A Tiny Globular Cloudlet warning us--Tossed in a Merciless
Manner--Saved by Providence--Vicious Waters--A Diabolical Spot--A
Highly Dangerous Crossing--A Terrible Channel--More Bad
Rapids--On the Verge of a Fatal Drop down a Waterfall--Saved in
Time--A Magnificent Sight--The August Falls--A Mutiny--The Canoe,
weighing 2,000 lb., taken across the Forest over a Hill-range
THE thermometer that night, July 30th, showed a minimum of 63° F. We
repaired the large hole (about 1 ft. in diameter) in the side of the
canoe by stuffing it with a pair of my pyjamas, while one or two shirts
which I still had left were torn to shreds in order to fill up the huge
crack which went from one end of the canoe almost to the other, and which
had become opened again in scraping rocks in the rapid.
We did not leave that camp until 11 o'clock a.m. An isolated hill was
visible on the left bank. We had gone some 3,000 m. when we came to
another fairly strong rapid. My men were quarrelling among themselves.
Alcides, who was fond of gesticulating on such occasions, let the
steering gear go in order to give more force to his words by waving his
hands in the air, regardless of the danger which was in front of us, with
the result that the canoe turned a pirouette upon herself and down the
rapid we went backwards.
The river flowed from that place in an easterly direction for some 3,000
m., where a great basin was formed, strewn with rocks and islets and
having two large islands in its eastern part. The basin in its widest
part had a width of 2,000 m. Then from that point the river went to 50°
b.m. for a distance of 6,000 m. A strong north-easterly wind was blowing
against us, keeping us back and making our work unduly hard. Great waves
tossed us about and made my men seasick, while we got splashed
incessantly, the moisture we absorbed being each time quickly evaporated
by the fierce wind. We felt cold and shivery and not particularly happy
after the experience of the previous night.
Benedicto, who had been entrusted during the journey with the baling out
of the canoe, was beginning to find his job too much for him--a job which
he had volunteered to do at first when the canoe was not leaking. He now
said he wanted to paddle and not bale out the water any more. Although we
used a big bucket for that purpose, Benedicto had all his work cut out
for him in keeping the canoe only half full of water.
Several times I remonstrated with him that day, as while I was sitting
behind him with the wind blowing hard, he flung most of the water on me
instead of back into the stream.
I had observed for the last few days a little globular white cloudlet to
the north, just above the horizon. Every day that cloudlet was to be seen
in the very same position, where it remained motionless most of the day
upon the otherwise beautifully clear blue sky. That was an indication to
me that we must be nearing a great fall of water or an immense rapid,
which caused the evaporation of the water to produce it.
Many were the islands we passed that day, some as much as 800 m. in
length. One island, particularly, was picturesque to a degree, with an
impressive crown of rock on its westerly side. The river was there some
2,000 m. wide--perhaps even more, as I could not quite see how far the
bank was to the left of us owing to some islands which stood in the way.
A barrier of islands describing a crescent then stood before us, the
largest island of that group being 800 m. wide and several kilometres
long--Belinda Island. I did not measure the exact length of this island,
as we got into great trouble there in some strong rapids, and I had to
leave my notebooks for a moment in order to assist poor Benedicto in
baling out the water so that we could keep afloat.
When our course turned to 10° b.m. we came into full view of a high range
to the north of us which spread from north-west to south-east. The river
had cut its way right through it. We reached a great basin again, 2,000
m. broad like its predecessor, with four beautiful islands abreast, and a
number of other islands varying from 100 to 500 m. in length behind them,
in the centre, while rocks innumerable were scattered about. There was a
rapid once more, with a nasty succession of strong whirlpools formed by
the deviation of the swift waters encountering the many rocks.
[Illustration: The Upper Terrace of the August Waterfall.]
Beyond the rapids we got a full view of the range before us, which
extended from 90° b.m. to 320°. We had hardly recovered from negotiating
those eddies when we were confronted by yet another strong rapid,
impossible to navigate, where we had to let the canoe down by means of
ropes.
The river here was most picturesque, in great straight stretches from
3,000 to 9,000 m. in length. Some 4,000 m. farther down we came to a very
bad rapid. My men were extremely tired of unloading and reloading the
canoe all the time with the heavy baggage which still remained. They
became most ill-tempered when this new rapid appeared before us, blaming
me, as it were, for the rapid being there. I told them that if they did
not care to unload all they had to do was to shoot the rapid. They
quarrelled among themselves. When we got near it my men became terrified.
Alcides, who was at the steering gear, mentioned the fact that we should
all be drowned in a few moments. He became perplexed when we entered the
rapid, which tossed the canoe about in a merciless manner. In one place,
where the water, driven through with great force along a narrow channel,
formed a central wave of great height, the canoe stood up almost
vertically on her stern. Baggage and men all slid down in a heap. The
next thing I saw, when the canoe righted herself, was that we were going
down the rapid sideways and at a really vertiginous pace. We managed to
clear by a mere hair's-breadth two great rocks which stood in the way.
Had we struck a rock on that particular occasion we certainly should have
all been killed. As luck would have it, before we knew what was happening
we were shot into the whirlpool under the rapid, and there we turned
round upon ourselves three or four times before my men had recovered from
the amazement of finding themselves still alive, and had begun to paddle
again after I had told them to do so for the twentieth time.
Filippe the negro exclaimed: "As long as we come with you, sir, we shall
never be killed, but you let us go very near death sometimes!" Then they
discussed among themselves, saying that I must have some particular
mascotte which I carried upon my person and which prevented disaster.
The range which was before us to the north-west developed itself into a
flat-topped hill mass about 500 ft. above the level of the river.
Another rapid, fairly violent, was reached some distance beyond, my men
this time offering at once, of their own accord, to unload the canoe and
take her down carefully with ropes. I pretended not to care, as I wanted
to give them a lesson, and said we had better shoot it, as we had done
the previous one.
"No, no, no, no!" they all said in a chorus; "there is such a thing as
tempting Providence!"
As we got farther down I could perceive that the range extended much
farther than I had seen earlier in the day; in fact, from the W.N.W. it
spread as far as E.S.E.
Below the last rapid was an island of great beauty--Babin Island--2,000
m. long. The river beyond that island formed two arms, one on each side
of a triangular island located in the opening formed in the hill range by
the river, where another strong rapid--in fact, a regular small
waterfall--was to be found.
It was very difficult to keep count of all the islands which we
constantly passed--many elongated, others triangular, others rectangular,
others of all kinds of irregular shapes. In my note-books I endeavoured
to map out the entire course of the river as well as I could, and I think
that, considering the amount of other work I had to do and the
difficulties encountered all the time, the map I made to the scale of one
centimetre to a kilometre is as accurate as it could possibly be made
with the means at my command. In places where I was uncertain I have left
blanks in the map, and have not gone in for the usual method of certain
geographers of filling up the space with all kinds of shadings in order
to make it look pretty.
We had gone that day 46 kil., the current having been very strong all the
time, which made up for the loss of time in dealing with the many rapids.
I took altitude observations with the hypsometrical apparatus, water
boiling at that spot at 210° 3½, the temperature of the air being 78° F.
The minimum temperature during the night of July 30th was 63° F.
We began our journey the next morning by going down a bad rapid and
across an awe-inspiring whirlpool. There again we had to lead the empty
canoe down with ropes, and even so we had difficulty in getting her
through safely.
We were in a region of immense volcanic domes composed of eroded rock,
with many small perforations and large holes 2 or 3 ft. in diameter,
highly polished inside as if they had been varnished. Those rocks were
similar to those I had met in the higher part of the plateau of Matto
Grosso. Some of the holes in the rock had been enlarged to a great extent
by the water of the river revolving inside them.
After we had passed the great whirlpool we found many curious mounds of
sand 20 ft. high among great masses of lava and eruptive rock. Those
mounds were formed by musical sand such as we had met before. We called
it in this particular place "moaning sand," as instead of whistling as
usual it produced a wailing sound like the cry of a hungry puppy.
On the right side of the stream we came to an important tributary 50 m.
wide; 500 m. lower down another strong rapid was reached. I was greatly
amused to see how my men now invariably pulled up the canoe when we
perceived a rapid and unloaded her, carefully taking her down with ropes.
One man, nevertheless, had to be in the canoe to steer her. Alcides
always volunteered to take the job.
[Illustration: Interesting Geological Formation below the Salto Augusto.]
Two hundred metres below this rapid the river turned a sharp corner.
There we met one of the most dangerous rapids and whirlpool I have ever
seen. It was quite awe-inspiring to look at those vicious waters, the
water in the vortex being raised like a wall two or three feet higher
than the greatest waves of the rapid by the force with which it revolved.
The entire river--which, as we have seen, was in some places 2,000 m.
wide--was now squeezed through a narrow cut in the hill range, two great
arms of water joining directly above that spot. The water was naturally
forced through that small opening at an incredible pace. The high
vertical rocks at the side of the small channel which was there formed
made it extremely difficult to take the canoe down by ropes, especially
as the summit of those rocks was much cut up, and we, above, could not
keep pace with the canoe as she floated swiftly down the rapid. By
fastening together a lot of ropes which we had removed from round the
different packages we just managed to make them long enough to undertake
the dangerous task.
The hill range, a section of which could be seen at that spot, clearly
showed that it was made up of gigantic blocks piled on the top of one
another up to a height of 100 ft. At high water the river level must
reach--as was evident by the erosion and other signs upon those
rocks--nearly to the summit of the range; in fact, when I climbed to the
top I found plenty of débris among the rocks, undoubtedly left there by
the stream. On the north side the range was made up entirely of gigantic
slabs of lava some 15 ft. thick and lying at an angle of 60° with a dip
northward. On the south side of the range I had found, instead, great
boulders which had evidently travelled there and were much eroded. It can
easily be understood that when the water rose it must be held up by the
hill range, and form a big lake.
We wasted an entire day trying to find a way to take the canoe over the
hills, as we did not dare risk sending her down by water. My men were
positively disheartened and on the verge of revolt, as they contended
that it was all my fault that I had taken them to a diabolical place like
that. I plainly told them that if I gave them such high wages it was
because I knew there was a great deal of risk, as I had explained to them
at the beginning of the expedition, and I expected them to do some hard
work in return.
"But," said the philosopher of the party, "what is the use of money to
us if after working hard for months and months we are going to be
killed?"
I told them that that was not the moment to argue, but to act; if they
followed my orders closely, perhaps we might all escape alive.
Alcides, who was certainly a hard worker, although not always in the
right direction, had a nasty accident that day and cut his foot badly on
the sharp rocks. He was practically incapacitated for work, as he could
only stand on one leg, the other leg being contracted with the really
ghastly injury.
This was ill-luck, as our strength combined was not sufficient for the
work we had to do, and now the loss of one man--the best of my
followers--was an extra trial at the most inopportune moment.
The canoe, too, was in a wretched condition after all the many accidents
we had had, and we possessed no more tar, and could spare no more
clothes, to stop up the leakages which were now plentiful all over her
bottom.
The day of July 31st was thus absolutely lost. I was on the verge of
abandoning the canoe there altogether and attempting to get down along
the banks of the river on foot--which would have been almost suicidal, as
we never could have reached a place of safety.
Night came. At sunset we had the usual concert of mosquitoes, all kinds
of insects and frogs, in such innumerable quantities that the din made by
them collectively was so loud as to resemble the sound of an iron foundry
or a battle-ship in course of construction, the sounds produced by the
millions of nocturnal singers being quite metallic and reproducing
exactly the sound of hammers driving rivets into the steel plates of a
ship. Whether it was done purposely or accidentally I do not know, but
those little water creatures of the Arinos seemed to keep excellent time,
their vigour also being most enviable.
On August 1st we had a minimum temperature of 64° F. during the night.
I still saw that it was out of the question to endeavour to take the
canoe over the immense boulders and over the hill range. One faint hope,
involving very great danger, loomed in my mind. If we could only cross
the river just above the fearsome channel we could perhaps on the other
side take down the canoe by water. This plan required great smartness,
as, had we miscalculated the speed of the river and the rate at which we
could travel across that dangerous water, it would surely mean certain
death.
I spoke to my men about it. They said they were ready to go. I explained
to them that they must paddle their hardest and not give way for a second
until we had got diagonally across the fairly still waters only a few
yards above the awful channel. Should we by misfortune be dragged into
that channel by the current we might as well say good-bye to the world.
When we started on that job we risked everything. My men behaved
splendidly that day. They paddled and paddled for all they were worth, to
get across the hundred metres or so, and took the best part of half an
hour in the formidable current. For a moment, when the canoe was in the
centre where the current was strongest and we were making no headway, I
saw a bad look-out for us. I urged them on with shouts of "_Rema!
rema!_" (Row! row!) and at last, in a desperate effort, the canoe once
more moved forward. It was a relief indeed when men and baggage were
safely landed on the opposite side.
All were so exhausted that for a couple of hours it was out of the
question to resume work. I occupied that time in taking observations for
altitude and longitude, tortured to death as usual by the innumerable
bees and _piums_. (Lat. 8° 54'·6 S.; long. 58° 51' W.)
The temperature in the sun was 107° F. The red and black volcanic rocks
radiated such heat that we were nearly stifled in the enclosed basin
which was formed by the hill range.
In the afternoon we began with the second part of the dangerous task of
endeavouring to take the canoe through the current in a north-easterly
direction. The channel in that cut was 200 m. long and only 50 m. wide.
The rock was laminated in layers 6 ft. thick, which had been subsequently
baked into a solid mass. The lower portion, of beautiful black and quite
shiny, threw up by contrast the vivid red colour of the upper part.
[Illustration: The Salto Augusto (Upper Terrace).]
We had an exciting time when we started the canoe with ropes down that
rapid. We ran with bare feet upon the sharp broiling rocks. We could not
possibly stand on them with our shoes on. We ran along for all we were
worth, in order to prevent the canoe escaping. We climbed up and down
great cuts from 10 to 30 ft. high in the rock, never letting go the
ropes. Our agility that day was remarkable. Even poor Alcides, whose
foot I had wrapped up with a piece of my shirt, was coming along
pluckily, regardless of the pain which he certainly suffered. Once or
twice, when we remained slightly behind in that awful race, the canoe
nearly pulled us into the water from our high point on the rocks some 30
to 50 ft. above.
Those 200 m. of channel seemed miles long to us. Eventually, the canoe
was brought out safely at the other end. With bleeding feet and hands we
returned once more to our point of departure in order to convey all our
baggage upon our backs. After two or three journeys backwards and
forwards we were able to proceed a short distance down the river, where
we could find a suitable camping-place to rest our weary bones for the
night.
On leaving the rapids the river took a direction of 310° b.m. There was a
high hill to the east and another, equally high, to the west. The chain
of hills seen from the north showed much erosion in the centre, where the
rock was exposed underneath. On the south side the upper portion of the
hill range consisted of a vertical rocky cliff in strata each 6 ft.
thick.
Another cut, more unpleasant even than ours, had been made by the river
in that same range to the north-east of that through which we had taken
the canoe. An island of rock rose between those cuts.
A few hundred metres below the mouth of that ugly channel we found an
extensive beach, on which we made our camp for the night. The minimum
temperature during the night of August 2nd was 64° F.
When we landed the men were proceeding to cut down the foliage on the
edge of the forest, so as to be able to hang their hammocks, when they
became greatly excited on discovering several nests of _maribondos_
(hornets), graceful cones of a parchment-like material enclosing a number
of superposed discs from one to three inches in diameter and about a
quarter of an inch apart. Each disc had a perforation in order to let the
dwellers in those little homes pass from one chamber to another from the
highest of the cone down to the lowest in the apex.
When we left at 7.30 in the morning and had gone but 1,800 m., the river
suddenly described a sharp angle and at that point went through a narrow
neck. Afterwards it widened once more to an average breadth of 800 m.,
which it kept for a distance of 3 kil. in a straight line, the channel
being there quite clear of rocks and the water beautifully smooth.
The river was indeed lovely in that part. I had a little more time there
to look round at the scenery on either side of us. I noticed that rubber
was still to be found, but in small quantities in that region. Rubber
trees were only to be seen every now and then. Looking back to the south
and south-west on the range of hills we had left behind, I could see that
it extended far to the north-west. The highest part of it, however,
seemed to be near the point where we had negotiated the dangerous rapid.
We had gone no more than 9,600 m., when we came to another bad rapid over
a barrier of rock across the river from north-east to south-west. A
tributary 10 m. wide at the mouth occurred on the right just before this
rapid. Beautiful trees of great height, with yellow ball-like blooms,
enlivened the scenery as we went along. We had little time to appreciate
the beauty of the vegetation--we were too busy with the river. No sooner
had we got through one rapid than we came to another alarming one, with a
sudden drop of over 6 ft. and enormous volumes of water pouring over it.
This rapid described an arc of a circle, forming an awe-inspiring
whirlpool below the actual fall. We had some trouble in finding a place
where we could get the canoe through. Eventually, with water up to our
necks, we let her gradually down the high step in the middle of the
river, we standing with great difficulty on submerged rocks. We had then
to make several journeys backwards and forwards to convey the various
loads to the canoe after we had brought her to a place of safety, our
baggage having been left on rocks in mid-stream. This was extremely risky
work, for the current was powerful and the water reached in some places
up to our necks. I was anxious for the men who could not swim, as I was
afraid any moment they might be washed away, and not only should I lose
them but also the valuable instruments, photographic plates, etc., which
they were conveying across.
Again that day I had seen since the early morning our friend the little
white solitary cloudlet, standing out motionless against the otherwise
speckless blue sky. Not only that, but on that particular day I could
just perceive, directly under that cloudlet, a faint column of white mist
connecting it vertically with the ground. I knew by that sign that we
could not be far off a big waterfall; in fact, I could hear a distant
rumble which made me suspect that we were much nearer than we supposed.
The river was flowing to 70° b.m. Two other rapids--most violent--were
reached within a short distance of each other; then, shortly beyond these
obstacles, where the river described a graceful turn, we had before us a
great surprise. We heard a loud roar like thunder; it had been getting
louder and louder, and grew quite deafening when we turned round the
corner. Behold! we had no more scenery upon the horizon before us on the
river, but the sky came right down to the water. Great clouds of mist
rose up in quick succession in graceful circles. There was an island in
the centre of the stream; then to the left of the island the sky again
came right down to the water. There a curious effect was to be seen, a
high pointed cone of water shooting up skyward with terrific force, then
rolling upon itself only to give way to another cone of water succeeding
it.
[Illustration: Foliated Rock below the August Falls.]
My men were terrified when they suddenly realized the danger which was
only a few hundred metres in front of us. There was a mighty waterfall.
When my men got excited it was generally troublesome, because they always
disagreed and started quarrelling and insulting one another. Some of them
wanted to land at once, for fear of being dragged down the fall.
Alcides--who wanted to show his bravery on all occasions--said there was
no danger at all and we could go in the canoe right as far as the edge of
the fall. The others naturally got somewhat scared at so foolhardy a
project. Personally I did not like to say a word in the matter, for fear
they should think that I was afraid. I saw with some concern that
Alcides--whose mind, I believe, was not quite right owing to the
hardships we had endured of late--was steering us right for the centre of
the waterfall. I told him that it would be preferable to land on the edge
of the waterfall rather than go over it, as it was a little too high for
the canoe to tumble over. I calculated the height of the fall from 40 to
50 ft., and I was not far wrong, for when I took accurate measurements I
found the actual height was 48 ft.
We were beginning to drift very speedily with the current, when Alcides,
realizing the danger, steered us toward the right bank. The men paddled
for their lives so as to land as quickly as possible, as we were now less
than a hundred metres from the portentous jump. The current was terrific,
and the canoe was floating sideways nearer and nearer the awful chasm.
The coast line on the right, was almost vertical, and there was no place
where we could hold on to anything and land. So down floated the canoe,
my men horror-stricken. Once or twice they were able to seize a creeping
vine hanging down the steep bank, endeavouring to stop the canoe's
headlong career. But the creepers gave way and crashed down upon us,
nearly turning over the canoe at the moment just before they snapped.
So down, down we went, until we were now only a few metres from the fatal
drop, and I saw no way of arresting the canoe.
"Estamos perdidos!" (We are lost!) shouted the men.
"Not yet! not yet!" I exclaimed, as I perceived two rocks just sticking
out of the water. "Make for the rocks!" I shouted to Alcides, and just
as we shaved past them I jumped quickly on one of the rocks, holding the
canoe, while two of the men also jumped out quickly and held fast to the
boat--just in time. We were only 10 or 15 m. from the place where the
water curled over and rolled down the fall.
There was no time for arguing or scolding. Upon those rocks my men, who
were fond of talking, started a brisk war of words, saying that they
would never continue the journey if Alcides were allowed to steer again.
Alcides, on the other hand, whose only aim in life was to fight everybody
and everything, invited all the other men to a duel with their rifles. I
told them they could have the duel after we had finished the journey and
not before. We must take the ropes, climb up to the top of the bank, and,
first of all, we must tow the canoe back to a place of safety.
After a great deal of shouting, angry words and oaths, absolutely
deadened by the thundering roar of the waterfall, they took out the ropes
and eventually towed the canoe back. As soon as that was done I went with
my camera to gaze at the beautiful sight and photograph it from different
points--a job which was not easy, as the waterfall was so encased between
vertical rocky walls (foliated in horizontal strata, which varied in
thickness from a quarter of an inch to one foot) that it was impossible
to get far enough back to obtain a full view of it.
That fall, called the August Fall, was indeed a grand sight. As I have
already said, it was divided into two separate falls, between which was
an island with a great spur of rock forming a wall between the two
cascades. The water flowed over that wall in graceful steps. The fall on
the right side of which I stood was in two immense horseshoe-shaped
terraces. The continuation of those terraces on each side of the great
flow of water formed tiers of red and black volcanic rock lying in
horizontal strata so regular as to be not unlike a gigantic Etruscan
amphitheatre. The upper tier of the fall on the right formed an arc not
less than 300 m. in periphery. The lower crescent formed an arc 400 m. in
length.
Upon this lower terrace the rebounding waters were thrown up with great
force into the air--the spray forming numerous rainbows in the sun--only
to drop down once more in most contorted, diabolical curves, boiling and
roaring in their endeavour to force their way through that positive
inferno.
As the water came down in great volumes over those two crescents it met
once more in the centre in a mighty clash, being flung up at a tremendous
height in the air. I do not know that I have ever seen such a fearsome
sight, or that I have ever seen water rush with such force anywhere
before. It seemed a pity that there was no one to harness that waterfall
and use the enormous power it could generate.
On the left side of the river also the waterfall made an amphitheatre of
rock somewhat smaller than the right fall. Down below, at the foot of
this, it formed huge masses of white foam, above which profuse spray rose
up like a heavy mist. Just beyond was disclosed a diabolical whirlpool,
far beyond words to describe, which extended--as white as snow with the
amount of foam it carried, twisting and retwisting in a thousand circles
on the surface--for over 500 m. from the lower step of the waterfall.
I measured the height of the fall with a string. The exact height of the
upper terrace was 6 m. 90 cm.; the height of the lower terrace, 7 m. 73
cm.--or a total height of 14 m. 63 cm.
I also took the differential height with the several aneroids I
possessed, and the elevation with the boiling-point thermometers above
the fall and below, with a result of 48 ft. for the actual height of the
fall.
[Illustration: The Wooden Railway constructed by Author in order
to take the Canoe Overland for Two and a Half Kilometres at the August
Falls.]
[Illustration: Formation of Rock below the August Falls.]
One fact was certain, and that was that the canoe could not possibly go
down by water. There was only one way to get out of that difficulty; that
was by taking the canoe overland until we could find a navigable spot in
the river down below. To make things worse, there was a hill range on the
right bank of the river, on which we were. I must find a way to make the
canoe go over that hill range--that was all.
The canoe, I might remind the reader, was 42 ft. long and 3½ ft. wide, of
heavy solid wood, her bottom being over a foot thick, her sides from 3 to
5 in. in thickness, her stern and prow, roughly carved out, of great
thickness also. I calculated her weight at over 2,000 lb., which was well
under her actual weight.
I spoke to my men, and told them that we must take the canoe over the
hill range. They had been very morose since our arrival at that spot, as
they expected me to give ourselves up for lost when we came to what they
believed to be an insuperable obstacle. They mutinied at once and took to
their rifles, saying that they would not follow a lunatic any farther, a
man who asked them to take a canoe over a hill.
"Do you not know," said one of them to me, with a fierce grin of contempt
upon his face, "that canoes are made for the water and not to travel over
mountains?"
"Do you not know," shouted Alcides, shaking his fist, "that it would take
a hundred strong men to lift that canoe one inch above the water?--and
we, including you, are only seven men, tired and worn.... You believe
that because you are English you can do what you like. You will next ask
the moon to come and row in our canoe so that we may get along! You have
gone insane."
"Yes, he is mad!" they all said in a chorus. "We want the balance of our
pay and we will leave you at once. Give us our money and we will go--we
want to go."
I told them that they could have their money as soon as the canoe had
gone over the hill and down the other side, and certainly not before.
They could shoot me if they liked, but that would not help them very
much, as I knew the way to get on and they did not. If they shot me they
would perhaps die of starvation themselves soon. I agreed that it was a
beautiful spot to die in, and perhaps they could hasten their departure
by jumping into the fall, and thus end all the hardships, and, at least,
arguments.
After those words, which I had spoken with gentleness, I turned, and--for
the first time since they had been with me--in a stern tone of voice I
ordered Filippe and Antonio to take their big knives and proceed to cut
down ten or twelve of the straightest trees they could find. They
refused. I quietly walked to the rifle which I generally used for
shooting game, and inserted in it a clip of five cartridges. I cocked the
rifle, and, placing my watch before me on a stone, gave the men five
minutes to decide whether they would cut the trees or be shot. I also
said that if any of them moved their rifles they would have a bullet put
through them.
Filippe and Antonio dropped their rifles on the ground, reluctantly took
the knives and walked away, I pointing out to them the tall trees which I
wanted cut. I then ordered Alcides to take one of the axes and cut thirty
rollers, each about 5 ft. long. The men were silent and yellow-faced with
rage.
The trees in that region were easily cut down. After a few minutes down
came a tree with a crash, and shortly after another. I walked to the men
and patted them on the back, assuring them again that if they obeyed my
orders we should soon proceed on our journey and should certainly arrive
safely at a point where they could return home and be happy.
Alcides thereupon turned round asking me whether I intended them to cut
down the entire forest and then request them to pierce a tunnel through
the hill range--or perhaps I might want the whole hill range flattened
down for my convenience!
I paid no attention, but ordered him to cut sixty rollers instead of
thirty. I had to keep a sharp watch on my men that day, and I had fully
decided, if any disobedience took place, I would shoot them. I think they
thoroughly realized that, because they carried out all my instructions to
the letter.
When that job was done I explored the district carefully, in order to
discover which was the easiest point over which the canoe could be made
to climb the hill range. Having found a way which I thought suitable, I
myself took one of the large knives, and ordered the other men to come
with me with all the implements we could use in order to clear a
sufficiently wide road through which the canoe could pass. This work
lasted many hours, and was certainly trying.
On August 3rd we worked the entire day, from sunrise until seven in the
evening, cutting a way through the forest. Then, when we had done that, I
constructed, with the longer trees we had cut down, a small railway from
the water, where the canoe was. I used the rollers on these rails made of
the smoothest trees I could find. When my men grasped the idea--of which
they had never dreamed--they became very excited and in a good humour.
They worked extremely hard. It was a portentous effort to get the canoe
on to the first roller, but once we had got her on the first and second
and third rollers, and were able to lift her stern out of the water with
levers and pieces of wood we gradually placed under her, she began to
move along on the rollers with comparative ease. We moved the rails in
front as we went along, and all went well until we got to the foot of the
hill.
There the trouble began: first of all because it was difficult to keep
the rollers in position on the rails; then also because the moment we
started to push the canoe up the hill she would slide back almost as far
as, and sometimes farther than, we had pushed her up. By a judicious use
of ropes which we made fast to trees on either side, and by a careful
study of the laws of leverage, we managed to push up the canoe a few
inches at a time. We had some narrow escapes once or twice, when the
ropes, under the excessive strain, snapped, and the canoe slid down
again, dragging us with her. One tree, to which one of the ropes was
fastened, broke, and in its fall just missed killing a man.
When once we had begun pushing the canoe up that hill we could not leave
her for a moment, as she would at once proceed to slide back on the
rollers.
Fourteen hours' incessant hard work saw us and the canoe on the top of
the hill. From there we had before us a very steep descent of some 400
ft., the first 150 ft. almost vertical.
My men all looked at me in a most inquisitive way in order to find out
how I should manage to hold the canoe when we let her down that steep
incline.
I had fastened some pieces of wood vertically at her stern, which, by
scraping on the ground, would hold her to a certain extent. Then, with
all the ropes we possessed we made her fast to the trees as we went
along, and let her slide gently, the weight of the canoe being such that
deep grooves were actually cut into the trees as the ropes unwound
themselves.
[Illustration: Photograph showing the Road cut by Author across the
Forest in order to take the Heavy Canoe Overland.]
We were only half-way down that incline when one tree broke. The canoe
gave a leap on one side, knocking down Antonio and the man X, the jerk
immediately after breaking another tree on the opposite side. Off went
the canoe down the hill in her mad career, knocking some of us down,
dragging the others, who were holding on to her. Two or three men were
badly thrown about, but fortunately no broken bones were recorded. The
canoe by that time had, in great leaps, reached nearly the bottom of the
hill, but had got so jammed between a rock and a big tree that it
required several hours' hard work with our axes and knives in order to
disentangle her.
The shock, however, had been too great for the rickety canoe. I became
anxious, for I feared she might split in two at any time, and I had no
way of repairing her properly. When we got to the water again I patched
her up as best I could with improvised nails which I made from pieces of
hard wood. With great yells of excitement from my men we launched her
once more in the river.
My men boasted how clever they had been to take the heavy canoe over the
hill. There was really nothing Brazilians could not do when they wished!
Those forty hours of steady hard work out of the forty-eight hours we had
stopped at the falls had seen us over that obstacle, and we were now
ready to proceed once more by water.
We had suffered a great deal during those terrible hours from the bees,
mosquitoes, hornets, _piums_, ants, and all kinds of other insects which
stung us all over. A glance at the photographs which illustrate this
volume, of the canoe being taken across the forest, will show all my
men--I, naturally, not appearing, as I was taking the photographs--with
their heads wrapped up in towels, notwithstanding the great heat, in
order to avoid the unbearable torture as much as possible.
The minimum temperature during the night of August 3rd had been 61° F.;
during the night of August 4th 72° F. During the day the temperature was
88° F. in the shade, but the air was quite stifling, as the sky was
overcast with heavy clouds.
I took careful observations for latitude and longitude in order to fix
exactly the position of the great falls. The latitude was 8° 51'·1 S.;
the longitude 58° 50' W.
The whirlpool and eddies which extended for 1,000 m. below the great fall
were formidable. Never in my life have I seen waters so diabolical. They
filled one absolutely with terror as one looked at them.
The river flowed there to bearings magnetic 120°; then to 140° b.m. for
3,000 m., where it was comparatively smooth. To the south-east of us was
a hill range fully 600 ft. high. What appeared to me to be a small
tributary seemed to enter the river on the left, but my men were so tired
that I did not cross over to the other side in order to make certain. On
looking behind us I could see that the hill range at the fall extended
from north-west to south-east, while another smaller hill range, only 250
ft. above the level of the river, stretched from north to south on the
left of the stream. The river was 300 m. wide.
We went no more than 9,200 m. that day.