[Illustration:
Hullmandel & Walton, Lithog.
CHAPEL AT NAZARÉ NEAR PARÁ.]
A
NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS
ON THE
AMAZON AND RIO NEGRO,
WITH AN ACCOUNT
OF THE
NATIVE TRIBES,
AND
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CLIMATE, GEOLOGY, AND NATURAL
HISTORY OF THE AMAZON VALLEY.
BY
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
With a Map and Illustrations.
LONDON:
REEVE AND CO., HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1853.
PRINTED BY
JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, LITTLE QUEEN STREET,
LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS.
PREFACE.
An earnest desire to visit a tropical country, to behold the luxuriance
of animal and vegetable life said to exist there, and to see with my
own eyes all those wonders which I had so much delighted to read of in
the narratives of travellers, were the motives that induced me to break
through the trammels of business and the ties of home, and start for
“Some far land where endless summer reigns.”
My attention was directed to Pará and the Amazon by Mr. Edwards’s
little book, ‘A Voyage up the Amazon,’ and I decided upon going there,
both on account of its easiness of access and the little that was known
of it compared with most other parts of South America.
I proposed to pay my expenses by making collections in Natural History,
and I have been enabled to do so; and the pleasures I have found in
the contemplation of the strange and beautiful objects continually met
with, and the deep interest arising from the study in their native
wilds of the varied races of mankind, have been such as to determine my
continuing in the pursuit I have entered upon, and to cause me to look
forward with pleasure to again visiting the wild and luxuriant scenery
and the sparkling life of the tropics.
In the following pages I have given a narrative of my journeys and
of the impressions excited at the time. The first and last portions
are from my journals, with little alteration; but all the notes
made during two years, with the greater part of my collections and
sketches, were lost by the burning of the ship on my homeward voyage.
From the fragmentary notes and papers which I saved I have written
the intermediate portion, and the four last chapters on the Natural
History of the country and on the Indian tribes, which, had I saved all
my materials, were intended to form a separate work on the Physical
History of the Amazon.
Several vocabularies of Indian languages, with some remarks on them
kindly furnished me by Dr. R. G. Latham, will be found in an Appendix.
In conclusion, I trust that the great loss of materials which
I have suffered, and which every naturalist and traveller will
fully appreciate, may be taken into consideration, to explain the
inequalities and imperfections of the narrative, and the meagreness
of the other part of the work, so little proportionate to what might
be expected from a four years’ residence in such an interesting and
little-known country.
_London, October, 1853._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PARÁ.
Arrival at Pará—Appearance of the city and its environs—The
inhabitants and their costume—Vegetation—Sensitive
plants—Lizards—Ants and other insects—Birds—Climate—Food of the
inhabitants 1
CHAPTER II.
PARÁ.
Festas—Portuguese and Brazilian currency—M. Borlaz’
estate—Walk to the rice-mills—The virgin forest, its
plants and insects—Milk-tree—Saw and rice-mills—Caripé or
pottery-tree—India-rubber tree—Flowers and trees in blossom—Saüba
ants, wasps, and chegoes—Journey by water to Magoary—The
monkeys—The commandante at Laranjeiras—Vampire bats—The
timber-trade—Boa constrictor and Sloth 18
CHAPTER III.
THE TOCANTINS.
Canoe, stores, and crew—River Mojú—Igaripé Miri—Cametá—Senhor Gomez
and his establishment—Search for a dinner—Jambouassú—Polite
letter—Bãiao and its inhabitants—A swarm of wasps—Enter the
rocky district—The Mutuca—Difficulty of getting men—A village
without houses—Catching an alligator—Duck-shooting—Aroyas, and
the Falls—A nocturnal concert—Blue Macaws—Turtles’ eggs—A slight
accident—Capabilities of the country—Return to Pará 50
CHAPTER IV.
MEXIANA AND MARAJÓ.
Visit to Olería—Habits of Birds—Voyage to
Mexiana—Arrival—Birds—Description of the
Island—Population—Slaves, their treatment and habits—Journey to
the Lake—Beautiful stream—Fish and Birds at the Lake—Catching
Alligators—Strange sounds, and abundance of Animal Life—Walk
back—Jaguar meat—Visit to Jungcal in Marajó—Embarking cattle—Ilha
das Frechas 82
CHAPTER V.
THE GUAMÁ AND CAPIM RIVERS.
Natterer’s hunter, Luiz—Birds and insects—Prepare for a
journey—First sight of the Piroróco—St. Domingo—Senhor
Calistro—Slaves and slavery—Anecdote—Cane-field—Journey into the
forest—Game—Explanation of the Piroróco—Return to Pará—Bell-birds
and yellow parrots 112
CHAPTER VI.
SANTAREM AND MONTEALEGRE.
Leave Pará—Enter the Amazon—Its peculiar features—Arrive
at Santarem—The town and its inhabitants—Voyage to
Montealegre—Mosquito plague and its remedy—Journey to
the Serras—A cattle estate—Rocks, picture-writings, and
cave—The _Victoria regia_—Mandiocca fields—A festa—Return to
Santarem—Beautiful insects—Curious tidal phenomenon—Leave
Santarem—Obydos—Villa Nova—A kind priest—Serpa—Christmas Day on
the Amazon 134
CHAPTER VII.
BARRA DO RIO NEGRO AND THE SOLIMÕES.
Appearance of the Rio Negro—The city of Barra, its trade
and its inhabitants—Journey up the Rio Negro—The Lingoa
Geral—The umbrella bird—Mode of life of the Indians—Return
to Barra—Strangers in the city—Visit to the Solimões—The
Gapó—Manaquerey—Country life—Curl-crested Araçaris—Vultures
and Onças—Tobacco growing and manufacture—The Cow-fish—Senhor
Brandão—A fishing party with Senhor Henrique—Letters from England 163
CHAPTER VIII.
THE UPPER RIO NEGRO.
Quit Barra for the Upper Rio Negro—Canoe and Cargo—Great width of
the river—Carvoeiro and Barcellos—Granite rocks—Castanheiro—A
polite old gentleman—São Jozé—A new language—The cataracts—São
Gabriel—Nossa Senhora da Guia—Senhor L. and his family—Visit
to the river Cobati—An Indian village—The Serra—Cocks of the
rock—Return to Guia—Frei Jozé dos Santos Innocentos 194
CHAPTER IX.
JAVITA.
Leave Guía—Marabitánas—Serra de Cocoí—Enter Venezuela—São
Carlos—Pass the Cassiquiare—Antonio Dias—Indian
shipbuilders—Feather-work—Maróa and Pimichín—A black
Jaguar—Poisonous serpents—Fishing—Walk to Javíta—Residence
there—Indian road-makers—Language and customs—A description of
Javíta—Runaway Indians—Collections at Javíta—Return to Tómo—A
domestic broil—Marabitánas and its inhabitants—Reach Guía 231
CHAPTER X.
FIRST ASCENT OF THE RIVER UAUPÉS.
Rapid Current—An Indian Malocca—The Inmates—A Festival—Paint
and ornaments—Illness—São Jeronymo—Passing the
Cataracts—Jauarité—The Tushaúa Calistro—Singular
Palm—Birds—Cheap provisions—Edible Ants, and Earthworms—A
grand dance—Feather ornaments—The snake-dance—The Capí—A State
cigar—Ananárapicóma—Fish—Chegoes—Pass down the Falls—Tame
Birds—Orchids—Piums—Eating dirt—Poisoning—Return to Guia—Manoel
Joaquim—Annoying delays 273
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 316
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 341
CHAPTER XIII.
SÃO JERONYMO TO THE DOWNS.
Voyage down the Rio Negro—Arrive at Barra—Obtaining a
passport—State of the city—Portuguese and Brazilian
enterprise—System of credit—Trade—Immorality, and its
causes—Leave Barra—A storm on the Amazon—Salsaparilha—A tale
about Death—Pará—The yellow fever—Sail for England—Ship takes
fire—Ten days in the boats—Get picked up—Heavy gales—Short of
provisions—Storm in the Channel—Arrive at Deal 369
CHAPTER XIV.
THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF THE AMAZON VALLEY 404
CHAPTER XV.
VEGETATION OF THE AMAZON VALLEY 432
CHAPTER XVI.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE ZOOLOGY OF THE AMAZON DISTRICT 446
CHAPTER XVII.
ON THE ABORIGINES OF THE AMAZON 476
APPENDIX.
VOCABULARIES OF AMAZONIAN LANGUAGES 521
[Illustration:
MAP
_of the_
RIVER AMAZON
_and the Northern part
OF_
SOUTH AMERICA.
]
TRAVELS
ON THE
AMAZON AND RIO NEGRO.
CHAPTER I.
PARÁ.
Arrival at Pará—Appearance of the city and its environs—The
inhabitants and their costume—Vegetation—Sensitive
plants—Lizards—Ants and other insects—Birds—Climate—Food of the
inhabitants.
It was on the morning of the 26th of May, 1848, that after a short
passage of twenty-nine days from Liverpool, we came to anchor opposite
the southern entrance to the River Amazon, and obtained our first
view of South America. In the afternoon the pilot came on board, and
the next morning we sailed with a fair wind up the river, which for
fifty miles could only be distinguished from the ocean by its calmness
and discoloured water, the northern shore being invisible, and the
southern at a distance of ten or twelve miles. Early on the morning
of the 28th we again anchored; and when the sun rose in a cloudless
sky, the city of Pará, surrounded by the dense forest, and overtopped
by palms and plantains, greeted our sight, appearing doubly beautiful
from the presence of those luxuriant tropical productions in a state
of nature, which we had so often admired in the conservatories of Kew
and Chatsworth. The canoes passing with their motley crews of Negroes
and Indians, the vultures soaring overhead or walking lazily about the
beach, and the crowds of swallows on the churches and house-tops, all
served to occupy our attention till the Custom-house officers visited
us, and we were allowed to go on shore.
Pará contains about 15,000 inhabitants, and does not cover a great
extent of ground; yet it is the largest city on the greatest river in
the world, the Amazon, and is the capital of a province equal in extent
to all Western Europe. It is the residence of a President appointed by
the Emperor of Brazil, and of a Bishop whose see extends two thousand
miles into the interior, over a country peopled by countless tribes of
unconverted Indians. The province of Pará is the most northern portion
of Brazil, and though it is naturally the richest part of that vast
empire, it is the least known, and at present of the least commercial
importance.
The appearance of the city from the river, which is the best view
that can be obtained of it, is not more foreign than that of Calais
or Boulogne. The houses are generally white, and several handsome
churches and public buildings raise their towers and domes above
them. The vigour of vegetation is everywhere apparent. The ledges and
mouldings support a growth of small plants, and from the wall-tops
and window-openings of the churches often spring luxuriant weeds and
sometimes small trees. Above and below and behind the city, as far as
the eye can reach, extends the unbroken forest; all the small islands
in the river are wooded to the water’s edge, and many sand-banks
flooded at high-water are covered with shrubs and small trees, whose
tops only now appeared above the surface. The general aspect of
the trees was not different from those of Europe, except where the
“feathery palm-trees” raised their graceful forms; but our imaginations
were busy picturing the wonderful scenes to be beheld in their dark
recesses, and we longed for the time when we should be at liberty to
explore them.
On landing, we proceeded to the house of Mr. Miller, the consignee of
our vessel, by whom we were most kindly received, and invited to remain
till we could settle ourselves as we should find most convenient. We
were here introduced to most of the English and American residents, who
are all engaged in trade, and are few in number. For the four following
days we were occupied in walking in the neighbourhood of the city,
presenting our passports and obtaining license to reside, familiarizing
ourselves with the people and the vegetation, and endeavouring to
obtain a residence fitted for our pursuits. Finding that this could
not be immediately done, we removed to Mr. Miller’s “rosinha,” or
country-house, situated about half a mile from the city, which he
kindly gave us the use of till we could find more convenient quarters.
Beds and bedsteads are not wanted here, as cotton woven hammocks are
universally used for sleeping in, and are very convenient on account
of their portability. These, with a few chairs and tables and our
boxes, are all the furniture we had or required. We hired an old Negro
man named Isidora for a cook and servant of all work, and regularly
commenced housekeeping, learning Portuguese, and investigating the
natural productions of the country.
My previous wanderings had been confined to England and a short trip
on the Continent, so that everything here had the charm of perfect
novelty. Nevertheless, on the whole I was disappointed. The weather was
not so hot, the people were not so peculiar, the vegetation was not so
striking, as the glowing picture I had conjured up in my imagination,
and had been brooding over during the tedium of a sea-voyage. And this
is almost always the case with everything but a single view or some one
definite object. A piece of fine scenery, as beheld from a given point,
can scarcely be overdrawn; and there are many such, which will not
disappoint even the most expectant beholder. It is the general effect
that strikes at once and commands the whole attention: the beauties
have not to be sought, they are all before you. With a district or a
country the case is very different. There are individual objects of
interest, which have to be sought out and observed and appreciated. The
charms of a district grow upon one in proportion as the several parts
come successively into view, and in proportion as our education and
habits lead us to understand and admire them. This is particularly the
case with tropical countries. Some such places will no doubt strike at
once as altogether unequalled, but in the majority of cases it is only
in time that the various peculiarities, the costume of the people, the
strange forms of vegetation, and the novelty of the animal world, will
present themselves so as to form a connected and definite impression
on the mind. Thus it is that travellers who crowd into one description
all the wonders and novelties which it took them weeks and months to
observe, must produce an erroneous impression on the reader, and cause
him, when he visits the spot, to experience much disappointment. As one
instance of what is meant, it may be mentioned that during the first
week of our residence at Pará, though constantly in the forest in the
neighbourhood of the city, I did not see a single humming-bird, parrot,
or monkey. And yet, as I afterwards found, humming-birds, parrots, and
monkeys are plentiful enough in the neighbourhood of Pará; but they
require looking for, and a certain amount of acquaintance with them
is necessary in order to discover their haunts, and some practice is
required to see them in the thick forest, even when you hear them close
by you.
But still Pará has quite enough to redeem it from the imputations we
may be supposed to have cast upon it. Every day showed us something
fresh to admire, some new wonder we had been taught to expect as the
invariable accompaniment of a luxuriant country within a degree of the
equator. “Even now, while writing by the last glimmer of twilight, the
vampire bat is fluttering about the room, hovering among the timbers of
the roof (for there are no ceilings), and now and then whizzing past
my ears with a most spectral noise.” The city itself has been laid out
on a most extensive plan; many of the churches and public buildings
are very handsome, but decay and incongruous repairs have injured some
of them, and bits of gardens and waste ground intervening between the
houses, fenced in with rotten palings, and filled with rank weeds and
a few banana-plants, look strange and unsightly to a European eye. The
squares and public places are picturesque, either from the churches and
pretty houses which surround them, or from the elegant palms of various
species, which with the plantain and banana everywhere occur; but
they bear more resemblance to village-greens than to parts of a great
city. A few paths lead across them in different directions through a
tangled vegetation of weedy cassias, shrubby convolvuli, and the pretty
orange-flowered _Asclepias curassavica_,—plants which here take the
place of the rushes, docks, and nettles of England. The principal
street, the “Rua dos Mercadores” (Street of Merchants), contains
almost the only good shops in the city. The houses are many of them
only one story high, but the shops, which are often completely open in
front, are very neatly and attractively furnished, though with rather
a miscellaneous assortment of articles. Here are seen at intervals
a few yards of foot-paving, though so little as only to render the
rest of your walk over rough stones or deep sand more unpleasant by
comparison. The other streets are all very narrow. They consist either
of very rough stones, apparently the remains of the original paving,
which has never been repaired, or of deep sand and mud-holes. The
houses are irregular and low, mostly built of a coarse ferruginous
sandstone, common in the neighbourhood, and plastered over. The
windows, which have no glass, have the lower part filled with lattice,
hung above, so that the bottom may be pushed out and a peep obtained
sideways in either direction, and from these many dark eyes glanced at
us as we passed. Yellow and blue wash are liberally used about most
of the houses and churches in decorating the pilasters and door and
window openings, which are in a debased but picturesque style of Roman
architecture. The building now used as custom-house and barracks,
formerly a convent, is handsome and very extensive.
Beyond the actual streets of the city is a large extent of ground
covered with roads and lanes intersecting each other at right angles.
In the spaces formed by these are the “rosinhas,” or country-houses,
one, two, or more on each block. They are of one story, with several
spacious rooms and a large verandah, which is generally the dining-room
and most pleasant sitting and working apartment. The ground attached
is usually a swamp or a wilderness of weeds or fruit-trees. Sometimes
a portion is formed into a flower-garden, but seldom with much
care or taste, and the plants and flowers of Europe are preferred
to the splendid and ornamental productions of the country. The
general impression of the city to a person fresh from England is not
very favourable. There is such a want of neatness and order, such
an appearance of neglect and decay, such evidences of apathy and
indolence, as to be at first absolutely painful. But this soon wears
off, and some of these peculiarities are seen to be dependent on the
climate. The large and lofty rooms, with boarded floors and scanty
furniture, and with half-a-dozen doors and windows in each, look at
first comfortless, but are nevertheless exactly adapted to a tropical
country, in which a carpeted, curtained, and cushioned room would be
unbearable.
The inhabitants of Pará present a most varied and interesting mixture
of races. There is the fresh-coloured Englishman, who seems to thrive
as well here as in the cooler climate of his native country, the
sallow American, the swarthy Portuguese, the more corpulent Brazilian,
the merry Negro, and the apathetic but finely formed Indian; and
between these a hundred shades and mixtures, which it requires an
experienced eye to detect. The white inhabitants generally dress with
great neatness in linen clothes of spotless purity. Some adhere to the
black cloth coat and cravat, and look most uncomfortably clad with the
thermometer from 85° to 90° in the shade. The men’s dress, whether
Negro or Indian, is simply a pair of striped or white cotton trowsers,
to which they sometimes add a shirt of the same material. The women and
girls on most gala occasions dress in pure white, which, contrasting
with their glossy black or brown skins, has a very pleasing effect; and
it is then that the stranger is astonished to behold the massy gold
chains and ornaments worn by these women, many of whom are slaves.
Children are seen in every degree of clothing, down to perfect nudity,
which is the general condition of all the male coloured population
under eight or ten years of age. Indians fresh from the interior are
sometimes seen looking very mild and mannerly, and, except for holes
in their ears large enough to put a cart-rope through, and a peculiar
wildness with which they gaze at all around them, they would hardly be
noticed among the motley crowd of regular inhabitants.
I have already stated that the natural productions of the tropics did
not at first realize my expectations. This is principally owing to the
accounts of picture-drawing travellers, who, by only describing the
beautiful, the picturesque, and the magnificent, would almost lead a
person to believe that nothing of a different character could exist
under a tropical sun. Our having arrived at Pará at the end of the wet
season, may also explain why we did not at first see all the glories
of the vegetation. The beauty of the palm-trees can scarcely be too
highly drawn; they are peculiarly characteristic of the tropics, and
their varied and elegant forms, their beautiful foliage, and their
fruits, generally useful to man, give them a never-failing interest
to the naturalist, and to all who are familiar with descriptions of
the countries where they most abound. The rest of the vegetation
was hardly what I expected. We found many beautiful flowers and
climbing plants, but there are also many places which are just as
weedy in their appearance as in our own bleak climate. But very few
of the forest-trees were in flower, and most of them had nothing very
peculiar in their appearance. The eye of the botanist, indeed, detects
numerous tropical forms in the structure of the stems, and the form
and arrangement of the leaves; but most of them produce an effect
in the landscape remarkably similar to that of our own oaks, elms,
and beeches. These remarks apply only to the immediate vicinity of
the city, where the whole surface has been cleared, and the present
vegetation is a second growth. On proceeding a few miles out of the
town into the forest, which everywhere surrounds it, a very different
scene is beheld. Trees of an enormous height rise on every side. The
foliage varies from the most light and airy to the darkest and most
massive. Climbing and parasitic plants, with large shining leaves, run
up the trunks, and often mount even to the highest branches, while
others, with fantastic stems, hang like ropes and cables from their
summits. Many curious seeds and fruits are here seen scattered on the
ground; and there is enough to engage the wonder and admiration of
every lover of nature. But even here there is something wanting that
we expected to find. The splendid Orchideous plants, so much sought
after in Europe, we had thought must abound in every luxuriant tropical
forest; yet here are none but a few small species with dull brown or
yellow flowers. Most of the parasitic plants which clothe the stems
of every old or fallen tree with verdure, are of quite a different
character, being ferns, _Tillandsias_, and species of _Pothos_
and _Caladium_, plants resembling the Ethiopian lily so commonly
cultivated in houses. Among the shrubs near the city that immediately
attracted our attention were several _Solanums_, which are allied to
our potato. One of these grows from eight to twelve feet high, with
large woolly leaves, spines on both leaves and stem, and handsome
purple flowers larger than those of the potato. Some other species
have white flowers, and one much resembles our bitter-sweet (_Solanum
Dulcamara_). Many handsome convolvuluses climb over the hedges, as
well as several most beautiful _Bignonias_ or trumpet-flowers, with
yellow, orange, or purple blossoms. But most striking of all are the
passion-flowers, which are abundant on the skirts of the forest, and
are of various colours,—purple, scarlet, or pale pink: the purple ones
have an exquisite perfume, and they all produce an agreeable fruit—the
grenadilla of the West Indies. There are besides many other elegant
flowers, and numbers of less conspicuous ones. The papilionaceous
flowers, or peas, are common; cassias are very numerous, some being
mere weeds, others handsome trees, having a profusion of bright yellow
blossoms. Then there are the curious sensitive plants (_Mimosa_),
looked upon with such interest in our greenhouses, but which here
abound as common wayside weeds. Most of them have purple or white
globular heads of flowers. Some are very sensitive, a gentle touch
causing many leaves to drop and fold up; others require a ruder hand to
make them exhibit their peculiar properties; while others again will
scarcely show any signs of feeling, though ever so roughly treated.
They are all more or less armed with sharp prickles, which may partly
answer the purpose of guarding their delicate frames from some of the
numerous shocks they would otherwise receive.
The immense number of orange-trees about the city is an interesting
feature, and renders that delicious fruit always abundant and cheap.
Many of the public roads are lined with them, and every garden is
well stocked, so that the cost is merely the trouble of gathering
and taking to market. The mango is also abundant, and in some of the
public avenues is planted alternately with the Mangabeira, or silk
cotton-tree, which grows to a great size, though, as its leaves are
deciduous, it is not so well adapted to produce the shade so much
required as some evergreen tree. On almost every road-side, thicket,
or waste, the coffee-tree is seen growing, and generally with flower
or fruit, and often both; yet such is the scarcity of labour or
indolence of the people, that none is gathered but a little for private
consumption, while the city is almost entirely supplied with coffee
grown in other parts of Brazil.
Turning our attention to the world of animal life, what first attract
notice are the lizards. They abound everywhere. In the city they are
seen running along the walls and palings, sunning themselves on logs
of wood, or creeping up to the eaves of the lower houses. In every
garden, road, and dry sandy situation they are scampering out of
the way as we walk along. Now they crawl round the trunk of a tree,
watching us as we pass, and keeping carefully out of sight, just as a
squirrel will do under similar circumstances; now they walk up a smooth
wall or paling as composedly and securely as if they had the plain
earth beneath them. Some are of a dark coppery colour, some with backs
of the most brilliant silky green and blue, and others marked with
delicate shades and lines of yellow and brown. On this sandy soil, and
beneath this bright sunshine, they seem to enjoy every moment of their
existence, basking in the hot sun with the most indolent satisfaction,
then scampering off as if every ray had lent vivacity and vigour to
their chilly constitutions. Far different from the little lizards with
us, which cannot raise their body from the ground, and drag their long
tails like an encumbrance after them, these denizens of a happier clime
carry their tails stuck out in the air, and gallop away on their
four legs with as much freedom and muscular power as a warm-blooded
quadruped. To catch such lively creatures was of course no easy matter,
and all our attempts utterly failed; but we soon got the little Negro
and Indian boys to shoot them for us with their bows and arrows, and
thus obtained many specimens.
Next to the lizards, the ants cannot fail to be noticed. They startle
you with the apparition of scraps of paper, dead leaves, and feathers,
endued with locomotive powers; processions engaged in some abstruse
engineering operations stretch across the public paths; the flower you
gather or the fruit you pluck is covered with them, and they spread
over your hand in such swarms as to make you hastily drop your prize.
At meals they make themselves quite at home upon the table-cloth, in
your plate, and in the sugar-basin, though not in such numbers as to
offer any serious obstruction to your meal. In these situations, and
in many others, you will find them, and in each situation it will be
a distinct kind. Many plants have ants peculiar to them. Their nests
are seen forming huge black masses, several feet in diameter, on
the branches of trees. In paths in woods and gardens we often see a
gigantic black species wandering about singly or in pairs, measuring
near an inch and a half long; while some of the species that frequent
houses are so small as to require a box-lid to fit very closely in
order to keep them out. They are great enemies to any dead animal
matter, especially insects and small birds. In drying the specimens
of insects we procured, we found it necessary to hang up the boxes
containing them to the roof of the verandah; but even then a party got
possession by descending the string, as we caught them in the act, and
found that in a few hours they had destroyed several fine insects. We
were then informed that the Andiroba oil of the country, which is very
bitter, would keep them away, and by well soaking the suspending string
we have since been free from their incursions.
Having at first employed ourselves principally in collecting insects, I
am enabled to say something about the other families of that numerous
class. None of the orders of insects were so numerous as I expected,
with the exception of the diurnal _Lepidoptera_, or butterflies; and
even these, though the number of different species was very great, did
not abound in individuals to the extent I had been led to anticipate.
In about three weeks Mr. B. and myself had captured upwards of a
hundred and fifty distinct species of butterflies. Among them were
eight species of the handsome genus _Papilio_, and three _Morphos_,
those splendid large metallic-blue butterflies which are always first
noticed by travellers in South America, in which country alone they
are found, and where, flying lazily along the paths in the forest,
alternately in deep shade and bright sunshine, they present one of the
most striking sights the insect world can produce. Among the smaller
species the exquisite colouring and variety of marking is wonderful.
The species seem inexhaustible, and probably not one-half of those
which exist in this country are yet discovered. We did not fall in
with any of the large and remarkable insects of South America, such
as the rhinoceros or harlequin beetles, but saw numerous specimens of
a large _Mantis_, or praying insect, and also several of the large
_Mygales_, or bird-catching spiders, which are here improperly called
“tarantulas,” and are said to be very venomous. We found one which
had a nest on a silk cotton-tree, formed like the web of some of our
house-spiders, as a place of concealment, but of a very strong texture,
almost like silk. Other species live in holes in the ground. Beetles
and flies were generally very scarce, and, with few exceptions, of
small size, but bees and wasps were abundant, and many of them very
large and handsome. Mosquitoes, in the low parts of the city and
on shipboard, are very annoying, but on the higher grounds and in
the suburbs there are none. The moqueen, a small red tick, scarcely
visible, the “bête rouge” of Cayenne, abounds in the grass, and,
getting on the legs, is very irritating; but these are trifles which
one soon gets used to, and in fact would hardly think oneself in the
tropics without them.
Of birds we at first saw but few, and those not very remarkable ones.
The only brilliant-coloured bird common about the city is the yellow
troupial (_Cassicus icteronotus_), which builds its nests in colonies,
suspended from the ends of the branches of trees. A tree is sometimes
covered with their long purse-like nests, and the brilliant black
and yellow birds flying in and out have a pretty effect. This bird
has a variety of loud clear notes, and has an extraordinary power of
imitating the song of other birds, so as to render it worthy of the
title of the South American mocking-bird. Besides this, the common
silver-beak tanager (_Rhamphopis jacapa_), some pale blue tanagers,
called here “Sayis,” and the yellow-breasted tyrant flycatchers, are
the only conspicuous birds common in the suburbs of Pará. In the
forest are constantly heard the curious notes of the bush-shrikes,
tooo-too-to-to-t-t-t, each succeeding sound quicker and quicker, like
the successive reboundings of a hammer from an anvil. In the dusk
of the evening many goat-suckers fly about and utter their singular
and melancholy cries. One says “Whip-poor-will,” just like the North
American bird so called, and another with remarkable distinctness
keeps asking, “Who are _you_?” and as their voices often alternate, an
interesting though rather monotonous conversation takes place between
them.
The climate, so far as we had yet experienced, was delightful. The
thermometer did not rise above 87° in the afternoon, nor sink below
74° during the night. The mornings and evenings were most agreeably
cool, and we had generally a shower and a fine breeze in the afternoon,
which was very refreshing and purified the air. On moonlight evenings
till eight o’clock ladies walk about the streets and suburbs without
any head-dress and in ball-room attire, and the Brazilians, in
their rosinhas, sit outside their houses bare-headed and in their
shirt-sleeves till nine or ten o’clock, quite unmindful of the night
airs and heavy dews of the tropics, which we have been accustomed to
consider so deadly.
We will now add a few words on the food of the people. Beef is almost
the only meat used. The cattle are kept on estates some days’ journey
across and up the river, whence they are brought in canoes; they refuse
food during the voyage, and so lose most of their fat, and arrive in
very poor condition. They are killed in the morning for the day’s
consumption, and are cut up with axes and cutlasses, with a total
disregard to appearance, the blood being allowed to run all over the
meat. About six every morning a number of loaded carts may be seen
going to the different butchers’ shops, the contents bearing such a
resemblance to horse-flesh going to a kennel of hounds, as to make a
person of delicate stomach rather uneasy when he sees nothing but beef
on the table at dinner-time. Fish is sometimes obtained, but it is very
dear, and pork is killed only on Sundays. Bread made from United States
flour, Irish and American butter, and other foreign products, are in
general use among the white population; but farinha, rice, salt-fish,
and fruits are the principal food of the Indians and Negroes. Farinha
is a preparation from the root of the mandiocca or cassava plant, of
which tapioca is also made; it looks something like coarsely ground
peas, or perhaps more like sawdust, and when soaked in water or broth
is rather glutinous, and is a very nutritious article of food. This,
with a little salt-fish, chili peppers, bananas, oranges, and assai (a
preparation from a palm fruit), forms almost the entire subsistence
of a great part of the population of the city. Our own bill of fare
comprised coffee, tea, bread, butter, beef, rice, farinha, pumpkins,
bananas, and oranges. Isidora was a good cook, and made all sorts of
roasts and stews out of our daily lump of tough beef; and the bananas
and oranges were such a luxury to us, that, with the good appetite
which our walks in the forest always gave us, we had nothing to
complain of.