THE GAPO--INTERRUPTIONS--GRAMPUS AND MARMOSET--CANOEING IN THE WOODS--A
NIGHT ON A FLOATING ISLAND.
There is a peculiar and very striking feature in the character of the
great Amazon, which affects the distinctive appearance of that river,
and materially alters the manners and customs of those who dwell beside
it. This peculiarity is the periodical overflow of its low banks; and
the part thus overflowed is called the _Gapo_. It extends from a little
above the town of Santarem up to the confines of Peru, a distance of
about seventeen hundred miles; and varies in width from one to twenty
miles: so that the country when inundated, assumes in many places the
appearance of an extensive lake, with forest trees growing out of the
water; and travellers may proceed many hundreds of miles in their canoes
without once entering the main stream of the river. At this time the
natives become almost aquatic animals. Several tribes of Indians
inhabit the Gapo; such as the Purupurus, Muras, and others. They build
small movable huts on the sandy shores during the dry season, and on
rafts in the wet. They subsist on turtle, cow-fish, and the other fish
with which the river abounds, and live almost entirely in their canoes;
while at night they frequently sling their hammocks between the branches
of trees, and sleep suspended over the deep water.
Some of the animals found in the Gapo are peculiar to it, being
attracted by the fruit-trees which are found growing only there. The
Indians assert that every tree that grows in the Gapo is distinct from
all those that grow in other districts; and when we consider that these
trees are submerged for six months every year, till they are tall enough
to rise above the highest water-level, we may well believe their
constitution is somewhat different from those that are reared on
ordinary ground. The Indians are wonderfully expert in finding their
way among the trackless mazes of the Gapo, being guided by the broken
twigs and scraped bark that indicate the route followed by previous
travellers.
Owing to this sudden commencement of the rainy season, the old trader
resolved to return to a small village, and there spend several months.
Martin and Barney were much annoyed at this; for the former was
impatient to penetrate further into the interior, and the latter had
firmly made up his mind to visit the diamond mines, about which he
entertained the most extravagant notions. He did not, indeed, know in
the least how to get to these mines, nor even in which direction they
lay; but he had a strong impression that as long as he continued
travelling he was approaching gradually nearer to them, and he had no
doubt whatever that he would get to them at last. It was, therefore,
with no small degree of impatience that they awaited the pleasure of
their sable master, who explained to them that when the waters reached
their height he would proceed.
Everything comes to an end, even a long story. After many weeks had
passed slowly by, their sojourn in this village came to an end too. It
was a dull place, very dull, and they had nothing to do; and the few
poor people who lived there seemed to have very little or nothing to do.
We will, therefore, pass it over, and resume our narrative at the point
when the old trader announced to Barney that the flood was at its height
and they would now continue their journey. They embarked once more in
their old canoe with their goods and chattels, not forgetting Marmoset
and Grampus, whose friendship during their inactive life had become more
close than ever. This friendship was evidenced, chiefly, by the
matter-of-course way in which Grampus permitted the monkey to mount his
back, and ride about the village and through the woods, where dry places
could be found, as long as she pleased. Marmoset was fonder of riding
than walking, so that Grampus had enough to do; but he did not put
himself much about. He trotted, walked, galloped, and lay down, when,
and where, and as often as he chose, without any reference to the small
monkey; and Marmoset held on through thick and thin, and nibbled nuts or
whatever else it picked up, utterly regardless of where it was going to,
or the pace at which it went. It was sharp, though, that small monkey,
sharp as a needle, and had its little black eyes glancing on all sides;
so that when Grampus dashed through under-wood, and the branches
threatened to sweep it off, it ducked its head; or, lying flat down,
shut its eyes and held on with all its teeth and four hands like a
limpet to a rock. Marmoset was not careful as to her attitude on
dog-back. She sat with her face to the front or rear, just as her fancy
or convenience dictated.
After leaving the village they travelled for many days and nights
through the Gapo. Although afloat on the waters of the Amazon, they
never entered the main river after the first few days, but wound their
way, in a creeping, serpentine sort of fashion, through small streams
and lakes and swamps, from which the light was partially excluded by the
thick foliage of the forest. It was a strange scene, that illimitable
watery waste, and aroused new sensations in the breasts of our
travellers. As Barney said, it made him "feel quite solemn-like and
eerie to travel through the woods by wather."
The canoe was forced under branches and among dense bushes, till they
got into a part where the trees were loftier and a deep gloom prevailed.
Here the lowest branches were on a level with the surface of the water,
and many of them were putting forth beautiful flowers. On one occasion
they came to a grove of small palms, which were so deep in the water
that the leaves were only a few feet above the surface. Indeed they
were so low that one of them caught Martin's straw-hat and swept it
overboard.
"Hallo! stop!" cried Martin, interrupting the silence so suddenly that
Grampus sprang up with a growl, under the impression that game was in
view; and Marmoset scampered off behind a packing-box with an angry
shriek.
"What's wrong, lad?" inquired Barney.
"Back water, quick! my hat's overboard, and there's an alligator going
to snap it up. Look alive, man!"
In a few seconds the canoe was backed and the straw-hat rescued from its
perilous position.
"It's an ill wind that blows nae guid, as the Scotch say," remarked
Barney, rising in the canoe and reaching towards something among the
overhanging branches. "Here's wan o' them trees that old black-face
calls a maraja, with some splendid bunches o' fruit on it. Hould yer
hat Martin; there's more nor enough for supper anyhow."
As he spoke a rustling in the leaves told that monkeys were watching
them, and Marmoset kept peeping up as if she half expected they might be
relations. But the moment the travellers caught sight of them they
bounded away screaming.
Having gathered as much fruit as they required, they continued their
voyage, and presently emerged into the pleasant sunshine in a large
grassy lake, which was filled with lilies and beautiful water-plants,
little yellow bladder-worts, with several other plants of which they
knew not the names; especially one with a thick swollen stalk, curious
leaves, and bright blue flowers. This lake was soon passed, and they
again entered into the gloomy forest and paddled among the lofty trunks
of the trees, which rose like massive columns out of the deep water.
There was enough of animal life there, however, to amuse and interest
them. The constant plash of falling fruit showed that birds were
feeding overhead. Sometimes a flock of parrots or bright blue
chatterers swept from tree to tree, or a trogon swooped at a falling
bunch of fruit and caught it ere it reached the water; while ungainly
toucans plumped clumsily down upon the branches, and sat, in striking
contrast, beside the lovely pompadours, with their claret-coloured
plumage and delicate white wings.
Vieing with these birds in splendour were several large bright-yellow
flowers of the creeping-plants, which twined round the trees. Some of
these plants had white, spotted, and purple blossoms; and there was one
splendid species, called by the natives the flor de Santa Anna--the
flower of Saint Ann--which emitted a delightful odour and was four
inches in diameter.
Having traversed this part of the wood, they once more emerged upon the
main stream of the Amazon. It was covered with waterfowl. Large logs
of trees and numerous floating islands of grass were sailing down; and
on these sat hundreds of white gulls, demurely and comfortably voyaging
to the ocean; for the sea would be their final resting-place if they sat
on these logs and islands until they descended several hundreds of miles
of the great river.
"I wish," said Martin, after a long silence, during which the travellers
had been gazing on the watery waste as they paddled up stream--"I wish
that we could fall in with solid land, where we might have something
cooked. I'm desperately hungry now; but I don't see a spot of earth
large enough for a mosquito to rest his foot on."
"We'll jist have to take to farhina and wather," remarked Barney, laying
down his paddle and proceeding leisurely to light his pipe. "It's a
blissin' we've got baccy, any how. 'Tis mesilf that could niver git on
without it."
"I wish you joy of it, Barney. It may fill your mouth, but it can't
stop your hunger."
"Och, boy, it's little ye know! Sure it stops the cravin's o' hunger,
and kapes yer stumick from callin' out for iver, till ye fall in with
somethin' to ate."
"It does not seem to stop the mouth then, Barney, for you call out for
grub oftener than I do; and then you say that you couldn't get on
without it; so you're a slave to it old boy. I wouldn't be a slave to
anything if I could help it."
"Martin, lad, ye're gittin' deep. Take care now, or ye'll be in
mettlefeesics soon. I say, ould black-face,"--Barney was not on
ceremony with the old trader,--"is there no land in thim parts at all?"
"No, not dis night."
"Och, then, we'll have to git up a tree and try to cook somethin' there;
for I'm not goin' to work on flour and wather. Hallo! hould on!
There's an island, or the portrait o' wan! Port your helm, Naygur! hard
sport! D'ye hear?"
The old man heard, but, as usual, paid no attention to the Irishman's
remarks; and the canoe would have passed straight on, had not Barney
used his bow-paddle so energetically that he managed to steer her, as he
expressed it, by the nose, and ran her against a mass of floating logs
which had caught firmly in a thicket and were so covered with grass and
broken twigs as to have very much the appearance of a real island. Here
they landed, so to speak, kindled a small fire, made some coffee,
roasted a few fish, baked several cakes, and were soon as happy and
comfortable as hungry and wearied men usually are when they obtain rest
and food.
"This is what I call jolly," remarked Barney.
"What's jolly?" inquired Martin.
"Why _this_, to be sure,--grub to begin with, and a smoke and a
convanient snooze in prospect."
The hopes which Barney cherished, however, were destined to be blighted,
at least in part. To the victuals he did ample justice; the pipe was
delightful, and in good working order; but when they lay down to repose,
they were attacked by swarms of stinging ants, which the heat of the
fire had driven out of the old logs. These and mosquitoes effectually
banished sleep from their eye-lids, and caused them to reflect very
seriously, and to state to each other more than once very impressively,
that with all their beauties and wonders, tropical lands had their
disadvantages, and there was no place like the "ould country," after
all.