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.
At length, on September 1st, 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 Caxoeiras,
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 crosswaves, 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 abroad. 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 staid a day, to take out part
of Senhor L.’s cargo, 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 and legs to be cleaned the next day in the canoe. The animal
was very 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 _peixe boi_, 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 rain and
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 “Mariánna,”
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 is _Derotypus 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 its little tail only 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 Mariánna 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 September 15th, 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 the 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 waiting for 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 as left little hope of his recovery. The only additional
information brought since, was that the “Princess 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. S. came with me for a day’s trip, taking a couple of boys
and a montaria to return in. We had a 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 staid 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 staid 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 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 staid 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 of course 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
civilized 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 meat preserved in 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 and purgatives, 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 panellas, 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 bones were 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 here and 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 montaría, 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 November 12th 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 very sorry 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 staid 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 have 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 the minimum of attention; orange
and other fruit-trees are never done anything to, 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 had 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 civilization, make 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 1 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 my rede,—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.