The river Yata—Meeting with another party descending
from Bolivia—The rapids of Bananeiras—Abandoned
settlement—Variability of the Bolivian character—The cabeçeiras
of Bananeiras—The Sierra da Paca Nova—The rapids of Guajará
Guasu and Merim—A few hints on leaving the last of the rapids.
The next morning (the 28th) broke dull and cloudy, but warmer than the
past two days, and by about 7.30 the sun came out to cheer us up. The
river Yata, which we passed about this time, enters into the Madeira
on its left or Bolivian bank, and appears to be a considerable stream,
it being perhaps 100 yards in width at the junction. On the right or
Brazilian side, opposite to the Yata, are rocks and a very stiff current,
which by some travellers have been set down as a cachuela, but which are
not now included in the existing nineteen.
Hereabouts we met a canoe descending the river from Bolivia, with
about thirty men and four or five women going down to Bayetas, a
rubber-gathering station already mentioned as being on the lower part of
the Madeira. The men were all Cruzeños, and in charge of a capataz only,
from whom I bought a small quantity of fresh Bolivian yuca flour, for
which he charged me six hard dollars for about twenty-five pounds, worth
at Exaltacion, in the Beni, about a dollar. This generous Bolivian was
out of sugar, and begged me to let him have a few pounds. I had a good
stock, so gave him five pounds, for which he allowed me a dollar out of
the six he took from me for the yuca flour, although, if I had charged
him according to his idea of the value of his food supplies in the
cachuelas, I ought to have charged him about a dollar a pound. The whole
of this day we paddled up the right or Brazilian bank until the first
small current below the Bananeiras Falls was reached, when we crossed
over to the Bolivian shore, where, about 5.30 p.m., we got stuck amongst
a lot of driftwood, our hawsers getting entangled therein, so that we
could not get up to the unloading place that night, but had to make fast
and pass the night on a small mudbank as best we could.
On the 29th we got up to the port of the Bananeiras Falls by about six
o’clock, and found the canoes that had preceded us, with their cargoes
passed but the canoes still on this side. The channels for passing the
canoes were full of rocks, and very dangerous, the one ours went up being
very dry, and giving a great amount of work to the men. Some of the
canoes went up a channel lower down stream than that I chose for mine,
but had to encounter a drop in the water of about eight feet in as many
yards, one of them filling and being saved with great difficulty. As
we were detained the whole day at this fall, I took the opportunity of
loading up a stock of cartridges for the journey, from the last rapid to
the first village in Bolivia (Exaltacion), a journey of about ten days,
during which very little time, if any, can be spared for stoppages.
At this fall, about eight or ten years ago, two Bolivians made a small
settlement on the left or Bolivian side of the river, with the object of
forming a rubber-gathering business. One of them, Don Miguel Cuellas, was
returning to Bolivia, having made a small competency out of rubber on the
Madeira River below San Antonio. He owned three of the largest canoes of
the seven forming our expedition, his portion of the goods for sale in
Bolivia going up with us being worth at least seven or eight thousand
pounds. He told me that he and his partner lived at Bananeiras for about
twelve months, but that they found the yield from the rubber trees to
be very much less than that given by the trees below the falls of the
Madeira; that their health had been uniformly good, and that they had not
been molested by the savages, who seem in this part of the river to roam
about on the Brazilian shore only.
Our cargoes were carried over the portage to the eastern side of the
island which overlooks the fall, and we were ready to begin the struggle
with the numerous currents which are found amongst the islands stretching
above the main fall for nearly four miles of the river’s course, and
which are known as the “Cabeçeiras,” or heads of the Bananeiras Falls;
but the day was too far advanced to think of making any progress before
nightfall.
Before leaving this cachuela, I had afforded me a convincing proof of
the instability of character and the true selfishness of some Bolivians.
There were three patrons in the expedition besides myself, and one of
these, a certain Juan de Dios Molina, had arranged, before starting from
San Antonio, that he would throughout the journey keep with my canoe,
as my crew being known to be a very weak one, I was certain to require
constant help at the rapids and currents. Besides having settled this, in
the way of business, at San Antonio, this Molina had frequently during
the journey assured me, as a friend, that he would not separate from
me until we arrived at the townships of the Beni; but I discovered at
Bananeiras that for some days past he had been complaining to the other
two patrons of the great delays that I caused him, and had declared his
intention of abandoning me to my own resources. This he took care not to
do until we were almost out of the rapids, as he thought he would have no
further need for the services of my small canoe, or montaria—which had
been very serviceable to all the party, since the one belonging to Señor
Morales was lost in Morinhos—and he also thought that he had obtained
from me all the surplus cachaça and farinha that I had to spare, so that
he could separate from me without much loss to himself. If Molina showed
me the bad side of Bolivian character—and it was not much to be wondered
at with him, seeing that he was almost a full-blooded Indian—I was
fortunate in finding the good side in Don Miguel Cuellas, who volunteered
to assist me, and waited for me amongst the difficult places in the
rapids yet to be passed, and never lost sight of me until we reached
Exaltacion, which we did two clear days before Molina, much to that
worthy’s chagrin. And thus it is with the Bolivians; you will find many
crafty, mean, and untruthful characters amongst them, but close by this
undesirable acquaintance you are sure to find a generous, warm-hearted,
and true friend such as I found in Don Miguel Cuellas, without whose
assistance I should certainly have come to grief amongst the cabeçeiras
of Bananeiras, or the wandering savages of the upper waters of the
Madeira. To Don Miguel I am always bound to give sincere thanks whenever
I think of the latter end of my journey on that river.
On the 30th we started, as usual, in good time, and had to cross
the openings of channels between islands which appeared to me to be
unpleasantly dangerous, as the current ran fearfully strong down them.
We got over two of these safely, and then saw Molina cross to an island
in mid-stream, which he barely succeeded in gaining. I liked the look of
this job much less than keeping to the mainland, for I believe that if
we had tried to follow, we should certainly have missed the island, and
have been carried down stream right into the main body of the cachuela,
for my crew could never have made headway against the powerful current
running in mid-river; so, as I had the montaria, I kept to the mainland,
and struggled on till about 10.30, when I saw Don Miguel’s three canoes
ahead of me on the same side, and unloading part of their cargoes in
order to get over a shallow current. On getting up, Don Miguel offered me
a pull by his men, which I joyfully accepted, and got over the current
well, breakfasting above it, and starting again soon after mid-day. I got
on pretty well after this, being generally able to keep at the tail of
the largest of the three canoes, called for distinction the “batelão.”
These cabeçeiras of Bananeiras are as bad, if not worse, than those of
the Madeira Rapid, but not so tiring as those of the Rabo of Ribeirão;
we got through the last of them by about half-past three, and paddled
on up the left bank till 5 p.m., when we arrived at the stopping-place
for the night. The weather was again dull and cold, the morning having
been foggy, with small drizzling rain, and as we had no sun, the men
kept on their ponchos all day. From where we stopped, one sees the high
range of hills called the “Sierra da Paca Nova,” which form part of the
Cordilheira Geral; they are a considerable distance from the river, being
apparently some thirty or forty miles inland.
The next morning, the 31st, was a very early daybreak, and we started at
5 a.m., there being a thick mist on the river till nearly nine o’clock,
when the sun came out warm and bright. When the fog rose, all the seven
canoes were almost in hail of one another, and as we had been paddling
all the morning without encountering any currents, I found that I was
able to keep my place in the file, behind the batelão; so that Molina,
who did not wait on the last two mornings, as usual, for me to come up to
his “pascana,” or stopping-place, will find it hard work to abandon me
to my own resources, as he intended. After breakfasting about mid-day as
usual, we arrived at the next rapid of Guajará-guasu, where all the seven
canoes met together again, having to unload half their cargoes before
they could be hauled over the shallow currents on the left or Bolivian
side. Over this cachuela I was assisted by Don Miguel’s men, who gladly
accepted their “pinga,” or tot of cachaça, instead of Molina’s men, who
had heretofore enjoyed this extra allowance. It was nightfall before we
got all the canoes over the rapid, and as hereabouts the men begin to
have fears of the “barbaros,” or savages, we got our suppers over as
quickly as possible, and then re-embarked the cargoes by moonlight, so as
to be ready for an early start.
On June the 1st the day was fine, and the canoes started by 5 a.m.,
but I had to wait whilst some of my men fetched the montaria over the
rapid; however, we soon overtook the batelão, and in trying to pass it
at a corriente got foul of its rope, by which the crew were hauling from
shore. Fouling the rope sent the batelão round on the rocks, and she
being a very heavy craft, deeply laden with iron and other merchandise,
gave a great deal of work to get round again and afloat. About half a
league above the top current of Guajará-guasu, there is on the left bank
a very peculiar thin layer of rock, hollowed out by a very strong and
dangerous “remanso,” or return current; the canoes run great risk of
being driven on to the bank, and as the layer of rock jutted out about
five feet above the water level, we ran great danger from the sharp
projections.
At about ten o’clock we came to Guajará Merim (the word “Guasu” meaning
“Great,” and “Merim” “Little,” in the Lingua Geral of Northern Brazil),
which is the last of the nineteen rapids, and is at the top end of a
large island lying between the two Guajarás. This rapid we passed on
the left or Brazilian shore, it being at this time of year little more
than a corriente, which we easily surmounted by hauling for one rope’s
length, and so we passed above the region of the cachuelas, it being the
thirty-ninth day since we left San Antonio.
The ascent of the cachuelas has been somewhat wearisome, as we have
had to go through thirty-seven clear days of hard and constant labour,
battling with the force of the many currents; but with a good crew and
pleasant companions, both of which vital necessaries were wanting to me
on my journey, I would not at all mind doing the rapids over again. To
go with about three or four canoes well manned, and with a couple of
montarias, would be much better than travelling with such a large number
of canoes as seven; for the last of these has to wait such a long time
at all the currents and cachuelas, where hauling by the rope is required
before its turn comes. With a well-organized expedition I think the
ascent, in this season of the year, might be accomplished in twenty-eight
or thirty days. It may here be noted that a good hemp hawser an inch or
an inch and a quarter in diameter, and about 200 feet in length, should
be provided for each canoe. Piassava ropes do not answer, although from
their lightness they are desirable; but they break so frequently, that
they cannot be depended upon. Also each canoe should have a double and
a single block to match the rope, as these are very useful at the land
portages if from any cause the expedition should be short-handed. A
good set of tools, a few nails, and some pitch tar and oakum should be
provided, not forgetting a few sheets of tin for patching up holes that
may be knocked into the canoes by obtrusive rocks.