a curious flat-headed species of river-tortoise I had not before met with; he had kept it in a small pond two years, having brought it from the lower Amazon. Here I had strong symptoms of fever, and expected I was going to have an attack of the much-dreaded 'seizãos,' for which Carvoeiro is a noted locality. Looking after the arrangement of the canoe in the hot sun did not do me much good; and shortly after leaving, I found myself quite knocked up, with headache, pains in the back and limbs, and violent fever. I had commenced operations that morning by taking some purgative medicine, and the next day I began taking doses of quinine, drinking plentifully cream-of-tartar water, though I was so weak and apathetic that at times I could hardly muster resolution to move myself to prepare them. It is at such times that one feels the want of a friend or attendant; for ofcourse it is impossible to get the Indians to do these little things without so much explanation and showing as would require more exertion than doing them oneself. By dint, however, of another purge, an emetic, washing and bathing, and quinine three times a day, I succeeded in subduing the fever; and in about four days had only a little weakness left, which in a day or two more quite passed away. All this time the Indians went on with the canoe as they liked; for during two days and nights I hardly cared if we sank or swam. While in that apathetic state I was constantly half-thinking, half-dreaming, of all my past life and future hopes, and that they were perhaps all doomed to end here on the Rio Negro. And then I thought of the dark uncertainty of the fate of my brother Herbert, and of my only remaining brother in California, who might perhaps ere this have fallen a victim to the cholera, which according to the latest accounts was raging there. But with returning health these gloomy thoughts passed away, and I again went on, rejoicing in this my last voyage, and looking forward with firm hope to home, sweet home! I, however, made an inward vow never to travel again in such wild, unpeopled districts without some civilised companion or attendant.I had intended to skin the remaining turtle on the voyage and had bought a large packing-case to put it in; but not having room in the canoe, it had been secured edgeways, and one of its feet being squeezed had begun to putrefy, so we were obliged to kill it at once and add the meaty parts to our stock of "mixira" (as meatpreservedin oil is called), for the voyage.We continued our progress with a most tedious slowness, though without accident, till we arrived on the 29th of October at the sitio of João Cordeiro, the Subdelegarde, where I intended staying some days, to preserve the skin and skeleton of a cow-fish. I found here an old friend, Senhor Jozé de Azevedos, who had visited us at Guia, now ill with ague, from which he had been suffering severely for several days, having violent attacks of vomiting and dysentery. As usual, he was quite without any proper remedies, and even such simple ones as cooling drinks during the fever were shunned as poison; hot broths, or caxaça and peppers, being here considered the appropriate medicines. With the help of a few sudorifics andpurgatives, and cooling drinks and baths, with quinine between the fits, he soon got better,—much to his astonishment, as he was almost afraid to submit himself to the treatment I recommended.I spent a whole week here, for the fishermen were unsuccessful, and for five days no Peixe boi appeared. I, however, had plenty to do, as I skinned a small turtle and a "matamatá" (Chelys Matamata), that Senhor João gave me. This is an extraordinary river-tortoise, with a deeply-keeled and tubercled shell, and a huge flat broad head and neck, garnished with curious lobed fleshy appendages; the nostrils are prolonged into a tube,—giving the animal altogether a most singular appearance. Some of our Indians went every day to fish, and I several times sent the net, and thus procured many new species to figure and describe, which kept me pretty constantly at work, the intervals being filled up by visits to my patient, eating water-melons, and drinking coffee. This is a fine locality for fish, and as far as they are concerned I should have liked to stay a month or two, as there were many curious and interesting species to be found here, which I had not yet obtained.At length one morning the Peixi boi we had been so long expecting, arrived. It had been caught the night before, with a net, in a lake at some distance. It was a nearly full-grown male, seven feet long and five in circumference. By the help of a long pole and cords four Indians carried it to a shed, where it was laid on a bed of palm-leaves, and two or three men set to work skinning it; I myself operating on the paddles and the head, where the greatest delicacy is required, which the Indians are not accustomed to. After the skin was got off, a second operation was gone through, to take away the layer of fat beneath it, with which to fry the meat I intended to preserve; the inside was then taken out, and the principal mass of meat at once obtained from the belly, back, and sides of the tail. This was all handed over to Senhor João, who undertook to prepare it for me; his men being used to the work, from having some scores to operate upon every year. My Indians then cut away the remaining meat from the ribs, head, and arms for their own saucepans, and in a very short time left the skeleton tolerably bare. All this time I was at work myself at the paddles, and looking on to see that no boneswere injured or carried away. I separated the skeleton into convenient pieces for entering into the barrel, cleaned out the spinal marrow, cleared off some more of the meat, and having sprinkled it over with salt, put it with the skin into the barrel to drain for the night, and left the Indians to make a good supper, and stuff themselves till contented. The next day, after arranging the skin and the bones afresh, I with some trouble fastened in the head of the barrel, when I found the brine that was in it oozing out in every direction, and soon discovered that the cask was riddled by little wood-boring beetles. The holes seemed innumerable, but I immediately set to work with two of my Indians, stopping them up with little wooden pegs. We were occupied at this some hours, and had pegged up I don't know how many hundred holes, till we could not by the closest examination discover any more. A huge pan of brine had been made by dissolving salt in boiling water, and as some of it was now cool I commenced filling with a funnel; when instantly, notwithstanding all our labour, out trickled the liquid by a dozen unperceived holes, most of them situated close to, or beneath the hoops. These last could not be plugged, so I pushed in tow and rag under the hoops, to be afterwards pitched over. With the filling and plugging we were occupied all day; holes constantly appearing in fresh places and obstinately refusing to be stopped. Nothing would adhere to the wet surface, so the upper part of the cask had to be dried, covered with pitch, then with cloth, and then again well pitched over. Then rolling over the barrel, another leaky portion was brought to the top, and treated in the same manner. After great labour, all seemed complete, yet numerous little streams still appeared; but as they were very small, and their sources quite undiscoverable, I left them in despair, trusting that the salt or the swelling of the wood would stop them. By the time I got the cask carried up to the house and deposited in charge of Senhor João till my return, it was dusk; and so finished two most disagreeable days' work with the Peixe boi. Senhor João had prepared me a pot of meat and sausages preserved in the oil, which I embarked, and got all ready to leave the next morning, as I had now been delayed a week of most valuable time. I left him also a box containing four species of turtles, which I had stuffed either here or on my voyage.Continuing our journey, nothing particular occurred but several storms of rain and wind, accompanied with thunder, which sometimes retarded us, and sometimes helped us on. Many of them were complete hurricanes, the wind shifting round suddenly, through every point of the compass; so that, if our little canoe had not been well ballasted with her cargo of salt and iron, she would have capsized. Once, in particular, at about four in the morning, we experienced one of these storms in a wide part of the river, where the waves raised were very great, and tossed us about violently. A sudden shift of the wind took our sail aback, and we had great difficulty in getting it in. The rain was driving thickly against us, and rendered it bitterly cold; our montaria, which was towed astern, got water-logged,—plunged, and dashed against the canoe,—tore out its benches, and lost its paddles. I gave orders to cast it loose, thinking it impossible to save it; but the Indians thought otherwise, for one of them plunged in after it, and succeeded in guiding it to the shore, where we also with much difficulty arrived, and managed to fasten our bows to some bushes, and get a rope out from our stern to a tree growing in the water, so as to prevent the canoe from getting broadside to the waves, which rolled in furiously, keeping one of our men constantly baling out water; and thus we waited for daylight. I then gave the men a cup of caxaça each; and when the sea had subsided sufficiently to allow of rowing, we continued our passage. These storms are the only things that make travelling here disagreeable: they are very frequent, but each succeeding one, instead of reconciling me to them, made me more fearful than before. It is by no means an uncommon thing for canoes to be swamped by them, or dashed to pieces on the sands; and the Rio Negro has such a disagreeable notoriety for the suddenness and fury of its trovoádos, that many persons will never put up a sail when there is a sign of one approaching, but seek some safe port, to wait till it has passed.On the 12th of November I reached the sitio of Senhor Chágas, where I stopped for the night: he gave me some letters to take up to São Gabriel, and just as I was going, requested me, as a favour, to tell everybody that I had not found him at his sitio, but that he was gone to the "mato" to get salsa. As I was on familiar terms with him, I told him that really I was verysorry I could not oblige him, but that, as I was not accustomed to lying, I should be found out immediately if I attempted it: he, however, insisted that I might surely try, and I should soon learn to lie as well as the best of them. So I told him at once, that in my country a liar was considered as bad as a thief; at which he seemed rather astonished. I gave him a short account of the pillory, as a proof of how much our ancestors detested lying and perjury, which much edified him, and he called his son (a nice boy of twelve or fourteen, just returned from school), to hear and profit by the example; showing, I think, that the people here are perfectly aware of the moral enormity of the practice, but that constant habit and universal custom, and above all, that false politeness which renders them unable verbally to deny anything, has rendered it almost a necessary evil. Any native of the country would have instantly agreed to Senhor Chágas's request, and would then have told every one of it up the river, always begging them not to say he told them,—thus telling a lie for themselves instead of for Senhor Chágas.The next morning I reached Wanawáca, the sitio of Manoel Jacinto, and stayed to breakfast with him, luxuriating in milk with my coffee, and "coalhado," or curdled milk, pine-apple, and pacovas with cheese,—luxuries which, though every one might have, are seldom met with in the Rio Negro. His sitio is, perhaps, the prettiest on the river; and this, simply because there is an open space of grass around the house, with some forest and fruit-trees scattered about it, affording shade for the cattle and sheep, and a most agreeable relief to the eye, long fatigued with eternal forest.When I consider the excessively small amount of labour required in this country, to convert the virgin forest into green meadows and fertile plantations, I almost long to come over with half-a-dozen friends, disposed to work, and enjoy the country; and show the inhabitants how soon an earthly paradise might be created, which they had never even conceived capable of existing.It is a vulgar error, copied and repeated from one book to another, that in the tropics the luxuriance of the vegetation overpowers the efforts of man. Just the reverse is the case: nature and the climate are nowhere so favourable to the labourer, and I fearlessly assert, that here, the "primeval"forest can be converted into rich pasture and meadow land, into cultivated fields, gardens, and orchards, containing every variety of produce, with half the labour, and, what is of more importance, in less than half the time than would be required at home, even though there we had clear, instead of forest ground to commence upon. It is true that ground once rudely cleared, in the manner of the country, by merely cutting down the wood and burning it as it lies, will, if left to itself, in a single year, be covered with a dense shrubby vegetation; but if the ground is cultivated and roughly weeded, the trunks and stumps will have so rotted in two or three years, as to render their complete removal an easy matter, and then a fine crop of grass succeeds; and, with cattle upon it, no more care is required, as no shrubby vegetation again appears. Then, whatever fruit-trees are planted will reach a large size in five or six years, and many of them give fruit in two or three. Coffee and cacao both produce abundantly with theminimumof attention; orange and other fruit-trees never receive any attention, but, if pruned, would no doubt yield fruit of a superior quality, in greater quantity. Pine-apples, melons, and water-melons are planted, and when ripe the fruit is gathered, there being no intermediate process whatever. Indian corn and rice are treated nearly in the same manner. Onions, beans, and many other vegetables, thrive luxuriantly. The ground is never turned up, and manure never applied; if both were done, it is probable that the labour would be richly repaid. Cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs may be kept to any extent; nobody ever gives them anything to eat, and they always do well. Poultry of all kinds thrive. Molasses may be easily made in any quantity, for cane put into the ground grows, and gives no trouble; and I do not see why the domestic process used in the United States for making maple-sugar should not be applied here. Now, I unhesitatingly affirm, that two or three families, containing half-a-dozen working and industrious men and boys, and being able to bring a capital in goods of fifty pounds, might, in three years, find themselves in the possession of all I have mentioned. Supposing them to get used to the mandiocca and Indian-corn bread, they would, with the exception of clothing, have no one necessary or luxury to purchase: they would be abundantly supplied with pork, beef and mutton, poultry, eggs, butter,milk and cheese, coffee and cacao, molasses and sugar, delicious fish, turtles and turtles' eggs, and a great variety of game, would furnish their table with constant variety, while vegetables would not be wanting, and fruits, both cultivated and wild, in superfluous abundance, and of a quality that none but the wealthy of our land can afford. Oranges and lemons, figs and grapes, melons and water-melons, jack-fruits, custard-apples, pine-apples, cashews, alligator pears, and mammee apples are some of the commonest, whilst numerous palm and other forest fruits furnish delicious drinks, which everybody soon gets very fond of. Both animal and vegetable oils can be procured in abundance for light and cooking. And then, having provided for the body, what lovely gardens and shady walks might not be made! How easy to construct a natural orchid-house, beneath a clump of forest-trees, and collect the most beautiful species found in the neighbourhood! What elegant avenues of palms might be formed! What lovely climbers abound, to train over arbours, or up the walls of the house!In the whole Amazon, no such thing as neatness or cultivation has ever been tried. Walks, and avenues, and gardens have never been made; but I can imagine how much beauty and variety might be called into existence from the gloomy monotony of the forest."England! my heart is truly thine,—my loved, my native earth!"But the idea of the glorious life which might be led here, free from all the money-matter cares and annoyances of civilisation, makes me sometimes doubt, if it would not be wiser to bid thee adieu for ever, and come and live a life of ease and plenty in the Rio Negro.This district is superior to any other part of the Amazon, and perhaps any other part of Brazil, in having a climate free from long droughts. In fact, the variableness of rain and sunshine, all the year round, is as great as in England itself; but it is this very thing which produces a perennial verdure. There are parts of the Rio Negro where the turtle, the peixe boi, and all sorts of fish abound; advantages, for which many persons endure the tormenting "carapanás" of the Solimões, but which can be had here without any insect torment, and with a far superior climate for agricultural purposes.All cultivated products of the soil are so scarce that they meet with a ready sale at good prices, not only in the city of Barra, but also to passing traders, who have no time or means for cultivating them themselves. Tobacco, coffee, molasses, cotton, castor-oil, rice, maize, eggs, poultry, salt-meat, and fish, all kinds of oils, cheese, and butter, can always be sold,—the supply being invariably below the demand,—and, besides providing clothing and other extras, which in this climate are a mere trifle, might be made to produce a handsome profit. To do all this requires some experience and some industry; but not a tithe of either which are necessary to get a bare living at home.Leaving this pleasant place about midday, we proceeded slowly on. One of my best Indians fell ill of fever and ague; and, a few days after, another was attacked. It was in vain attempting, at any sitio or village, to get men to help me on the rest of my voyage; no offer of extra wages would induce them to leave their houses; all had some excuse of occupation or illness, so we were forced to creep on as well as we could. Two days below the Falls I bought a smaller canoe of a Portuguese trader, to ascend the Uaupés, and moved my cargo into it, leaving that of Senhor Lima with the other canoe, to be sent for afterwards. At Camanaú, I with much difficulty, and some delay, procured a pilot and another Indian, to go with me to São Gabriel. There, after another day's delay, I found two Indians, who agreed to go as far as São Joaquim; and after keeping me waiting three or four hours beyond the time appointed, absconded at night from the sitio where we slept, having been previously paid double wages for the whole distance. Here, however, I was lucky enough to get three more in place of the two rogues; but as another of my Indians had now fallen ill, we still had few enough for passing the numerous rapids and rocks with which the river is obstructed.One day we found, coiled up on the bank, a large Sucurujú, the first large snake I had met with, and as I was very anxious to secure it, to preserve the skin, I loaded my gun, and telling my Indians not to let it escape, fired. It remained motionless some time, as if stunned by the shock, and then slowly began to uncoil, turning its head down towards the water, but evidently so much injured as to be unable to move its body on land. In vain I cried to the Indians to secure it:the pilot had been severely bitten by one some time before, and was afraid; and so, instead of obeying me, they kept striking it with a thick stick, which only hastened its descent down the bank into the water, where, sinking to the bottom among dead trees, it was quite out of our power. As near as I could judge, the snake was fifteen or twenty feet long, and as thick as my thigh. At São Gabriel I saw also, on the rocks, asleep, one of the most deadly serpents of South America, the Surucucú (Lachesis mutus). It is very handsomely marked with rich umber-brown, and armed with terrific poison-fangs, two on each side; it is much dreaded, as its bite is said to be incurable.On leaving São Gabriel I was again attacked with fever, and on arriving at São Joaquim I was completely laid up. My Indians took the opportunity to steal a quantity of the caxaça I had brought for preserving the fishes, and anything else they could lay their hands on; so I was glad, on the occasion of a slight remission of the fever, to pay their wages and send them off. After a few days, the violence of the fever abated, and I thought I was going to get over it very easily; but such was not the case, for every alternate day I experienced a great depression, with disinclination to motion: this always followed a feverish night, in which I could not sleep. The next night I invariably slept well perspiring profusely, and, the succeeding day, was able to move about, and had a little appetite. The weakness and fever, however, increased, till I was again confined to myrédé,—could eat nothing, and was so torpid and helpless, that Senhor L., who attended me, did not expect me to live. I could not speak intelligibly, and had not strength to write, or even to turn over in my hammock. A few days after this, I was attacked with severe ague, which recurred every two days. I took quinine for some time without any apparent effect, till, after nearly a fortnight, the fits ceased, and I only suffered from extreme emaciation and weakness. In a few days, however, the fits of ague returned, and now came every day. Their visits, thus frequent, were by no means agreeable; as, what with the succeeding fever and perspiration, which lasted from before noon till night, I had little quiet repose. In this state I remained till the beginning of February, the ague continuing, but with diminished force; and though with an increasing appetite, and eating heartily,yet gaining so little strength, that I could with difficulty stand alone, or walk across the room with the assistance of two sticks. The ague, however, now left me, and in another week, as I could walk with a stick down to the river-side, I went to São Gabriel, to see Mr. Spruce, who had arrived there, and had kindly been to see me a short time before. I purchased some wine and biscuits of the Commandante, and then returned to São Joaquim, determined, though the wet season was now again beginning, to set off for the Upper Uaupés, as soon as I could procure men, and get my canoe ready.CHAPTER XII.THE CATARACTS OF THE UAUPÉS.Start for the Uaupés—São Jeronymo and Jauarité—Indians run Away—Numerous Cataracts—Reach Carurú—Difficult Passage—Painted Malocca—Devil Music—More Falls—Ocokí—Curious Rocks—Reach Uarucapurí—Cobeu Indians—Reach Mucúra—An Indian's House and Family—Height above the Sea—Tenente Jesuino—Return to Uarucapurí—Indian Prisoners—Voyage to Jauarité—Correcting the Calendar—Delay at São Jeronymo.Atlength, on the 16th of February, two months and twenty-three days after my arrival at São Joaquim, I left on my voyage up the Uaupés. I was still so weak that I had great difficulty in getting in and out of the canoe; but I thought I should be as well there as confined in the house; and as I now longed more than ever to return home, I wished first to make this voyage, and get a few living birds and animals to take with me. I had seven Uaupés Indians that Senhor L. had brought from São Jeronymo, in order to take me up the river. Three more, who had already received payment for the voyage, did not appear; and, though they knew very well the time of my leaving, had fixed on that very day to give a feast of fish and caxirí. Antonio, my former pilot to Barra, was one. I met him coming to the village from his sitio, and he flatly refused to come with me, unless I waited some days more for him; I therefore made him send his Macu boy, João, instead, to go and return, and so pay for what both owed. This he did, and we went on our way rejoicing, for Antonio was what they call an Indian "ladino," or crafty; he could speak Portuguese, and, strongly suspecting him of being an expert thief, I was not sorry to be without his company.On Saturday evening, the 21st, we arrived at São Jeronymo, where I was cordially received by Senhor Augustinho. Thenext day was occupied in paying my men, and sending for Bernardo to conduct my canoe up the falls, and get me more Indians for the voyage.On Monday he arrived, and I let him take the canoe, but did not go with him, as, for some days past, the ague had again attacked me, and this was the day of the fit; so I sent the two guardas, my head men, who could speak Portuguese, to take charge of the canoe and cargo, and remained myself till the next day. In the evening a small trader arrived from above, very tipsy, and an Indian informed Senhor Augustinho that it was with my caxaça, which the men whom I had brought specially to take charge of my cargo, had opened. This I next day found to be the case, as the seals had been broken, and clumsily refastened with a burning stick. These men were half-civilised Indians, who came with me as hunters, to interpret for me with the Indians and take charge of my goods, on account of which I paid them extra wages. They ate with me, and did not row with the other Indians; but the temptation of being left alone for nearly a day, with a garafão of caxaça, was too strong for them. Of course I passed all over in silence, appearing to be perfectly ignorant of what had taken place, as, had I done otherwise, they would probably both have left me, after having received the greater part of their payment beforehand, and I should have been unable to proceed on my voyage.With Bernardo's assistance, I soon got ten paddles in my canoe; and having paid most of them out of my stock of axes, mirrors, knives, beads, etc., we went along very briskly to Jauarité, where we arrived on the morning of the 28th. I was anxious to pass the caxoeira immediately, but was delayed,—paying two Indians, who left me here, and procuring others; so my ague fit fell upon me before we left the village, and I was very weak and feverish when we went to pass the falls. We unloaded the whole of the cargo, which had to be carried a considerable distance through the forest; and even then, pulling the canoe up the falls was a matter of great difficulty. There are two falls, at some distance from each other, which make the land-carriage very long.We then re-embarked, when Bernardo coolly informed me that he could go no further, after having received payment for the whole voyage. His brother, he said, should go in hisplace; and when I returned, he would pay me what he owed me. So I was forced to make the best of it; but shortly after I found that his brother would only go to Jacaré caxoeira, and thus I was a second time deceived.On starting, I missed João, and found that he had left us in the village, telling the guardas that he had only agreed with me to come so far, and they had never said a word to me about it till now, that it was too late. Antonio's debt therefore still remained unpaid, and was even increased by a knife which João had asked for, and I had given him, in order that he might go on the voyage satisfied.The river now became full of rocks, to a degree to which even the rockiest part of the Rio Negro was a trifle. All were low, and would be covered at high-water, while numbers more remained below the surface, and we were continually striking against them. That afternoon we passed four more falls, the "Uacú" (a fruit), "Uacará" (Egret), "Mucúra" (Opossum), and "Japóna" (oven) caxoeiras. At Uacará there was a malocca of the same name; and at Japóna another, where we passed the night. All these rapids we ascended without unloading; but the Uacará was very bad, and occasioned us much trouble and delay. The next morning, when about to start, we found that another Indian was missing: he had absconded in the night, and it was useless attempting to seek him, though we knew he had gone to Uacará Malocca, where he wished to stay the day before, but where all knowledge of him would be denied and he well hidden, had we returned to fetch him. He was one who had received full payment, making three who had already gone away in my debt; a not very encouraging beginning for my voyage.We passed the "Tyeassu" (Pig) caxoeira early, and then had a good stretch of quiet water till midday, when we reached the "Oomarie" (a fruit) caxoeira, where there is a sitio. Here we dined off a fine fresh Tucunaré which an old man sold me; and I agreed with his son, by the temptation of an axe, to go with me. We pulled the canoe up this rapid without unloading, which is seldom done, except when the river is low, as it now was. The rest of the day we had quiet water, and stopped at a rock to make our supper and sleep.March 1st.—We passed the "Macáco" (monkey) caxoeira early. The rocks here, and particularly about Oomariecaxoeira, were so full of parallel veins, as to give them the appearance of being stratified and thrown up nearly vertically; whereas they are granitic, and similar to those we had already seen. We then soon reached the "Irá" (Honey) and "Baccába" (a Palm) caxoeiras; at both of which there are figures or picture-writings on the rocks, which I stayed to sketch. In passing the latter rapid, we knocked off one of the false keels I had had put to the canoe previous to starting, to preserve the bottom in the centre, where it was worn very thin by being dragged over the rocks by its former owner. We therefore stopped at a sandbank, unloaded the canoe, and plugged up the nail-holes, which were letting in water very fast.The next day we passed in succession the "Arára Mirí" (Little Macaw), "Tamaquerié" (Gecko), "Paroquet," "Japoó" (a bird), "Arára" (Macaw), "Tatú" (Armadillo), "Amána" (Rain), "Camóa" (?), "Yauti" (Tortoise); and, finally, about threeP.M., arrived at "Carurú" (a water-plant) caxoeira. The last five of these, before arriving at Carurú, were exceedingly bad; the passage being generally in the middle of the river, among rocks, where the water rushes furiously. The falls were not more than three or four feet each; but, to pull a loaded canoe up these, against the foaming waters of a large river, was a matter of the greatest difficulty for my dozen Indians, their only resting-place being often breast-deep in water, where it was a matter of wonder that they could stand against the current, much less exert any force to pull the canoe. At Arára fall, the usual passage is over the dry rock, and we unloaded for that purpose; but all the efforts of the Indians could not get the heavy canoe up the steep and rugged ascent which was the only pathway. Again and again they exerted themselves, but to no purpose; and I was just sending by an old man, who was passing in a small canoe, to Carurú for assistance, when he suggested that by getting a long sipó (the general cable in these rivers) we might obtain a good purchase, to pull the canoe up the margin of the fall, which we had previously tried without success. We accordingly did so, and by great exertions the difficulty was passed,—much to my satisfaction, as sending to Carurú would have occasioned a great and very annoying delay.The river from Jauarité may be said to average about athird of a mile wide, but the bends and turns are innumerable; and at every rapid it almost always spreads out into such deep bays, and is divided into channels by so many rocks and islands, as to make one sometimes think that the water is suddenly flowing back in a direction contrary to that it had previously been taking. Carurú caxoeira itself is greater than any we had yet seen,—rushing amongst huge rocks down a descent of perhaps fifteen or twenty feet. The only way of passing this, was to pull the canoe over the dry rock, which rose considerably above the level of the water, and was rather rugged, being interrupted in places by breaks or steps two or three feet high. The canoe was accordingly unloaded, quantities of poles and branches cut and laid in the path to prevent the bottom being much injured by the rocks, and a messenger sent to the village on the other side of the river to request the Tushaúa to come with plenty of men to our assistance. He soon arrived with eleven Indians, and all hands set to work pushing the canoe, or pulling at the sipós; and even then, the strength of five-and-twenty persons could only move it by steps, and with great difficulty. However, it was at length passed, and we then proceeded to the village, where the Tushaúa lent us a house.The canoe was so weak in the bottom in one place, that I was fearful of some accident in my descent, so I determined to stay here two or three days, to cut out the weak part and put in a strong board. I now also saw that this canoe was much too heavy to proceed further up the river, as at many of the falls there was no assistance to be obtained, even in places as difficult to pass as Carurú; so I opened negotiations to purchase a very large "obá" of the Tushaúa, which, before leaving, I effected for an axe, a shirt and trousers, two cutlasses, and some beads. We were delayed here five entire days, owing to the difficulty of finding a tree of good wood sufficiently large to give a board of twelve or fourteen inches wide; and at last I was obliged to be content with two narrow boards, clumsily inserted, rather than be exposed to more delay.
The Tushaúa came to pay us a visit almost every day, to talk a little, and sometimes drink a cup of coffee. His wife and some of his daughters, who possessed a "saía," also often came, bringing us pacovas, mandiocca-cake, and other things, for which they always expected to be paid. We bought here a good number of stools and baskets, which cost five or six hooks each; also fowls, parrots, trumpeters, and some other tame birds. When we first arrived, almost the whole body of the inhabitants came to visit us, requesting to see what we had brought to sell; accordingly we spread out our whole stock of fish-hooks, knives, axes, mirrors, beads, arrow-heads, cottons and calicoes, which they handled and admired in unintelligible languages, for about two hours. It is necessary to make this exposition in every village, as they will bring nothing to sell unless they first know that you have what they want in exchange.
Two days after the dance we bade adieu to Jauarité, and bymidday reached Jukeíra, where we had determined to spend another week. There was no regular house here for the accommodation of travellers, so we had to take possession of an unoccupied shed, which the Tushaúa had prepared for us, and where we soon found we were exposed to a pest abundant in all Indians' houses, the "bichos do pé," or chegoes. Nor was this all, for the blood-sucking bats were abundant, and the very first night bit Senhor L., as well as his little boy, who in the morning presented a ghastly sight, both legs being thickly smeared and blotched with blood. There was only one bite on the toe, but the blood flows plentifully, and as the boy was very restless at night, he had managed to produce the sanguinary effect I have mentioned. Several of the Indians were also bitten, but I escaped by always well wrapping my feet in my blanket.
The paths in the forest here were not so good as those at Jauarité, and produced me very few insects; the Indians, however, were rather better in bringing me birds and fish. I obtained some very pretty little tanagers, and several new fish. In one lot of small fish brought to me in a calabash were seven different species, five of which were quite new to me. A species ofChalceus, called Jatuarána, was abundant here, and most delicious eating, almost, if not quite, equal to the Waracú, but like it very full of forked spines, which require practice and delicate handling to extract, or they may produce dangerous effects. Several Indians of the Coveu nation, from considerably higher up the river, were staying here. They are distinguished by the ear-lobe being pierced with so large a hole as to be plugged with a piece of wood the size of a common bottle-cork. When we entered their house they set before us, on the ground, smoked fish and madiocca-cake, which Senhor L. informs me is the general custom higher up the river, where the Indians have not lost any of their primitive customs by intercourse with the whites. Senhor L. had bought a quantity of "coroá" (the fibres of a species ofBromelia, very like flax), and he set these and several other Indians to twist it into thread, which they do by rolling it on their breasts, and form a fine well-twisted two-strand string, of which fine maqueiras are netted. Each one in two or three days produced a ball of string of a quarter of a pound weight, and they were well satisfied with a small basin of salt or half-a-dozen hooks in payment.
On one or two days of bright sunshine, a beautifulPapiliocame about the house, settling on the ground in moist places: I succeeded in taking two specimens; it is allied toP. Thoas, and will probably prove a new species. This was my only capture worth mentioning at Jukeíra. I had seen the same species at Jauarité, but could not take a specimen. I purchased one of the red macaws painted as I have mentioned above. Senhor L. was here quite a martyr to the chegoes, frequently extracting ten or a dozen in a day, which made his feet so full of holes and wounds as to render walking painful, as I had experienced at Cobáti and Javíta. I, however, escaped pretty well, seldom having to take out more than two or three at a time, partly I believe owing to my being a good deal in the forest and to my always wearing slippers in the house. When a person has only one or two now and then, it is a trifling affair, and one is apt to think, as I for a long time did, that the dread of chegoes was quite unnecessary, and the accounts of their persecutions much exaggerated. Let any one, however, who still thinks so, take a trip into this part of the country, and live a month in an Indian's house, and he will be thoroughly undeceived.
After staying here six days, finding little to be done, we proceeded on our downward passage to São Jeronymo. On the second day, in the morning, we reached Urubuquárra, the malocca of Bernardo, situated just above the falls. There is a path from this place through the forest, about three miles, to the village; and as there were no Indians here to assist us in passing the falls, we set ours to work, carrying part of the cargo along it. In the afternoon Bernardo's son, who had returned before us with a canoe-load of farinha, came in, and we arranged to pass the falls the next morning. The river had risen considerably since we ascended, and had now reached a higher point than had been known for several years, and the rapids were proportionally more dangerous. I therefore preferred going through the forest, carrying with me two small boxes, containing the insects I had collected, and my drawings of fish,—the loss of which would have been irreparable. The morning was fine, and I had a pleasant walk, though the path was very rugged in places, with steep descents and ascents at the crossing of several small brooks. Arrived at São Jeronymo, I waited for Senhor L., at the house of Senhor Augustinho,the young Brazilian before mentioned, who had returned from Jauarité before us, with upwards of a hundred alqueires of farinha. About midday a tremendous storm of wind and rain came on, and in the afternoon Senhor L. arrived with the canoe, thoroughly soaked; and informed me that they had had a most dangerous passage, a portion of the path where the cargo had to be carried through the forest being breast-deep in water; and at some of the points, the violence of the current was so great that they narrowly escaped being carried down to the great fall, and dashed to pieces on the rocks.
Here was a good house for travellers, (though without doors,) and we took possession and settled ourselves for a week or ten days' stay. We nearly filled the house with farinha, pitch, baskets, stools, earthen pots and pans, maqueiras, etc.; we had also near a hundred fowls, which had been brought crammed into two huge square baskets, and were now much pleased to be set at liberty,—as well as a large collection of tame birds, parrots, macaws, paroquets, etc., which kept up a continual cawing and crying, not always very agreeable. All these birds were loose, flying about the village, but returning generally to be fed. The trumpeters and curassow-birds wandered about the houses of the Indians, and sometimes did not make their appearance for several days; but being brought up from the nest, or even sometimes from the egg, there was little danger of their escaping to the forest. We had nine pretty little black-headed parrots, which every night would go of their own accord into a basket prepared for them to sleep in.
From what I had seen on this river, there is no place equal to it for procuring a fine collection of live birds and animals; and this, together with the desire to see more of a country so interesting and so completely unknown, induced me, after mature deliberation, to give up for the present my intended journey to the Andes, and to substitute another voyage up the river Uaupés, at least to the Juruparí (Devil) cataract, the "ultima Thule" of most of the traders, and about a month's voyage up from its mouth. Several traders who had arrived at São Jeronymo on the way up, as well as the more intelligent Indians, assured me that in the upper districts there are many birds and animals not met with below. But what above all attracted me, was the information that a white species of thecelebrated umbrella-chatterer was to be found there. The information on this point from several parties was so positive, that, though much inclined to doubt the existence of such a bird at all, I could not rest satisfied without one more trial, as, even if I did not find it, I had little doubt of obtaining many new species to reward me. The worst of it was, that I must go to Barra and return—a voyage of fifteen hundred miles—which was very disagreeable. But there was no remedy, for I had a considerable lot of miscellaneous collections here and at Guia, as well as what I left at Barra, which must be packed and sent off to England, or they might be destroyed by damp and insects. Besides which I could not undertake a voyage on this wild river for several months, without being well supplied with necessaries, and articles for barter with the Indians, which could only be obtained at Barra; moreover, the best season for ascending would not arrive for two or three months, so that I could do scarcely anything if I remained here. The months of November, December, January, and February, are the "vasante," or low water, and then is the summer-season, when the river presents a totally different and a much more agreeable aspect, being everywhere bordered with fine sandy or rocky beaches, on which one can eat and sleep with comfort at any hour. Fish are then much more abundant; turtles of a new species are said to be found on the sands, in the upper part of the river, and to lay abundance of eggs; the delicious fruit of the baccába and patawá palms are then ripe, and birds and insects of all kinds more easily procurable. These four months I hoped, therefore, to spend there, so as to be able to descend to Barra, and thence to Pará, in time to return to England by July or August, with a numerous and valuable collection of live animals. It was on account of these, principally, that I determined to return to England a year before the time I had fixed upon, as it was impossible to send them without personal care and attendance.
And so, having once made up my mind to this course, with what delight I thought upon the sweets of home! What a paradise did that distant land seem to me! How I thought of the many simple pleasures, so long absent,—the green fields, the pleasant woods, the flowery paths, the neat gardens,—all so unknown here! What visions of the fireside did I conjure up, of the social tea-table, with familiar faces around it!What a luxury seemed simple bread and butter!—and to think that, perhaps in one short year, I might be in the midst of all this! There was a pleasure in the mere thought, that made me leap over the long months, the weary hours, the troubles and annoyances of tedious journeys, that had first to be endured. I passed hours in solitary walks thinking of home; and never did I in former years long to be away in this tropic-land, with half the earnestness with which I now looked forward to returning back again.
Our stay at São Jeronymo was prolonged by the nonappearance of Bernardo. Insects were not so plentiful even as at Jauarité; but I generally found something in my walks, and obtained two fine species ofSatyridæquite new to me. In a little patch of open bushy campo, which occurs about a mile back from the village, I was delighted to find abundance of orchids. I had never seen so many collected in one place; it was a complete natural orchid-house. In an hour's ramble, I noticed about thirty different species;—some, minute plants scarcely larger than mosses, and one large semi-terrestrial species, which grew in clumps eight or ten feet high. There were but few in flower, and most of them were very small, though pretty. One day, however, I was much delighted to come suddenly upon a magnificent flower: growing out of a rotten stem of a tree, just level with my eye, was a bunch of five or six blossoms, which were three inches in diameter, nearly round, and varying from a pale delicate straw-colour to a rich deep yellow, on the basal portion of the labellum. How exquisitely beautiful did it appear in that wild, sandy, barren spot! A day or two afterwards I found another handsome species, the flowers of which, unlike those of most of the family, were of very short duration, opening in the morning, and lasting but a single day. The sight of these determined me to try and send some to England, as from such a distant and unexplored locality there would probably be many new species. I accordingly began bringing a few home every day, and, packing them in empty farinha-baskets, placed them under a rough stage, with some plantain-leaves to defend them from the heat of the sun, till we should be ready to embark. I was rather doubtful of the result, as they could not arrive in England before the winter, which might be injurious; but on my next voyage, I looked forward to bringing a larger collectionof these beautiful and interesting plants, as they would then arrive in a good season of the year.
São Jeronymo is celebrated for its abundance of fish, but at this season they are in all places difficult to take. However, we had on most days enough for breakfast and supper, and scarcely a day passed but I had some new and strange kinds to add to my collection. The small fishes of these rivers are in wonderful variety, and the large proportion of the species here, different from those I had observed in the Rio Negro, led me to hope that in the upper parts of the river I should find them almost entirely new.
Here we were tolerably free from chegoes, but had another plague, far worse, because more continual. We had suffered more or less from pium͂s in all parts of the river, but here they were in such countless myriads, as to render it almost impossible to sit down during the day. It was most extraordinary that previously to this year they had never been known in the river. Senhor L. and the Indians all agreed that a pium͂ had hitherto been a rarity, and now they were as plentiful as in their very worst haunts. Having long discarded the use of stockings in these "altitudes," and not anticipating any such pest, I did not bring a pair, which would have been useful to defend my feet and ankles in the house, as the pium͂, unlike the mosquito, does not penetrate any covering, however thin.
As it was, the torments I suffered when skinning a bird or drawing a fish, can scarcely be imagined by the unexperienced. My feet were so thickly covered with the little blood-spots produced by their bites, as to be of a dark purplish-red colour, and much swelled and inflamed. My hands suffered similarly, but in a less degree, being more constantly in motion. The only means of taking a little rest in the day, was by wrapping up hands and feet in a blanket. The Indians close their houses, as these insects do not bite in the dark, but ours having no door, we could not resort to this expedient. Whence these pests could thus suddenly appear in such vast numbers is a mystery which I am quite unable to explain.
When we had been here about a week, some Indians who had been sent to Guia with a small cargo of farinha, returned and brought us news of two deaths, which had taken place in the village since we had left. One was of Jozé, a little Indianboy in Senhor L.'s house, who had killed himself by eating dirt,—a very common and destructive habit among Indians and half-breeds in the houses of the whites. All means had been tried to cure him of the habit; he had been physicked and whipped, and confined indoors, but when no other opportunity offered he would find a plentiful supply in the mud-walls of the house. The symptoms produced were swelling of the whole body, face, and limbs, so that he could with difficulty walk, and not having so much care taken of him after we left, he ate his fill and died.
The other was an old Indian, the Juiz of the festa of St. Antonio, which took place shortly after we left. He was poisoned with caxirí, into which had been put the juice of a root which produces the most dreadful effects: the tongue and throat swell, putrefy, and rot away, and the same effects seem to take place in the stomach and intestines, till, in two or three days, the patient dies in great agony. The poisoner was not known, but it was suspected to be a young woman, sister of an Indian who died in the village a short time before, and whose death they imagined to be caused by charms or witchcraft; and the present murder was probably in revenge for this supposed injury. Coroners' inquests are here unknown, and the poor old man was buried, and nothing more thought about the matter; perhaps, however, his friends may resort to the same means to repay the suspected parties.
A few days afterwards a boy died in São Jeronymo, and for several hours a great crying and wailing was made over the body. His maqueira, and bow and arrows, were burnt in a fire made at the back of the house, within which, according to the universal custom of these Indians, he was buried, and the mother continued her mournful wailing for several days.
The only additions I made to my collections during the time I stayed here, were a prehensile-tailed ant-eater, and one of the small nocturnal monkeys called "Juruparí Macaco," or Devil Monkey, a species very closely allied to that called "Iá," which inhabits the Solimões. After waiting anxiously a fortnight, Bernado made his appearance with three of his wives and a host of children: he had been unsuccessful in his projected attack, the parties having obtained notice of his motions and absconded. He had taken every precaution, by entering in a different river from that in which the attack wasto be made, and penetrating through the forest; but his movements were, no doubt, thought suspicious, and it was considered safer to get out of his way; he was, however, confident of succeeding next time in another place, where he thought he could arrive unawares.
Having now no further cause for delay, we loaded our canoes, and the next morning left São Jeronymo, on our return to Guia, where we arrived on the morning of the 24th, having been absent on our trip fifty days.
The most important event that had occurred in the village was the arrival from Barra of Manoel Joaquim, a half-breed Brazilian, some time resident at Guia. This man was a specimen of the class of white men found in the Rio Negro. He had been a soldier, and had been engaged in some of the numerous revolutions which had taken place in Brazil. It was said he had murdered his wife, and for that, or some other crimes, had been banished to the Rio Negro, instead of being hung, as he deserved. Here he was accustomed to threaten and shoot at the Indians, to take their daughters and wives from them, and to beat the Indian woman who lived with him, so that she was obliged to hide for days in the forest. The people of Guia declared he had murdered two Indian girls, and had committed many other horrible crimes. He had formerly been friendly with Senhor L., but, a year or two ago, had quarrelled with him, and had attempted to set fire to his house; he had also attempted to shoot an old Mulatto soldier, who was friendly with Senhor L. For these and other crimes, the Subdelegarde de Policia of the district had indicted him, and after taking the depositions of the Indians and of Senhor L. against him, had wished to send him prisoner to Barra, but could not do so, because he had no force at his command. He therefore applied to the Commandante of Marabitánas, who was at Guia at the time; but he was Manoel Joaquim's "compadre," and took his part, and would not send him as a prisoner, but let him go in his own canoe, accompanied by two soldiers, bearing a recommendation from the Commandante in his favour.
This had happened shortly before we left for the Uaupés; and now we found that Manoel Joaquim had returned in great triumph—firing salutes and sending up rockets at every village he passed through. He had gone on to Marabitánas; but ina day or two more returned, and brought me some letters and papers from Barra. There also came a letter to Senhor L. from the Delegarde de Policia in Barra, saying, that Manoel Joaquim had presented himself, and that he (the Delegarde) had asked him if he came a prisoner; that he replied, "No; he came to attend to his own business." "Well, then," said the Delegarde, "as you have not been incommoded by this indictment, it is better to treat these slanders and quarrels with disdain;" and said he to Senhor L., "I would advise you to do the same." And so ended the attempt to punish a man who, if one-half the crimes imputed to him were true, ought, by the laws of Brazil, to have been hung, or imprisoned for life. The poor Subdelegarde, it seems, through pure ignorance, committed some informalities, and this was the reason why Manoel Joaquim so easily and gloriously escaped.
The best of it is that there is a special officer in Barra and in every other city, called the "Promotor Publico," whose sole duty it is to see that all the other officers of justice and of police do their duty, so that no criminal may escape or injustice be done, by the laxity or connivance of any of these parties. Yet, with all this, nothing is easier in the Rio Negro, than for any person possessed of friends or money, to defeat the ends of justice.
I now found another unavoidable delay in my projected voyage to Barra. A canoe that was making for me was not yet ready, and I did not know where to obtain one sufficiently capacious to take all my luggage and collections: but, a few days after, a Spaniard, or Venezuelano, arrived at Guia with a canoe for Manoel Joaquim; and as he was to return by Marabitánas, I took the opportunity of writing to the Commandante, asking the loan of his igarité, for the voyage to Barra and back. He very kindly consented, and in about a week I received it; but I was as badly off as ever, for a canoe without men was of no use; and the Indians, fearing the results of Manoel Joaquim's return, had all left Guia, and retired to their sitios in distant igaripés, and in the most inaccessible depths of the forest. The Commandante had sent orders to two Indians to go with me, but these were not sufficient to descend the falls with safety; so, as Senhor L. was about to remove to São Joaquim, at the mouth of the Uaupés, I agreed to go with him, and try and procure more men there. My Indians took nearly a fortnightto prepare the canoe with new toldas—about two days work; but then, though I was in a hurry, they were not.
Senhor L. had not a single man left with him, and had to take his canoe down himself, and bring back Indians to assist him to remove his goods and his family, when we went all together to São Joaquim, where he intended to reside some time. I now thought I should be able to leave immediately, but found it not such an easy matter, for every Indian I applied to had some business of his own to attend to, before he could possibly go with me to Barra. One said, his house was very much out of repair, and he must first mend it; another had appointed a dance to take place in a week or two, and when that was over, he was at my service; so I still had to wait a little longer, and try the Brazilian remedy for all such annoyances—"paciencia."
ON THE RIO NEGRO.
Difficulties of Starting—Descending the Falls—Catching an Alligator—Tame Parrots—A Fortnight in Barra—Frei Jozé's Diplomacy—Pickling a Cow-Fish—A River Storm—Brazilian Veracity—Wanawáca—Productiveness of the Country—A Large Snake—São Gabriel—São Joaquim—Fever and Ague.
Atlength, on the 1st of September, after another week's delay, having succeeded in procuring two more Indians and a pilot, I left on my long-desired voyage. One Indian I could only persuade to go, by sending four others to assist him for three days in clearing his mandiocca rhossa, without doing which he would not leave. My canoe went fully loaded, as I took a quantity of farinha and miscellaneous goods for Senhor L., and I had some little fear of the passage of the falls, which was not diminished by my pilot's being completely stupefied with his parting libations of caxirí. He was also rather fearful, saying, that the canoe was overloaded, and that he did not know the channel well below São Gabriel; and that from there to Camanaú I must get another pilot.
The rapids, before arriving at São Gabriel, are not very dangerous, and much to my satisfaction we arrived there in safety, about four in the afternoon. We there partially unloaded, to pass the narrow channel at the Fort, which was also accomplished with safety; though not without danger at one point, where the canoe got out of the proper course, and the waves dashed in rather fearfully. I then succeeded in agreeing with a good pilot to take us down the next morning, and was much relieved by his informing me, that, the river being very full, the falls were not dangerous, and the canoe would pass with perfect safety without more unloading. I therefore willingly paid him what he asked, four milreis (about nine shillings); and the next morning, having got the canoe properly reloaded, we bade adieu to the Commandante, and in two hours had passed safely down to Camanaú.
The navigation of these falls is of a character quite distinct from anything in our part of the world. A person looking at the river sees only a rapid current, a few eddies, swells, and small breakers, in which there appears nothing very formidable. When, however, you are in the midst of them, you are quite bewildered with the conflicting motions of the waters. Whirling and boiling eddies, which burst up from the bottom at intervals, as if from some subaqueous explosion, with short cross-waves, and smooth intervening patches, almost make one giddy. On one side of the canoe there is often a strong down-current; while, on the other, it flows in an opposite direction. Now there is a cross stream at the bows, and a diagonal one at the stern, with a foaming Scylla on one side and a whirling Charybdis on the other. All depends upon the pilot, who, well acquainted with every sunken rock and dangerous whirlpool, steers clear of all perils,—now directing the crew to pull hard, now to slacken, as circumstances require, and skilfully preparing the canoe to receive the impetus of the cross currents that he sees ahead. I imagine that the neighbourhood of the arches of Old London Bridge, at certain states of the tide, must have presented on a small scale somewhat similar dangers. When the river is low, the descent is more perilous; for, though the force of the waters is not so great, they are so crammed with rocks in all stages of submersion, that to avoid them becomes a work requiring the greatest knowledge and care on the part of the pilot. Having passed these much-dreaded rapids, we proceeded pleasantly to São Jozé, where I stayed a day, to take out part ofSenhor L.'scargo, and reload the canoe properly for the voyage to Barra.
In the afternoon, a fine specimen of one of the smaller species of alligator, or Jacaré, was brought in, and preparations were made to cut it up for supper. I, however, immediately determined to skin it, and requested to be allowed to do so, promising to get out the tail and body, for culinary purposes, in a very short time. After about an hour's hard work, I extracted the most meaty part of the tail, which is considered the best; and in another hour delivered up the body, leaving the head andlegs to be cleaned the next day in the canoe. The animal was nearly six feet long, and the scales of the belly could only be cut by heavy blows with a hammer on a large knife. It was caught with a line, to which was attached, by the middle, a short strong pointed stick baited with fish; when swallowed, the stick remains firmly fixed across the stomach of the animal. The flesh has a very strong but rather agreeable odour, like guavas or some musky fruit, and is much esteemed by Indians and many whites; but it requires to be young, fat, and well dressed, to form, in my opinion, a palatable meal. I had plenty of work the next day, cleaning the head and limbs, and these furnished a supply of meat for my Indians' supper.
I called at the sitio of Senhor Chagas, whom I had met at Guia, and from him I again received the most positive information of the existence, on the river Uaupés, of a white umbrella-bird, having himself seen a specimen, which one of his Indians had killed.
On the 6th I reached the sitio of Senhor João Cordeiro, the Subdelegarde, where I stopped to breakfast; and arranged with him to remain a few days at his house, on my return voyage, in order to skin and prepare the skeleton of a cow-fish, which he promised to procure for me, as they are very abundant in the river Urubaxí, which enters the Rio Negro just above his house, and where he, every year, takes great numbers with the net and harpoon. At breakfast we had some of the meat,—preserved, by being boiled or fried in its own oil; it is then put into large pots, and will keep many months. On taking my leave, he sent me a plate of the meat, and some sausages for my voyage.
I here finished stuffing my Jacaré, and was obliged to borrow a drill to make the holes to sew up the skin. I had no box to put it in, and no room for it in the canoe, so I tied it on a board, and had a palm-leaf mat made to cover it from rain, on the top of the tolda. Senhor João told us to visit his "cacoarie," or fish-weir, on our way down, and take what we found in it. We did so, and of fish only got one,—a curious mailed species, quite new to me, and which gave me an afternoon's work to figure and describe. There were also five small red-headed turtles, which were very acceptable, and furnished us with dinner for several days.
We proceeded pleasantly on our voyage, sometimes with rainand sometimes with sunshine, and often obliged to make a supper of farinha and water, on account of there being no land on which to make a fire; but to all these inconveniences I was by this time well inured, and thought nothing of what, a year before, was a very great hardship. At the different sitios where I called, I often received orders for Barra; for everybody whom I had once seen was, on a second encounter, an old friend, and would take a friend's privilege. One requested me to bring him a pot of turtle oil,—another, a garafão of wine; the Delegarde wanted a couple of cats, and his clerk a couple of ivory small-tooth combs; another required gimlets, and another, again, a guitar. For all these articles I received not a vintem of payment, but was promised the money certain on my return, or an equivalent in coffee or tobacco, or some other article current in the Rio Negro. To many persons, with whom I had never spoken, I was nevertheless well known, and addressed by name; and these would often hint that such and such an article they were much in want of, and, without directly requesting me to get it for them, would intimate that if I should bring it, they would be happy to purchase it of me.
The only live animals I had with me were a couple of parrots, which were a never-failing source of amusement. One was a little "Marianna," or Macaí of the Indians, a small black-headed, white-breasted, orange-neck and thighed parrot; the other, an Anacá, a most beautiful bird, banded on the breast and belly with blue and red, and the back of the neck and head covered with long bright red feathers margined with blue, which it would elevate when angry, forming a handsome crest somewhat similar to that of the harpy eagle; its ornithological name isDerotypus accipitrinus, the hawk-headed parrot. There was a remarkable difference in the characters of these birds. The Anacá was of a rather solemn, morose, and irritable disposition; while the Mariánna was a lively little creature, inquisitive as a monkey, and playful as a kitten. It was never quiet, running over the whole canoe, climbing into every crack and cranny, diving into all the baskets, pans, and pots it could discover, and tasting everything they contained. It was a most omnivorous feeder, eating rice, farinha, every kind of fruit, fish, meat, and vegetable, and drinking coffee too as well as myself; and as soon as it saw me with basin in hand, would climb up to the edge, and not be quiet without having a share,which it would lick up with the greatest satisfaction, stopping now and then, and looking knowingly round, as much as to say, "This coffee is very good," and then sipping again with increased gusto. The bird evidently liked the true flavour of the coffee, and not that of the sugar, for it would climb up to the edge of the coffee-pot, and hanging on the rim plunge boldly down till only its little tail appeared above, and then drink the coffee-grounds for five minutes together. The Indians in the canoe delighted to imitate its pretty clear whistle, making it reply and stare about, in a vain search after its companions. Whenever we landed to cook, the Marianna was one of the first on shore,—not with any view to an escape, but merely to climb up some bush or tree and whistle enjoyment of its elevated position, for as soon as eating commenced, it came down for a share of fish or coffee. The more sober Anacá would generally remain quietly in the canoe, till, lured by the cries and whistles of its lively little companion, it would venture out to join it; for, notwithstanding their difference of disposition, they were great friends, and would sit for hours side by side, scratching each other's heads, or playing together just like a cat and a kitten; the Marianna sometimes so exasperating the Anacá by scratches and peckings, and by jumping down upon it, that a regular fight would ensue, which, however, soon terminated, when they would return to their former state of brotherhood. I intended them as presents to two friends in Barra, but was almost sorry to part them.
On the 15th of September, exactly a fortnight after leaving São Joaquim, we arrived safely at Barra. The whitened houses and open situation of the city appeared quite charming, after being so long accustomed to the mud-walled, forest-buried villages of Rio Negro. I found that my friend Mr. Spruce was in the city, being a prisoner there, as I had been at Guia, for want of men. He occupied a house, made classic to the Naturalist by having been the abode of Dr. Natterer, where he kindly accommodated me during my stay, which I intended should be as short as possible.
Bad news was awaiting me from Pará. Letters, dated more than three months back, from my correspondent, Mr. Miller, informed me of the dangerous illness of my brother, who had been attacked by yellow fever; and when the canoe left, which brought the letter, was exhibiting such symptoms asleft little hope of his recovery. The only additional information brought since, was that thePrincess Victoria, with a valuable cargo, had been lost entering Pará; and that the consequent excitement and anxiety of Mr. Miller, had led to an attack of brain fever, which had terminated in his death. From no one could I obtain a word of information about my brother, and so remained in a state of the greatest suspense. Had he recovered, he would himself, of course, have written; but, on the other hand, it was strange that none of the English residents in Pará had sent me a line to inform me of his death, had it occurred.
I was a fortnight in Barra, busily occupied buying and selling, and arranging and packing my miscellaneous collections. I had to make insect-boxes and packing-cases, the only carpenter in the place having taken it into his head to leave a good business, and, like everybody else, go trading about the rivers.
In the evening, and at all spare moments, we luxuriated in the enjoyments of rational conversation,—to me, at least, the greatest, and here the rarest of pleasures. Mr. Spruce, as well as myself, much wished that we could ascend together; but my canoe was too small to accommodate us both, and my men were too few for his, loaded, as it would be, with our combined cargoes. No men were to be obtained at Barra for love or money. Even the authorities, when they require to make some journey on official business, are obliged, frequently, to beg men of Senhor Henrique or some other negociante. To such a state is this fine country reduced by Brazilian misrule and immorality!
Just as I was about to start, the Subdelegarde sent to inform me I must take a passport, an annoyance I had quite forgotten. However, there was no remedy, as the clerk does not like to lose his fee of a "crusado." I had first to get paper stamped (and the Stamp-office was not open), and then to go the other end of the city to where the clerk lived, to get the passport. As everything was on board and all ready, this was a great bore, and Senhor Henrique advised me to go without a passport, and he would send it after me. As I knew the Subdelegarde would not send after me to fetch me back, I took his advice and started. Mr. Spruce came with me for a day's trip, taking a couple of boys and a montaría to return in. We hada fine wind, which took us across the great bays above Barra; and about four in the afternoon we landed on a sandy beach, near which were a couple of cottages. Here Mr. S. found some handsome new flowering shrubs and trees, and I obtained five specimens of a small fish, a pacú new to me, so we both had work till supper-time; after which meal we hung our redes under the bushes as we best could, and passed an agreeable night. The next morning we bade each other farewell; Mr. S. returning to Barra, and I pursuing my voyage up the river. On arriving at a sitio, where I had on the way down left my montaría in order that it might not be stolen in Barra, I found my precaution had been of no avail, as it had been stolen a few days before by an Indian of the Rio Branco. He had had his own canoe taken from him near that place, by a man going to the Solimões, who tried to compel the owner to go also, and so, in self-defence, the Indian took mine to pursue his journey. I had no remedy, so we went on, trusting to buy a montaría somewhere shortly. We had several strong "trovoádos," which were rather dangerous, owing to my canoe being very much loaded. One came on with great violence from the other side of the river, raising tremendous waves, which would have driven us on shore and broken our boat all to pieces, had there not luckily been some bushes in the water, to which we fastened prow and poop, and remained tossing and rolling about more than an hour, baling out the water as fast as it came in, and in constant fear of shipping a sea that would send us to the bottom.
The same evening I overtook Frei Jozé, who was on a pastoral and trading visit to Pedreiro. We stayed at the same place to sleep, and I went to converse a little with him in his canoe, which was large and commodious. Our conversation turning on the prevalence of the small-pox in Pará, he related an anecdote of his own diplomatic powers with respect to that dreadful disease, on which he appeared to pride himself considerably.
"When I was in Bolivia," said he, "there were several nations of very warlike Indians, who plundered and murdered travellers on the way to Sta. Cruz. The President sent the soldiers after them, and spent much money in powder and ball, but with very little effect. The small-pox was in the city at the time, and the clothes of all who died of it were ordered to be burnt,to prevent infection. One day conversing with his Excellency about the Indians, I put him up to a much cheaper way than powder and ball for exterminating them. "Instead of burning the clothes," said I, "just order them to be put in the way of the Indians: they are sure to take possession of them, and they'll die off like wildfire." He followed my advice, and in a few months there was no more heard of the depredations of the Indians. Four or five nations were totally destroyed." "For," added he, "the bixiga plays the devil among the Indians." I could hardly help a shudder at this cool account of such a cold-blooded massacre, but said nothing, consoling myself with the idea that it was probably one of the ingenious fabrications of Frei Jozé's fertile brain; though it showed that he would look upon the reality as a very politic and laudable action.
At Pedreiro I bought a couple of fine turtles, and stayed half a day to kill and cook one. It was very fat, so we fried almost all the meat and put it in a large pot with the oil, as it keeps a long time, and, boiled up with a little rice, makes an excellent dinner when fish are not to be had. The insides, all of which are eatable, together with the meat adhering to the upper and lower shell, and some of the eggs (of which there were near two hundred) were sufficient for all the crew for two days. At Carvoeiro I stayed a day to get my guns mended, some large hooks made, and the tolda (which the Indians had made very badly in Barra) repaired. Senhor Vasconcellos gave me a curious flat-headed species of river-tortoise I had not before met with; he had kept it in a small pond two years, having brought it from the lower Amazon. Here I had strong symptoms of fever, and expected I was going to have an attack of the much-dreaded 'seizãos,' for which Carvoeiro is a noted locality. Looking after the arrangement of the canoe in the hot sun did not do me much good; and shortly after leaving, I found myself quite knocked up, with headache, pains in the back and limbs, and violent fever. I had commenced operations that morning by taking some purgative medicine, and the next day I began taking doses of quinine, drinking plentifully cream-of-tartar water, though I was so weak and apathetic that at times I could hardly muster resolution to move myself to prepare them. It is at such times that one feels the want of a friend or attendant; for ofcourse it is impossible to get the Indians to do these little things without so much explanation and showing as would require more exertion than doing them oneself. By dint, however, of another purge, an emetic, washing and bathing, and quinine three times a day, I succeeded in subduing the fever; and in about four days had only a little weakness left, which in a day or two more quite passed away. All this time the Indians went on with the canoe as they liked; for during two days and nights I hardly cared if we sank or swam. While in that apathetic state I was constantly half-thinking, half-dreaming, of all my past life and future hopes, and that they were perhaps all doomed to end here on the Rio Negro. And then I thought of the dark uncertainty of the fate of my brother Herbert, and of my only remaining brother in California, who might perhaps ere this have fallen a victim to the cholera, which according to the latest accounts was raging there. But with returning health these gloomy thoughts passed away, and I again went on, rejoicing in this my last voyage, and looking forward with firm hope to home, sweet home! I, however, made an inward vow never to travel again in such wild, unpeopled districts without some civilised companion or attendant.
I had intended to skin the remaining turtle on the voyage and had bought a large packing-case to put it in; but not having room in the canoe, it had been secured edgeways, and one of its feet being squeezed had begun to putrefy, so we were obliged to kill it at once and add the meaty parts to our stock of "mixira" (as meatpreservedin oil is called), for the voyage.
We continued our progress with a most tedious slowness, though without accident, till we arrived on the 29th of October at the sitio of João Cordeiro, the Subdelegarde, where I intended staying some days, to preserve the skin and skeleton of a cow-fish. I found here an old friend, Senhor Jozé de Azevedos, who had visited us at Guia, now ill with ague, from which he had been suffering severely for several days, having violent attacks of vomiting and dysentery. As usual, he was quite without any proper remedies, and even such simple ones as cooling drinks during the fever were shunned as poison; hot broths, or caxaça and peppers, being here considered the appropriate medicines. With the help of a few sudorifics andpurgatives, and cooling drinks and baths, with quinine between the fits, he soon got better,—much to his astonishment, as he was almost afraid to submit himself to the treatment I recommended.
I spent a whole week here, for the fishermen were unsuccessful, and for five days no Peixe boi appeared. I, however, had plenty to do, as I skinned a small turtle and a "matamatá" (Chelys Matamata), that Senhor João gave me. This is an extraordinary river-tortoise, with a deeply-keeled and tubercled shell, and a huge flat broad head and neck, garnished with curious lobed fleshy appendages; the nostrils are prolonged into a tube,—giving the animal altogether a most singular appearance. Some of our Indians went every day to fish, and I several times sent the net, and thus procured many new species to figure and describe, which kept me pretty constantly at work, the intervals being filled up by visits to my patient, eating water-melons, and drinking coffee. This is a fine locality for fish, and as far as they are concerned I should have liked to stay a month or two, as there were many curious and interesting species to be found here, which I had not yet obtained.
At length one morning the Peixi boi we had been so long expecting, arrived. It had been caught the night before, with a net, in a lake at some distance. It was a nearly full-grown male, seven feet long and five in circumference. By the help of a long pole and cords four Indians carried it to a shed, where it was laid on a bed of palm-leaves, and two or three men set to work skinning it; I myself operating on the paddles and the head, where the greatest delicacy is required, which the Indians are not accustomed to. After the skin was got off, a second operation was gone through, to take away the layer of fat beneath it, with which to fry the meat I intended to preserve; the inside was then taken out, and the principal mass of meat at once obtained from the belly, back, and sides of the tail. This was all handed over to Senhor João, who undertook to prepare it for me; his men being used to the work, from having some scores to operate upon every year. My Indians then cut away the remaining meat from the ribs, head, and arms for their own saucepans, and in a very short time left the skeleton tolerably bare. All this time I was at work myself at the paddles, and looking on to see that no boneswere injured or carried away. I separated the skeleton into convenient pieces for entering into the barrel, cleaned out the spinal marrow, cleared off some more of the meat, and having sprinkled it over with salt, put it with the skin into the barrel to drain for the night, and left the Indians to make a good supper, and stuff themselves till contented. The next day, after arranging the skin and the bones afresh, I with some trouble fastened in the head of the barrel, when I found the brine that was in it oozing out in every direction, and soon discovered that the cask was riddled by little wood-boring beetles. The holes seemed innumerable, but I immediately set to work with two of my Indians, stopping them up with little wooden pegs. We were occupied at this some hours, and had pegged up I don't know how many hundred holes, till we could not by the closest examination discover any more. A huge pan of brine had been made by dissolving salt in boiling water, and as some of it was now cool I commenced filling with a funnel; when instantly, notwithstanding all our labour, out trickled the liquid by a dozen unperceived holes, most of them situated close to, or beneath the hoops. These last could not be plugged, so I pushed in tow and rag under the hoops, to be afterwards pitched over. With the filling and plugging we were occupied all day; holes constantly appearing in fresh places and obstinately refusing to be stopped. Nothing would adhere to the wet surface, so the upper part of the cask had to be dried, covered with pitch, then with cloth, and then again well pitched over. Then rolling over the barrel, another leaky portion was brought to the top, and treated in the same manner. After great labour, all seemed complete, yet numerous little streams still appeared; but as they were very small, and their sources quite undiscoverable, I left them in despair, trusting that the salt or the swelling of the wood would stop them. By the time I got the cask carried up to the house and deposited in charge of Senhor João till my return, it was dusk; and so finished two most disagreeable days' work with the Peixe boi. Senhor João had prepared me a pot of meat and sausages preserved in the oil, which I embarked, and got all ready to leave the next morning, as I had now been delayed a week of most valuable time. I left him also a box containing four species of turtles, which I had stuffed either here or on my voyage.
Continuing our journey, nothing particular occurred but several storms of rain and wind, accompanied with thunder, which sometimes retarded us, and sometimes helped us on. Many of them were complete hurricanes, the wind shifting round suddenly, through every point of the compass; so that, if our little canoe had not been well ballasted with her cargo of salt and iron, she would have capsized. Once, in particular, at about four in the morning, we experienced one of these storms in a wide part of the river, where the waves raised were very great, and tossed us about violently. A sudden shift of the wind took our sail aback, and we had great difficulty in getting it in. The rain was driving thickly against us, and rendered it bitterly cold; our montaria, which was towed astern, got water-logged,—plunged, and dashed against the canoe,—tore out its benches, and lost its paddles. I gave orders to cast it loose, thinking it impossible to save it; but the Indians thought otherwise, for one of them plunged in after it, and succeeded in guiding it to the shore, where we also with much difficulty arrived, and managed to fasten our bows to some bushes, and get a rope out from our stern to a tree growing in the water, so as to prevent the canoe from getting broadside to the waves, which rolled in furiously, keeping one of our men constantly baling out water; and thus we waited for daylight. I then gave the men a cup of caxaça each; and when the sea had subsided sufficiently to allow of rowing, we continued our passage. These storms are the only things that make travelling here disagreeable: they are very frequent, but each succeeding one, instead of reconciling me to them, made me more fearful than before. It is by no means an uncommon thing for canoes to be swamped by them, or dashed to pieces on the sands; and the Rio Negro has such a disagreeable notoriety for the suddenness and fury of its trovoádos, that many persons will never put up a sail when there is a sign of one approaching, but seek some safe port, to wait till it has passed.
On the 12th of November I reached the sitio of Senhor Chágas, where I stopped for the night: he gave me some letters to take up to São Gabriel, and just as I was going, requested me, as a favour, to tell everybody that I had not found him at his sitio, but that he was gone to the "mato" to get salsa. As I was on familiar terms with him, I told him that really I was verysorry I could not oblige him, but that, as I was not accustomed to lying, I should be found out immediately if I attempted it: he, however, insisted that I might surely try, and I should soon learn to lie as well as the best of them. So I told him at once, that in my country a liar was considered as bad as a thief; at which he seemed rather astonished. I gave him a short account of the pillory, as a proof of how much our ancestors detested lying and perjury, which much edified him, and he called his son (a nice boy of twelve or fourteen, just returned from school), to hear and profit by the example; showing, I think, that the people here are perfectly aware of the moral enormity of the practice, but that constant habit and universal custom, and above all, that false politeness which renders them unable verbally to deny anything, has rendered it almost a necessary evil. Any native of the country would have instantly agreed to Senhor Chágas's request, and would then have told every one of it up the river, always begging them not to say he told them,—thus telling a lie for themselves instead of for Senhor Chágas.
The next morning I reached Wanawáca, the sitio of Manoel Jacinto, and stayed to breakfast with him, luxuriating in milk with my coffee, and "coalhado," or curdled milk, pine-apple, and pacovas with cheese,—luxuries which, though every one might have, are seldom met with in the Rio Negro. His sitio is, perhaps, the prettiest on the river; and this, simply because there is an open space of grass around the house, with some forest and fruit-trees scattered about it, affording shade for the cattle and sheep, and a most agreeable relief to the eye, long fatigued with eternal forest.
When I consider the excessively small amount of labour required in this country, to convert the virgin forest into green meadows and fertile plantations, I almost long to come over with half-a-dozen friends, disposed to work, and enjoy the country; and show the inhabitants how soon an earthly paradise might be created, which they had never even conceived capable of existing.
It is a vulgar error, copied and repeated from one book to another, that in the tropics the luxuriance of the vegetation overpowers the efforts of man. Just the reverse is the case: nature and the climate are nowhere so favourable to the labourer, and I fearlessly assert, that here, the "primeval"forest can be converted into rich pasture and meadow land, into cultivated fields, gardens, and orchards, containing every variety of produce, with half the labour, and, what is of more importance, in less than half the time than would be required at home, even though there we had clear, instead of forest ground to commence upon. It is true that ground once rudely cleared, in the manner of the country, by merely cutting down the wood and burning it as it lies, will, if left to itself, in a single year, be covered with a dense shrubby vegetation; but if the ground is cultivated and roughly weeded, the trunks and stumps will have so rotted in two or three years, as to render their complete removal an easy matter, and then a fine crop of grass succeeds; and, with cattle upon it, no more care is required, as no shrubby vegetation again appears. Then, whatever fruit-trees are planted will reach a large size in five or six years, and many of them give fruit in two or three. Coffee and cacao both produce abundantly with theminimumof attention; orange and other fruit-trees never receive any attention, but, if pruned, would no doubt yield fruit of a superior quality, in greater quantity. Pine-apples, melons, and water-melons are planted, and when ripe the fruit is gathered, there being no intermediate process whatever. Indian corn and rice are treated nearly in the same manner. Onions, beans, and many other vegetables, thrive luxuriantly. The ground is never turned up, and manure never applied; if both were done, it is probable that the labour would be richly repaid. Cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs may be kept to any extent; nobody ever gives them anything to eat, and they always do well. Poultry of all kinds thrive. Molasses may be easily made in any quantity, for cane put into the ground grows, and gives no trouble; and I do not see why the domestic process used in the United States for making maple-sugar should not be applied here. Now, I unhesitatingly affirm, that two or three families, containing half-a-dozen working and industrious men and boys, and being able to bring a capital in goods of fifty pounds, might, in three years, find themselves in the possession of all I have mentioned. Supposing them to get used to the mandiocca and Indian-corn bread, they would, with the exception of clothing, have no one necessary or luxury to purchase: they would be abundantly supplied with pork, beef and mutton, poultry, eggs, butter,milk and cheese, coffee and cacao, molasses and sugar, delicious fish, turtles and turtles' eggs, and a great variety of game, would furnish their table with constant variety, while vegetables would not be wanting, and fruits, both cultivated and wild, in superfluous abundance, and of a quality that none but the wealthy of our land can afford. Oranges and lemons, figs and grapes, melons and water-melons, jack-fruits, custard-apples, pine-apples, cashews, alligator pears, and mammee apples are some of the commonest, whilst numerous palm and other forest fruits furnish delicious drinks, which everybody soon gets very fond of. Both animal and vegetable oils can be procured in abundance for light and cooking. And then, having provided for the body, what lovely gardens and shady walks might not be made! How easy to construct a natural orchid-house, beneath a clump of forest-trees, and collect the most beautiful species found in the neighbourhood! What elegant avenues of palms might be formed! What lovely climbers abound, to train over arbours, or up the walls of the house!
In the whole Amazon, no such thing as neatness or cultivation has ever been tried. Walks, and avenues, and gardens have never been made; but I can imagine how much beauty and variety might be called into existence from the gloomy monotony of the forest.
"England! my heart is truly thine,—my loved, my native earth!"
"England! my heart is truly thine,—my loved, my native earth!"
But the idea of the glorious life which might be led here, free from all the money-matter cares and annoyances of civilisation, makes me sometimes doubt, if it would not be wiser to bid thee adieu for ever, and come and live a life of ease and plenty in the Rio Negro.
This district is superior to any other part of the Amazon, and perhaps any other part of Brazil, in having a climate free from long droughts. In fact, the variableness of rain and sunshine, all the year round, is as great as in England itself; but it is this very thing which produces a perennial verdure. There are parts of the Rio Negro where the turtle, the peixe boi, and all sorts of fish abound; advantages, for which many persons endure the tormenting "carapanás" of the Solimões, but which can be had here without any insect torment, and with a far superior climate for agricultural purposes.
All cultivated products of the soil are so scarce that they meet with a ready sale at good prices, not only in the city of Barra, but also to passing traders, who have no time or means for cultivating them themselves. Tobacco, coffee, molasses, cotton, castor-oil, rice, maize, eggs, poultry, salt-meat, and fish, all kinds of oils, cheese, and butter, can always be sold,—the supply being invariably below the demand,—and, besides providing clothing and other extras, which in this climate are a mere trifle, might be made to produce a handsome profit. To do all this requires some experience and some industry; but not a tithe of either which are necessary to get a bare living at home.
Leaving this pleasant place about midday, we proceeded slowly on. One of my best Indians fell ill of fever and ague; and, a few days after, another was attacked. It was in vain attempting, at any sitio or village, to get men to help me on the rest of my voyage; no offer of extra wages would induce them to leave their houses; all had some excuse of occupation or illness, so we were forced to creep on as well as we could. Two days below the Falls I bought a smaller canoe of a Portuguese trader, to ascend the Uaupés, and moved my cargo into it, leaving that of Senhor Lima with the other canoe, to be sent for afterwards. At Camanaú, I with much difficulty, and some delay, procured a pilot and another Indian, to go with me to São Gabriel. There, after another day's delay, I found two Indians, who agreed to go as far as São Joaquim; and after keeping me waiting three or four hours beyond the time appointed, absconded at night from the sitio where we slept, having been previously paid double wages for the whole distance. Here, however, I was lucky enough to get three more in place of the two rogues; but as another of my Indians had now fallen ill, we still had few enough for passing the numerous rapids and rocks with which the river is obstructed.
One day we found, coiled up on the bank, a large Sucurujú, the first large snake I had met with, and as I was very anxious to secure it, to preserve the skin, I loaded my gun, and telling my Indians not to let it escape, fired. It remained motionless some time, as if stunned by the shock, and then slowly began to uncoil, turning its head down towards the water, but evidently so much injured as to be unable to move its body on land. In vain I cried to the Indians to secure it:the pilot had been severely bitten by one some time before, and was afraid; and so, instead of obeying me, they kept striking it with a thick stick, which only hastened its descent down the bank into the water, where, sinking to the bottom among dead trees, it was quite out of our power. As near as I could judge, the snake was fifteen or twenty feet long, and as thick as my thigh. At São Gabriel I saw also, on the rocks, asleep, one of the most deadly serpents of South America, the Surucucú (Lachesis mutus). It is very handsomely marked with rich umber-brown, and armed with terrific poison-fangs, two on each side; it is much dreaded, as its bite is said to be incurable.
On leaving São Gabriel I was again attacked with fever, and on arriving at São Joaquim I was completely laid up. My Indians took the opportunity to steal a quantity of the caxaça I had brought for preserving the fishes, and anything else they could lay their hands on; so I was glad, on the occasion of a slight remission of the fever, to pay their wages and send them off. After a few days, the violence of the fever abated, and I thought I was going to get over it very easily; but such was not the case, for every alternate day I experienced a great depression, with disinclination to motion: this always followed a feverish night, in which I could not sleep. The next night I invariably slept well perspiring profusely, and, the succeeding day, was able to move about, and had a little appetite. The weakness and fever, however, increased, till I was again confined to myrédé,—could eat nothing, and was so torpid and helpless, that Senhor L., who attended me, did not expect me to live. I could not speak intelligibly, and had not strength to write, or even to turn over in my hammock. A few days after this, I was attacked with severe ague, which recurred every two days. I took quinine for some time without any apparent effect, till, after nearly a fortnight, the fits ceased, and I only suffered from extreme emaciation and weakness. In a few days, however, the fits of ague returned, and now came every day. Their visits, thus frequent, were by no means agreeable; as, what with the succeeding fever and perspiration, which lasted from before noon till night, I had little quiet repose. In this state I remained till the beginning of February, the ague continuing, but with diminished force; and though with an increasing appetite, and eating heartily,yet gaining so little strength, that I could with difficulty stand alone, or walk across the room with the assistance of two sticks. The ague, however, now left me, and in another week, as I could walk with a stick down to the river-side, I went to São Gabriel, to see Mr. Spruce, who had arrived there, and had kindly been to see me a short time before. I purchased some wine and biscuits of the Commandante, and then returned to São Joaquim, determined, though the wet season was now again beginning, to set off for the Upper Uaupés, as soon as I could procure men, and get my canoe ready.
THE CATARACTS OF THE UAUPÉS.
Start for the Uaupés—São Jeronymo and Jauarité—Indians run Away—Numerous Cataracts—Reach Carurú—Difficult Passage—Painted Malocca—Devil Music—More Falls—Ocokí—Curious Rocks—Reach Uarucapurí—Cobeu Indians—Reach Mucúra—An Indian's House and Family—Height above the Sea—Tenente Jesuino—Return to Uarucapurí—Indian Prisoners—Voyage to Jauarité—Correcting the Calendar—Delay at São Jeronymo.
Atlength, on the 16th of February, two months and twenty-three days after my arrival at São Joaquim, I left on my voyage up the Uaupés. I was still so weak that I had great difficulty in getting in and out of the canoe; but I thought I should be as well there as confined in the house; and as I now longed more than ever to return home, I wished first to make this voyage, and get a few living birds and animals to take with me. I had seven Uaupés Indians that Senhor L. had brought from São Jeronymo, in order to take me up the river. Three more, who had already received payment for the voyage, did not appear; and, though they knew very well the time of my leaving, had fixed on that very day to give a feast of fish and caxirí. Antonio, my former pilot to Barra, was one. I met him coming to the village from his sitio, and he flatly refused to come with me, unless I waited some days more for him; I therefore made him send his Macu boy, João, instead, to go and return, and so pay for what both owed. This he did, and we went on our way rejoicing, for Antonio was what they call an Indian "ladino," or crafty; he could speak Portuguese, and, strongly suspecting him of being an expert thief, I was not sorry to be without his company.
On Saturday evening, the 21st, we arrived at São Jeronymo, where I was cordially received by Senhor Augustinho. Thenext day was occupied in paying my men, and sending for Bernardo to conduct my canoe up the falls, and get me more Indians for the voyage.
On Monday he arrived, and I let him take the canoe, but did not go with him, as, for some days past, the ague had again attacked me, and this was the day of the fit; so I sent the two guardas, my head men, who could speak Portuguese, to take charge of the canoe and cargo, and remained myself till the next day. In the evening a small trader arrived from above, very tipsy, and an Indian informed Senhor Augustinho that it was with my caxaça, which the men whom I had brought specially to take charge of my cargo, had opened. This I next day found to be the case, as the seals had been broken, and clumsily refastened with a burning stick. These men were half-civilised Indians, who came with me as hunters, to interpret for me with the Indians and take charge of my goods, on account of which I paid them extra wages. They ate with me, and did not row with the other Indians; but the temptation of being left alone for nearly a day, with a garafão of caxaça, was too strong for them. Of course I passed all over in silence, appearing to be perfectly ignorant of what had taken place, as, had I done otherwise, they would probably both have left me, after having received the greater part of their payment beforehand, and I should have been unable to proceed on my voyage.
With Bernardo's assistance, I soon got ten paddles in my canoe; and having paid most of them out of my stock of axes, mirrors, knives, beads, etc., we went along very briskly to Jauarité, where we arrived on the morning of the 28th. I was anxious to pass the caxoeira immediately, but was delayed,—paying two Indians, who left me here, and procuring others; so my ague fit fell upon me before we left the village, and I was very weak and feverish when we went to pass the falls. We unloaded the whole of the cargo, which had to be carried a considerable distance through the forest; and even then, pulling the canoe up the falls was a matter of great difficulty. There are two falls, at some distance from each other, which make the land-carriage very long.
We then re-embarked, when Bernardo coolly informed me that he could go no further, after having received payment for the whole voyage. His brother, he said, should go in hisplace; and when I returned, he would pay me what he owed me. So I was forced to make the best of it; but shortly after I found that his brother would only go to Jacaré caxoeira, and thus I was a second time deceived.
On starting, I missed João, and found that he had left us in the village, telling the guardas that he had only agreed with me to come so far, and they had never said a word to me about it till now, that it was too late. Antonio's debt therefore still remained unpaid, and was even increased by a knife which João had asked for, and I had given him, in order that he might go on the voyage satisfied.
The river now became full of rocks, to a degree to which even the rockiest part of the Rio Negro was a trifle. All were low, and would be covered at high-water, while numbers more remained below the surface, and we were continually striking against them. That afternoon we passed four more falls, the "Uacú" (a fruit), "Uacará" (Egret), "Mucúra" (Opossum), and "Japóna" (oven) caxoeiras. At Uacará there was a malocca of the same name; and at Japóna another, where we passed the night. All these rapids we ascended without unloading; but the Uacará was very bad, and occasioned us much trouble and delay. The next morning, when about to start, we found that another Indian was missing: he had absconded in the night, and it was useless attempting to seek him, though we knew he had gone to Uacará Malocca, where he wished to stay the day before, but where all knowledge of him would be denied and he well hidden, had we returned to fetch him. He was one who had received full payment, making three who had already gone away in my debt; a not very encouraging beginning for my voyage.
We passed the "Tyeassu" (Pig) caxoeira early, and then had a good stretch of quiet water till midday, when we reached the "Oomarie" (a fruit) caxoeira, where there is a sitio. Here we dined off a fine fresh Tucunaré which an old man sold me; and I agreed with his son, by the temptation of an axe, to go with me. We pulled the canoe up this rapid without unloading, which is seldom done, except when the river is low, as it now was. The rest of the day we had quiet water, and stopped at a rock to make our supper and sleep.
March 1st.—We passed the "Macáco" (monkey) caxoeira early. The rocks here, and particularly about Oomariecaxoeira, were so full of parallel veins, as to give them the appearance of being stratified and thrown up nearly vertically; whereas they are granitic, and similar to those we had already seen. We then soon reached the "Irá" (Honey) and "Baccába" (a Palm) caxoeiras; at both of which there are figures or picture-writings on the rocks, which I stayed to sketch. In passing the latter rapid, we knocked off one of the false keels I had had put to the canoe previous to starting, to preserve the bottom in the centre, where it was worn very thin by being dragged over the rocks by its former owner. We therefore stopped at a sandbank, unloaded the canoe, and plugged up the nail-holes, which were letting in water very fast.
The next day we passed in succession the "Arára Mirí" (Little Macaw), "Tamaquerié" (Gecko), "Paroquet," "Japoó" (a bird), "Arára" (Macaw), "Tatú" (Armadillo), "Amána" (Rain), "Camóa" (?), "Yauti" (Tortoise); and, finally, about threeP.M., arrived at "Carurú" (a water-plant) caxoeira. The last five of these, before arriving at Carurú, were exceedingly bad; the passage being generally in the middle of the river, among rocks, where the water rushes furiously. The falls were not more than three or four feet each; but, to pull a loaded canoe up these, against the foaming waters of a large river, was a matter of the greatest difficulty for my dozen Indians, their only resting-place being often breast-deep in water, where it was a matter of wonder that they could stand against the current, much less exert any force to pull the canoe. At Arára fall, the usual passage is over the dry rock, and we unloaded for that purpose; but all the efforts of the Indians could not get the heavy canoe up the steep and rugged ascent which was the only pathway. Again and again they exerted themselves, but to no purpose; and I was just sending by an old man, who was passing in a small canoe, to Carurú for assistance, when he suggested that by getting a long sipó (the general cable in these rivers) we might obtain a good purchase, to pull the canoe up the margin of the fall, which we had previously tried without success. We accordingly did so, and by great exertions the difficulty was passed,—much to my satisfaction, as sending to Carurú would have occasioned a great and very annoying delay.
The river from Jauarité may be said to average about athird of a mile wide, but the bends and turns are innumerable; and at every rapid it almost always spreads out into such deep bays, and is divided into channels by so many rocks and islands, as to make one sometimes think that the water is suddenly flowing back in a direction contrary to that it had previously been taking. Carurú caxoeira itself is greater than any we had yet seen,—rushing amongst huge rocks down a descent of perhaps fifteen or twenty feet. The only way of passing this, was to pull the canoe over the dry rock, which rose considerably above the level of the water, and was rather rugged, being interrupted in places by breaks or steps two or three feet high. The canoe was accordingly unloaded, quantities of poles and branches cut and laid in the path to prevent the bottom being much injured by the rocks, and a messenger sent to the village on the other side of the river to request the Tushaúa to come with plenty of men to our assistance. He soon arrived with eleven Indians, and all hands set to work pushing the canoe, or pulling at the sipós; and even then, the strength of five-and-twenty persons could only move it by steps, and with great difficulty. However, it was at length passed, and we then proceeded to the village, where the Tushaúa lent us a house.
The canoe was so weak in the bottom in one place, that I was fearful of some accident in my descent, so I determined to stay here two or three days, to cut out the weak part and put in a strong board. I now also saw that this canoe was much too heavy to proceed further up the river, as at many of the falls there was no assistance to be obtained, even in places as difficult to pass as Carurú; so I opened negotiations to purchase a very large "obá" of the Tushaúa, which, before leaving, I effected for an axe, a shirt and trousers, two cutlasses, and some beads. We were delayed here five entire days, owing to the difficulty of finding a tree of good wood sufficiently large to give a board of twelve or fourteen inches wide; and at last I was obliged to be content with two narrow boards, clumsily inserted, rather than be exposed to more delay.