HUNTING THE TAPIR.--AMONG THE CARIPUNA INDIANS.--ARRIVAL AT THE FALLS OF
THE MADEIRA.--MAKING INDIA-RUBBER.
One day was much like another in the descent of the river, as the party
was not disturbed by hostile natives, and met with no accidents of
consequence. Frank was disappointed in his hopes of hunting-adventures,
as the jaguars and pumas persisted in keeping out of sight, and utterly
deprived the young gentleman of an opportunity to try his weapons.
[Illustration: THE AGOUTI.]
Less powerful game abounded, however, since the tapir and the agouti
were frequently encountered. The agouti is about the size of a rabbit,
which it greatly resembles both in appearance and habits. When pursued
it runs rapidly for a short distance and then tries to conceal itself;
if it is captured it makes no resistance beyond a plaintive cry.
The tapir deserves a more extended notice than the agouti, as he is much
larger, and resists the attacks of his enemies with a good deal of
vigor. Fred's account of a fight with a tapir will give an idea of the
characteristics of this animal.
"The tapir is very widely distributed through tropical South America,
and is probably more generally hunted than any other denizen of the
country. His favorite haunts are narrow gorges and moist ravines, and
the forests on the banks of all streams, whether large or small, though
he prefers the latter. He is like an Englishman in desiring a cold bath
in the morning, and the first tapir we saw was seated up to his neck in
the water, at a bend of the river. We had told Manuel to call us when a
tapir was discovered, and early one morning he roused us.
"Frank threw on his garments very hastily, and seized his rifle for a
shot at the beast. As he emerged from the tent our pilot whispered,
'anta' (the native name for tapir), and pointed directly ahead of our
course. The men had stopped rowing, and were silently urging the raft
towards the shore, where it would be concealed from what we hoped to
make game of, by an intervening bush.
"The desired position was gained without disturbing the animal at his
bath, and under cover of the bank we drew quite near. Only his head was
visible; Frank aimed and fired, and the head disappeared. Soon it came
to the surface, and there was a loud snort which showed that the beast
had been thoroughly alarmed.
"The rowers now did their best, as further concealment was unnecessary.
With loud cries they urged the raft forward, but the unwieldy concern
could not be turned as quickly as the tapir was able to double on us.
Fortunately for us, he only tried two or three times to double, or he
would have escaped altogether; after these efforts he struck straight
across the river, where we came up to him and were able to throw a
harpoon into his back. He had been severely wounded by Frank, and after
the harpoon was thrown he was easily secured. It is always desirable to
harpoon a tapir after shooting him in the water, as he dives to the
bottom, and if he dies there his body does not rise.
"We had tapir steaks for breakfast, and found them very good. They
resembled beef, though they were rather more dry than that well-known
article of food; we had been rather limited in our supply of fresh
provisions, and consequently the tapir steak was not to be despised. The
flesh of this animal is highly prized by the natives; it is eaten fresh,
like beef or pork, and is preserved by drying or salting.
"But this is not the fight I was going to tell about. One day we stopped
at a village where there was a tame tapir running among the houses; it
was perfectly docile, and allowed the boys to ride on its back as often
and as long as they liked. The alcalde of the village told us how it was
caught, a few months' before, in a hunting-excursion, only a few miles
from the place.
[Illustration: HUNTING THE TAPIR.]
"The alcalde kept several dogs especially for hunting the tapir. The
hunter takes his position in a canoe carefully concealed in the bushes
near the end of a tapir's road. The tapir lays out his own path with the
skill of an engineer; he goes along this path regularly every morning,
from his haunt to his bath in the river, and then from the river to his
haunt again. The dogs are let loose near the tapir's retreat, and the
frightened animal runs to the river for safety.
"He dives and swims with great rapidity, but the hunter is generally
successful in capturing him. He is shot or speared as he takes to the
water, evading the dogs only to fall into the hands of his human enemy.
"On the occasion I speak of the alcalde had gone for his customary
sport, and roused a tapir. The keeper of the dogs was with these
animals, while the alcalde was waiting at the river ready to shoot the
game when it appeared. But it happened to be a female anta, this time,
and she had a young tapir with her. The male flees before the dogs, but
the female with a cub does nothing of the sort; she remains in her lair
and defends the little fellow, who crouches beneath her and indicates
his alarm by short, shrill whistles. She never yields, and is a terrible
foe for the dogs. Her teeth do effective work on any of them that come
too near, and her powerful fore-legs crush their ribs as though they
were made of paper.
"The alcalde waited, but the tapir did not come. At length one of his
men appeared, and said that two of the six dogs had been killed by the
tapir and another was severely hurt. They were young dogs, and had not
shown proper caution; the old and experienced ones had refrained from
venturing within reach of jaws or feet, and confined their attentions to
barking at a safe distance.
"The alcalde hastened to the spot, and with his gun soon laid low the
desperate animal. The young tapir was secured unhurt and brought home
to the village. It was kindly treated, and in three days it followed its
master around like a dog, and was perfectly domesticated. The animal
lives on vegetable food (grass, fruit, and roots), and consequently he
is easy to keep. This was the tame tapir that we saw; he was perfectly
amiable in disposition, but his great size rendered him unsuitable to be
maintained as a house pet, and he had been turned into the street to
make his own living. I was told that the tame tapir never shows any
disposition to return to his native wilds. In this respect he resembles
the elephant, and I believe the naturalists class him in the elephant
family.
"The alcalde had a houseful of pets, including several birds and
monkeys, and, strangest of all, a snake. It was perfectly free, and was
kept for killing rats, mice, lizards, and other things that were more
destructive of the owner's property than is the snake. Manuel said it
was a giboia, a species of boa constrictor; it is not poisonous, and
when taken young is easily tamed. Frank was reminded of the rat-snake
they had seen in Ceylon, and thought it must be the first cousin of the
giboia."
[Illustration: WATER-SNAKES AT HOME.]
Snakes are less common in South America than is generally supposed,
though they are numerous enough for all practical purposes. There are
one hundred and fifty species in all, while a similar area in tropical
Asia contains three hundred varieties. Most of them are non-poisonous,
but the proportion of venomous snakes is greater than in India or
Ceylon.
The largest member of the serpent family is the boa; it has been found
twenty-six feet long, though it rarely exceeds twenty feet. The largest
of the boas can kill and swallow a small horse, while a goat or sheep
forms only a comfortable mouthful. One of the most venomous is the
coral, which haunts the cacao plantations, and has a fatal bite. Ammonia
is used as an antidote to snake-bites, but the application must be made
in a few minutes, before the poison is diffused in the blood. Doses of
strong coffee, brandy, or some other stimulant will sometimes keep up
the action of the heart and neutralize the effect of the poison until
the victim is out of danger.
[Illustration: RATTLESNAKE DISTURBED BY A WILDCAT.]
The alcalde showed some of the venomous snakes that he kept as
curiosities, but wisely restrained of their liberty. Among them was a
rattlesnake, which appeared to be identical with the rattlesnake of
North America; a "parrot-snake" of a dull green color, which makes it
difficult to discover among the grass and leaves, and a "surucucu,"
which does not belong to the valley of the Mamoré, but inhabits the
lower Amazon and the Rio Negro. The coral snake, already mentioned, was
among them; he was a pretty serpent (if serpents can be called pretty),
of a vermilion hue striped with black bands. The youths stood at a
respectful distance while surveying the collection, and did not care for
a near acquaintance.
Manuel said that serious accidents from the bites of snakes were far
less frequent than might be supposed. Natives are the principal
sufferers, partly for the reason that the number of Europeans is not
large, and partly because they go constantly clothed, which is not the
case with the natives. It is the same as in India and Ceylon, where
thousands of natives die every year from snake-bites, while not half a
dozen deaths of Europeans from this cause have occurred during the
century.
They passed from the Beni into the Madeira, and found the river
increased to double its former volume. Frank and Fred looked anxiously
up the Madeira, and wished they could explore the stream to its source;
but as the wish could not be gratified, they quickly dismissed it from
their thoughts. Their pilot said they were in the country of the
Caripuna Indians, and it was quite possible that some of these
aboriginals would pay them a visit at their next halting-place.
"The Caripunas were formerly quite hostile to the white men," said
Manuel, "and used to attack the boats that went up or down the river.
With boats going down stream they could not do much, as the pilots keep
in the middle of the current and float along with it, but in ascending
the river it is necessary to keep close to the bank, and this was the
opportunity for them to make trouble. They had a spite against the Mojos
Indians, and the latter had great fear of the Caripunas, who had the
reputation of roasting and eating their victims, whether they did so or
not. But since the surveys were made for the railway, and trade on the
river has increased, they have made no trouble; they have found that
they can do better by being friendly to the white man, and begging what
he has to give them."
[Illustration: VISITING THE CARIPUNAS.]
While they were halted for breakfast three canoes put out from a nook on
the opposite shore; two of them paddled across to where the raft was
tied up, while the third went a little way up the stream and stopped
near the bank, as if waiting to see what reception would be given to
their friends. Each canoe contained two men and one woman, all wearing
very little clothing, and having their hair thick and long, so as to
cover the shoulders. They had bows and arrows in their canoes, but did
not offer to use them or even to pick them up, with the exception of one
Indian, who took his weapons over his shoulder and stepped on shore.
[Illustration: A CARIPUNA INDIAN.]
In spite of his scanty costume he was rather picturesque in appearance,
as he had ornaments in his ears and a necklace of jaguar's claws hanging
on his breast. By signs, he invited the party to visit their camp on the
other side of the river; the rowers were timid about venturing there,
but the Doctor quieted their fears by intimating, through Manuel and the
pilot, that the weapons of the party were sufficient to defend them in
case of trouble.
The Caripunas were given to understand that the visit would be made as
soon as breakfast was over; they seemed perfectly satisfied with this
arrangement, and returned to their canoes, where they sat until the meal
was finished. The return of the boatmen to their oars was the signal for
the Caripunas, who paddled on ahead and indicated the best place for
landing.
The landing was made without difficulty, and the whole population of the
village, some twenty or thirty men, women, and children, came out to
meet the strangers. For fear of treachery, Dr. Bronson gave orders that
none of the rowers should leave their places; Manuel was to remain
standing by the side of the boat, and the three Americans were not to go
more than a few yards from the shore, where the huts of the Indians
stood about ten feet above the water's level.
An old man, who was evidently the chief of the tribe, came forward and
led the way to an open shed between the two principal huts. It was
evidently a place of public resort, and corresponded to the city hall or
court-house of civilized lands. All the rest of the natives followed,
and the conversation soon became as animated as it is possible to make
it where neither party understands a word the other says. Frank observed
that the skins of the natives were of a reddish-brown color, and the
tallest of them did not exceed five feet eight inches in height.
Beads, small mirrors, fish-hooks, and similar barbaric goods were
distributed in the shape of presents, and then our friends tried to make
a bargain for whatever the Indians had to sell. Unfortunately they had
only a few bows and arrows and some feathers from the birds of the
forest; beyond these nothing was in the market; and as the natives were
unwilling to part with their weapons, it required a good deal of
persuasion and the display of the glittering baubles to secure their
consent. With these trifles the strangers were compelled to be
satisfied, and after a visit of an hour or more they returned to their
boat and continued the voyage.
A curious fact was ascertained by Mr. Keller in his visit to the
Caripunas, that they bury their dead in their houses, removing the earth
of the floor for that purpose. When a space beneath a hut is occupied
with graves the place is abandoned, and a new dwelling is erected
elsewhere. This is deserted in its turn, under the same conditions.
The Caripunas are skilful hunters and fishermen; they cultivate the soil
occasionally, but not often, depending for their vegetable food upon the
products of the forest. Some attempts have been made to civilize this
people, but they have not succeeded, except in convincing them that it
is better to be on friendly terms with their neighbors than in open
hostility.
When the travellers reached Guajara-Merim, the first of the falls of the
Madeira, their contract with their boatmen terminated. The men were paid
off, each one receiving a small present in addition to his wages, and
the pilot a larger one, in proportion to his importance. There is a
small village of Mojos Indians just above the falls, and their special
occupation is to transport travellers and their property up or down the
stream. Manuel opened negotiations, but they could not be rapidly
pushed, as it is not the custom of this people to do anything in a
hurry.
It took an entire day to finish the transaction. A "garitea," a boat of
about four tons' burden and having a crew of twelve men, was engaged for
the voyage to San Antonio, at the foot of the lowest rapid. In addition
to the crew there was a thirteenth man as pilot or captain, one of the
twelve being second in command. Some of the rapids may be passed without
danger in descending the river, and without the necessity of unloading
the cargo; at others the cargo must be taken out, and the empty boat
navigated down the rapids; while at others both boat and cargo must be
taken around over the land. The whole distance where the boats must be
drawn overland is nearly three miles, while for more than two miles the
cargoes must be taken out in order to save them from possible damage or
loss.
[Illustration: A WALK IN THE FOREST.]
Frank and Fred had plenty of time for studying the falls of the Madeira
and making a short excursion into the forest in the vicinity, as
another day was required for getting ready to start after the bargain
had been concluded for the hire of the boat and its crew. We will refer
to Fred's note-book for an account of what they saw and learned.
"There is a village of Caripuna Indians," wrote Fred, "a little way
inland from the falls, and we paid it a visit. Most of the men were away
on a fishing excursion, and the few that remained did not have anything
we could buy. We made them some presents, but did not stay long, as we
wanted to see a rubber-tree, and the manner of collecting the
India-rubber of commerce.
"We had a guide from the Mojos village at the falls; he had been a
collector of rubber, and spoke enough Spanish to enable us to understand
his explanations. Since the surveys were made for the railway a good
many Mojos Indians have settled here, and they do quite a business in
collecting rubber and sending it down the river to market.
[Illustration: BRANCH OF THE INDIA-RUBBER TREE.]
"The rubber-trees are abundant on both sides of the river for a long
distance in either direction. How far inland they may be found is not
definitely known. The scientific name of the tree is _Siphonia
elastica_, or _Siphonia cachucha_, but there are several other trees
that produce the gum which is so largely used in American and European
industry. An incision is made in the side of the tree, and a cup made of
leaves and clay is so placed as to catch the juice which flows from the
cut. In a few hours the cup is filled, and a man comes around with a
large jar in which the juice is collected.
"The liquid is about the consistency of milk, and contains from ten to
twenty per cent. of gum. It is poured into shallow basins, very often
into empty turtle-shells, and allowed to stand in the sun, by which a
good deal of the liquid is evaporated. When it is about the thickness of
ordinary cream it is poured into a turtle-shell, and an Indian sits down
to convert the liquid into rubber.
[Illustration: INDIA-RUBBER MAKING ON THE MADEIRA.]
"He has a small fire made of palm nuts, and over the fire is an inverted
jar with a hole in the bottom, through which the smoke ascends. He dips
a paddle into the cream, and then holds it over the hole in the jar
until it is dried by the heat, which must always be gentle, through fear
of spoiling the rubber. When the gum is hardened he dips the paddle
again, and again dries it; he repeats the process until the desired
thickness is secured.
"When the rubber is thick enough it is cut off and is ready for market.
Instead of a paddle he sometimes uses a mould of clay; formerly they
made moulds resembling the human foot, and thus fashioned the rubber
shoes that were worn in America forty or fifty years ago. Fantastic
figures were traced on the shoes with the end of a hot wire, and the
mould was generally soaked in water till it fell to pieces, and the clay
could be washed out. The modern processes of working rubber have driven
these shoes from the market, and very few of them are made at present.
"A good day's work for one man is six pounds of rubber. Another way of
hardening the gum is to place it in a kettle and suspend it over a small
fire, taking care not to burn the material. When it is sufficiently
reduced, and is still warm and plastic, it is shaped into balls or
bricks, weighing several pounds each; the buyers prefer to have it dried
on the paddle, as the natives occasionally commit frauds by putting sand
or lumps of clay inside the masses while shaping them. The deception can
only be detected by cutting carefully through the mass, and dividing it
into small pieces. Frank suggests that the natives have probably heard
of some of the tricks attributed to Connecticut Yankees, but I think he
must be mistaken.
"The rubber of the Amazon valley is considered the best in the world,
and the amount of the product is rapidly increasing. I am told it is not
far from six thousand tons a year, and will be increased to ten thousand
tons as soon as the means of transportation from Bolivia are made more
practicable. This does not include the rubber sent from the northern
part of the continent, from the country not drained by the Amazon.
"We call this substance 'India-rubber,' because it was first brought
from the Indies, but, properly speaking, the name does not belong to it
at the present day. The greater part of the rubber of commerce is from
South America, which produces more than all other countries together."
"And why is it called _rubber_?" Frank asked.
"Because," replied Fred, "it was first used in England for rubbing out
pencil-marks. It was imported into England for that purpose about the
end of the last century, and was greatly esteemed by artists, who paid
high prices for it; it was popularly called 'lead-eater,' and in some
parts of England it is yet known by that name. It was not until 1820
that its use extended much beyond the erasure of pencil-marks; its first
important use was in the manufacture of water-proof clothing, and about
the same time it was employed for the formation of flexible tubes, and
for other purposes.
"It is a curious fact that the uses of rubber which have been discovered
in England and America in the present century were known in South
America nearly three hundred years ago. In a book published in Madrid in
1615, Juan de Torquemada describes a tree in Mexico yielding a gum from
which the natives make shoes and other things, and he also says that the
Spaniards used this gum for waxing their canvas cloaks to make them
resist water. Herrara's account of the second voyage of Columbus
mentions balls which the natives of Hayti use in their amusements; he
says they are made from the gum of a tree, and are lighter and bounce
better than the wind-balls of Castile."
When the above notes were read over to the Doctor he suggested an
addition, which was made at once.
"By far the most extensive uses of this material at present are in its
vulcanized form, as the pure India-rubber can only be employed to a
limited extent. The process of vulcanizing was discovered by an
American, Charles Goodyear, in 1843, and consists in mixing rubber with
sulphur and heating it to a high degree. There are two kinds of
vulcanized rubber, one hard and horny, and the other soft and elastic;
for the first the rubber is cut into small shreds, mixed with a third of
its weight of sulphur, and heated for several hours, the final heat
being not less than 300° Fahrenheit. For the elastic rubber the
proportion of sulphur and the degree of heat are much less. An endless
variety of articles is made from the two kinds of vulcanized rubber."
"While we are on this subject," said Frank, "I wonder if there is a
cow-tree in this region. The cow-tree is a South American production, is
it not?"
"Yes," answered the Doctor, "but it is not in this part of the
continent, or, at any rate, the most famous of the family does not grow
in the lowlands. There are several trees known by that name, but the
_Palo do Vaca_ is found principally in Venezuela and the northern part
of the continent, generally at an elevation of three or four thousand
feet."
"Please tell us what it is like."
[Illustration: LEAVES, FRUIT, AND FLOWERS OF THE COW-TREE.]
"It is a tall, slender tree, with leaves resembling the laurel in shape,
but ten or twelve inches long. It grows in rocky places where there is
very little moisture, and during the dry season its leaves are withered
and the branches appear dead. But as soon as the trunk is pierced it
gives forth a rich, nourishing juice that resembles milk in appearance,
taste, and qualities, though it differs materially from the milk of
animals. It contains a good deal of wax and fibrin, a little sugar and a
salt of magnesia, the rest being water."
[Illustration: MILKING THE COW-TREE.]
"And does it make cream like the milk of a living cow?"
"Yes; after standing a short time it becomes yellow and forms a sort of
cream on the surface; this cream will gradually thicken into a semblance
of cheese before it begins to putrefy. And the tree further resembles
the cow in having its best milking-time in the morning; it yields more
juice at sunrise than at any other time, and before daylight the natives
gather at the trees to fill their bowls with the milk. The negroes and
Indians drink freely of this milk, but the white inhabitants generally
care little for it."
Frank fell to meditating upon the feasibility of introducing the
cow-tree into his father's orchard, and having a supply of milk where it
did not need to be driven up at night. His calculations were suddenly
interrupted by the announcement that dinner was ready, and his practical
nature, backed by a good appetite, put an immediate end to his
enterprise.