Magnificent Basins--Innumerable Rapids--Narrow Escapes--The
Destructive Sauba Ants--Disobedient Followers--A Range of
Mountains--Inquisitive Monkeys--Luck in Fishing--Rocky
Barriers--Venus
WE left at 8 a.m. on July 20th, the minimum temperature during the night
having been 57° F. We had hardly gone 1½ kil. when we came to another
island, 500 m. long--Mabel Island--quite as beautiful as the one on which
we had camped. Small rapids were encountered where we just managed to
avoid dangerous submerged rocks close to the right bank, near the
entrance of a basin 900 m. wide.
All those basins were really magnificent to look at. This one, for
instance, displayed a lovely island--Noailles Island--500 m. long, and
200 m. wide on its left side. Picturesque rocks of a vivid red colour
peeped out of the water and broke the current, the spray that rose in the
air forming pretty rainbows. There was a channel there, 300 m. wide,
after passing the last island. Then came one more great basin 700 m.
wide, and yet another pretty island, with a rocky spur.
[Illustration: Preparing the Canoe prior to descending a Rapid.]
[Illustration: A Nasty Rapid.]
We followed a course of 10° b.m. on the left side of the island--Margie
Island--which was 500 m. long, and had a number of subsidiary islands
formed by picturesque groups of rock.
We then came to one more great basin, with an immense quantity of rock in
its western part. Many of the boulders showed a foliation in their strata
with a dip of 45° east. The accumulation of boulders formed a formidable
barrier before we reached an island most beautiful to gaze upon, so
luxuriant was the vegetation on it.
This particular island was 200 m. long; next to it was another 150 m.
long; then, joined to this by a link of high rocks to the south-east, was
a third, also of considerable beauty. So charming were these islands that
I called the group the Three Graces Islands.
The river turned due west from that point in a channel of continuous
rapids and violent eddies for some 3,000 m. We went down, the canoe being
knocked about in a most alarming way on one or two occasions, and
shipping so much water as to reach almost up to our knees inside it.
It was fortunate that all my photographic plates, note-books and
instruments were in water-tight boxes, or they certainly would have been
damaged beyond saving. This was not the case with my clothes, shoes, and
bedding, which had now been wet for many days with no possibility of
drying them, as we were travelling all day long and every day, and during
the night the heavy dew prevented them from getting dry. Why we did not
get rheumatism I do not know, as not only did we wear wet things all day
long, but we slept in blankets soaked with moisture.
The moment I dreaded most was that in which we emerged from the rapid
into the whirlpool which always followed, and in which the canoe swerved
with such terrific force that it was all we could do to hold on and not
be flung clean out of her--owing, of course, to the centrifugal force as
she revolved quickly.
Making a survey of the river was getting to be a complicated and serious
job, what with the numberless islands we encountered, the continuous
rapids, and the constant changes of direction. I was busy writing, as
fast as I could--only interrupted momentarily by involuntary
shower-baths--prismatic compass and watch in hand all the time, the
latter in order to measure the distances as accurately as possible.
We had now come to another group of islands in a line in the centre of
the river. They had been at one time evidently all one, which had
subsequently been eroded into five separate islands and an extensive bank
of gravel and sand. Taken in succession from south to north, there was
first an oblong island, thickly wooded, 120 m. long--Nina Island--having
on its western side an elongated bank of sand and gravel; then, where a
barrier of rocks stretched transversely across the stream and where
extremely bad rapids occurred--three of them in succession, each worse
than the last--was another island--Providence Island--1,400 m. in length.
When we reached any rapid we had to be quick in judging which was the
best channel to follow, as the current was so strong that we had not
sufficient strength to pull back against it. I generally selected the
channel, my men by this time having gained sufficient confidence in my
judgment, since so far we had had no serious mishap. But I foresaw that
we should soon have an accident, as they were getting foolhardy, and in
their ignorance attributed the wonderful luck we had had entirely to
their own skill in navigation.
On that particular occasion we had hardly time to recover from shooting
the first rapid with the velocity of an arrow, and were wet all over with
the splash of the water, when we came to the second and third rapids,
where the channel was so narrow and rocks were scattered so near the
surface, that it was really a marvel to me how we got through without
capsizing. The men in their excitement were shrieking wildly as we dashed
through the foaming waters, and there were also yells of positive terror
from the man ahead, who with a long pole in hand tried to save the canoe
from dashing now upon one rock then upon another.
Below the rapids the three other islands were Dora Island, 200 m. long;
Edna Island, 500 m. long; and Lucia Island, 700 m. long.
The river was flowing in a westerly and south-westerly direction, the
banks showing a quantity of rubber trees all along. A tiny islet 50 m.
long had been eroded from the right bank, just above a strong
_corrideira_, easily identifiable by later travellers who may visit it,
since a huge rock stands there in the centre of the river.
On the left side of the river foliated rock 10 ft. high was exposed for
the length of 1 kil. Dense forest was to be seen on both sides of the
river all along the rapids.
Two more islands, each 100 m. in diameter--Romeo and Juliet
Islands--close to each other, were then seen on one side of the main
channel, which was 200 m. wide.
From this point the river actually flowed in a S.S.W. direction (230°
b.m.), and for 2,500 m. we had to negotiate strong and troublesome rapids
with variations of shallow water, usually with a bottom of sharp rocks.
The water in many of those places, coming with great force, hit the
bottom and was thrown up again in high waves which swamped our canoe each
time we went through them. In one place we got stuck on a rock in the
middle of the foaming waters, and had a hard job to get the canoe off
again and prevent her sinking when we had done so.
Where the river turned for another 2 kil. 500 m. more to the west,
another elongated island rose on the left side of the stream. The
island--Laurita Island--was only 80 m. broad, but had a total length of
1,800 m.
More rapids and shallow water above a bottom of red volcanic débris were
found. A small tributary 2 m. wide at the mouth entered the Arinos on the
left bank, not far from the spot where a rocky rugged island rose in the
centre of the stream.
I halted at 11.30 in order to take the usual observations for latitude
and longitude and soundings of the river. The stream, which was 320 m.
broad, below some rapids, showed a depth of 6 ft. the entire way across.
Farther down, where it contracted to 200 m. in breadth, it showed a depth
of 8 ft. in the centre with a maximum depth of 10 ft. to the right and
left of it, gradually decreasing to 5 ft., 3 ft., 2 ft., and 1 ft. as it
neared the banks. Lat. 11° 7'·3 S.; long. 57° 46' W.
[Illustration: A Giant Central Wave emerging from a Narrow Channel.]
When we resumed our journey after lunch, we came to another thickly
wooded island, 1,000 m. long, 350 m. wide--J. Carlos Rodriguez
Island--with a cluster of huge rocks on its southern end.
We had a few minutes of comparatively easy navigation, the river being
extraordinarily beautiful in straight stretches of 3,000 m., 2,000 m.,
and 3,000 m., to 340°, 350°, and 360° (N.) bearings magnetic. In the
first 3,000 m. we came upon another strong rapid over a barrier of rocks
which extended right across the stream. Beyond the rapids the usual
troublesome whirlpools occurred. A polished dome of rock 10 ft. high
emerged in mid-stream. Then another charming island--Nona Island--with a
spit of white sand at its southern end rose gracefully out of the river.
It had a breadth of 100 m. and a length of 600 m.
More _corrideiras_ and eddies had to be gone over that day. We seemed to
be spending our entire time trying to avoid--not always
successfully--collisions with dangerous rocks. We came to another
beautiful island, 200 m. long and 100 m. wide--Emma Island--screened at
its southern end by high-domed volcanic rocks, and soon after to a rocky
island on our right, separated by a narrow channel from a larger and
thickly wooded island, 300 m. long and 100 m. wide--Georgia Island.
The rapids seemed to be getting worse and worse as we went down the
stream. After passing these three islands we came to a most dangerous
spot, the rapids there being strewn all over with nasty-looking rocks
which did not seem to leave a clear passage anywhere in a straight line.
After 500 m. of anxious travelling we encountered more rapids and
troublesome eddies. We had by that time got accustomed to the danger,
and even felt travelling dull and stupid when we came to a few metres of
placid water.
As we were going down a stretch of 3,000 m. to 350° b.m. we found the
centre of the river blocked by great masses of rock; then, a little
farther, rocks occupied the left of the river. We went through a narrow
passage between those high rocks, finding ourselves carried away
helplessly into a rapid of alarming swiftness, which subsequently shot us
into a terrific whirlpool.
Alcides was steering us right into the centre of the terrifying rotating
waters, when I jumped up and, seizing the steering gear out of his hands,
was just able to avoid disaster. As it was, the canoe switched off at a
tangent with a heavy list to port, leapt out of the water like a flying
fish, and when she dropped again into the water was carried off at a
great speed, with a heavy list on and filling fast. I do not know why she
did not capsize altogether.
We then had rocks on the left side, rocks on the right side; a barrier of
many rocks across the entire stream, with a thickly wooded island, 70 m.
wide and 200 m. long--Lilian Island--on the left side. There were a great
many scattered rocks at the northern end of the island, where a small
rapid was found. Then we were confronted by 4,000 m. of river in a
straight line. We had gone but 2,000 m. along that stretch when we came
to a lovely rectangular island, with a spit of rock extending for 120 m.
eastward, and separated by a narrow channel from the island itself. The
island--Susan Island--was 100 m. broad and 250 m. long, with its
fore-part of gravel as usual. It was in a basin 500 m. wide.
The river turned to the W.S.W., and was there placid enough, although the
current was swift. Where the river flowed once more in a more northerly
direction we found rocks and two tiny wooded islands on the left side of
the stream, one 20 m., the other 70 m. long. There a _corrideira_
occurred soon after we had negotiated a dangerous rapid--dangerous
because of the number of intricate rocks which forced the canoe to
describe a snake-like dance like a double S, bumping and swerving with
such force from the restless waters underneath, that it was all we could
do to prevent her turning over.
In a basin 700 m. wide which was further crossed, we admired a
picturesque rocky island of a beautiful emerald green colour in the
centre of the stream. An immense barrier of rock was on the north-east
side of this basin. Before we halted, absolutely worn out by the heavy
work of the day, we descended another troublesome rapid--fortunately that
time with no mishaps of any kind.
At five o'clock we made our camp in the only spot we could find that was
suitable; but no sooner had we landed than we were fiercely attacked by
millions of _sauba_ or _carregadores_ ants which gave us a lively time
during the entire night. Those ants, which were there absolutely in
millions, were from 1 in. to 1¼ in. in length, and possessed powerful
clippers on the head with which they bit us, giving intense pain. When
you had thousands of them climbing up your legs and over your body, and
dropping upon you from the tree branches which were alive with them, and
clinging to you with all their might once they had got you with their
clippers, you began to think what a fool you had been to leave your happy
home in England.
As I shall have an opportunity of speaking at greater length of the
_saubas_ later in this volume, I shall leave them now, merely mentioning
that during the entire night we were unable to sleep owing to those
brutes. And that was not all: we had many of our clothes, shoes, and
other articles entirely destroyed by them.
We called that place Camp Carregador. The nights had become by then quite
stifling and damp, the minimum temperature on July 21st being 63° F.
No sooner had we started on our journey that day than we came to rapids.
A lot of rocks stood everywhere in the stream. The river after that
flowed in a snake-like fashion for 5,000 m. in a general direction
N.N.E., and was there comparatively free from serious obstacles. We came
to a triangular island 700 m. long--Ada Island--separated from a second
island by a channel 50 m. wide. This second island--Hugo Island--formed
an isosceles triangle of 800 m. each side. These two islands were
evidently at one time joined together, forming a lozenge-shaped island,
and had been eroded in the centre by the back-wash of the stream at the
spot where it formed an angle.
Where the river turned from 315° b.m. to 340° b.m., it was much strewn
with sharp cutting rocks. We were thrown with great violence on one of
these and very nearly capsized. Great heaps of volcanic boulders were now
seen on the right side of the channel, and one island 50 m. long--Nora
Island--with a few shrubs on it.
[Illustration: A Dangerous Rapid.]
[Illustration: Taking the Canoe and Part of the Baggage down a
Narrow Passage among Rocks.]
A great heap of rock was fixed in the centre of the stream, forming a
kind of spur, beyond which a regular barrier of rock spread from
south-west to north-east right across the stream. We had difficulty in
finding a suitable passage, but eventually got through close to the right
bank in a small _corrideira_, easily recognizable by subsequent
travellers, as by the side of it was a rocky hill of a conical shape 30
ft. high with a tuft of trees on its summit. On both banks of the stream
rubber trees were plentiful. For 5,000 m. the river had been proceeding
in a perfectly straight line to the N.N.W.
My work was extremely tiring, as not only was my time employed surveying
the river carefully and writing up plentiful notes, but also I had to
control the navigation as much as I could and be ready for any emergency,
owing to the capricious nature of my men and their unbounded
disobedience. Orders could not be given direct, as they were always
disobeyed, so that to obtain what I wished I generally had to give the
contrary order. For instance, if I wanted to avoid a rock I ordered
Alcides to run the canoe on to the rock; if I wanted to shoot a rapid I
ordered them to take the canoe down with ropes, and so on.
Innumerable rocks were now encountered all the time. In places regular
great tables or platforms of polished rock were to be seen under the
surface in the clear water. A wonderful group of gigantic rocks was then
reached, with a most charming island peeping through behind.
We came to an island 450 m. long and 30 m. wide--Anna Island--where two
more barriers of rock were found right across the stream. Beyond, a bank
150 m. long of deliciously white sand was observed, where some 2 kil. of
placid navigation was gone through; but no sooner had we covered that
short distance than strong eddies were again met with at the point where
the river expanded to a somewhat greater width.
After going almost due west for a short distance the river gradually
swung round to due north, a most beautiful view opening before us as we
got round the sweeping curve. For 5,000 m. the river now ran in a
perfectly straight line, with its beautiful clear water flowing over a
rocky bed. In the far distance loomed the first range of mountains we had
seen since leaving the Serra Azul. I had got so tired of gazing at a flat
horizon line that the sight of the range gave me unbounded pleasure. But
I had not much time to gaze upon the scenery, for rocks of all sizes and
shapes were strewn all along the channel.
Two small islets, each 20 m. long, were passed on the right bank. Then
came more picturesque groups of rock on the right and on the left of us
as we paddled gaily along, and refreshing accumulations of pure white
sand. Farther on, an island 50 m. wide and 60 m. long, with a southerly
crown of huge boulders--Corona Island--was to be seen close to the right
bank.
Some thousand metres before we got to the end of the long stretch, yet
another elongated island 50 m. long lay close to the left bank. The
island was thickly wooded. From that spot a basin fully 1,000 m. broad
spread out. The easterly portion was a mass of rock, exposed a few feet
above the surface. These rocks extended right across the basin as far as
an island 350 m. long--Josephine Island. The vegetation was
indescribably beautiful in that part. Immense quantities of rubber trees
stood majestically, so far unknown and untouched in the luxuriant forest.
Eight distinct groups of rocks were found on the right-hand side of the
river where it flowed for 4,000 m. in a N.N.W. direction. I took
forty-two sights of the sun that day in order to determine the exact
latitude and longitude. Lat. 10° 48'·9 S.; long. 58° 0' W.
When we left again in the afternoon the river, there 350 m. broad, was
enchantingly beautiful, absolutely clear of obstacles as far as we could
see. There was a stretch of 4,000 m. of placid waters, and we imagined
that we had come to the end of our trouble.
Monkeys played gaily among the trees, evidently taking the greatest
interest in the canoe. They followed us for long distances, jumping from
tree to tree, shrieking with excitement and gazing at us with keen
interest. We in the canoe suffered perfect torture from the millions of
bees, gnats, and mosquitoes, which settled on us in absolute swarms and
stung us for all they were worth. The lips, eyelids, nose and ears seemed
to be their favourite spots for drawing blood--perhaps because the
remainder of the face and neck was already a mass of stings and the skin
had got hardened and parched by the broiling sun. The temperature was
warm--92° F. in the shade, and 103° in the sun.
At the end of the 4,000 m. another great mass of rocks was found
extending from south to north right across the stream. Fortunately we
found a channel sufficiently large for navigating our canoe exactly in
the centre of the river. After turning to the W.N.W. we found a charming
little rocky islet with a solitary tree upon it, and 1 kil. farther a
larger island 400 m. long and 300 m. wide in the shape of a
triangle--Sylvia Island. This island was separated by a channel 70 m.
wide from an immense island--Guanabara Island--6,400 m. long. The channel
we followed, the river there flowing to the S.S.W., was 300 m. wide.
Great masses of rock were visible on the left side. Where the river
flowed in a more westerly direction rocks formed a barrier right across
from south-east to north-west.
Then the river once more flowed in a S.S.W. direction through a perfectly
beautiful channel. A lovely sand and gravel beach extended from
north-east to south-west at the turn of the river where the great
Guanabara Island ended.
Some 600 m. farther on a huge dome of rock like a spherical balloon was
to be seen, with two smaller rocks by its side. A basin 400 m. wide was
then found with an islet of sand 100 m. long on the left side, and a low
islet of gravel partly wooded on the right side of the channel. These
preceded another accumulation of sand and gravel 100 m. long with a few
trees upon it, which was succeeded by a mass of rocks just before
reaching a fair-sized island.
Another great spherical rock was seen before entering the channel between
the island and the left bank. In the extensive bay great boulders of
indescribable beauty were visible.
[Illustration: The Canoe being led down a Rapid.]
Several _capivaras_ were basking in the sun on the top of the boulders,
and were fired at many times by my men as they stood up to gaze at us in
astonishment before they made up their minds to jump into the water
and escape.
Close to those rocks an island--Teresa Island--400 m. long was next
admired. Strong rapids had to be gone through in a great barrier of rocks
at the end of this island. Then no sooner were we thanking our stars that
we had negotiated that portion of our journey safely than we were among a
lot of globular boulders, some 30 ft. high.
For 800 m. we had a placid time, the water of the stream being so
beautifully green, so transparent, that we could see the bottom quite
clearly. Our happiness did not last long. We had more rapids and a great
rocky bank spreading from south-east to north-west right across the
stream, and forming in one portion an island.
We went down another strong rapid between great and dangerously situated
rocks and a large island. Then came another wonderful group of high domed
rocks, one of the great domes displaying a sharp northern spur like the
ram of a battleship. Next to it were three cylindrical rocks, just like
towers, one of which leant over the dome.
Yet another rapid was shot through with no misadventure, and when we came
to the end of a large island 4,500 m. long and 80 m. wide--Priscilla
Island--preceded by a smaller islet of sand and gravel, we arrived at a
direct stretch of 4,000 m. of river, flowing to the west. Another rocky
islet with an accumulation of sand and a lot of scattered rocks by its
side, then a high island, were passed on our right, and farther on we
found another great group of globular rocks at the point where Daphne
Island, 350 m. in length, began.
I hardly had time to map out the numberless rocks and islands we met
before we came upon others. There again we saw three more islands in
succession--Mars Island, 500 m. long and 100 m. wide; Jupiter Island, 250
m. long; and a third and smaller one, separated from the second by a
channel strewn with huge boulders.
To the N.N.W., at 340° b.m., we saw a hill 300 ft. high, some distance
from the stream. Innumerable rocks again occurred in the centre of the
channel, and then we came to an extensive triangular island--Barretos
Island--the base of which was 300 m. Its left side was 2,000 m. long, its
eastern or right side about 1,500 m. A hill range some 300 ft. high was
looming before us to the north-east. The second island--Antonio Prado
Island--had a total length of 2,000 m. with an average width of 200 m.
On this magnificent island we halted at five o'clock in the afternoon,
and I took altitude observations with the hypsometrical apparatus: 1,062
ft. above the sea level.
We were again lucky in fishing that evening. We caught six _trahiras_,
several _pacus_, and two young _jahus_--altogether some 120 lb. in
weight. My men had wasted so much food, and so much had been spoiled by
constant immersions--many of the tinned meats had been altogether spoiled
by the tins having got rusty and gradually perforated--that I was
beginning to feel rather anxious in case our journey should last longer
than I expected. Unfortunately, we had lost most of our salt, and we had
no way of preserving the fish, which we had to leave on the banks,
absolutely wasted. In order, however, to show how lazy my men were, it is
enough to say that, rather than take the slight trouble of placing some
pieces of the excellent fish on board the canoe instead of trusting
entirely to the luck we might have in fishing the next evening, they had
to go the entire day without food. For some reason or other we could not
get a single fish to bite, and we did not find a single bird or monkey to
shoot.
I was rather interested to observe, in looking over my notes, that nearly
all the rocky barriers we had met stretching across the river extended
from south-east to north-west. I believe that similar barriers stretched
in the same direction in the other southern tributaries of the Amazon,
the Xingu and the Madeira Rivers, but, curiously enough, this was not the
case with the River Araguaya.
We had made our camp that particular night on a lovely beach of white
sand, which I found perfectly delicious, but which my men hated, as there
were no trees on which they could hang their hammocks. They did not like
to go into the luxuriant forest of the beautiful island, as they were
afraid to go too far away from me, and I did not wish to go too far away
from the canoe, which we had beached on the gravel bank, in case the
river should rise suddenly or something should happen to make her float
away. As I have said, I never, during the entire journey, let that canoe
go out of my sight for one single moment. The men, therefore, went into
the forest to cut big poles, which they afterwards planted with much
exertion, in the sand near my camp-bed.
Some amusing scenes happened during the night, when the poles gradually
gave way with the weight of the men in the hammocks, and, tumbling down
altogether, gave them severe blows on their heads and bodies.
[Illustration: Crocodile about to attack one of the Dogs of the Expedition.
Photographed by author at a distance of three metres (Rio Arinos-Juruena).]
The stars were simply magnificent in brilliancy as I lay on my camp-bed.
One particularly, to 290° b.m. N.W.--the planet Venus--was
extraordinarily brilliant, appearing six times as big as any other planet
visible that night. It threw off radiations of wonderful luminosity,
quite strong enough to illuminate with a whitish light a great circular
surface of the sky around it.
In the morning, before we left, Alcides--who loved carving names and
inscriptions on every tree and stone--duly incised the name of Antonio
Prado, with which I baptized the island in honour of the greatest
Brazilian living, upon a giant _figueira_ tree on the southern edge of
the extensive beach of sand and gravel.