THE UPPER RIO NEGRO.
Quit Barra for the Upper Rio Negro--Canoe and Cargo--Great Width of
the River--Carvoeiro and Barcellos--Granite Rocks--Castanheiro--A
Polite Old Gentleman--S. Jozé--A New Language--The Cataracts--S.
Gabriel--Nossa Senhora da Guia--Senhor L. and his Family--Visit
to the River Cobati--An Indian Village--The Serra--Cocks of the
Rock--Return to Guia--Frei Jozé dos Santos Innocentos.
IT was on the last day of August, 1850, at about two o'clock on a fine
bright afternoon, that I bade adieu to Barra, looking forward with
hope and expectation to the distant and little-known regions I was
now going to visit. I found our canoe a tolerably roomy one, it being
about thirty-five feet long and seven broad. The after-part had a rough
deck, made of split palm-stems, covered with a tolda, or semicircular
roof, high enough to sit up comfortably within it, and well thatched
with palm-leaves. A part of the front opening was stopped up on each
side, leaving a doorway about three feet wide. The forepart was covered
with a similar tolda, but much lower, and above it was a flat deck,
formed like the other, and supported by upright poles along the sides.
This is called the jangáda, or raft, and serves for the Indians to
stand on, while rowing with oars formed of paddle-blades fixed to long
poles. The canoe was well loaded with all the articles most desired
by the semi-civilised and savage inhabitants of the Upper Rio Negro.
There were bales of coarse cotton cloth and of the commonest calico, of
flimsy but brilliantly-coloured prints, of checked and striped cottons,
and of blue or red handkerchiefs. Then there were axes and cutlasses,
and coarse pointed knives in great profusion, fish-hooks by thousands,
flints and steels, gunpowder, shot, quantities of blue, black, and
white beads, and countless little looking-glasses; needles and thread,
and buttons and tape were not forgotten. There was plenty of caxaça
(the rum of the country), and wine for the trader's own use, as well
as a little brandy for "medicine," and tea, coffee, sugar, vinegar,
oil for cooking and for light, biscuits, butter, garlic, black pepper,
and other little household luxuries, sufficient to last the family for
at least six months, and supply the pressing wants of any famishing
traveller.
My host, Senhor João Antonio de Lima, was a middle-sized, grizzly man,
with a face something like that of the banished lord in the National
Gallery. He had, however, all the politeness of his countrymen, placed
the canoe and everything in it "at my orders," and made himself very
agreeable. Our tolda contained numerous boxes and packages of his
and my own, but still left plenty of room for us to sit or lie down
comfortably; and in the cool of the morning and evening we stood upon
the plank at its mouth, or sat upon its top, enjoying the fresh air and
the cool prospect of dark waters around us. For the first day or two we
found no land, all the banks of the river being flooded, but afterwards
we had plenty of places on which to go on shore and make our fire.
Generally, as soon after daylight as we could discover a convenient
spot, we landed and made coffee, into which we broke some biscuit
and put a piece of butter, which I soon found to be a very great
improvement in the absence of milk. About ten or eleven we stopped
again for breakfast--the principal meal for the Indians. We now cooked
a fowl, or some fish if we had caught any during the night. About six
we again landed to prepare supper and coffee, which we sat sipping on
the top of the tolda, while we proceeded on our way, till eight or nine
at night, when the canoe was moored in a place where we could hang up
our hammocks on shore, and sleep comfortably till four or five in the
morning. Sometimes this was varied by stopping for the night at six
o'clock, and then we would start again by midnight, or by one or two in
the morning. We would often make our stoppages at a cottage, where we
could buy a fowl or some eggs, or a bunch of bananas or some oranges;
or at another time at a pretty opening in the forest, where some would
start off with a gun, to shoot a curassow or a guan, and others would
drop their line into the water, and soon have some small but delicious
fish to broil. Senhor L. was an old hand at canoe-travelling, and was
always well provided with hooks and lines. Bait was generally carefully
prepared during the day, and at night the lines would be thrown in; and
we were often rewarded with a fine pirahíba of twenty or thirty pounds
weight, which made us a breakfast and supper for the next day.
A little above Barra the river spreads out into great bays on each
side, so as to be from six to ten miles wide; and here, when there is
much wind, a heavy sea rises, which is very dangerous for small canoes.
Above this the river again narrows to about a mile and a half, and
soon afterwards branches out into diverging channels, with islands of
every size between them. For several hundred miles after this the two
banks of the river can never be seen at once: they are probably from
ten to twenty-five miles apart. Some of the islands are of great size,
reaching to thirty or forty miles in length, and with others often
intervening between them and the shore.
On the second and third day after we left Barra, there were high,
picturesque, gravelly banks to the river. A little further on, a few
isolated rocks appear, and at the little village of Ayrão, which we
reached in a week, there were broken ledges of sandstone rock of rather
a crystalline texture. A little lower we had passed points of a soft
sandstone, worn into caves and fantastic hollows by the action of the
water. Further on, at Pedreiro, the rock was perfectly crystalline;
while a little further still, at the mouth of the Rio Branco, a real
granitic rock appears.
At Pedreiro we stayed for the night with a friend of Senhor L.'s,
where the news of the city was discussed, and the prices of fish,
salsaparilha, piassaba, etc., communicated. The next day we passed
some picturesque granite rocks opposite the mouth of the Rio Branco,
where again the two shores of the river are seen at one view. On a
little island there are some curious Indian picture-writings, being
representations of numerous animals and men, roughly picked out of the
hard granite. I made careful drawings of these at the time, and took
specimens of the rock.
The next day we reached Carvoeiro, a village desolate and half
deserted, as are all those on the Rio Negro. We found only two
families inhabiting it, a blacksmith, and a Brazilian, who bore the
title of Capitão Vasconcellos, a good-humoured, civil man, who treated
us very well the day we remained with him. For dinner we had turtle,
with silver knives and forks, but our table was a mat on the ground.
In the afternoon the Capitão got drunk with his old friend Senhor L.,
and then became very violent, and abused him as a vile, unworthy,
skulking Portuguese villain, and used many more epithets, of which the
language has a copious store. Senhor L., who prides himself on never
getting intoxicated, took it very coolly, and the next morning the
Capitão expressed his heartfelt contrition, vowed eternal friendship,
and regretted much that he should have given the "estrangeiro" so much
reason to think ill of his countrymen.
Proceeding on our journey, we entered on a labyrinth of small islands,
so flooded that they appeared like masses of bushes growing out of the
water. Though Senhor L. is well acquainted with the river, we here
almost lost our way, and met another canoe which had quite done so. As
it was late, we stayed at a point of dry land for the night, and hung
our hammocks under the trees. The next day we called at the house of a
man who owed Senhor L. some money, and who paid him in turtles, eight
or nine of which we embarked.
The two shores of the river had only been seen for a moment. Again we
plunged into a sea of islands, and channels opening among them often
stretched out to the horizon. Sometimes a distant shore continued for
days unbroken, but was at last found to be but a far-stretching island.
All was now again alluvial soil, and we sometimes had a difficulty in
finding dry land to cook our meals on. In a few days more we reached
Barcellos, once the capital of the Rio Negro, but now depopulated and
almost deserted. On the shore lie several blocks of marble, brought
from Portugal for some public buildings which were never erected. The
lines of the old streets are now paths through a jungle, where orange
and other fruit-trees are mingled with cassias and tall tropical weeds.
The houses that remain are mostly ruinous mud-huts, with here and there
one more neatly finished and white-washed.
We called on an old Italian, who has the reputation of being rich,
but a great miser. He was, however, merry enough. He gave us coffee
sweetened with molasses, and pressed us to stay breakfast with
him,--which meal was served in an old storehouse filled with cables,
anchors, cordage, casks, and demijohns. We had silver forks and
spoons, and a dirty towel for a tablecloth, and raw spirits and tough
curassow-bird was the fare placed upon it. He, however, gave us a
basket of oranges to take to the canoe.
In a day or two more we passed another decayed village, called
Cabuqueno. About Barcellos had first appeared a very pretty little palm
growing at the water's edge, a new species of _Mauritia_, which was
afterwards abundant all the way up. Fish were now more plentiful than
in the lower part of the river, and several species occurred not found
below. Senhor L. often sent two men in a small canoe to fish early
in the morning, and they would by ten o'clock generally come up with
sufficient for our breakfast and supper. I began now to take a great
interest in the beauty and variety of the species, and, whenever I
could, made accurate drawings and descriptions of them. Many are of a
most excellent flavour, surpassing anything I have tasted in England,
either from the fresh or the salt waters; and many species have real
fat, which renders the water they are boiled in a rich and agreeable
broth. Not a drop of this is wasted, but, with a little pepper and
farinha, is all consumed, with as much relish as if it were the most
delicate soup. Our tolda was pretty hot during the day, generally being
from 95°to 100° inside. Early in the morning the temperature was about
75°, the water at the same time being 85° and feeling quite warm; at
noon or in the afternoon the water would be about 86°, and then feel
delightfully cool from its contrast with the heated air.
We had altogether very fine weather; but every afternoon, or at least
four or five times in a week, we had a "trovoádo," or storm, which
came on suddenly, with violent gusts of wind, and often thunder and
rain, but passed over in about an hour or two, leaving the atmosphere
beautifully mild and clear. A great luxury of this river is the absence
of mosquitoes. Sunset, instead of being the signal for discomfort and
annoyance, brought us the pleasantest part of the day. We could sit on
the top of the tolda, enjoying the cool evening breeze, and sipping a
cup of coffee--our greatest luxury--till the glories of sunset faded
rapidly away and the stars shone brightly out above us. At this quiet
hour the goat-suckers came out to hunt their insect prey over the
stream, and amused us with their rapid evolutions; the tree-frogs
commenced their mournful chants, a few lingering parrots would cross
the river to their nests, and the guarhibas fill the air with their
howling voices. When at length the dews of evening fell thick upon us,
I would turn in beneath the tolda, while Senhor L., wrapping himself in
a sheet, preferred taking his repose outside.
On September 30th, just a month after we had left Barra, we again saw
the opposite side of the river, and crossed over where it is about
four miles wide. The next day we reached a part where the granitic
rocks commence, and I was delighted to step out of the canoe on to a
fine sloping table of granite, with quartz-veins running across it in
various directions. From this point the river became more picturesque.
Small rocky islands abounded, and fine granite beaches were frequent,
offering delightful places to take our picnic meals. Fish too became
yet more abundant, and we were seldom without this luxury.
On the 3rd of October we reached a sitio, where resided a half-breed
Brazilian named João Cordeiro (John Lamb), who was a friend of Senhor
L. as well as a customer. We stayed here two days, while a good part
of the cargo of the canoe was taken out for Senhor João to choose what
he liked best. Here, for the second time since we left Barra, we saw a
few cows, and had milk to our coffee. I amused myself by walking in the
forest and catching some insects, of which I found many new species.
At length, the gay cottons and gauzes, the beads and cutlery, wines
and spirits, sugar and butter, having been selected, we went on our
way, Senhor João promising to get plenty of piassaba, salsa, and other
products, ready to pay Senhor L. by the time he next sent to the city.
The following day we reached St. Isabel, a miserable village overgrown
with weeds and thickets, and having at this time but a single
inhabitant, a Portuguese, with whom we took a cup of coffee, sweetening
it, however, with our own sugar, as he had no such luxury. He was
one of the many decent sort of men who drag on a miserable existence
here, putting up with hardships and deprivations which in a civilised
community would be only the result of the most utter poverty.
On the 8th we reached Castanheiro, and stayed a day with another
Portuguese, one of the richest traders on the river. He owed his
wealth principally to having steadily refused to take goods on credit,
which is the curse of this country: he thus was always his own master,
instead of being the slave of the Barra and Pará merchants, and could
buy in the cheapest and sell in the dearest market. With economy and a
character for closeness, he had accumulated some five or six thousand
pounds, which went on rapidly increasing, as in this country living
costs a man nothing, unless he drinks or gambles. He trades with the
Indians, takes the product in his own canoe to Pará, buys the articles
he knows are most saleable, and gets a profit of about a hundred per
cent. on all the business he does. It may give some insight into the
state of this country to know that, though this man is distinguished
from almost all other traders by his strict integrity and fairness,
which all allow, yet he is seldom spoken well of, because he does not
enter into the extravagance and debauchery which it is thought he can
well afford.
A little further on we passed some more curious Indian picture-writings
on a granite rock, of which I took a sketch. On the 11th we reached
Wanawacá, the seat of a Brazilian from Pernambuco, banished to the Rio
Negro for joining in some insurrection. I had heard the most horrible
stories of this man's crimes. He had murdered the Indians, carried
away their wives and daughters, and committed barbarities that are too
disgusting to mention. Yet, as I had a letter of introduction to him,
and he was a friend of Senhor L., we went to call upon him. I found
him a mild, quiet, polite, white-haired old gentleman, who received
us with great civility, gave us a very good breakfast, and conversed
in an unusually rational manner. When we had gone, Senhor L. asked me
if I was not surprised to see such a mild-looking man. "But," said
he, "these soft-spoken ones are always the worst. He is a regular
hypocrite, and he will stick at nothing. Among his friends he will
boast of his crimes, and he declares there is nothing that he will not
do for his own pleasure or profit."
The next day we stayed at another village, São Jozé, where we were
to leave our little vessel, and proceed in two smaller ones, as the
stream was now so rapid that we could not make much way, and the
Falls a little higher up were quite impassable for our larger canoe.
Here we stayed two days, unloading and loading. I found plenty to do
capturing the butterflies, several rare species of which were abundant
on the hot rocks by the river's side. At length all was right, and we
proceeded on our way in two heavily-laden canoes, and rather cramped
for room compared to what we had been before. We had several little
rapids to pass, round projecting points of rock, where the Indians had
to jump into the water and push the canoe past the difficulty. In two
days more we reached the village of São Pedro, where Senhor L. borrowed
another canoe, much better and more convenient, so that we had again
half a day's delay. The owner was a young Brazilian trader, a very
hospitable and civil fellow, with whom we spent a pleasant evening.
He and Senhor L. were old cronies, and began talking in a language I
could not understand, though I knew it was some kind of Portuguese. I
soon, however, found out what it was, and Senhor L. afterwards told me
that he had learnt it when a boy at school. It consisted in adding to
every syllable another, rhyming with it, but beginning with p; thus to
say, "Venha ca" (come here), he would say, "Venpenhapa capa," or if in
English "Comepum herepere;". and this, when spoken rapidly, is quite
unintelligible to a person not used to it. This Senhor was a bit of a
musician, and amused us with some simple tunes on the guitar, almost
the only instrument used in this part of the country.
Leaving this place, we passed the mouth of the small river Curicuriarí,
from which we had a fine view of the Serras of the same name. These are
the finest mountains I had yet seen, being irregular conical masses
of granite about three thousand feet high. They are much jagged and
peaked, clothed with forest in all the sloping parts, but with numerous
bare precipices, on which shine huge white veins and masses of quartz,
putting me in mind of what must be the appearance of the snow-capped
Andes. Lower down, near St. Isabel, we had passed several conical
peaks, but none more than a thousand feet high: these all rise abruptly
from a perfectly level plain, and are not part of any connected range
of hills.
On the same day, the 19th of October, we reached the celebrated Falls
of the Rio Negro. Small rocky islands and masses of bare rock now
began to fill the river in every part. The stream flowed rapidly
round projecting points, and the main channel was full of foam and
eddies. We soon arrived at the commencement of the actual rapids. Beds
and ledges of rock spread all across the river, while through the
openings between them the water rushed with terrific violence, forming
dangerous whirlpools and breakers below. Here it was necessary to cross
to the other side, in order to get up. We dashed into the current,
were rapidly carried down, got among the boiling waves, then passed
suddenly into still water under shelter of an island; whence starting
again, we at length reached the other side, about a mile across. Here
we found ourselves at the foot of a great rush of water, and we all
got out upon the rocks, while the Indians, with a strong rope, partly
in the water, and partly on land, pulled the canoe up, and we again
proceeded. As we went on we constantly encountered fresh difficulties.
Sometimes we had to cross into the middle of the stream, to avoid some
impassable mass of rocks; at others, the canoe was dragged and pushed
in narrow channels, which hardly allowed it to pass. The Indians, all
naked, with their trousers tied round their loins, plunged about in the
water like fishes. Sometimes a projecting crag had to be reached with
the tow-rope. An Indian takes it in his hand, and leaps into the rapid
current: he is carried down by its irresistible force. Now he dives
to the bottom, and there swims and crawls along where the stream has
less power. After two or three trials he reaches the rock, and tries
to mount upon it; but it rises high and abruptly out of the water, and
after several efforts he falls back exhausted, and floats down again
to the canoe amid the mirth and laughter of his comrades. Another now
tries, with the same result. Then another plunges in without the rope,
and thus unencumbered mounts on the rock and gives a helping hand to
his companion; and then all go to work, and we are pulled up past the
obstacle.
But a little ahead of us is an extensive mass of rocks. There is no
passage for the canoe, and we must cross to yonder islet far in the
middle of the stream, where, by the height of the water, Senhor L. and
the pilot judge we shall find a passage. Every stone, even those under
water, form eddies or returning currents, where a canoe can rest in its
passage. Off we go, to try to reach one of them. In a moment we are in
a stream running like a mill-race. "Pull away, boys!" shouts Senhor L.
We are falling swiftly down the river. There is a strong rapid carrying
us, and we shall be dashed against those black masses just rising
above the foaming waters. "All right, boys!" cries Senhor L.; and just
as we seemed in the greatest danger, the canoe wheels round in an eddy,
and we are safe under the shelter of a rock. We are in still water,
but close on each side of us it rages and bubbles, and we must cross
again. Now the Indians are rested; and so off we go,--down drops the
canoe,--again the men strain at their paddles,--again we are close on
some foaming breakers: I see no escape, but in a moment we are in an
eddy caused by a sunken mass above us; again we go on, and reach at
length our object, a rocky island, round which we pull and push our
canoe, and from the upper point cross to another, and so make a zigzag
course, until, after some hours' hard work, we at length reach the
bank, perhaps not fifty yards above the obstacle which had obliged us
to leave it.
Thus we proceeded, till, reaching a good resting-place about five
in the afternoon, we stayed for the night to rest the Indians well,
against the further fatigues to be encountered the following day.
Most of the principal rapids and falls have names. There are the
"Furnos" (ovens), "Tabocal" (bamboo), and many others. The next day we
went on in a similar manner to the day before, along a most picturesque
part of the river. The brilliant sun, the sparkling waters, the strange
fantastic rocks, and broken woody islands, were a constant source
of interest and enjoyment to me. Early in the afternoon we reached
the village of São Gabriel, where are the principal falls. Here the
river is narrower, and an island in the middle divides it into two
channels, along each of which rolls a tremendous flood of water down an
incline formed by submerged rocks. Below, the water boils up in great
rolling breakers, and, a little further down, forms dangerous eddies
and whirlpools. Here we could only pass by unloading the canoe almost
entirely, and then pulling it up amidst the foaming water as near as
possible to the shore. This done, Senhor L. and myself dressed, and
proceeded up the hill to the house of the Commandante, who must give
permission before any one can pass above the fort. He was a friend of
Senhor L., and I brought him a letter of introduction; so he was pretty
civil, gave us some coffee, chatted of the news of the river and the
city for an hour or two, and invited us to breakfast with him before we
left the next morning. We then went to the house of an old Portuguese
trader, whom I had met in Barra, with whom we supped and spent the
evening.
The next morning, after breakfasting with the Commandante, we proceeded
on our way. Above São Gabriel the rapids are perhaps more numerous
than below. We twisted about the river, round islands and from rock
to rock, in a most complicated manner. On a point where we stayed for
the night I saw the first tree-fern I had yet met with, and looked on
it with much pleasure, as an introduction to a new and interesting
district: it was a small, thin-stemmed, elegant species, about eight
or ten feet high. At night, on the 22nd, we passed the last rapid, and
now had smooth water before us for the rest of our journey. We had
thus been four days ascending these rapids, which are about thirty
miles in length. The next morning we entered the great and unknown
river "Uaupés," from which there is another branch into the Rio
Negro, forming a delta at its mouth. During our voyage I had heard
much of this river from Senhor L., who was an old trader up it, and
well acquainted with the numerous tribes of uncivilised Indians which
inhabit its banks, and with the countless cataracts and rapids which
render its navigation so dangerous and toilsome. Above the Uaupés the
Rio Negro was calm and placid, about a mile, or sometimes two to three
miles wide, and its waters blacker than ever.
On the 24th of October, early in the morning, we reached the little
village of Nossa Senhora da Guía, where Senhor L. resided, and where he
invited me to remain with him as long as I felt disposed.
The village is situated on high ground sloping down suddenly to
the river. It consists of a row of thatched mud-huts, some of them
whitewashed, others the colour of the native earth. Immediately
behind are some patches of low sandy ground, covered with a shrubby
vegetation, and beyond is the virgin forest. Senhor L.'s house had
wooden doors, and shutters to the windows, as had also one or two
others. In fact, Guía was once a very populous and decent village,
though now as poor and miserable as all the others of the Rio Negro.
Going up to the house I was introduced to Senhor L.'s family, which
consisted of two grown-up daughters, two young ones, and a little
boy of eight years old. A good-looking "mamelúca," or half-breed
woman, of about thirty, was introduced as the "mother of his younger
children." Senhor L. had informed me during the voyage that he did not
patronise marriage, and thought everybody a great fool who did. He
had illustrated the advantages of keeping oneself free of such ties
by informing me that the mother of his two elder daughters having
grown old, and being unable to bring them up properly or teach them
Portuguese, he had turned her out of doors, and got a younger and
more civilised person in her place. The poor woman had since died of
jealousy, or "passion," as he termed it. When young, she had nursed him
during an eighteen months' illness and saved his life; but he seemed to
think he had performed a duty in turning her away,--for, said he, "She
was an Indian, and could only speak her own language, and, so long as
she was with them, my children would never learn Portuguese."
The whole family welcomed him in a very cold and timid manner, coming
up and asking his blessing as if they had parted from him the evening
before, instead of three months since. We then had some coffee and
breakfast; after which the canoe was unloaded, and a little house just
opposite his, which happened to be unoccupied, was swept out for me.
My boxes were placed in it, my hammock hung up, and I soon made myself
comfortable in my new quarters, and then walked out to look about me.
In the village were about a dozen houses belonging to Indians, all of
whom had their sitios, or country-houses, at from a few hours' to some
days' distance up or down the river, or on some of the small tributary
streams. They only inhabit the village at times of festas, or on the
arrival of a merchant like Senhor L., when they bring any produce they
may have to dispose of or, if they have none, get what goods they can
on credit, with the promise of payment at some future time.
There were now several families in the village to welcome their sons
and husbands, who had formed our crew; and for some days there was a
general drinking and dancing from morning to night. During this time, I
took my gun into the woods, in order to kill a few birds. Immediately
behind the house were some fruit-trees, to which many chatterers and
other pretty birds resorted, and I managed to shoot some every day.
Insects were very scarce in the forest; but on the river-side there
were often to be found rare butterflies, though not in sufficient
abundance to give me much occupation. In a few days, Senhor L. got a
couple of Indians to come and hunt for me, and I hoped then to have
plenty of birds. They used the gravatána, or blow-pipe, a tube ten
to fifteen feet in length, through which they blow small arrows with
such force and precision, that they will kill birds or other game as
far off, and with as much certainty, as with a gun. The arrows are
all poisoned, so that a very small wound is sufficient to bring down
a large bird. I soon found that my Indians had come at Senhor L.'s
bidding, but did not much like their task; and they frequently returned
without any birds, telling me they could not find any, when I had very
good reason to believe they had spent the day at some neighbouring
sitio. At other times, after a day in the forest, they would bring a
little worthless bird, which can be found around every cottage. As
they had to go a great distance in search of good birds, I had no
hold upon them, and was obliged to take what they brought me, and be
contented. It was a great annoyance here, that there were no good paths
in the forest, so that I could not go far myself, and in the immediate
vicinity of the village there is little to be obtained.
I found it more easy to procure fishes, and was much pleased by being
frequently able to add to my collection of drawings. The smaller
species I also preserved in spirits. The electrical eel is common in
all the streams here; it is caught with a hook, or in weirs, and is
eaten, though not much esteemed. When the water gets low, and leaves
pools among the rocks, many fish are caught by poisoning the waters
with a root called "timbo." The mouths of the small streams are also
staked across, and large quantities of all kinds are obtained. The fish
thus caught are very good when fresh, but putrefy sooner than those
caught in weirs or hooked.
Not being able to do much here, I determined to take a trip up a small
stream to a place where, on a lonely granite mountain, the "Cocks of
the Rock" are found. An Indian, who could speak a little Portuguese,
having come from a village near it, I agreed to return with him. Senhor
L. lent me a small canoe; and my two hunters, one of whom lived there,
accompanied me. I took with me plenty of ammunition, a great box for
my birds, some salt, hooks, mirrors, knives, etc., for the Indians,
and left Guía early one morning. Just below the village we turned
into the river Isanna, a fine stream, about half a mile wide, and in
the afternoon reached the mouth of the small river Cobati (fish),
on the south side, which we entered. We had hitherto seen the banks
clothed with thick virgin forest, and here and there were some low
hills covered entirely with lofty trees. Now the country became very
bushy and scrubby; in parts sandy and almost open; perfectly flat,
and apparently inundated at the high floods. The water was of a more
inky blackness; and the little stream, not more than fifty yards wide,
flowed with a rapid current, and turned and doubled in a manner that
made our progress both difficult and tedious. At night we stopped at
a little piece of open sandy ground, where we drove stakes in the
earth to hang our hammocks. The next morning at daybreak we continued
our journey. The whole day long we wound about, the stream keeping up
exactly the same bleak character as before;--not a tree of any size
visible, and the vegetation of a most monotonous and dreary character.
At night we stayed near a lake, where the Indians caught some fine
fish, and we made a good supper. The next day we wound about more than
ever; often, after an hour's hard rowing, returning to within fifty
yards of a point we had started from. At length, however, early in the
afternoon, the aspect of the country suddenly changed; lofty trees
sprang up on the banks, the characteristic creepers hung in festoons
over them; moss-covered rocks appeared; and from the river gradually
rose up a slope of luxuriant virgin forest, whose varied shades of
green and glistening foliage were most grateful to the eye and the
imagination, after the dull, monotonous vegetation of the previous days.
In half an hour more we were at the village, which consisted of five or
six miserable little huts imbedded in the forest. Here I was introduced
to my conductor's house. It contained two rooms, with a floor of earth,
and smoky thatch overhead. There were three doors, but no windows. Near
one of these I placed my bird-box, to serve as a table, and on the
other side swung my hammock. We then took a little walk to look about
us. Paths led to the different cottages, in which were large families
of naked children, and their almost naked parents. Most of the houses
had no walls, but were mere thatched sheds supported on posts, and
with sometimes a small room enclosed with a palm-leaf fence, to make
a sleeping apartment. There were several young boys here of from ten
to fifteen years of age, who were my constant attendants when I went
into the forest. None of them could speak a single word of Portuguese,
so I had to make use of my slender stock of Lingoa Geral. But Indian
boys are not great talkers, and a few monosyllables would generally
suffice for our communications. One or two of them had blow-pipes, and
shot numbers of small birds for me, while others would creep along
by my side and silently point out birds, or small animals, before I
could catch sight of them. When I fired, and, as was often the case,
the bird flew away wounded, and then fell far off in the forest, they
would bound away after it, and seldom search in vain. Even a little
humming-bird, falling in a dense thicket of creepers and dead leaves,
which I should have given up looking for in despair, was always found
by them.
One day I accompanied the Indian with whom I lived into the forest, to
get stems for a blow-pipe. We went, about a mile off, to a place where
numerous small palms were growing: they were the _Iriartea setigera_ of
Martius, from ten to fifteen feet high, and varying from the thickness
of one's finger to two inches in diameter. They appear jointed outside,
from the scars of the fallen leaves, but within have a soft pith,
which, when cleared out, leaves a smooth, polished bore. My companion
selected several of the straightest he could find, both of the smallest
and largest diameter. These stems were carefully dried in the house,
the pith cleared out with a long rod made of the wood of another palm,
and the bore rubbed clean and polished with a little bunch of roots
of a tree-fern, pulled backwards and forwards through it. Two stems
are selected of such a size, that the smaller can be pushed inside the
larger; this is done, so that any curve in the one may counteract that
in the other; a conical wooden mouthpiece is then fitted on to one
end, and sometimes the whole is spirally bound with the smooth, black,
shining bark of a creeper. Arrows are made of the spinous processes
of the Patawá (_Œnocarpus Batawa_) pointed, and anointed with poison,
and with a little conical tuft of tree cotton (the silky covering of
the seeds of a _Bombax_) at the other end, to fill up exactly, but not
tightly, the bore of the tube: these arrows are carried in a wicker
quiver, well covered with pitch at the lower part, so that it can
be inverted in wet weather to keep the arrows dry. The blow-pipe, or
gravatána, is the principal weapon here. Every Indian has one, and
seldom goes into the forest, or on the rivers, without it.
I soon found that the Cocks of the Rock, to obtain which was my chief
object in coming here, were not to be found near the village. Their
principal resort was the Serra de Cobáti, or mountain before mentioned,
situated some ten or twelve miles off in the forest, where I was
informed they were very abundant. I accordingly made arrangements for
a trip to the Serra, with the intention of staying there a week. By
the promise of good payment for every "Gallo" they killed for me, I
persuaded almost the whole male population of the village to accompany
me. As our path was through a dense forest for ten miles, we could not
load ourselves with much baggage: every man had to carry his gravatána,
bow and arrows, _rédé_, and some farinha; which, with salt, was all the
provisions we took, trusting to the forest for our meat; and I even
gave up my daily and only luxury of coffee.
We started off, thirteen in number, along a tolerable path. In about an
hour we came to a mandiocca-field and a house, the last on the road to
the Serra. Here we waited a short time, took some "mingau," or gruel,
made of green plantains, and got a volunteer to join our company. I was
much struck with an old woman whose whole body was one mass of close
deep wrinkles, and whose hair was white, a sure sign of very great age
in an Indian; from information I obtained, I believe she was more than
a hundred years old. There was also a young "mamelúca," very fair and
handsome, and of a particularly intelligent expression of countenance,
very rarely seen in that mixed race. The moment I saw her I had little
doubt of her being a person of whom I had heard Senhor L. speak as
the daughter of the celebrated German naturalist, Dr. Natterer, by an
Indian woman. I afterwards saw her at Guía, and ascertained that my
supposition was correct. She was about seventeen years of age, was
married to an Indian, and had several children. She was a fine specimen
of the noble race produced by the mixture of the Saxon and Indian blood.
Proceeding onwards, we came to another recently-cleared
mandiocca-field. Here the path was quite obliterated, and we had to
cross over it as we could. Imagine the trees of a virgin forest cut
down so as to fall across each other in every conceivable direction.
After lying a few months they are burnt; the fire, however, only
consumes the leaves and fine twigs and branches; all the rest remains
entire, but blackened and charred. The mandiocca is then planted
without any further preparation; and it was across such a field that
we, all heavily laden, had to find our way. Now climbing on the top of
some huge trunk, now walking over a shaking branch or creeping among a
confused thicket of charcoal, few journeys require more equanimity of
temper than one across an Amazonian clearing.
Passing this, we got into the forest. At first the path was tolerable;
soon, however, it was a mere track a few inches wide, winding among
thorny creepers, and over deep beds of decaying leaves. Gigantic
buttress trees, tall fluted stems, strange palms, and elegant
tree-ferns were abundant on every side, and many persons may suppose
that our walk must necessarily have been a delightful one; but there
were many disagreeables. Hard roots rose up in ridges along our path,
swamp and mud alternated with quartz pebbles and rotten leaves; and
as I floundered along in the barefooted enjoyment of these, some
overhanging bough would knock the cap from my head or the gun from my
hand; or the hooked spines of the climbing palms would catch in my
shirt-sleeves, and oblige me either to halt and deliberately unhook
myself, or leave a portion of my unlucky garment behind. The Indians
were all naked, or, if they had a shirt or trousers, carried them in
a bundle on their heads, and I have no doubt looked upon me as a good
illustration of the uselessness and bad consequences of wearing clothes
upon a forest journey.
After four or five hours' hard walking, at a pace which would not have
been bad upon clear level ground, we came to a small stream of clear
water, which had its source in the Serra to which we were going. Here
we waited a few moments to rest and drink, while doing which we heard
a strange rush and distant grunt in the forest. The Indians started
up, all excitement and animation: "Tyeassú!" (wild hogs) they cried,
seizing their bows and arrows, tightening the strings, and grasping
their long knives. I cocked my gun, dropped in a bullet, and hoped to
get a shot at a "porco;" but being afraid, if I went with them, of
losing myself in the forest, I waited with the boys in hopes the game
would pass near me. After a little time we heard a rushing and fearful
gnashing of teeth, which made me stand anxiously expecting the animals
to appear; but the sound went further off, and died away at length in
the distance.
The party now appeared, and said that there was a large herd of fine
pigs, but that they had got away. They, however, directed the boys to
go on with me to the Serra, and they would go again after the herd. We
went on accordingly over very rough, uneven ground, now climbing up
steep ascents over rotting trunks of fallen trees, now descending into
gullies, till at length we reached a curious rock--a huge table twenty
or thirty feet in diameter, supported on two points only, and forming
an excellent cave; round the outer edge we could stand upright under
it, but towards the centre the roof was so low that one could only lie
down. The top of this singular rock was nearly flat, and completely
covered with forest-trees, and it at first seemed as if their weight
must overbalance it from its two small supports; but the roots of the
trees, not finding nourishment enough from the little earth on the
top of the rock, ran along it to the edge, and there dropped down
vertically and penetrated among the broken fragments below, thus
forming a series of columns of various sizes supporting the table all
round its outer edge. Here, the boys said, was to be our abode during
our stay, though I did not perceive any water near it. Through the
trees we could see the mountain a quarter or half a mile from us,--a
bare, perpendicular mass of granite, rising abruptly from the forest to
a height of several hundred feet.
We had hung up our _rédés_ and waited about half an hour, when three
Indians of our party made their appearance, staggering under the weight
of a fine hog they had killed, and had slung on a strong pole. I then
found the boys had mistaken our station, which was some distance
further on, at the very foot of the Serra, and close to a running
stream of water, where was a large roomy cave formed by an immense
overhanging rock. Over our heads was growing a forest, and the roots
again hung down over the edge, forming a sort of screen to our cave,
and the stronger ones serving for posts to hang our _rédés_. Our
luggage was soon unpacked, our _rédés_ hung, a fire lighted, and the
pig taken down to the brook, which ran at the lower end of the cave,
to be skinned and prepared for cooking.
The animal was very like a domestic pig, but with a higher back,
coarser and longer bristles, and a most penetrating odour. This I found
proceeded from a gland situated on the back, about six inches above
the root of the tail: it was a swelling, with a large pore in the
centre, from which exuded an oily matter, producing a most intense and
unbearable pigsty smell, of which the domestic animal can convey but
a faint idea. The first operation of the Indians was to cut out this
part completely, and the skin and flesh for some inches all round it,
and throw the piece away. If this were not done, they say, the "pitiú"
(_catinga_, Port.), or bad smell, would render all the meat uneatable.
The animal was then skinned, cut up into pieces, some of which were put
into an earthen pot to stew, while the legs and shoulders were kept to
smoke over the fire till they were thoroughly dry, as they can thus be
preserved several weeks without salt.
The greater number of the party had not yet arrived, so we ate our
suppers, expecting to see them soon after sunset. However, as they
did not appear, we made up our fires, put the meat on the "moqueen,"
or smoking stage, and turned comfortably into our _rédés_. The next
morning, while we were preparing breakfast, they all arrived, with the
produce of their hunting expedition. They had killed three hogs, but
as it was late and they were a long way off, they encamped for the
night, cut up the animals, and partially smoked all the prime pieces,
which they now brought with them carefully packed up in palm-leaves.
The party had no bows and arrows, but had killed the game with their
blow-pipes, and little poisoned arrows about ten inches long.
After breakfast was over we prepared for an attack upon the "Gallos."
We divided into three parties, going in different directions. The
party which I accompanied went to ascend the Serra itself as far as
practicable. We started out at the back of our cave, which was, as I
have stated, formed by the base of the mountain itself. We immediately
commenced the ascent up rocky gorges, over huge fragments, and through
gloomy caverns, all mixed together in the most extraordinary confusion.
Sometimes we had to climb up precipices by roots and creepers, then to
crawl over a surface formed by angular rocks, varying from the size of
a wheelbarrow to that of a house. I could not have imagined that what
at a distance appeared so insignificant, could have presented such a
gigantic and rugged scene. All the time we kept a sharp look-out, but
saw no birds. At length, however, an old Indian caught hold of my arm,
and whispering gently, "Gallo!" pointed into a dense thicket. After
looking intently a little while, I caught a glimpse of the magnificent
bird sitting amidst the gloom, shining out like a mass of brilliant
flame. I took a step to get a clear view of it, and raised my gun, when
it took alarm and flew off before I had time to fire. We followed, and
soon it was again pointed out to me. This time I had better luck, fired
with a steady aim, and brought it down. The Indians rushed forward, but
it had fallen into a deep gully between steep rocks, and a considerable
circuit had to be made to get it. In a few minutes, however, it was
brought to me, and I was lost in admiration of the dazzling brilliancy
of its soft downy feathers. Not a spot of blood was visible, not a
feather was ruffled, and the soft, warm, flexible body set off the
fresh swelling plumage in a manner which no stuffed specimen can
approach. After some time, not finding any more gallos, most of the
party set off on an excursion up a more impracticable portion of the
rock, leaving two boys with me till they returned. We soon got tired
of waiting, and as the boys made me understand that they knew the path
back to our cave, I determined to return. We descended deep chasms in
the rocks, climbed up steep precipices, descended again and again, and
passed through caverns with huge masses of rocks piled above our heads.
Still we seemed not to get out of the mountain, but fresh ridges rose
before us, and more fearful fissures were to be passed. We toiled on,
now climbing by roots and creepers up perpendicular walls, now creeping
along a narrow ledge, with a yawning chasm on each side of us. I could
not have imagined such serrated rocks to exist. It appeared as if a
steep mountain-side had been cut and hacked by some gigantic force
into fissures and ravines, from fifty to a hundred feet deep. My gun
was a most inconvenient load when climbing up these steep and slippery
places, and I did it much damage by striking its muzzle against the
hard granite rock. At length we appeared to have got into the very
heart of the mountain: no outlet was visible, and through the dense
forest and matted underwood, with which every part of these rocks were
covered, we could only see an interminable succession of ridges, and
chasms, and gigantic blocks of stone, with no visible termination. As
it was evident the boys had lost their way, I resolved to turn back.
It was a weary task. I was already fatigued enough, and the prospect
of another climb over these fearful ridges, and hazardous descent into
those gloomy chasms, was by no means agreeable. However, we persevered,
one boy taking my gun; and after about an hour's hard work we got back
to the place whence we had started, and found the rest of the party
expecting us. We then went down by the proper path, which they told me
was the only known way of ascending and descending the mountain, and by
which we soon arrived at our cave.
[Illustration]
The accompanying sketch gives a section of this mountain, as near as
I can make it out. The extraordinary jaggedness of the rocks is not
at all exaggerated, and is the more surprising when you get into it,
because from a distance it appears one smooth forest-covered hill, of
very inconsiderable height, and of a gradual slope. Besides the great
caverns and ridges shown above, the surfaces of each precipice are
serrated in a most extraordinary manner, forming deep sloping gutters,
cut out of the smooth face of the rock, or sometimes vertical channels,
with angular edges, such as might be supposed to be formed were the
granite in a plastic state forced up against hard angular masses.
On reaching the cave I immediately skinned my prize before it was dark,
and we then got our supper. No more "gallos" were brought in that day.
The fires were made up, the pork put to smoke over them, and around
me were thirteen naked Indians, talking in unknown tongues. Two only
could speak a little Portuguese, and with them I conversed, answering
their various questions about where iron came from, and how calico was
made, and if paper grew in my country, and if we had much mandiocca and
plantains; and they were greatly astonished to hear that all were white
men there, and could not imagine how white men could work, or how there
could be a country without forest. They would ask strange questions
about where the wind came from, and the rain, and how the sun and moon
got back to their places again after disappearing from us; and when I
had tried to satisfy them on these points, they would tell me forest
tales of jaguars and pumas, and of the fierce wild hogs, and of the
dreadful curupurí, the demon of the woods, and of the wild man with a
long tail, found far in the centre of the forest. They told me also a
curious tale about the tapir, which, however, others have assured me is
not true.
The tapir, they say, has a peculiar fancy for dropping his dung only
in the water, and they never find it except in brooks and springs,
though it is so large and abundant that it could not be overlooked
in the forest. If there is no water to be found, the animal makes a
rough basket of leaves and carries it to the nearest stream, and there
deposits it. The Indians' tale goes, that one tapir met another in the
forest with a basket in his mouth. "What have you in your basket?" said
the one. "Fruit," answered the other. "Let me have some," said the
first. "I won't," said the other; upon which the first tapir pulled
the basket from the other's mouth, broke it open, and on seeing the
contents both turned tail, quite ashamed of themselves, ran away in
opposite directions, and never came near the spot again all their lives.
With such conversation we passed the time till we fell asleep. We rose
with the earliest dawn, for the naked Indian feels the chill morning
air, and gets up early to renew his fire, and make some mingau to
warm himself. Having no coffee, I had to put up also with "mingau"
(farinha gruel), and we then all started off again in search of game.
This time I took the forest, having had enough of the Serra, and the
two boys came with me for guides and companions. After wandering about
a good way we found some fine curassow-birds high up in lofty trees,
and succeeded in shooting one. This, with a large jacamar, was all we
could find, so we returned to the cave, skinned the jacamar, and put
the "mutun" (curassow-bird) on the fire for breakfast.
In the afternoon the other parties returned unsuccessful, one only
bringing in a gallo. The next day nothing at all was met with, and it
was therefore agreed to move our camp to a spot some miles off on the
other side of the Serra, where was a feeding-place of the gallos. We
accordingly started; and if our former path was bad enough, this was
detestable. It was principally through second-growth woods, which are
much thicker than the virgin forest, full of prickly plants, entangled
creepers, and alternations of soft mud and quartz pebbles under foot.
As our farinha was getting low, we had sent half our party home, to
bring such a supply as would enable us to remain a week in our new camp.
On reaching the place we found a pleasant open glade and low woods,
where there had formerly been a small Indian settlement. It was much
more airy and agreeable than our cave, so closely surrounded by the
tall dense forest that scarcely a straggling ray of sunshine could
enter. Here were numerous trees of a species of _Melastoma_, bearing
purple berries, of which the gallos and many other birds are very fond.
There was a little shed, just large enough to hang my hammock under;
this we repaired and thatched, and made our head-quarters, where I soon
established myself comfortably. We had not been here long before we
heard the shrill cry of a gallo near us. All immediately started off,
and I soon had the pleasure of again seeing this living flame darting
among the foliage. My gun, however, had been wetted in walking so far
through the dripping underwood, and missed fire. In the evening two
fine birds were brought in,--a very satisfactory commencement. The next
evening the party who had gone to the village returned with farinha,
salt, and a few mammee apples, which were very refreshing.
We stayed here four days longer, with various success: some days we
had not a bird; others, plenty of game, and one or two gallos. What
with monkeys, guans, and mutuns, we had pretty good fare in the meat
way. One day I went out alone, and by patiently watching under a
fruit-tree, in a drenching shower, was rewarded by obtaining another
beautiful gallo. Two were brought in alive: one of them I killed and
skinned at once, knowing the great risk of attempting to keep them
alive; the other was kept by the Indian who caught it, but a few weeks
afterwards it died. They are caught by snares at certain places, where
the males assemble to play. These places are on rocks, or roots of
trees, and are worn quite smooth and clean. Two or three males meet
and perform a kind of dance, walking and jigging up and down. The
females and young are never seen at these places, so that you are sure
of catching only full-grown fine-plumaged males. I am not aware of any
other bird that has this singular habit. On the last day of our stay,
we were rather short of provisions. The Indians supped well off a young
alligator they had caught in a brook near; but the musky odour was so
strong that I could not stomach it, and, after getting down a bit of
the tail, finished my supper with mingau.
The next day we returned home to the little village. With twelve
hunters, nine days in the forest, I had obtained twelve gallos, two
of which I had shot myself; I had, besides, two fine trogons, several
little blue-capped manakins, and some curious barbets, and ant-thrushes.
At the village I spent nearly a fortnight more, getting together a
good many small birds, but nothing very rare. I shot a specimen of the
curious bald-headed brown crow (_Gymnocephalus calvus_), which, though
common in Cayenne, is very rare in the Rio Negro district; nobody, in
fact, but the Indians, had ever seen the bird, and they regarded it as
my greatest curiosity. I also skinned a black agouti, and made drawings
of many curious fish.
The Padre having come to Guía, most of the Indians returned with me to
attend the festa, and get their children baptized. When we arrived,
however, we found that he had left for the villages higher up, and was
to call on his return. I now wished to set off as soon as possible for
the Upper Rio Negro, in Venezuela; but of course no Indian could be
got to go with me till the Padre returned, and I was obliged to wait
patiently and idly at Guia. For days I would go out into the forest,
and not get a bird worth skinning; insects were equally scarce. The
forest was gloomy, damp, and silent as death. Every other day was wet,
and almost every afternoon there was a thunderstorm: and on these dull
days and weary evenings, I had no resource but the oft-told tales of
Senhor L., and the hackneyed conversation on buying and selling calico,
on digging salsa, and cutting piassaba.
At length, however, the Padré, Frei Jozé, arrived with Senhor Tenente
Filisberto, the Commandante of Marabitanas. Frei Jozé dos Santos
Innocentos was a tall, thin, prematurely old man, thoroughly worn
out by every kind of debauchery, his hands crippled, and his body
ulcerated; yet he still delighted in recounting the feats of his youth,
and was celebrated as the most original and amusing story-teller in the
province of Pará. He was carried up the hill, from the river-side, in
a hammock; and took a couple of days to rest, before he commenced his
ecclesiastical operations. I often went with Senhor L. to visit him,
and was always much amused with his inexhaustible fund of anecdotes:
he seemed to know everybody and everything in the Province, and had
always something humorous to tell about them. His stories were, most
of them, disgustingly coarse; but so cleverly told, in such quaint and
expressive language, and with such amusing imitations of voice and
manner, that they were irresistibly ludicrous. There is always, too, a
particular charm in hearing good anecdotes in a foreign language. The
point is the more interesting, from the obscure method of arriving at
it; and the knowledge you acquire of the various modes of using the
peculiar idioms of the language, causes a pleasure quite distinct from
that of the story itself. Frei Jozé never repeated a story twice in
the week he was with us; and Senhor L., who has known him for years,
says he had never before heard many of the anecdotes he now related. He
had been a soldier, then a friar in a convent, and afterwards a parish
priest: he told tales of his convent life, just like what we read in
Chaucer of their doings in his time. Don Juan was an innocent compared
with Frei Jozé; but he told us he had a great respect for his cloth,
and never did anything disreputable--_during the day!_
At length the baptisms took place: there were some fifteen or twenty
Indian children of all ages, to undergo the operation at once. There
are seven or eight distinct processes in the Roman Catholic baptism,
well calculated to attract the attention of the Indians: there is
water and holy oil,--and spittle rubbed on the eyes,--and crosses on
the eyes, nose, mouth, and body,--and kneeling and prayers in between,
which all bear sufficient resemblance to the complicated operations
of their own "pagés" (conjurors), to make them think they have got
something very good, in return for the shilling they pay for the
ceremony.
The next day there were a few weddings, the ceremony of which is very
like our own. After it was over, Frei Jozé gave the newly married
people a very good and practical homily on the duties of the married
state, which might have done some good, had the parties to whom it
was addressed understood it; which, as it was in Portuguese, they did
not. He at all times strenuously exhorted the Indians to get married,
and thus save their souls,--and fill his pocket. The only two white
men, besides myself, were, however, bad examples,--for they were not,
nor would be married, though they both had large families; which the
Padré got over by saying, "Never mind what these white people do, they
will all go to purgatory, but don't you be such fools as to go too!"
at which Senhor L. and the Commandante laughed heartily, and the poor
Indians looked much astonished.