MARTIN AND BARNEY CONTINUE THEIR TRAVELS, AND SEE STRANGE
THINGS--AMONG OTHERS, THEY SEE LIVING JEWELS--THEY GO TO SEE A
FESTA--THEY FIGHT AND RUN AWAY
Martin Rattler and Barney O'Flannagan soon after this began to entertain
a desire to travel further into the interior of Brazil, and behold with
their own eyes the wonders of which they had heard so much from their
kind and hospitable friend the hermit. Martin was especially anxious to
see the great river Amazon, about which he entertained the most romantic
ideas,--as well he might, for there is not such another river in the
world for size, and for the many curious things connected with its waters
and its banks. Barney, too, was smitten with an intense desire to visit
the diamond mines, which he fancied must be the most brilliant and
beautiful sight in the whole world; and when Martin asked him what sort
of place he expected to see, he used to say that he "pictur'd in his mind
a great many deep and lofty caverns, windin' in an' out an' round about,
with the sides and the floors and the ceilin's all of a blaze with
glittering di'monds, an' top'zes, an' purls, an' what not; with Naiggurs
be the dozen picking them up in handfuls. An' sure," he would add, "if we
was wance there, we could fill our pockets in no time, an' then, hooray
for ould Ireland! an' live like Imperors for ivermore."
"But you forget, Barney, the account the hermit has given us of the
mines. He evidently does not think that much is to be made of them."
"Och! niver mind the hermit. There's always good luck attends Barney
O'Flanngan; an' sure if nobody wint for fear they would git nothing, all
the di'monds that iver came out o' the mines would be lyin' there still;
an' didn't he tell us there was wan got only a short time since, worth I
don't know how many thousand pounds? Arrah! if I don't go to the mines
an' git one the size o' me head, I'll let ye rig me out with a long tail
an' set me adrift in the woods for a blue-faced monkey."
It so happened that this was the time when the hermit was in the habit of
setting out on one of his trading trips; and when Martin told him of the
desire that he and Barney entertained to visit the interior, he told them
that he would be happy to take them along with him, provided they would
act the part of muleteers. To this they readily agreed, being only too
glad of an opportunity of making some return to their friend, who refused
to accept any payment for his hospitality, although Barney earnestly
begged of him to accept of his watch, which was the only object of value
he was possessed of,--and that wasn't worth much, being made of
pinch-beck, and utterly incapable of going! Moreover, he relieved their
minds, by telling them that they would easily obtain employment as
canoe-men on the Amazon, for men were very difficult to be got on that
river to man the boats; and if they could stand the heat, and were
willing to work like Indians, they might travel as far as they pleased.
To which Martin replied, in his ignorance, that he thought he could stand
anything; and Barney roundly asserted that, having been burnt to a cinder
long ago in the "East Injies," it was impossible to overdo him any more.
Under these circumstances, therefore, they started three weeks later to
visit a populous town about twenty miles off, from which they set out on
their travels, with a string of heavily laden mules, crossed the low
countries or campos lying near to the sea, and began to ascend the
sierras that divide this portion of Brazil from the country which is
watered by the innumerable rivers that flow into the mighty Amazon.
The cavalcade consisted of ten mules, each with two goodly sized bales of
merchandise on its back. They were driven and attended to by Negroes,
whose costume consisted of a light cotton shirt with short sleeves, and a
pair of loose cotton drawers reaching down to the knee. With the
exception of a straw hat this was all they wore. Martin, and Barney, and
the hermit each bestrode a mule, with a small bale slung on either side;
over the front of which their legs dangled comfortably. They had ponchos
with them, strapped to the mules' backs, and each carried a clumsy
umbrella to shield him from the fierce rays of the sun; but our two
adventurers soon became so hardened and used to the climate, that they
dispensed with the umbrellas altogether.
The sierra, or mountain range, over which they passed was about thirty
miles in extent, being in some places quite level and open, but in others
somewhat rugged and covered with large but thinly scattered trees, the
most common of which had fine dark-green glossy leaves, with spikes of
bright yellow flowers terminating the branchlets. There were also many
peculiar shrubs and flowering plants, of a sort that the travellers had
never seen the like of in their native land.
"How I wish," said Martin with a sigh, as he rode along beside his friend
Barney, "that I knew something of botany."
Barney opened his eyes in surprise. "Arrah! it's too much of a
philosopher ye are already, lad. What good would it do ye to know all the
hard names that men have given to the flowers? Sure I wance wint after
the doctor o' a ship, to carry his box for him when he wint on what he
called botanical excursions; and the poor cratur used to be pokin' his
nose for iver down at the ground, an' peerin' through his green
spectacles at miserable bits o' plants, an' niver seemin' to enjoy
anything; when all the time _I_ was lookin' far fornint me, an' all
around me, an' up at the sky, seem' ivery beautiful thing, and snifterin'
up the sweet smells, an' in fact enjoyin' the whole univarse--an my pipe
to boot--like an intelligent cratur." Barney looked round as he spoke,
with a bland, self-satisfied expression of countenance, as if he felt
that he had given a lucid definition of the very highest style of
philosophy, and proved that he, Barney O'Flannagan, was possessed of the
same in no common degree.
"Well, Barney," rejoined Martin, "since you give me credit for being a
philosopher, I must continue to talk philosophically. Your botanical
friend took a _microscopic_ view of nature, while you took a _telescopic_
view of it. Each view is good, but both views are better; and I can't
help wishing that I were more of a philosopher than I am, especially in
reference to botany."
"Humph!" ejaculated Barney, who seemed not quite to understand his young
friend, "yer observations are remarkably thrue, and do ye great credit,
for yer years. Ah! Mr. Hermit, good luck to ye! I'm glad to see that
ye've got some consideration for man and baste. I'm quite ready for my
victuals, and so's my mule; aren't you, avic?"
Barney's latter remark was addressed to his patient charger, from whose
back he sprang as he spoke, and slackened its girths.
It was now approaching mid-day, and the hermit had pitched upon a large
tree as a fitting spot for rest and refreshment. Water had been brought
up the mountain in a huge calabash; but they did not require to use it,
as they found a quantity in the hollow stump of a tree. There were
several frogs swimming about in this miniature lake; but it was found to
be fresh and clear and good notwithstanding.
Towards evening they passed a string of mules going towards the town
which they had just left. They were driven by Negroes, most of whom were
slaves, and nearly quite naked. A Brazilian merchant, wearing a
picturesque broad-brimmed, high-crowned straw-hat, a poncho, and brown
leather boots armed at the heels with large sharp spurs, rode at the
head, and gave the strangers a surly nod of his head as they passed. Soon
after, they descended into the plain, and came to a halt at a sort of
roadside public-house, where there was no sleeping accommodation, but
where they found an open shed in which travellers placed their goods, and
slung their hammocks, and attended to themselves. At the venda, close
beside it, they purchased a large bag of farina, being short of that
necessary article of food, and then set to work to prepare supper in the
open air; while the merry Negroes, who seemed to enjoy life most
thoroughly, laughed and sang as they removed the bales from the mules'
backs and cooked their simple fare.
Barney's cooking propensities now came into full play; and, with the
variety of fruits and vegetables which the country afforded, he exercised
his ingenuity, and produced several dishes of so savoury a nature that
the hermit was compelled to open his eyes in amazement, and smack his
lips with satisfaction, being quite unable to express his sentiments in
words. While thus busily and agreeably employed, they were told by the
owner of the venda that a festa was being celebrated at a village about a
league distant from where they stood.
"I should like to see it above all things," said Martin eagerly; "could
we not go?"
The hermit frowned. "Yes, we can go, but it will be to behold
folly. Perhaps it will be a good lesson, from which much may be
learned. We will go."
"It's not a step that I'll budge till I've finished me pipe," said
Barney, pulling away at that bosom friend with unexampled energy. "To
smoke," he continued, winking gently with one eye, "is the first law of
nature; jist give me ten minutes more, an' _I'm_ your man for anything,"
Being a fine evening, they proceeded on foot. In about an hour after
setting out they approached the village, which lay in a beautiful valley
below them. Sounds of mirth and music rose like a distant murmur on the
air, and mingled with the songs of birds and insects. Then the sun went
down, and in a few minutes it grew dark, while the brilliant fire-flies
began their nocturnal gambols. Suddenly a bright flame burst over the
village, and a flight of magnificent rockets shot up into the sky, and
burst in a hundred bright and variously-coloured stars, which paled for a
few seconds the lights of nature. But they vanished in a moment, and the
clear stars shed abroad their undying lustre,--seeming, in their quiet,
unfading beauty, a gentle satire on the short-lived and gairish
productions of man.
"Mighty purty, no doubt," exclaimed Barney. "Is this the Imperor's
birth-day?"
"No," replied the hermit, shaking his head; "that is the way in which the
false priests amuse the people. The poor Indian and the Negro, and,
indeed, the ignorant Brazilian, thinks it very grand; and the priests let
them think it is pleasing to the God of heaven. Ah! here comes an old
Negro; we will ask him."
Several country people, in varied and picturesque costumes, hurried past
the travellers towards the village; and as they came to a foot-path that
joined the road, an old Negro approached them. Saluting him in the
Portuguese language, the hermit said, "Friend, why do they let off
rockets to-night?"
"For Dios" (for God), answered the old man, looking and pointing upwards
with grave solemnity. Without vouchsafing another word, he hurried away.
"So they think," said the hermit, "and so they are taught by the priests.
Music, noise, and fire-works please these ignorant people; and so the
priests, who are mostly as ignorant as the people, tell them it is a good
part of religious ceremony."
Presently a band of young girls came laughing and singing along the road.
They were dressed in pure white, their rich black tresses being uncovered
and ornamented with flowers, and what appeared to be bright jewels.
"Hallo!" exclaimed Martin, gazing after them; "what splendid jewels!
surely these must be the daughters of very rich people."
"Och, but they've been at the di'mond mines for certain! Did iver ye sae
the like?"
The girls did indeed seem to blaze with jewels, which not only sparkled
in their hair, but fringed their white robes, and were worked round the
edges of their slippers; so that a positive light shone around their
persons, and fell upon the path like a halo, giving them more the
appearance of lovely supernatural beings than the daughters of earth.
"These jewels," said the hermit, "were never polished by the hands of
men. They are fire-flies."
"Fire-flies!" exclaimed Martin and Barney simultaneously.
"Yes, they are living fire-flies. The girls very often catch them and tie
them up in little bits of gauze, and put them, as you see, on their
dresses and in their hair. To my mind they seem more beautiful far than
diamonds. Sometimes the Indians, when they travel at night, fix
fire-flies to their feet, and so have good lamps to their path."
While Barney was expressing his surprise at this information, in very
racy language, they entered the village; and, mingling with the throng of
holiday-keepers, followed the stream towards the grand square.
The church, which seemed to be a centre of attraction, and was
brilliantly illuminated, was a neat wooden building with two towers. The
streets of the village were broad and straggling; and so luxuriant was
the vegetation, and so lazy the nature of the inhabitants, that it seemed
as if the whole place were overgrown with gigantic weeds. Shrubs and
creeping-plants grew in the neglected gardens, climbed over the palings,
and straggled about the streets. Plants grew on the tops of the houses,
ferns peeped out under the eaves; and, in short, on looking at it one had
the feeling that ere long the whole place, people and all, must be
smothered in superabundant vegetation!
The houses were all painted white or yellow, with the doors and windows
bright green,--just like grown-up toys; and sounds of revelry, with now
and then the noise of disputation, issued from many of them.
It is impossible to describe minutely the appearance of the motley crowd
through which our adventurers elbowed their way, gazing curiously on the
strange scene, which seemed to them more like a dream than reality, after
their long sojourn in the solitudes of the forest. Processions headed by
long-robed priests with flambeaux and crucifixes; young girls in light
costumes and long white cotton shawls, selling sweet cakes of mandioca
flour, and bonbons; swarthy Brazilians, some in white jackets, loose
cotton drawers, and straw hats, others in brown leather boots and
ponchos; Negroes in short white drawers and shirts, besides many without
any clothing above their waists; Indians from the interior,
copper-coloured, and some of them, fine-looking men, having only a strip
of cloth about their loins;--such were the strange crew whose loud voices
added to the whiz of rockets, squibs, crackers, guns, and musical
instruments, created a deafening noise.
In the midst of the village there was a tree of such enormous size that
it quite took our travellers by surprise. It was a wild fig-tree, capable
of sheltering a thousand persons under its shadow! Here a spirited
fandango was going on, and they stood for some time watching the
movements of the performers. Growing tired of this, they wandered about
until they came to a less crowded part of the village, and entered a
pleasant grove of trees skirting the road by which they had arrived.
While sauntering here, enjoying the cool night breeze and delicious
perfume of flowers, a woman uttered a piercing shriek near to them. It
was instantly followed by loud voices in altercation. Ever ready to fly
to the help of womankind, and, generally, to assist in a "row," Barney
darted through the bushes, and came upon the scene of action just in time
to see the white skirt of a female's dress disappear down an avenue, and
to behold two Brazilians savagely writhing in mortal strife. At the
moment he came up, one of the combatants had overcome the other, and a
fierce smile of triumph crossed his swarthy countenance as he raised his
gleaming knife.
"Och, ye murtherer! would ye attimpt that same?" cried Barney, catching
the man by the wrist and hurling him on his back. The other sprang up on
being thus unexpectedly freed, and darted away, while the thwarted man
uttered a yell of disappointment and sprang like a tiger at Barney's
throat. A blow, however, from the Irishman's fist, quietly delivered, and
straight between the eyes, stretched the Brazilian on the ground. At the
same moment a party of men, attracted by the cries, burst through the
bushes and surrounded the successful champion. Seeing their countryman
apparently dead upon the ground, they rushed upon Barney in a body; but
the first who came within reach was floored in an instant, and the others
were checked in their career by the sudden appearance of the hermit and
Martin Rattler. The noise of many voices, as of people hastening towards
them, was heard at the same time.
"We have no time to lose, do as I bid you," whispered the hermit.
Whirling a heavy stick round his head the hermit shouted the single word
"Charge!" and dashed forward.
Barney and Martin obeyed. Three Brazilians went down like ninepins; the
rest turned and fled precipitately.
"Now, run for life!" cried the hermit, setting the example. Barney
hesitated to follow what he deemed a cowardly flight, but the yells of
the natives returning in strong force decided the question. He and Martin
took to their heels with right good will, and in a few minutes the three
friends were far on the road which led to their night bivouac; while the
villagers, finding pursuit hopeless, returned to the village, and
continued the wild orgies of their festa.