Our travellers passed southward to Madrid, where they only remained long
enough to witness that exciting but not very gentle spectacle, a
bull-fight.
Thence proceeding to Lisbon, they took passage direct for Para, or "Gran
Para," as it is called--a thriving Brazilian settlement at the mouth of
the Amazon river, and destined at no very distant day to become a great
city.
The design of our hunters was to ascend the Amazon, and reach, by one of
its numerous head waters, the eastern slope of the Andes mountains--
which they knew to be the habitat of the "spectacled bear."
On arriving at Para, they were not only surprised, but delighted, to
find that the Amazon river was actually navigated by steamboats; and
that, instead of having to spend six months in ascending to the upper
part of this mighty river--as in the olden time--they could now
accomplish the journey in less than a score of days! These steamers are
the property of the Brazilian Government, that owns the greater part of
the Amazon valley, and that has shown considerable enterprise in
developing its resources--much more than any of the Spano-American
States, which possess the regions lying upon the upper tributaries of
the Amazon. It is but fair to state, however, that the Peruvians have
also made an attempt to introduce steam upon the Amazon river; and that
they have been unsuccessful, from causes over which they could scarce be
expected to have control. The chief of these causes appears to have
been the dishonesty of certain American contractors, who provided them
with the steamers--three of them--which, on being taken to the head of
steam navigation on the Amazon, were found to be utterly worthless, and
had to be laid up! This bit of jobbery is to be regretted the more,
since its bad effects do not alone concern the people of Peru, but the
whole civilised world: for there is not a country on the globe that
would not receive benefit by a development of the resources of this
mighty river.
Our young Russians had been under the belief, as most people are, that
the banks of the Amazon were entirely without civilised settlements--
that the great river had scarcely been explored--that only a few
travellers had descended this mighty stream; and that altogether it was
still as much of a _terra incognita_ as in the days of Orellana. They
found that these notions were quite incorrect; that not only is there
the large town of Para near the mouth of the Amazon, but there are other
considerable settlements upon its banks, at different distances from
each other, all the way up to Peru. Even upon some of its tributaries--
as the Rio Negro and Madeira--there are villages and plantations of some
importance. Barra, on the former stream, is of itself a town of 2,000
inhabitants.
In that part of the Amazonian territory which lies within the boundaries
of Brazil, the settlements are, of course, Brazilian--the settlers being
a mixture of Portuguese negroes and Christianised Indians. The portion
of the great valley higher up towards the Cordilleras of the Andes,
belongs to the Spanish-American governments--chiefly to Peru. There are
also settlements of a missionary character, the population of which
consists almost entirely of Indians, who have submitted themselves to
the rule of the Spanish priests. Years ago many of these missionary
settlements were in a flourishing condition; but at present they are in
a complete state of decay.
Our young Russians found, then, that the great South American river was
by no means unknown or unexplored--though as yet no great observer has
given an account of it. The different travellers who have descended the
Amazon, and written books about it, have all been men of slight
capacity, and lacking powers of scientific observation; and one cannot
help feeling regret, that Humboldt did not choose the Amazon, instead of
the Orinoco, as the medium of his valuable researches into the
cosmography of South America. Such a grand subject was worthy of such a
man.
In ascending the Amazon--which our party did by the Brazilian steamer--
they were fortunate in finding on board a very intelligent travelling
companion; who gave them much information of the great valley and its
resources. This man was an old Portuguese trader, who had spent nearly
a lifetime in navigating not only the Amazon itself, but many of its
larger tributaries. His business was to collect from the different
Indian tribes the indigenous products of the forest--or _montana_, as it
is called--which stretches almost without interruption from the Andes to
the Atlantic. In this vast tropical forest there are many productions
that have found their way into the channels of commerce; and many others
yet unknown or unregarded. The principal articles obtained by the
traders are sarsaparilla, Peruvian bark, annatto, and other dyes,
vanilla, Brazil nuts, Tonka beans, hammocks, palm fibre, and several
other kinds of spontaneous vegetable productions. Monkeys, toucans,
macaws, parrots, and other beautiful birds, also enter into the list of
Amazonian exports; while the imports consist of such manufactured
articles as may tempt the cupidity of the savage, or the weapons
necessary to him either in war or for the chase.
In this trade their travelling companion had spent thirty years of his
life; and being a man of intelligence he had not only acquired a
consider able fortune, but laid in a stock of geographical knowledge, of
which the young Russians were not slow to take advantage. In the
natural history of the _montana_ he was well versed; and knew the
different animals and their habits from actual observation--for which
thirty years of adventure had given him a splendid opportunity. It was
a rich store, and our travellers, especially the naturalist Alexis, did
not fail to draw largely from it.
From the information given by this intelligent trader, Alexis was
enabled to determine several facts about the bears of South America,
that had hitherto been doubtful. He learnt that there are at least two
very distinct varieties of them--one, the "spectacled bear" (_ursus
ornatus_)--so called, on account of the whitish rings around his eyes,
suggesting the idea of spectacles; and another without these white eye
markings, and which has been lately named by a distinguished German
naturalist _ursus frugilegus_.
The former kind is known throughout the Peruvian countries as the
"Hucumari," and although it inhabits the Cordilleras, it does not ascend
to the very cold elevations known as the "paramos" and "puna." On the
contrary, it affects a warmer climate, and is not unfrequently found
straying into the cultivated valleys termed generally the "Sierra." The
_ursus frugilegus_ chiefly frequents the tangled woods that cover the
eastern spurs of the Andes, ranging often as far down as the montana,
and never so high as the declivities that border on the region of snow.
Both of these species are black bears, and termed "oso negro" by the
Spanish-Americans; but the Hucumari is distinguished by a white list
under the throat, a white breast, a muzzle of a greyish buff colour, and
the crescent-like eye markings already mentioned. It is also of a
gentler disposition than its congener, smaller in size, and never preys
upon other animals. The other does so--frequently making havoc among
the flocks of sheep, and even attacking the cattle and horses of the
_haciendas_. The _ursus frugilegus_ will give battle even to man
himself--when baited, or rendered furious by being chased.
Both these species are supposed to be confined to the Chilian and
Peruvian Andes. This is an erroneous supposition. They are equally
common in Bolivia, and in the sierras of New Grenada and Venezuela.
They are found on both sides of Lake Maracaibo--in the sierras Perija
and Merida. One of them, at least, has also been observed in the
mountains of Guiana--though naturalists have not met with it there.
Humboldt, it is true, saw the tracks of what the natives told him was a
bear on the Upper Orinoco; and, reasoning from their size, he drew the
inference that it must have been a much smaller species than the _ursus
americanus_; but in this matter the great philosopher was led into an
error by a misapplied name. He was informed that the animal was the
"oso carnero," or flesh-eating bear--a title given by the Mission
Indians to distinguish it from two other animals, which they also
erroneously term bears--the "oso palmero," or great ant-eater
(_tamanoir_), and the "oso hormiguero" (_tamandua_). The animal by
whose tracks Humboldt was misled, was, no doubt, one of the smaller
plantigrade animals (_coatis_ or _grisons_), of which there are several
species in the forests of South America.
Our hunters learnt enough from their travelling acquaintance to convince
them that, in whatever latitude they might approach the Andes from the
east, they would be certain to find both varieties of the South American
black bear; but that the best route they could take would be up the
great Napo river, which rises not very far from the old Peruvian capital
of Quito. In the wild provinces of Quixos and Macas, lying to the east
of Quito--and to which the Napo river would conduct them--they would be
certain to meet with the animals they were in search of.
They would have been equally sure of meeting bears in the territory of
Jean de Bracamoros; and this would have been more easily reached; but
Alexis knew that by taking that route across the Cordilleras, they would
be thrown too far to the west for the isthmus of Panama--which it was
necessary they should cross on their way to the northern division of the
American continent.
By keeping up the Napo to its source, and then crossing the Cordilleras
of New Granada, they would still be enabled to make westerly as far as
Panama--to which port they could get passage in one of the Grenadian
coasting-vessels.
On arriving at the mouth of the Napo, therefore, they engaged a
_periagua_, with its Indian crew, and continued their journey up this
stream towards the still-distant Cordilleras of Quito.