A Fiscal Agency--Former Atrocities--The Apiacar
Indians--Plentiful Rubber--Unexploited Regions--Precious Fossils
thrown away by Author's Followers--A Terrific Storm--Author's
Canoe dashed to Pieces--The Mount S. Benedicto
THE State of Matto Grosso had recently established a fiscal agency at the
junction of the two rivers in order to collect the tax on the rubber
exported from that region. The Fiscal Agent, Mr. José Sotero Barretto,
and his assistant, Mr. Julio Vieira Nery, were intelligent and polished
gentlemen. Their predecessor was not like them. His barbarity, not only
to the Apiacar Indians but also to the Brazilians in his employ, was
almost incredible. For no reason whatever he killed men right and left,
until one day as he was getting out of his canoe one of his men shot him
in the back.
So much has been said of late of atrocities in the Putumayo Region that
perhaps one may be allowed to say that the Putumayo Region is not the
only place where atrocities have occurred. To any one not acquainted with
those regions it is difficult to understand why those atrocities take
place at all. Curiously enough, they are due to a large extent to
medicine. Those regions are all extremely malarial. The people who are
ordered there are afraid of being infected long before they start on
their journey. They begin taking preventive quinine and arsenic, which
renders them most irritable and ill-tempered; the solitude preys upon
them, and they add to the poisoning from medicine the evil effects of
excessive drinking. Add again to this that few men can manage to be brave
for a long period of time, and that the brain gradually becomes
unbalanced, and you have the reason why murders are committed wholesale
in a stupid effort chiefly to preserve oneself.
The Apiacar Indians, I was told, were formerly much more numerous in that
region than at present. Most of them had been killed off, and their women
stolen. When Mr. Barretto arrived at the _collectoria_ he had great
trouble in persuading the Indians to come near him; but he has been so
extremely kind to them that now the entire tribe--some twenty
people--have established themselves at the _collectoria_ itself, where
they are given work to do as police, rubber collectors, and
agriculturists combined. Mr. Barretto and his assistant were much
respected and loved by the natives. Unlike his predecessor, he treated
them with the greatest consideration and generosity.
Mr. Barretto furnished me with an interesting table showing the amount of
production and export of rubber from that district for the year 1910.
From this table it appears that from May 3rd to December 31st 30,356 kil.
of the finest quality rubber, 10,153 kil. of _sernamby_ (or scrap
rubber), 4,858 kil. of _caoutchouc_, and 30,655 kil. of _sernamby
caoutchouc_--altogether a total of 76,022 kil.--passed through the
_collectoria_ on the Matto Grosso side, which does not include the
opposite side of the river, belonging to the Province of Para, where
another _collectoria_ has been established. That quantity of rubber had
been collected by some eighty people, all told, including the local
Indians.
[Illustration: Mundurucu Indians.]
[Illustration: Mundurucu Indians.]
It was impossible to get labour up that river. The few _seringueiros_,
chiefly negroes who were there in absolute slavery, had been led and
established by their masters up the river, with no chance of getting
away. Their masters came, of course, every year to bring down the rubber
that had been collected. Twenty times the quantity could easily be
brought down to the coast if labour were obtainable. Not only was the
Juruena River itself almost absolutely untouched commercially--as we have
seen, we did not meet a soul during the fifty days we navigated it--but
even important tributaries close to S. Manoel, such as the Euphrasia, the
São Thomé, the São Florencio, the Misericordia, and others, were
absolutely desert regions, although the quantity of rubber to be found
along those streams must be immense. The difficulty of transport, even on
the Tapajoz--from the junction of the two rivers the Juruena took the
name of Tapajoz River--was very great, although the many rapids there
encountered were mere child's play in comparison with those we had met
with up above. In them, nevertheless, many lives were lost and many
valuable cargoes disappeared for ever yearly. The rubber itself was not
always lost when boats were wrecked, as rubber floats, and some of it was
generally recovered. The expense of a journey up that river was enormous;
it took forty to sixty days from the mouth of the Tapajoz to reach the
_collectoria_ of S. Manoel. Thus, on an average the cost of freight on
each kilo (about 2 lb.) of rubber between those two points alone was not
less than sevenpence or eightpence.
As the River Tapajoz is extremely tortuous and troublesome, I think that
some day, in order to exploit that region fully, it will be found
necessary to cut a road through the forest from S. Manoel to one of the
tributaries of the Madeira, such as the River Secundury-Canuma, from
which the rubber could be taken down to the Amazon in a few days.
From the point of junction of the River Tres Barras or S. Manoel and the
Juruena, the river was fairly well known. It was partly in order to
ascertain whether the project of the road from S. Manoel to the Madeira
were feasible, that I decided to leave the river and cross the forest due
west as far as the Madeira River.
I spent two or three most delightful days enjoying the generous
hospitality of Mr. Barretto. I was able to purchase from him a quantity
of provisions, enough to last us some three months, and consisting of
tinned food, rice, beans, _farinha_, sugar, coffee, and dried meat.
Mr. Barretto kindly arranged to send his assistant, Mr. Julio Nery, and
three Apiacar Indians in order to help me along during the first two or
three days of our journey into the forest.
As I should be travelling on foot from that point across virgin forest,
and we should have to carry whatever baggage we had, it was necessary for
me to abandon all the things which were not of absolute importance, so as
to make the loads as light as possible.
I left behind at S. Manoel a tent, some of my rifles, a quantity of
cartridges, etc., the only articles I took along with me besides
provisions being my cameras, instruments, the photographic plates already
exposed, with some two hundred plates for further work, and the
geological and botanical collections, which by that time had got to be
valuable.
As I was unpacking the different cases in order to sort out the baggage,
I came to the box where I expected to find the precious fossil human
skull and the vertebræ I had discovered in Matto Grosso. To my horror the
fossils were to be found nowhere. I asked Alcides and the other men, and
pressed them for an answer. I received a terrible blow indeed when they
confessed that nearly a month before, one night while I was asleep, they
had taken the valuable possessions and had flung them into the river.
Their excuse was that the loads were heavy enough in carting baggage
along the rapids, and they would not be burdened with what they called
"stupid stones."
This last bit of infamy turned me so much against my men that I could not
bear the sight of them. It will be easily understood that when you go to
such great expense and risk as I did in obtaining valuable material, and
had obtained it, to be deprived of it through the ignorance and meanness
of one's own men, who were treated with the greatest generosity from
beginning to end, was certainly most exasperating. In a half-hearted way
I packed up all the other things and made ready to continue the journey.
The contempt I had for my men from that day, nevertheless, made it quite
painful to me to be in their company. At S. Manoel the men gave me no end
of trouble. Benedicto refused to go on any longer. The other men wanted
to halt there for a month in order to recuperate their strength. Filippe
the negro was drunk, and slept all the time we were there.
I know too well that on expeditions it is fatal to halt anywhere;
therefore I was anxious to push on at once. The night before our
departure Mr. Barretto gave a grand dinner-party in my honour, long
speeches being read out by him and his assistant, when we sat down on
rough wooden benches and packing-cases to a most elaborate meal of fried
fish, grilled fish, boiled fish, tortoise eggs--quantities of
them--stewed pork and roast pork. A whole sucking-pig adorned the table.
The greatest happiness reigned that night at table, and I owe a deep debt
of gratitude to Mr. Barretto for his exquisite kindness during the two or
three days I was his guest. My men were also asked to the banquet, and
had a good fill. But I felt extremely sad, quite broken-hearted, over the
loss of the fossils, and I could really enjoy nothing notwithstanding
outward appearances.
After dinner, when my men had retired, Mr. Barretto and his assistant
expressed great surprise at my not having been murdered by my followers
before then. They said that in their whole experience they had never come
across such impossible creatures. They could not understand how the
Governor of Goyaz could possibly let me start in such company. They
seemed most anxious for me, as some of my men had evidently, while drunk,
spoken at the _collectoria_ and said things which had greatly upset and
frightened the fiscal agent.
Three days after my arrival in S. Manoel I was ready to depart, having
conceived a plan to go some 60 kil. farther by river to a point from
where I would strike due west across the forest as far as the Madeira
River. I was just about to go on board the boat placed at my disposal by
Mr. Barretto, when a terrific storm broke out, with lightning and
thunder, and a howling wind which blew with fury, raising high waves in
the river--very wide at that point. It was a wonderful spectacle, with
the river in commotion and the dazzling flashes of lightning across the
inky sky. Amidst it I saw my faithful canoe being dashed mercilessly by
the waves time after time against some sharp rocks, until she broke in
two and foundered. I was sorry to see her disappear, for she had served
me well.
When after a couple of hours the storm cleared, I took my departure, on
August 24th. During my stay at S. Manoel I had taken observations for
latitude (7° 16'·9 S.), longitude (58° 34' W.), and elevation (601 ft.
a.s.l. on the river, 721 ft. at the _collectoria_).
[Illustration: Author taking Astronomical Observations on a Sandy
Beach of the River Arinos-Juruena.]
Just across the river, at the mouth of the Tres Barras, was the
_collectoria_ for the State of Pará. The Pará _seringueiros_ worked on
the Rio Tres Barras and its tributaries on its right side--that is to
say, the Annipirí, the Igarapé Preto, the Cururu, and another (nameless)
stream. There were, perhaps, altogether some eighty or a hundred
_seringueiros_, all told, working in that immense region on the Pará
side. In the year 1910, 90,000 kil. of rubber were collected by those few
_seringueiros_, and in the year 1911 a slightly larger amount was sent
down the river from that point. The Pará Fiscal Agency was only
established there on December 11th, 1910. The _collectoria_ was situated
in a most beautiful spot on a high point overlooking the mouth of the
Tres Barras, and directly facing the Juruena-Arinos. On the Juruena
previous to reaching S. Manoel on the left side was a stream in which
gold was to be found.
Amid the affectionate farewells of Mr. Barretto I left S. Manoel in a
beautiful boat belonging to the fiscal agent. The effects of light on the
water were wonderful after the storm. The river, immensely wide, flowed
in a N.N.W. direction, then due north in great straight stretches from 2
to 4 kil. in length. As we had left late in the afternoon we were not
able to go far. We passed some beautiful islands, one particularly of
immense length, with an extensive sandy beach at its southern end. After
going some 18 kil. we came to a great barrier of rocks extending across
the river from south-west to north-east. Some distance below those rocks
a great sand-bank spread half-way across the stream.
We halted for the night at the _fazenda_ of Colonel Gregorio, a
_seringueiro_ from whom I expected to get an Indian who knew the forest
well and who could be of some assistance to me in going across it. The
house of Col. Gregorio--a mere big shed--was a regular armoury, a great
many rifles of all ages, sizes, and shapes adorning the walls; then there
were fishing spears and harpoons, vicious-looking knives and axes. In the
principal room was a large altar with a carved figure of the Virgin
standing with joined hands before lighted candles and a bottle of green
peppermint. The latter was not an offering to the sacred image, but it
was placed on the revered spot so that none of Gregorio's men should
touch it. Enormous balls of rubber filled the greater portion of the
floor, waiting to be taken down the river.
With great trouble the Indian--a man called Miguel--was induced to
accompany me; also a young boy, who, at a salary of 15_s._ a day, agreed
to act as carrier.
It was not until late in the afternoon on August 25th that we left the
_fazenda_ in order to proceed down the stream. We passed the tributary
river Roncador on the left side, with its beautiful high waterfall a
short distance before it enters the Tapajoz. We came soon afterwards to
the island of S. Benedicto, south of which on the left bank was the hill
of the Veado, 120 ft. high. Directly in front of the island, also on the
left bank, was the Mount of S. Benedicto, where legends say an image of
that saint exists carved out by nature in the high rocky cliff.
As we passed under the hill our crew fired several volleys in honour of
the saint; then we landed and I climbed up to go and see the wonderful
image. Many candles had been burnt on a platform of rock on the cliff
side, and the sailors who came up with me brought a new supply of
stearine and set them ablaze on that natural altar. The men pointed out
to me the figure of the saint, but with all the best intentions in the
world I could see no resemblance whatever to a human being.
"There it is! there it is!" they shouted, as I twisted my head one way
and the other to see if I could find a point of view from which I could
see the saint. The men knelt down and prayed fervently for some minutes,
as they believed it was necessary to pay these signs of respect in order
to ensure a good journey down the river. Some went as far as to tear off
pieces of their garments and leave them on the rocky platform as
offerings.
The eastern face of the S. Benedicto Mount was a vertical wall 200 ft.
high in horizontal strata of a deep grey colour, and some 300 m. in
length along the river.
We had wasted so much time, and the men rowed so badly, that we made poor
progress. We only went 21 kil. that day. We halted for the night near a
_seringueiro's_ hut at the small rapid of Meia Carga, or Half-charge
Rapid, because at low water the boats have to be half unloaded in order
to get over that spot.
The minimum temperature during the night was 69° F. We slept in the boat,
and were simply devoured by mosquitoes. The chief of the Indians who had
been lent me by the Fiscal Agent became seriously ill during the night
with a severe attack of fever. All my men, with no exception, also became
ill, and were shivering with cold, owing to fever. The chief of the
police, Luiz Perreira da Silva, who had been placed by Mr. Barretto in
charge of the Indians who were to accompany me, in jumping from the boat
that night on to the shore hurt his foot, the pain caused by that slight
injury giving him also a severe attack of fever. So that of the entire
crew there remained only two men in good health--viz. Mr. Julio Nery and
myself.
Amid moans and groans we got the boat under way at 6.45 the next morning,
the men paddling in a half-hearted manner. As the current was strong we
drifted down fairly quickly in a northerly direction, the river there
being in a perfectly straight line for some 8,000 m. The width of the
river was 1,300 m.
Behind a little island on the left side, and approached through a circle
of dangerous rocks, was the hut of a _seringueiro_ called Albuquerque, a
man in the employ of Colonel Brazil, the greatest rubber trader on the
river Tapajoz. We landed at that point and made preparations so that I
could start at once on the journey on foot across the virgin forest.
The loads the men were to carry were not heavy--merely from 35 to 40 lb.
each--the heaviest load being the one I carried, so as to give a good
example to my men. We had ample provisions to last us, with a little
economy, three months. When the moment arrived to depart there was not
one man who could stand up on his legs; the policeman with his injured
foot could not even land from the boat, as it gave him so much pain. The
chief of the Indians was so ill with the fever and the medicine he had
taken that he really looked as if he might not survive. The other Indians
refused to leave their chief; while the Indian Miguel, whom I had
employed subsequently, flatly refused to come along. Much time was wasted
talking, Mr. Nery, a fluent speaker, haranguing the men, who lay around
helpless, holding their heads between their hands or rolling themselves
on the ground.
It is extraordinary how many ailments fright can produce.
[Illustration: Where the Rivers Arinos-Juruena and S. Manoel meet.]
[Illustration: José Maracati, Chief of the Mundurucus, Tapajoz.]
The accounts of the forest which I had heard in the neighbourhood were
most conflicting. It was really impossible to tell beforehand what the
crossing overland between the Tapajoz and the Madeira River would be
like. In order to encourage my own men I had once more increased their
pay for the extra hard work I required of them on that occasion, and I
promised them each a further present of money if they succeeded in
carrying all the loads safely as far as the Madeira River.
They had agreed to do the work, but unfortunately they were the most
unpractical men I have ever come across, and insisted on carrying the
loads in a way which made it impossible for them to carry them for any
long distance. For instance, one man insisted on carrying a heavy wooden
packing-case slung on one side of the body just over the hip, in the
fashion in which Italians carry barrel-organs in the streets of cities;
another man suspended a case on his back by a strap which went round his
neck, so that after a few minutes he was absolutely strangled; while
Filippe the negro let his load hang so low that it would certainly cause
a bad sore on his spine. I tried to teach them, but it was no use, as it
only led to a row. Absolutely disgusted with the whole crowd of them,
late that afternoon of August 26th I made ready to start on our difficult
journey.