1 4RIOR-M-ERM-11 THE.AMAZC N AND MADEIRA RIVE S -. 21. THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS SICE TCHES AzD DESCRIPTIONS FROM THE NIOTE-BOOIW OF AzV EVXPLORER BY FRANZ KELLER ENGINEER W7TI SIXTY-EIGHT IlL USTRA TIONS ON WOOD NEW YORK D. APPLET'FON AND CO., BROADWAY I 874 LONDON: PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., CITY ROAD. PREFACE. N June 1867, my father and I, who had been studying the maps and plans of a former expedition in the province of Parana, were commissioned by the Minister of Public Works at Rio de Janeiro to explore the Madeira River, and to project a railroad along its bank where, by reason of the rapids, navigation was rendered impossible. Since the end of the last century,-when, in consequence of the treaty of Ildefonso in 1777, Portuguese astronomers and surveyors ascended the Madeira, —no regular or reliable plans had been executed of the immense forest-covered valley. The bold descent effected some twenty years ago by the American naval officer, Gibbon, I may observe, was too hurried? and undertaken with too slender means; and another expedition, commanded by the Brazilian engineer, Major Coutinho, proved to be a comnplete failure, though certainly not for lack of means.* Upon the ensuing of peace, after the, lolig war with Paragulay, the old question of a way of communication between the Brazilian coast ard the province of Mato Grosso came to the front; and as that clever diplomatist, Conselheiro Felippe Lopez Netto, had also succeeded in concluding a treaty of boundaries and commerce with Bolivia,ti by which was secured the prospect of a passage through the valley of the Madeira, it was thought necessary that a thorough exploration should be made. General attention was, moreover, directed to that remote corner of the vast realm by the sudden appearance of a new Steam Navigation Company on the Lower Madeiraf and by the recent opening of the Amazon River to the flags of all nations; the realisation of the full benefit of which latter measure depends on its extension to the lateral rivers as wells The following pages embrace, in addition to a summnary of t!~e mcost important hydrographic results of the voyage, my remarks on the inhabitants, the vegetation, d Another voyage of discovery unlde-rSaen by Mir. Cou'tin~ho onthe Purus (all affluent of -the ~Solimoes) gave simla~r negative results. That river afterwardis became better kinown through the daring~ of Mr. Chandless. I- By this treaty the Brazilio-Bolivian boundary is to touclh thle left shore of the Ml~adleiral, under "10~ 20' south latitude, near the mouth of the Beni. vi PREFACE. the products, and other topics of interest in connection with these countries, not in the dry form originally assumed by them of a diary, but in the more inviting shape of chapters, under which easier access may-be had to the whole. The illustrations, which I regard as indispensably supplementary to the description of scenes so foreign to us, are from sketches taken on the spot, and, for preservation of their minute fidelity, drawn on the blocks by myself; and the name of one of our first wood engravers will further warrant their accuracy. Soon, however, there will be no need of well-equipped expeditions to visit these outposts of Ultiata T/iule. Comfortable steamers from Liverpool will convey the tourist, bent on a trip, to Para in eighteen days. In seven days more he can be at the mouth of the Madeira; and in another week's time he may get to the first rapid of Santo Antonio, whence, at no very distant period, the locomotive will hurry him to the magnificent forests, which we could reach only after a troublesome voyage of three months' duration, counting from the mouth of the Madeira. A life of bustle and activity will then be infused there. India-rubber, cacao, precious timber, dye-woods, and resins will no longer perish for want of means of transport; and agriculture and cattle-breeding will restrict, if they cannot yet supplant, the half-wild existence supported by hunting and fishing. Even before our return home from South America, after an absence of seventeen years, we had the satisfaction of seeing the execution of our railway project as good as secured; a North American contractor, Colonel G. E. Church, thoroughly familiar with this part of the world, having obtained the necessary concessions in that behalf from both the Brazilian and the Bolivian Governments, and having experienced little difficulty in raising the requisite funds in England. If the following pages, in which I have endeavoured to observe the true medium between optimist and pessimist views of things, should help to convince some Brazilian in authority who may chance to peruse them, of the continued existence of pernicious abuses and errors, and should show him that, in spite of undeniable recent progress, the career of improvement has not been exhausted; and if they should succeed in inflaming the Old World with interest in the welfare of these secluded corners of the N'ew, some at least of my heartiest aspirations will have been realised. These countries do indeed demand attention, if it be only on the ground that they offer the fair prospect of some day becoming outlets for those fermenting elements which, with illereased seriousness, have lately menaced soeial order in over-peopled Europe. By the emancipation of slave-born children, from the first day of January 1872, it is true that the abolition of Slavery, which is the chief bar to real progress, has become simply a question of time: but we have to await the political equalisation of PREFACE. vii the immigrants with the natives, and the concession of the right of civil marriage, before we can, with clear consciences, advise our farmers of the better class to settle there. Poor labourers and small tradesfolk, however, so numerous with us, will profit by the change to high wages, even under existing conditions. Only an immigration of German race, that really settles in the new home and honestly shares the burdens of the State, can truly help the thinly-peopled country; and Brazil, which sees thousands of Portuguese landing yearly and going back as soon as they have scraped together a few hundred milreis, is specially qualified to judge of this radical difference between Latin and German nations. Enlergetic representatives, such as we at last seem to have beyond the Atlantic, particularly at Rio, will meanwhile avail sufficiently to protect German residents in Brazil, and ill due time effect the removal of all the inconveniences incident to their settlement there. In conclusion, I desire to be allowed here to express my thanks to my father, who was my trusty companion on the weary voyage, and my scientific associate, and to my brother, Professor Ferd. IKeller, the historic painter, whose tasteful counsel respecting the illustrations has proved of so much value to me. FRANZ KELLER-LEUZINGER. CARLSRUHE, January, 1874. J- In June 1873, the Brazilian Government had come to all open rupture with the Bishop of Pernainbuco, or ratherewith Rome itself, on account of the Encyclical against the Freemasons, who number several of the highest Brazilian officials in their fraternity. In the interests of peace and decency in the Protestant colonies, however, the Government was forced not only to declare the validity of unions effected after the Protestant Titeo against the decision of the Bishop, but also to prosecute at law two colonists' wives who had become Catholics in order to marry a second time, together with the Catholic priests who had performed the second ceremony.."_.. i ":~r[ CONTENTS. — ~~~~~~~~~~~~-~PG LIST OF THE ILLUSTRAlTIONS, WTITH SHORT EXPLANATIONS.......... X INTRODUCTION CHAPTER, I. FROM RZrIO DE JAN EIRLO TO THE ]~RAPIDS O~F THE DSADEIRA.l Rio de Janeiro.-Bahia.-Perliambuco.-Parahyba do Norte. —Cearh.-Maral~nhao.-Parr$.-Th Amalzon. — The Rio Negro. —Manhos. —The Lower Ma~tdeiraz.-The Seringueiros. —The Praia de TamanduA 26~ THE RAPIDS OF THE MRADEIIRA AND THE MAM~RORE. Sanzto Anztonio. —Theotonzio. —The C aripuna s Indians.-CCaldeirao do Inferno.-Th~e "W Mritten Rocks." — Salt~o do Gir,-o. —An Attack. —Old Caripuna Huts.-RFibeirao.-MNore "'Written Rocks."'-The ~Mouth of the Beni. —Exaltacion 46. D ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ CHAP~ETER III.. CANOE: AND CAMP LIFE. The Start. —The Kitchen.-TThe Bazst-shirts. —The Straw-hats. —Strange Dainties.-Alligator-hunting.The, Camp-fires. —The Calmisetas. —The MCosqunitoes. —The Halting-place 72' CHAPTER IV. HIUNTING; AND FISHINGG IN THE PPnOVINCESEI OF AMSAZON AND MAT-O-GR.fOSS0. CONTENTS. CHTAPTER VI. THE ~WIL;D INDDIANT TRIBES OF THE: nADEIRA VALLEY.. PAGE The Milrasr. —The Arar'ras. —The Mundrucu~s. -The Parentiintin. —The Cazripimnas: our First M/eeting wtith them.-Thleir Huts. —Their Burial-ground..-Former Attacks. on the M1~adeira, Javalry, and Puru's. —The Unkinown Footpads at the Mouth of the Mainor6. —Future of these Indians. —Their Languages. —Their Religious Views. —The Paji~s. —An Old Indian Settlement. 1 CHAPTER1C VII. THE k1JOS INDIAN~S OF THE FORMER`E JESUIT MISSIONS I~N BOLITVIA., Foundinlg of a Mission. —The Life there. —Strict Discipline. —Their Decay and Present Statte. —Bloody Episode at Santa Ana..-Conseqjuences of the Political Storms. —Festivities and Processions. —Visit of the Excellenztissimo.-The Chicha. —A Voca~bulary. —The Missions on the Paranapanema, and Tibagy.— Finall Considerations 142 APPEINDIX. IMode of Condtucting our Surveys, and their Hydrograpbical andl Hypsometrical Results. —Statistics 171 LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS, WITH SHORT EXPLANATIONS.' PREFACE. of it, the old fort of Santa Cruz, which commands the VINTE IEAP J, 3entry; between both, the far horizon of the blue VIGNETTE' PINEAPPLES, CAJU, BANANAS, ETC. Atlantic; amid the mountains to the right, the pointed INTRODUCTION. top of the Corcovado, rising to 3,000 feet, immediately INITIAL: CROWN OF PALM-TREE WITH FLOWERS AND behind the city. FRUIT. A JANGADA IN THE BREAKERS. CHAPTER I. The jangada, a light raft especially used for fishing, is in use on the coast from Pernambuco to Cearh; the INITIAL: GROUP OF CIPOS (LIANAS) ENCIRCLING A flat beach and the total want of good harbours, whether LITTLE PALM. ~~~~LITTLE PALMa~. 1 ~natural or artificial, not allowing the landing of heavier ENTRY OF THEI BAY OF RIO DE JANEIRO, AS SEEN E N boats. In spite of the admirable skill and dexterity of FROM THE CORCOVADO. the Indians and mestizoes, who usually manage them, From the top of the Corcovado, which ca easily be they are often submerged, and even overturned by the From the top of the Corcovado, which can easily be high surf, and the passengers seldom escape without a reachel in three hours from the centre of the city, a high surf, and the passengers seldom escape without a mlagnificent view spreads before the eyes of the sur- slight bath. prised beholder; a wide panorama extending over THE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF THE SOIL. land and sea, over rocky mountains, the ample harbour, faint-blue islands, villas half-hidden in vivid BURIAL-URN OF THE MANAOS INDIANS (IGAcABA). green, and bustling streets. The sketch gives the These igacabas were found not only in various entrance of the bay, with the "Sugar-loaf" seen parts of Brazil, but also in Bolivia, on the other side from behind. of the Andces on the shores of the Pacific; these latter, by reason of the dry climate apparently, containing THE RUGGED PEAKS OF THE ORGAN MOUNTAINS. extraordinarily well-preserved corpses. The most interesting portion of the Serra d'Estrella, which rises in the background of the [Bay of Rio de IGARAmP DO ESPIRITO SANTO, OR, DO CORREIO, AT Janeiro to a height of 7,000 feet, is the Serra dos MANlOS. Orgaos, with its peaks and needles. Like all the The proud fan-palms on the shores belong to the mountains round about Rio, it consists of metamorphic fatmily of the merity, or Mauritius palm, while the gneiss. The view is taken from a steep, ill-pavel mule- dense row of plants close to the water's edge (the path, leading to the little town of Theresopolis, from a anlinga) much resembles our calla, and belongs to the height of about 2,500 feet. collocasise. THE ENTRY OF THE BAY OF RIO DE JANEIRO. THE CRAFT ON THE AMAZON, RIO NEGRO, AND This view is taken fromn the shore opposite the city MADEIRA. of Rio. In the backgroundl'the "Sugar-loaf" (P.o A coberta, batelao, igarites, and montarias in the cl'Assucar), whose altitude is about 1,000 feet; in front port of Man'os. The large palm-leaves forming the xii LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS. roof of the improvised kitchen are of the uauassfi, an civilisation possessed by the ancient inhabitants of attalea. The shore shows a bank of the pedra-canga, these regions. the ferruginous, easily-crumbling sandstone of the VIGNETTE: INDIAN UTENSILS. Amnazon Basin. An elegantly shaped pot, a few calabashes, a dosser, HOUSE OF A RICH SERINGUEIRO. a maraca (sort of rattle used on solemn occasions), In the middle the palm-leaf-covered house; in the and feather ornaments, with maize, sugar-cane, and foreground, to the right, a group of the banana da the deeplyindented leaves of the mandioca on a broad han-udrwt gaudily-pindened tileaveo the mndost in abra terra (pacova), or indigenous plantain, a large bundle had-rdde with gdiy-painted tiller, the most inof whose yellow fruit an Indian is taking to the dispensable utensil of the Indians. kitchen. CHAPTER III. TURTLE-HUNTING ON THE MADEIRA. INITIAL: EMBA'BA (XECROPIA) WITH BROMELIfE. THE SARARACA; THE POISON USED FOR IT. GROUND-PLAN OF THE FORMER MISSION OF EXALTACION. VIGNETTE: HARPOON, WITH FISHING-NET AND REEDS. HALTING-PLACE IN THE SHADE OF A FOREST-GIANT. If trees of the dimensions of that represented here CHAPTER II. are not found in all tropical forests, they are not a rare sight in the rich alluvion of the Amazon Basin. INITIAL: TRUNIK WITH ORCHIDS, ]BROMELIfE, AND FERNS. They generally belong to the ficus family, with light THE THEOTONIO FALL OF THE VMADEIRA. white wood. A halt in the cool shade of such a giant, Owing to the considerable width of the river covered with hundreds of parasitic plants, from the (700 metres) the principal fall (of 11 metres) appears broad-leaved imb6 with its rope-like roots to strange less high than it really is. However, the mighty orchids and graceful ferns, when the mid-day sun fills waves, the dazzling foam, the black boulders appear- the atmosphere around with its glowing rays, is cquite ing now and again, and the primitive wildness of the a treat after a morning's hard work. shores, which are partly covered with high forest and OURPADDLERS AT BREAKFAST. partly washed by the floods up to the bare rocks, comOn a well-chosen spot, in the shade of slender bine to give it quite an imposing aspect. myrtaceme and high cacao-bushes, with their golden ONE OF THE SMALLER RAPIDS OF THE CALDEIRiAO DO cucumber-like fruit budding directly from the stem, INFERNO. our brown fellowv-travellers (in their stiff bast shirts, To avoid the great breakl in the main channel, the or their more elegant white camisetas) are seated partly-unladen boats have to pass, close to the islands round the large earthen pot, out of which the Capitto near the shore, through one of the side-ones, which is distributing the thick pap of maize, or mandioca offers the comparative advantage of the slope being flour, mixed with little pieces of meat. The loiterer extended over a greater length. in the foreground is busily beating a stiff piece of bast with the wooden "'maceta," to render it soft and _ AN-LEAF OF A PALM. pliable enough for wearing. An exceedingly graceful palm, 12 to 15 metres high, with a smooth stem. We saw it only in the region of TOUJOURS PERDRIX the rapids. Though it is rather the sea turtle that gives the material to the celebrated turtle-soup, the river turtle THE RAPID OF RIBEIRAO, SEEN FROMl ABOVE. / also is used for culinary purposes; and none of the One of the most interesting points in the whole steamers running between Para and Liverpool leave Valley. A rocky reef, wildly torn and broken by the nouth of the Amazoa without a few of the narrow foaming channels, stretches across the whole cuirassec nmphibia. Neither soup nor ragout of the width of the river, which is 2,000 metres. Its highest tartauuga is to le cespisec; but those who have points, unwashed by the floods, are crowned by dense partaken of the same dish daily for months and gloves, topped with slender palms waving to and fro nmonths will understand and pardon the above exclain the gale. mation. CARVED FIGURES ON THE ROCKS OF THE MADEIRA. PREPARATIONS FOR ALLIGATOR-IHUNTING. Though perplexing enigmas to us, perhaps for ever, As the lazy saurian, which usually is very shy they will be of interest as evidencing the degree of near the shore, is always more inclined to run and LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS. xiii dive than to attack, the hunt is not half so dangerous open below and at the top) they try to enclose a as it looks; and as soon as the lapo is over its head certain proportion of them, which they can readily it is over. take out at the opening above. KILLING AN ALLIGATOR. MOJOS INDIAN RETURNING FROM A FISHING EXCURSION. In spite of its resistance, the mighty animal is Theserivers, with their ichthyologie treasures (which dragged on to a sand-bank and finished with a few can besides be acquired in the shortest time at the strokes of an axe. Its timidity notwithstanding, right season) would at low water level, and at the right however, Indian women while washing on shore have spots, below some fall or rapid, indeed make an been carried off, as I was told by eye-witnesses, angler's paradise. The largest of the victims that fell though immediate help was at hand. to our Mojos is the spotted surubim or pintado, a species of siluris; the one behind it is the tambaki;'VIGNETTE: FIGHTING 1V~ACAWS. while at the other end of the bamboo a brown and yellow-spotted ray drags its armed tail over the rocks, CHAPTER IV. and a peixe-cachorro shows its needle-like teeth on the fisher's left hand. The orchid with the long leaves INITIAL: IMIBE (PHILODENDRON). climbing up the mimosa, to the left, is the vanilla. The long straight air-roots, demitted by the pothos and aroideam from their lofty seats in the crowns of HEAD OF SWIMMING TAPIR, PURSUED Y DOGS. gigantic trees down to the ground, are one of the most The poor, hard-pursued pachyderm had reached the striking features of primeval vegetation. opposite shore, thanks to its quickness in swimming and diving, and in another moment would have escaped SUBMERGED FOREST. the furious curs, if a ball from the hunters, waiting In December, January, and February a great part in the canoe behind over-hanging boughs, had not of the wooded lowlands is more or less inundated by reached it. The uplifted short trunk discloses teeth the annual floods. On these smooth, lake-lilie sheets of respectable size; but, on the whole, the clumsy of water, whose dark surface vividly reflects the animal is a harmless, good-natured creature, and little luxuriant vegetation, the native hunter harpoons the cdanger is incurred in hunting it. mighty pira-rucfi. CARIPUNA INDIANS, WITH KILLED TAPIR. T'HE PIRA-RUCU (SUDIS GIGAS). Under a dense screen of parasite creepers, blooming This giant of the rivers is signalised as much by its orchids, graceful ferns, and stiff broelice, the tapir, size (3 metres length) as by the brightness of its pierced by several arrows, has broken down. The colour, each of the big silvery scales being edged by a lucky hunter, a dark Caripuna, will cut it up, selecting scarlet line, whence its name,-pirA, fishL; and rucii, the best pieces for himself; and his faithful companion or urui; especiawly the red dyeing tu of the ill carry home the heavy load in her platter of palmbixa Orellana. bixa Orellana. leaves. Her lord and master only carries the weapons, and of these just what he requires to be ready for THE LAMANTIN, OR PEIXE-BOI (MANATUS AMERICANUS). shooting-a bow and two arrows. The remaining This representative of the cetaceans sometimes supply of them the humble wife has also to carry. reaches the length of 4 metres, and is found on the whole course of the Amazen, up to Perfil: but its VIGNETTE DEAD PARROT, TOUCAN, AND WATER-FOWL; principal abode is not in the main river, but in the AN INDIAN HEAD-DRESS; BOWS AND ARROWS. lake-like old courses beside it, which usually are densely covered with wild rice and a sort of long CHAPTER V. grass with blister-like knots, that serve to keep it INITIAL: COFFEE-PLANT COVERED WITH BERRIES. afloat. The coffee-shrub, cultivated in immense plantations FISHING WITH THE COlVO. on the undulating soil of the Provinces of Rio de The Mojos Indians of the Missions wait, at the Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Miinas Geraes, and Espirito Santo, edges of shoals or banks, for the periodic ascent (at begins to bear in the fourth year, and sometimes is so spawning-time, and in dense swarms) of the fish up heavily laden with the red, cherry-like berries that the rivers and rivulets; when, by dexterous throwing the slender boughs bend to the earth. The snowof the covo (a sort of basket of heavy palm-wood, white flower, resembling that of the myrtle, exhales a Xiv LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS. most delicate perfume; and in bloom as well as at A SERINGUEIRO'S FIRST SETTLEMENT ON THE MADEIRA. harvest-time the bushy shrub, with its glossy, dark On the high shore, but in the immediate vicinity of leaves, offers a gratifyingsight. the moist seringaes (caoutchouc-tree woods), the first household arrangements are made. The richly TRANSVERSE SECTION OF A BREAKING SHORE, CALLED embroidered hammock is extended between two trees, TERRAS CAHIDAS. and a dense musquiteiro is spread over another, Owing to the homogeneousness of the alluvial layers, serving for the night, and shaded with a light roof. the water-washed shore often breaks down, with such r ly tog, Immediately to the right, is the kitchen, with a tarregularity as to form perfect degrees, linked at the surface by, ataruga (turtle), that most patient of all slaughtered surface by a sort of network or bridge formed by the ~~~~~~~tough roots. ~animals, which, simply laid on its back, helplessly and tough roots. noiselessly awaits the fatal stroke. In the foreground, BROKEN SHORE ON THE MADEIRA, WITH A GROUP OF the temporary wife of the owner, a young mestizo SINKING JAVARY-PALMS. lady with raven-black hair, comfortably smokes her The landscape represented by this sketch, taken at cigar, rocking herself leisurely in the hammock. sunset, is quite characteristic of the whole Madeira, in PREPARATION OF THE INDIA-RUBBER. its wild loneliness and majestic calm. The workman, a Mojos Indian, holding his wooden BUTTRESSED TREE. shovel, covered with a fresh layer of milk, in the In order to gain the necessary stability, the gigantic white smoke which issues out of the chimney-like trunk, which has no deep roots, shoots out these huge pots from a fire of uauassLi and urucury palm-nuts wing-like buttresses. It is found in the North as well (which alone consolidates the milk in the proper as in the South. way), sits in the midst of his simple utensils; the nuts on the ground, the calabashes, and a goblet of GROTESQUE SHAPE OF A SPECIES OF FITUS. bamboo in which he fetched the milk fromi the Forms like these, drawn exactly after Nature, are ba oo... fehe themikfo,, ~~~~~~~~~seringal, to plour it into the turtle-shell in the middle. not a rare sight in these forests, though they are not often seen of that size. The trunk almost suggests a VIGNETTE: SUSPENDED BIRDS' NESTS. living being by the way it clasps the naked boulders These nests, of elastic fibres solidly interwoven, are and shoots out supports and props wherever they are made by the guache (belonging to the cassicus needed, species), a black bird of the size of our starling, with a long yellow tail. Sometimes several dozens of them USUAL STRUCTURE OF PALM ROOTS; STILTS OF THE are seen suspended at the overhanging boughs on the PAXIUTBA. riverside, or at the extreme end of the branches of The radical fibres, entangled to a thick clod with tall palms. Whoever has seen a palm-crown waved to most palms, are developed into perfect stilts with the and fro and shaken by the wind will form an idea of paxiibba (Tr ict}tect exorh7wizct). the comforts of such a lofty seat. One, verily, must OUR TENT UNDER PALMS. be a guache to find the door of the swinging-house. Though we were not lucky enough often to find such a Paradisaic little spot, still it occasionally fell to our CHAPTER VI. lot, and we always thoroughly enjoyed it. INITIAL: FERN-TREE WITH BROIwELIt AND ORCHIDS. DIFFERENT TRANSVERSE CUTS OF PALM-RIBS. The graceful fern-trees are, with the palms and BIFURCATED PALM-LEAF. 1nmusacess, one of the most striking forms of tropical vegetation. In Brazil there are at least six very ]OUGH OF THE SIPHIONIA ELASTICA (CAOUTCHOUC-TREE). different species of this family. The orchid in the Very different from the so-called ficus, or gum-tree, foreground is the sumar6 (Cyrtopocli)1t, gltizi~ferlu,~, often seen in European hot-houses, which, also, gives Raddi), whose sticky sap is used by the mnestizoes of a resin, but not the one demanded by commerce. the interior for birdlime, and the repairing of their mandolines, and for other purposes. ~IOUT:I OF A LATERAL RIVER ON THE MADEIRA, WITH AN INDIAN SHOOTING FISHES. ]BARK-CANOE OF ARABA INDIANS. The mighty tree rising above its neighbours is the There can be no lighter, simpler, and better concastanheira (Berstiocletis ezcelse); in the foreground, structed crafts in the world than these bark-canoes of the round dish-like leaves of the Victoria regia. the Araras and Caripunas. Elastic pieces of bark of LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS. xv a finger's thiclkness, stiffened out in the middle and THE FORMER MiISSION OF EXALTACION DE LA SANTA lightly laced at the ends, they accommodate four CRuz. persons very well; and two will easily carry one over One might almost fancy the severe spirit of Loyola's the rocks of some rapid down to calmer water. disciples still hovering about the quiet Plaza and OU FIT EETIN WIT TE CARIPUN INDIANS. under the decaying verandas with their carved pillarOUR FIRST ~[EETING WITHl THE CARIPUJNA. INDIANS. capitals, which will never be restored when they The vegetation in the original sketch was drawn veget.tio ithfinally yield to the corrosion of wind and weather. from Nature. Our first sight of our savage friends Women in their long tipoyas glide noiselessly by, with upon our landing I have tried to reproduce froma their primitive ewers on their heads, and the men memory as faithfully as possible. pass you with a curt greeting. The convent-like PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG CARIPUNA INDIAN. stillness has not yet quite subdued the children, who The physiognomy of the young warrior with the prattle and play and ask unanswerable questions, as long hair and the bunch of red toucan feathers in the they are wont to do everywhere. nose, may be taken as the type of the whole horde. HIIGH MASS AT TRINIDAD. (ARIPUNA INDIAN HUNTING. HIere are represented genuine red-skins executingHalf-hidden in the dlark shade of thorny prejafiba Half-hiden in the dar shde of thorny prejaba partly on well-known, partly strangely shaped instrupalms, his long black hair hanging like a mane over ents of their own anufacturingthe masterpieces 0 ~~~~~~~~~~ments of their own manufacturing —the masterpieces his back, he waits, ready to shoot his game, be it the of old Italian sacred music. With an industry one graceful deer, the wild hog, or the tapir. The straight would hardly give their race credit for, they have kept ropes on the right are the air-roots of the imb6; up the art from generation to generation, in spite of aroidese clinging high above in the lofty crown of a the prolonged misgoverlnment of the white. masters of castanheira. the land, which would have crushed the art procliviVIGNETTE: HUI-MING-BIRD DEFENDING ITS NEST AGAINST ties of a less tough nation. Who after this will deny SNAKE. to them the capacity of further development? CMOJOS INDIAN FROM TRINIDAD. CHAPTER ~II. The noble features of this Indian, belonging to one INITIAL: THE MAMIOMAO (CARICA PAPAYA) AND SUGAR- of our boats' crews, reminded me always of Seume's: CANE. "Ein Canadier, der noch Europier," etc.; The mammdo, or papay-tree, is often found in the and, if he did not quite answer to that ideal of a redcoffee or sugar-plantations; its fruit, of the size of a child. hd. skin, he was at least one of the most taciturn of the child's head, is eaten, though rather insipid. taciturn Indians. THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY EXPLAINED BY A MARIANO: MOJOS FROM TRINIDAD. JESUIT ARTIST. This representation, painted nal fresco on the tym- A handy, clever fellow, who under the instruction panum of the old church at Trinidad " in usum of our cook tried hard to enlarge his culinary knowIndianorum," is, maugre all rudeness of conception and ledge, and to.catch now and then an extra good execution, admirably adapted to the childish minds of exectionadnrablaclptedoth chidismind of morsel. His broad cheekbones, oblique eyesscanty the red-skinned neophytes. beard, and disposition to em7bonpoint, gave him the appearance of a Chinese mandarin, deepened someMoJos INDIAN OF THE FOP.M~E MISSION OF TRINIDAD. what in colour. The dcarl-brown, strongly-set sword-dancer in the classical garment and the bright feather-crown, dane- CAPITAO PAY: CHIEFTAIN OF T~lE CAYOWA INDIANS. ins (like King David) in honour of the Lord, is rarely The old chief, who, together with his tribe, more to be seen evten now' but when we put together all than forty years ago left the forests on the Ivinheima the other emblems of ceremonial pomp and sacerdotal and Iguatemy, to play more or less the part of a sway, the gold-embroidered banners, the heavy silver mediatized prince in the Aldeamento de San Ignacio crosses and swinging censers, the rich garlands of on the Paranapanema, is to the present day a proflowers, and the palh-branches, with the dark blue totype of the good-natured sly Guarani. The presky canopying the whole, it must be owned that the ponderance of the well-armed settlers, always ready High Festivals of the Missions could vie in splendour for deeds of violence and drawing nearer and nearer with any Saint's-day in Europe. his native woods, and perhaps vague reminiscences xvi LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS. and tales of the paternal government of the Jesuits, I once showed him my revolver, and explained that in will have brought him to the conviction that it is a short time I could fire six shots with it. Well better to live under the protection of the Pae-guassu knowing the style of the braggart, who had some (that is the Emperor) than to be annihilated in a time before assured me, pointing to a round mark on hopeless resistance. his forehead, that the ball which had caused it had come out at the back of his head, I fully expected CAPITAL0 V1I BANG: CHIEF OF THE COROADOS. he would not exhibit any sign of surprise: but I was. almost taken aback when, bestowing a contemptuous A striking contrast to the last is the chief of the m sidelook at the weapon, and repeatedly mimicking my Coroados, living in another Aldeamento, that of " piff! paff!" he gave me to understand that he S. Jeronimo. Only after hard fighting, and when could far more rapidly dispatch a greater number of he saw that there really was no help for it,' dld he whizzing, never-erring arrows! submit to the white man; and even now his fidelity is not always to be relied on. The following is a VIGNETTE: MEANS OF CIVILISING THE INDIANS USED, characteristic illustration of his supercilious pride. BY THE COMPANY OF JESUS. INTRODUCTION. lI~N Brazil a country most richly endowed by i=~~~~0 Nature and which has of late repeatedly attracted the attention of Europe by its long i withe Atlanti, hand r formig war with raguay and its endea o rs to solve th Amazon and Lathe Slave Qunestiont we find all the conditions 1it 1 and modes of life so vastly different from what we are used to ourselves that the following remaIrk intended to give the reader a general boundaries. anidea of the country, will not, perhaps, be out of place. This immense Empire (it is nearly as large as Europe) is divided into twenty its situation is a highly faytured one; the Atlantic, with many excellent rarbours, forming its eastern confines for 34 degrees of latitude, andl the two powerful nets of the A4mazon and La Plata, not yet estimated at their true value, linking the sea-coast with the rich countries of the interio~r. Its exten%, not easily determina~ble, by reason of the many undecided contests about boundaries, and of the inexacfitude of the maps, was estimated by Itumboldt to be 144,500 geographical square miles. The following list shows its division into Provinces; but I must add that the statement is given with all rescry%, being the result of 2 TIHE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. approximate calculations, the boundaries between the provinces themselves not being clear for the most part. Amazonas........ 27,100 geogr. sq. miles. Para......... 22,500 Maranhao....... 9, 000 Piauhy........ 4,300, Ceara......... 2,200 Rio Grande do Norte..... 1,310 Parahyba....... 950 Pernambuco...... 1,880 Alagoas........ 740 Sergipe....... 780 Bahia........ 14,500 Espirito Santo...... -1,100 Rio de Janeiro...... 1,350,, Sho Paulo....... 3, 930, Parana........ 3, 375 Santa Catharina....... 1,500, Rio Grande do Sul..... 4,630,, Minas Geraes....... 11,250,, Goyaz........ 14,000,, Mato Grosso...... 28,000,, The climate of Brazil is almost throughout a warm and moist one. There are none of those contrasts caused by high ice-and-snow-covered Cordilleras, as in Peru' and Bolivia; on whose slopes you pass in rapid succession the burning heat of Africa, the pleasant freshness of Northern Italy, and the chilling cold of Siberia. The provinces of Rio G1rande do Sul, Santa Catharina, Parana, and a part of Sao Paulo, enjoy a fine temperate climate, much like that of Southern Europe; but, on the whole, the thoroughly tropical character of the gigantic riverine plains of the Amazon, Parana, Paraguay, and Sao Francisco prevails. In Rio de Janeiro the average temperature of the year, as shown by a six-years' record at the Observatory, is between 23~ and 24~ Centigrade (18~ and 19' R.). During summer, that is, during the three winter months of Europe, December, January and February, it is between 26~ and 27~ C. (21~ and 22~ R.); and in July, the coldest month, about 21~ C. (17~ R.).* In the last twenty or thirty years, the climate of Rio de Janeiro has sensibly changed, doubtless in consequence of the destruction of the forests round about the city. For instance, in the cold season, the temperature does not now sink to its former low level; and, instead of a decided dry and rainy season, h A degree and a half, or two degrees more, must be counted for the city as the Observatory is situated on the IMorro do Castello, several hundred feet above it, where it is swept by the cool sea-breeze. INTRODUCTION. 3 the rains now fall more equally throughout the year; while the average number of storms during the year is twenty-six, whereas, formerly, they could daily be counted upon with the greatest certainty during the three hot months, as is the case still at Para. It is a remarkable fact that, immediately after that period (1850), epidemics, like yellow fever and cholera, unknown before in Rio, made their grim entry, and have demanded their yearly victims ever since. We are unable to determine whether there is any vital connection between the two facts, or whether the ironical post Aoc eryo propter hoe! is applicable thereto. Along the whole coast north of Rio, the climate is much like that of the Capital, moist and warm, though in many places the sea-breeze injures the wheat. At Bahia the average temperature, in summer, is said to be 28~ C.; that in winter, 22~ C. At Para' the average temperature amounts to 26' C., and that on the plains of the Amazon to 28~ —29~ C., with a minimum of 24~ C. in the cooler months. In the interior the different seasons show a greater variety. In the southern parts of Minas Geraes, at heights of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the sea-level, the average yearly temperature is 19'-200 C.; that of summer, 24~-250 C.; that of winter, 15- C.; but frequently the thermometer sinks to freezing-point; and it is not a rare sight to see tropical plants, such as coffee, plantain, and sugar cane, severely damaged by the night frosts. In Sao Paulo the average annual temperature varies between 22~ and 23~ C.; in Rio Grande do Sul, that of summer, between 25~ and 27~ C., while in winter it is sometimes below freezing-point. In the German colony of Sao Leopoldo the mercury once even showed 10~ C. In Donna Francisca, another German colony of the province of Santa Csatharina, the average annual temperature is 20~ —21~ C.; that of the summer months (December, January and February), 24 —25. C. However, 36~ —37~ C. in summer and 1~ in winter are not thought extraordinary. Generally, there are but two distinct seasons in Brazil, the cool or dry one, and the hot or rainy one, whose beginning and duration depend greatly upon the local configuration of the country. The latter usually begins in October or November; at some distance from the seaboard, a little later; and in some parts of Maranhab, Piauhy, and Cear& it sometimes fails to make its appearance at all, to the great misery of the population. Then the country looks like a desert; the trees lose their leaves; the grass on the Campos seems to be burnt up, and the mortality is greatly increased, until the first shower brings back health and life to everything and every one. In most of the other parts, almost all the trees and shrubs preserve their foliage during the dry season, though they all sufer more or less, and woulds o so more if they were not refreshed every night by a profuse dew. 4 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. In the southern provinces, where the climate assumes more and more the character of the temperate zone, the rains set in in winter; that is, in June, July, and August; and the hot season is identical with the dry one; while, on the border of the two zonesin some parts of the province of Parana, for example-two rainy seasons may be distinguished; the first in January and February, and the second in September. In Rio de Janeiro and its environs, the annual rain-fall amounts to 50 inches; but at the mouth of the Amazon, with its endless virgin forests, its immense wvater-sheets, and the rapid evaporation under a glowing sun, it amounts to no less than 200 inches, being more than six times the average quantity in Europe. On the whole, the climate may be called a healthy one, with the exception of a few riverine plains, such as the Rio Doce, Mucury, and some of the affiuents of the Amazon, which are plagued with intermittent fevers. The yellow fever, which first caused great havoc at Rio de Janeiro, in 1850, reappears there almost every year since then, and has even increased in intensity of late; bult Brazilians and acclimatized Europeans will easily escape it by a sober, regular mode of life. New arrivals, it is true, incur great danger; and I should advise every one who has'not lived for years under the tropics, to show his back, in yellow fever time, to the cities on the seaboard, and to live in the interior until the terrible visitor is gone. Even now, at the German colony of Petropolis, distant only some eight leagues from Rio, but 2,500 feet above the sea-level, one is perfectly safe from it, as it always keeps near the coast, within a narrow range. But not so the cholera. Although here, as everywhere, it pursues especially the highways of commerce, and has its favourite haunts in populous towns, yet there is not one place (be it ever so much out of the way) in all South America, since its first visit in 1852, where one can feel secure from this terrible Asiatic scourge. Particularly the negroes, who do not easily fall victims to yellow fever, are cut off in great numbers by cholera. It is a singular fact' that measles and scarlatina are almost always of fatal issue to Indians, and devastate whole populations, while they are not more dangerous to white people and negroes than they usually are in Europe. Together with the small-pox, they form a hideous triumvirate, that will have not a little increased the awe and hatred felt by the poor red-skiins for the white men who introduced these dlreadful visitors to them. Three so widely differing races as the white, the black, and the red are, cannot but form a very motley population. For these three centuries, the white immigrants have driven the Indians —the first owners of the soil —farther and farther back into the interior; and the last red manl of unmixed blood will be cut off by civilisation and its gifts, contagious diseases and fire-water, before three ages more are gone. Every attempt, on a large scale, to use them as slaves ended in terrible slaughter, and the destruction of INTRODUCTION. 5 whole tribes; and so the humane device was hit on of fetching over the woolly-headed son of Aifrica, whose neck bows more easily to the yoke, and who endures hard labour under the tropical sun so much better than either whites or Indians. That it was not a successful hit, any reasonable Brazilian will own now, when the getting rid of the hateful institution costs them so much trouble. As a general census has never yet been effected (and, indeed, it would not be an easy task in the thinly-populated provinces), it is very difficult to state, even approximatively, the number of souls. The official census of 1867 calculated it to be 11,000,000 (1,400,000 slaves and 500,000 independent Indians included); but this statement is evidently overrated, as is clearly shown by the latest valuation, in August, 1872; by which the total number of the inhabitants of Brazil is set down as 10,094,978, including 1,683,864 slaves and 250,000 foreigners. It is true that neither this nor the first statement can be implicitly relied upon, the number of slaves and of Indians, perhaps, excepted, wrhich may come nearer the truth. The white race (in the strict sense of the word), although the ruling one, forms only a minor part of the population. Especially in the interior, only a limited number of families can boast of pure descent from the first immigrants, the Portuguese-who even now come over every year by thousands, and have got hold of almost all the retail trade in the land. At the first glance the Brazilian is distinguished from his ancestor. He usually is darker, small and elegantly shaped, while the Portuguese has a much robuster frame, and is heavier and slower in every way. By-the-bye, there is no love lost between the two; and many a characteristic nickname tells of the mutual hatred and contempt of the former oppressor and the oppressed. The inhabitants of the Southern provinces, Minas, Sao Paulo, and Rio Grande are, (on the whole) much taller and stronger, approaching more the European type, and show more energy and activity than those of the North, where the Indian element manifests itself more clearly. In respect to colour, the prejudice here is by no means so strong as in North America. In Brazil nobody would think of turning a man out from a public place, an omnibus, or the like, only because he was a mulatto (Indian mestizoes are regarded with still more indulgence): and there are coloured men holding high offices in the Army and in the Administration. However, every one wishes to pass off for white; " Th~e above-mentioned number of free Indians, sp~read over an area of 80,000 square miles of virg~in forest and prairies, gives an average number of six Inrdians to the square mile. In the separate provinces, the virgin forest and prairies, or campos, with the Indian population on them, average as follows: — Para, Amazonas, and Maranhao........ 60,000 sq. miles. Mato Grosso, Goyaz, and Sao Paulo...... 14,000,, Parana, Santa Catharina, and Rio Grande do Sul..... 5,000,, Piauhy, Ceara, Pernambuco, Minas Geraes, and Espirito Santo. 3,000,, 6 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. and it is the greatest possible offence to doubt the pure lineage of a Brazilian of good family. The many shades of colour, some of them distinguishable only by an experienced eye, have as many different names. Some of these are only local expressions, and many imply contempt; so, if you wish to be polite, say pardo (coloured man) instead of mulatto, or cabra, the latter meaning the offspring of negroes and mulattoes. The descendant of negroes and Indians is called cariboca, ecfuzo, or tapainhtcna; and the offspring of whites and Indians mamneluo, very likely intended originally as a nickname. The word crioulo (creole), used generally in Europe for those born of European parents in Transatlantic colonies, is applied in Brazil only to negroes born there, be they slaves or not, to distinguish them from the Negroos da Costa, the blacks brought over from the coast of Africa. There is no doubt but that the slave population of Brazil is gradually decreasing, in spite of the official census that says the contrary; the number of births being greatly below the number of deaths, and the country not having received any fresh supplies from Africa these twenty years. By the convention with England the slave trade ought to have ceased ever since 1826; but the great gains were too tempting an inducement. Any one who succeeded in safely landing his freight of " ebony" on any point of the Brazilian shore became at once a wealthy man; so, notwithstanding the English cruisers that out of a hundred slave-vessels could hardly capture more than three, on account of the great extent of the B3razilian and African coasts, about 28,000 slaves (at a moderate estimate) were annually brought over. Only during the reign of Don Pedro II. was the supply stopped, owing chiefly to the urgency of England, by searching on the plantations in the interior for negros novos (new negroes), and by imposing heavy fines on the culprits, both sellers and buyers. The consequence was that the price of the " black-ware " rose six and sevenfold, from 300 to 2,000 milreis. From this moment, and still more after the slave emancipation in the United States, every clear-sighted Brazilian must have felt that the time was come for rooting out from his own country that hateful relic of ba1barous ages, and measures were taken accordingly. By the new law all children born to slaves (the condition of the mother always determining that of the children), after the first of January, 1872, are to be free on attaining their twentieth year. Until then they are to serve their owners as compensation for the care taken of them in their infancy. This measure, though not destroying the evil at one blow, but keeping it up for a number of years, must yet gain the approval of every one who has spent any time in a slave-trading country, and has seen the difficulties of the position. A sudden emancipation of the slaves, if it could be effected at all withont entirely ruining the present owners, would certainly be attended with the saddest consequences, not INTRODUCTION. 7 only to the productions of the country in general, but also to the liberated slaves themselves. If it be a difficult task to educate the rising generation to the degree of obtaininog their labour without absolute compulsion, it is an impossible one as to the grown-up slave. Besides this, the evil consequences of the abominable institution will be felt for long years after its entire abolition, in the lax morality of the families, in the total want of intelligent workmen, and the utter impossibility, with existing means, of improving agriculture, which hitherto has been carried on in the rudest and most unprofitable way. "Of what use is it" said an intelligent educated landowner once to me, "of what use is it to know that we have not improved our farming one hair's breadth since the time of our ancestors, the Portuguese? Even if we knew better wvi~at to do, and how to get out of that wretched old routine of ours, it would not help us on; for with the hands we employ-a crowd of stupid niggers, wllo, as slaves, are stubborn, and must bear a grudge towards even the very best of masters-it is quite impossible to effect the slightest change in our ruinous system." To the coffee and sugar-growing provinces it is, of course, an all-important matter to have new hands in the land as soon as possible, in order to check the dreaded reduction of value in the trade and finances of the Empire. The attempt to settle Chinese coolies proved as unsuccessful as that to induce the planters of the Southern States, after the war, to transmigrate to Brazil. People had the highest idea of the wonders American energy and industry could work there, and they believed the long-looked-for panacea against their own indolence had been found; but they forgot that, in spite of all the hatred towards their victorious neighbours, the Southerners could not but foresee the advantages held out to them by their old home, in which, peace being restored, agriculture, trade, and industry flourished anew, and where, after all, they could prosper so much easier than in Brazil, where everything was quite new to them, except slavery, and where the general indolence would also have been a check to their activity. With the aid of some American agents, who volunteered for the obviously lucrative job despite their high military titles-most of them called themselves generals —several hundreds of emigrants arrived. Besides most respectable families, there seemed to be some perfectly organised gangs of thieves amongst them, whose luggage was found, at the Alfanldega of Rio, to consist of false keys, rope-ladders, revolvers, and other tools of refined modern burglary. The voyage and the first instalment of the newcomers having cost Erazil some hundred thousands of dollars, almost all-including these gentlemen, I hope-returned disappointed, after a very short sojourn; most of them, too, at the cost of the nEmpire, which gained nothing by the whole affair but the tardy discovery that a thriving country like the United States, that has not yet reached its 8 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. climax of development, and is itself in want of hands, cannot by any means afford to send a considerable number of emigrants even to Paradise. If the Brazilians had cherished any hopes of reviving the decaying institution of slavery by the settlement of the former slave-owners from the South of the Union, their mistake certainly was a double one; for such a success, if at all possible, would have been but a new disaster. But if the Government would profit by the bitter lesson for which it paid so dear, and would but try to improve the condition of the German emigrants-the only ones that will settle for good in their new homes, differing much in this respect from the Portuguese, who all go back as soon as they have gained a few hundred milreis-the result would yet prove to the advantage of the Brazilians. Unfortunately they are haunted by the notion of the national existence being endangered by too great a preponderance of foreigners, and the proper measures for inducing settlers to come have been withheld. Instead of givinggood tracts of land gratuitously to new-comers, making roads for them, and granting to them perfect religious freedom and political equality with the natives, the country was discredited, in the eyes of Europe, by rich coffee-growers being allowed to conclude those 2parceria contracts with German colonists, by wvhich the latter were. placed entirely in the hands of, sometimes, most unscrupulous masters. They have allotted to them a certain number of coffee-plants, to which they have to attend, and the produce of which they are to divide in equal shares with the owners of the ground; only, as they have, with their share, to discharge the debts contracted for the voyage (the first instalment of payment), and for victuals during the first year, they are kept in a state of dependence, which it is the interest of their masters to prolong as much as they can. Another drawback to successful colonization is that, everywhere, the lands best adapted for agriculture and trade are scarcely to he bought for any money; and, consequently, colonists get land either poor in itself or too remote from ordinary means of communication. Especially the rich first growth (Mato-Virgem), used exclusively until now for coffee culture, is getting dearer from day to day, and has already become scarce in several provinces, that of Rio de Janeiro, for example, although coffee-culture there dates back only fifty years; for, as the plant (at least with the there usual treatment or ill-treatment) will yield only for some twenty-five or thirty years, whoever can afford it simply leaves the old plantations to cut down new tracks of virgin forest, instead of trying to prolong the period of productiveness * by properly manuring the soil. Of course, with any activity on the part of the hundreds of thousands of hands busy at this system of robbery, immense districts must be cleared in a comparatively - If any cheap mineral manure could be discoveredi hich wouldh anser this purpose, or would render to the capoeira (second g~rowth, from caa tpoeira, low or thin forest) those elements which it lackrs, compared with first growth, the fazendeiros might yet hold up their heads for many~ years to come. INTRODUCTION. 9 short time, and rendered unfit for coffee-growing, at least. But, even if this were not the case, if the virgin forests of the interior were really inexhaustible and easier of access than they are, it must be of the greatest interest to the planters themselves, as well as to the Government, and to road and railway companies, to keep once-tilled land under cultivation, and not to put the centre of coffee-culture farther and farther from the sea, thus rendering comparatively useless greater and greater stretches of expensive roads. All this considered, it must be clear that poor, newly-arrived colonists cannot buy any soil fit for the lucrative culture of coffee near the coast; and, in out-of-the-way places in the interior, where it may be had on reasonable terms, it is of no use to them, as they cannot sell the produce. Only after the entire abolition of slavery will and can all this change. The soil will get cheaper, especially if a land-tax be levied; the Government will be able to buy good and advantageously situated districts for new settlers; and then only, the large fazendas with their hundreds of negroes disappearing, and smaller estates, conducted on sounder principles, taking their place, agriculture will develop itself, as it ought, on such a first-rate soil and under such a fertilising climate. As to the Indians, considered from an ethno-economical point of view, as working material and equivalent for the slaves, the great task of getting them used to fixed settlements and regular work, and of uniting them to some useful community, has already been achieved. The Jesuits have shown by their Missions that it can be done. Lopez also, the ill-famed President of Paraguay, who had reaped the benefits of their long activity, working upon the same principles of absolute despotism, had brought his Guarani State to such a degree of national development that he could carry on for five years a bloody war against a contry of six times the population of his little republic; but whoever knows the indolent character of the Indians, and the tenacity with which they cling to their old habits, will not wonder that in Brazil little or nothing has been attained by the small energy and scanty means allotted to " catechese dos Indios." The civilising work of the Jesuits was violently interrupted by their expulsion in 1759; and the Portuguese Government, always behind a century or two, could not devise any better plan than the pursuit of the red-skins by fair means or foul. As late as 1808 a decree of the K~ing ordered war against them, especially the PBotocudos, with fire and sword, until they'"movidos do justo terror das minhas reaes armas," should sue for peace. Since the reign of the present emperor, Don Pedro II., they are protected by law, and spared at least as much as possible; still this protection is not always efficient, by reason of the enormous extent of the country; and the fullblood Indians will disappear in Brazil as surely as they do in North America. W-herever they come innto immedliate contact with that set; of conscienceless intruders who usually are the "Lpioneersi of civilisation," they must succumb if there is no 10 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. protecting element to help them. If a nation is bereft at once of everything which, till then, it cherished —its gods, its chiefs, and all its peculiar ways of life —and if it is brought into contact with European corruption; in the state of moral destitution consequent on the loss of all national and religious support, the worst results are unavoidable. The zeal with which the Indians of former Missions il Bolivia cling to the present day to the rites of the Catholic Church, may partly have its source in their childish taste for outward pomp and gaudy shows; but certainly a good deal of it arises from their striving to gain some equivalent for their lost nationality. The gradual disappearing of this ill-fated race, numerous tribes of which certainly bore in them germs of civilisation that might have been developed under proper management, is the more to be regretted as the solution of many ethnographic problems will thus become more and more difficult. After all the most valuable notes gathered and published by HIumboldt, Spix, Martius, D'Orbigny, Mokie, and others, many facts have not yet found satisfactory explanation, and probably never will find it; the more so as there are so few monumental remains of former periods, and scarcely anything written by the hands of the autochthons, a few unintelligible hieroglyphs excepted. On the South American Continent we find Indian tribes living close together-not separated by any barriers, such as ice-covered heights, impenetrable jungles, or dreary deserts -hich differ so materially from each other in language, character, and customs, that they have scarcely anything in common but their brown skin and black lank hair. A newcomer, deceived by this outward similarity, will think them of the same kin and kind; but, on closer observation, he will find that they are totally different nations, living generally in deadly feud with each other; and by-and-bye he will also discover their physiognomies to be of quite another type.* So in the Southern provinces we saw in the closest vicinity two entirely different nations-of course, at war with each other from times immemorial. One of them, the Guarani, of the widely spread Tupi tribe, showing the well-known eagle profile of the N'orth American Indians, first-rate pedlars and fishers, generally keep near the large rivers; while the other, the Coroados, or Ca-en-gangues (forest-men), as they call themselves.- more warlike and high-handed, carrying off and enslaving whomsoever they can, do not use canoes at all, and prefer the wooded ravines of the lateral valleys or the grass-grown ridges of the Campos, where the fat tapir, the wild hog and the nimble deer, fall an easy " The slave population of Urazil, scraped together fiom all parts of Africa, anal showing a great variety of types, also seelns to newly arrived Europeans to be wrought after one and the same modlel, a sort of primitive negro; the general similitude of colour and hair causing the marked differences of physiognomy and cranium to be overlooked. t Martius calls them Cames. INTRODUCTION. 11 prey to their never-failing arrows and heavy lances. Their oblique eyes, short nose, and high cheek-bones, strongly remind one of the Mongolian type, though by this remark I would not imply their direct Asiatic origin. A few years ago they fought a bloody, though unsuccessful war against the white intruders, and were pursued and punished for it by the Portuguese Government in the most ruthless way, while many tribes of their hereditary foes, the softer Guarani, bent their necks without much difficulty beneath the heavy yoke of the Jesuits. These Guarani, although their outward appearance and character recall the old Mexican tribes, seem to have come, in all probability, from the South, the Paraguay of to-day, and the Southern provinces of Brazil, and to have spread thence all over the continent. Close to the descendants of these brave wanderers, divided into a great number of vastly differing tribes (many of which have created for themselves idioms quite unintelligible to the rest), we find the usually more barbarous tribes of the real aborigines; and we must needs ask ourselves,-without finding a satisfactory answer though,-the reason of these different modes of life under the same outward conditions; why, of two nations of the same race, one should spend half its life on the water, while the other, living but a few miles off, can neither build a canoe nor handle a paddle. Considering the Babylonish chaos of Indian languages (Martius counting for Brazil alone about two hundred and fifty different idioms), the valuable labours of the Jesuits can scarcely be too highly estimated. They first formed and fixed grammatically the Guarani or Tupi language (lingua geral), and introduced it in their Missions; and now it has become the popular language in all the North of Brazil, especially in the provinces of Para and Amazonas, where it is used, almost exclusively, by all the Indian settlers and half-castes of the most diverging tribes. Martius has given a most valuable account of Indian customs, and vocabularies of a great number of their languages. That anthropophagy is still practised by several of these tribes, unfortunately, is a fact which cannot be doubted. So with the Miranhas on the Amazon, and the Parentintins on the Madeira and Rio Negro; but equally certain it is that very many tribes have been falsely accused of it by the intruding whites, who sought to have an excuse for their cruel treatment of them. Usually, only those slain in their combats, or prisoners of war, are served at these horrid banquets; and this not without a certain choice, as a woman of the Mirana tribe assured us at M1Vanmos. She vowed that they never ate " Christaos," that is, civilised people, whose flesh does not savour well, on account of their eating salt! But such assertions cannot be implicitly trusted, as Indians very often take a pleasure in deceiving or making fun of their curious 12 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. white questioners. So they have a trick of returning for answer one of the words of the question proposed, which often gives rise to the queerest misluderstandings.* Only a few of the independent tribes have fixed abodes. Most of them pull down or burn their light sheds, whenever they think fit, and then wander forth, often for many miles,-the wives carrying all the household implements, the stores, and even the spare arrows of their husbands,-in quest of better hunting-grounds, to gather the ripe, wild fruit, or to visit their own plantations of Indian corn and mandioc, which this unsteady, wandering life does not hinder them from growing. These two plants, which certainly had been cultivated for ages before the discovery of America, still number with the most important productions of Brazil, both for Indians and Europeans. The corn (milho), grown especially in the South as fodder for horses and mules, yields a coarse flour (fuba), which, cooked to a thick pap-a sort of polenta-is, together with black beans, the chief dish of the working population of the provinces of )Ainas Geraes and Rio de Janeiro. Of the Mandioc root, which flourishes throughout the country from North to South, there are two kinds-the Aipim (ManZiZot alpi), much like potatoes when boiled, and the IMacndiocza brava (Aaclzl~aot etiilisswit za), of wvlich, after extracting the very poisonous juice,t the farina is prepared,-a coarse-grained meal which, without any further preparation, takes the place of our bread on the tables of Brazilians, both high and low. Wheat and rye are only grown in the German colonies of the South, and not in sufficient quantities for the demand of the towns, which are chiefly supplied from North America and Europe. Rice, of several excellent qualities, is largely cultivated, particularly in Maranhao. It is, together with black beans (feijao) and sun-dried meat (carne seca), a daily dish with almost all classes of the population. All these articles are rather high-priced, as their culture is not so lucrative as that of the exported articles, coffee, sugar and cotton; and it is, therefore, neglected on the large estates. Coffee can be grown almost everywhere, though, in the hottest districts of the North, it must be planted in the shade of larger trees, to get a good crop; and in Rio Grande and Paran& it thrives but poorly, and is grown only for domestic use. The provinces that export most are Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, andthe Eastern part of Minas Geraes. Cotton, several varieties of which are indigenous to the soil, and were cultivated by i We took with u~s as servant a houng Catyowaf Illdian, fr~om the Aldeamento de Sallto Ignacio, in the province of Parana, who answered to the name of "ChamP," that is, when it just suited his convenience. On closer investigation we found out this was believed to be his zname, fr~om his regularly answering'LChama," to the question, " Como se chama?" (What are you called?). t The fine starchy sediment of this juice is the tapioca. INTRODUCTION. 13 the Indians long before the discovery of America, flourishes in the North (where, however, the quality is second-rate), as well as in the South, where it is acquiring greater importance as an article of export, in spite of the considerable fluctuations in price to which it has been subject. Spread over almost as wide a range is the sugar-cane, which was introduced by the Portuguese as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century; as sugar, and pao brazil, the well-known dyewood wThich gave the whole country its name,* were the articles first exported by them. The work in the sugar-cane fields is said to be very laborious and irksome; and Brazilians will be found to assert that sugar-cane eiulture will come to a sudden stop, upon the abolition of slavery, as free workmen never would undertake it. Another indigenous plant, of exceedingly wide range, whose culture might be much improved and increased, is the tobacco, which is held in high esteem to the present day by many of the wild Indian tribes. The big cigars, more than two feet long, with which their Pajb's (usually the cleverest of the tribe, uniting the treble dignity of priest, magician, and medicine-man) besmoke their patients, certainly are the originals of the "weeds," which no Christian gentleman can do without nowadays. Sone,attempts to cultivate Cllinese tea in Sao Paulo and Minas proved a sad failure, as the quality produced was a very inferior one; whether from the effect of the climate or bad management, I cannot tell. Certainly the patient, slender-fingered son of the " Celestial Empire " seems to be better suited to the subtle work of gathering and sorting the leaves than the negro. But they have an excellent equivalent for it in Brazil, —the Paraguay tea (Ibex Parayttayensis), also called Herva Mate', or Congonha, growing wild everywhere in the Southern provinces, and forming already a considerable article of export. An infusion of the dried and pounded leaves, imbibed through a delicately plaited little tube (bombilha), is the indispensable national beverage of all classes in the La Plata States, Paraguay and the South of Brazil, while the N~orth has cacao and guarana instead. Of these and other productions of the forests of the North, such as the cacao and the caoutchouc, hereafter. By reason of excellent natural pastures of great extent (campos or prairies), the Southern provinces, Rio G(rande Paranf, Santa Catharina and Sao Paul%, are particularly well adapted for cattle breeding. The interior of Piauhy and Pernambuco, and the isles of Maraji and Goyaz also breed fine cattle; but, on the whole, this branch of farming has not yet obtained the attention it merits, and Brazil is much in the rear even of its next neighbours, the Spanish Republics, in respect not only of the quality of the cattle, bl t also of utilisinSg the clifferent parts of ~the slaughtered animals, the tallow, hides, bones, hoofs and horns. " The rosstt adiscoveiero callerw it Tenra de Vefa Cruz, or Terra da Santa Cruz (Land of the Tmue, or of the Holy Cross), and not till long; after wfas this denomination changed for the name of the much appreciated wood. 14 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. However, it was neither the fat pasturage nor the fertility of the soil that proved the strongest allurements to the first immigrants after its discovery. It was the metallic wealth of the country. We owe the first descriptions of the interior to small troops of gold-greedy adventurers, who had set out to seek the Dorado, a fabulous land of gold and diamonds, created by their own vivid imaginations. Especially the settlers of the former Capitania de Sao Vicente (tle present Sao Paulo), distinguished themselves by their bold explorations; and the province of Minas Geraes bears, to the present day, the name they gave it for its mines. Although these latter are no longer thought of such high importance, the due development of agriculture being considered (and with reason) to be a much sounder basis of progress for the country, yet several large mines are successfully worked at Morro-Velho and its vicinity by English companies. Mato Grosso also is very rich in ore; and the old mines near the sources of the Gualpore, for example, were abandoned only on account of the difficulty of communication and of the fevers. Diamonds also were found shortly after the discovery; and here again the province of Minas ranks foremost, with its diamond washings in the Jequitinhonha, the Diamantina, and the Bagagem, vwhere the renowned "Estrella do Sul" was found. Though in the last century the European merchants, anxious not to overstock the market, and so lessen the value of their Indian supplies, would not recognise Brazilian diamonds as such, they yet have forced their way; and it is not saying too much to assert that the greater part of the diamonds worn throughout the world conze fiom Brazil. Of course there is no question yet of cutting them there, as manufacturing activity, no matter on what scale, cannot be thought of in a country where hands are so scarce and where wages and provisions are so high. Everything that demands L'mao d'obra," from the silk dress and the piano down to the palito (tooth-pick), is still importedl from Europe and North America, and, in spite of the long voyage and the enormous custom-house duties, is cheaper than if it were manufactured on the spot. The greater the distance from the sea, the greater, of course, are the difficulties of conveyance. The want of good, easy ways of communication has been one of the chief drawbacks not only to Brazil, but to all the South American States. Nowhere in the whole Continent, a hundred miles from the coast, is there a regular carriage-road to be found; and the mule, or, at best, the creaking ox-cart, with its enormous wooden wheels fixed on the axletrees, are the indispensable vehicles. It is true that conveyance on mules' backs is the only one possible on paths which, in the rainy season, are kneedeep, and sometimes breast-deep, with mud, which show ascents of twenty or thirty feet in a hundred, and which sometimes are obstructed by huge masses of loose rocis and stones; and very often it requires all the sagacity of the tropeiro (mule-driver), INTRODUCTION. 15 and all the tough perseverance and sure-footedness of his mules, to bring themselves and their loads, whole and sound, to their several destinations. In consequence of these difficulties, and of the exeeding slowness of progress (scarcely ten or twelve miles a day), this mode of transport is so dear that even valuable products, like coffee, do not pay the cost of conveyance to a seaport, if the distance exceeds three hundred miles; and as the freight, moreover, necessarily packed in small colli, and loaded and unloadedl so often, is exposed to all sorts of risks, it is clear that the central parts of the continent are in a sort of continual blockade, that allows neither agriculture nor trade to prosper. In Brazil considerable exertions have been muade, within the last eighteen years, to remedy this state of things; and these efforts are to be rated the more highly, seeing that the cost of fresh means of communication is very great-about three times more than in Germany-and immediate financial advantages can scarcely be expected from any such enterprises. 13ut as they are indispensable for progress, and as the gain from an etlino-economical point of view cannot be denied, it certainly devolves on the Governmelzt to build roads ancl railways, to intersect rivers with canals, and to establish lines of steamers, be the pecuniary sacrifices never so great. Since the opening, in 1854, of the first Brazilian railway (the little Maua railroad) that leads from Rio de Janeiro to the foot of the Serra, a distance of 17 kilometres five other railroads of 634 kilometres have been constructed up to 1867. The most considerable of them, the Don Pedro II., is without any doubt the largest enterprise of this kind in Soutlh America. Leading fron Rio de Janeiro over the Serra do iMar, it has already an extent of more than 200 kilometres, and will certainly on some fiuture day be the chief mode of communication for the provinces of Minas, Goyaz, and Mato Grosso. Next to it in importance ranks the Sao Paulo Railway, leading from the port of Sabtos to the interior of the province, the passage of the Serra being effected by means of stationary engines and a steel rope. In the present day, when any declivity may be freely encountered after Fell's system, it certainly would have been constructed otrwi T follow herhia nd Prnfb rilwith an extent of about 124 kilometres each up to the present date, both designed for the purpose of connecting the upper Sho Francisco Valley with the coast. They prosper even less than the others, leading for the most part through waste, uncultivate(1 tracts. A little better off is the Cantagallo Railroad, of about 50 k-ilometres, leadling froln the Villa N~ova, in the province of Rio, to Cachoeira at the foot of the Serra. It is to be conducted up to Novo Fribmrgo, an old Swiss colony. Besides these, preparatory surveys have recently been made for new lines in the provines of Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, Rio G~ranle do Norte, &~c., by which new districts, now almost worthless, will be opened to industry and trade. 16 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. The above-mentioned little sMaua railroad is connected with a carriage-road leading up the steep Serra to Petropolis, a little town in which flaxen-haired children playing in the streets, and their native accent, though mixed up with a sad Portuguese, remind the German strongly of "Home, sweet home," on the other side of the ocean. Unfortunately this colony, founded in 1845, is very ill-adapted for agriculture, the ground being rough and rocky, with steep slopes on which it is impossible to worlk with the plough. The inhabitants depend chiefly on the foreigners, who, following the example of the Imperial family, there spend the summer months, to escape the heat andl sometimes the yellow fever of the capital. From Petropolis the normal carriage-road of the Company Uniao e Industria, constructed by my father from 1855-1862, leads to Juiz de Fora, in the province of Minas, a distance of 147 kilometres. It was designed to be extended to Pluro Preto, the capital of the province, and to be connected with a line of steamers on the Rio das Velhas. It crosses the richest coffee-growing districts of Rio de Janeiro and Minas, and has long ago repaid the vast outlay involved in large rock-blasting operations in the Serra do Mar, and in the construction of an iron bridge over the Parahyba of 150 metres length, and the like works, by augmenting the value of the land and increasing the productiveness of the whole district. With the great extent of the coast of the Empire, the steam navigation is, of course, of the greater importance, as the land communications are by no means easy. Considering that, before the time of steamers, a Government order took on an average about a month to get from the capital to Para, or to any seaport of Rio Grande do Sul; and again, that at least six weeks elapsed before the decree reached Manaos, and about the same time, or more, before it got from Rio Grande, by the River Plate and the Paraguay, to Cuyaba, the capital of Mato Grosso, one can form a slight idea of the difficulties to be surmounted by the Central Government. Just as in China, the president of some distant province might have been driven away and the Government overthrown without the capital being aware of it for two months or more; and indeed, at the time of the Declaration of Independence, the Northern provinces, with Para at their head, were on the eve of siding with Portugal, while at Rio and in the whole South the Revolution had long got the upper hand. Now all this is greatly changed. Besides several Transatlantic lines (from Southampton, Liverpool, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bordeaux, Marseilles) ang h New York line, all of suhich touch at Rio,:Eahia, and- Pernambuco, there is also a Brazzilian line of steamers, which links all the mi-nor ports, and corresponds with the Amzazoll line and with those on the River Plate and Paraguay. A voyage along the coast, revealing in quick succession the rocky cones of the Serra, proud cities like B3ahia and Pernambunco, idyllic fisher-villages INTRODUCTION. 17 half hidden under palm-groves, and dreary stretches of sandy beach, is certainly one of the most captivating that can be fancied. But while the blue Atlantic with ease bears the mightiest steamers on its broad bosom, and while this part of it generally deserves the appellation given to it by the Portuguese, um rnar de leite (a sea of milk)-as neither frequent squalls nor dangerous cliffs imperil the vessels-the rivers of the Empire, with the exception of the Amazon and the Paraguay, together with the La Plata, have their full share of currents, crags, and obstructions. If the Parana, with its large affluents that reach to the heart of Minas, the Sao Francisco, the Rio Doce, the Jequitinhonha and the affluents of the Amazon, the Tocantins, Araguaya, Xingu, Tapajoz, Madeira, &c., were perfectly navigable, Brazil would not indeed have to look out for railways and roads just yet. Unfortunately all these rivers have, at different points of their course, either real falls-as the Sao Francisco, not far above its mouth, has the grand fall of Paulo Affonco-or currents that scarcely allow a canoe or a flat boat to pass; and thus thousands of square miles of the richest soil have continued for ages to remain unexplored, uncultivated, and almost totally uninhabited. Incredible as it may appear at first sight, it is nevertheless true that the fate of the Southern provinces of Brazil, the western parts of, Sao Paulo, Parana, and the south of Minas and Mato Grosso, would be a very different one if strong currents and the lofty falls of Sete Quedas, unvisited by any European for two hundred years since the missionary expeditions of the Jesuits, did not render the Parana unfit for navigation. If on that chief arm of the La Plata Brazilian men-of-war had been stationed, if men and war material could have come by its affluents, the Iguacu, Paranapanema, and Tiete, the war with Paraguay would have come to an end much sooner, or probably would not have been begun at all. Notwithstanding the magnificent water-net of the South American Continent, that strikes any one on the map, as yet only the La Plata and the Paraguay, and the Amazon, with the Lower M~adleira, are loughe1 regularly by stea1ers; and1, in all likelihood, steam navigation in the interior will, for many years to come, be limited to these chief arteries, unless the upper navigatble parts of the AraguayaL (a tributary of the Tocantins), and the Amazon are connected by some economical railroad with its lower course, as is proposed to be done on the Madeira. If, from the preceding pages the reader has gathered that in Brazil there is a wide field for human intelligence and enler~gy, the following short historical sketch will show ashy the country has as yet failed to reach a higher degree of development, with all its great-gifts of Nature. lq 18 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. From the period of the discovery of Brazil by the Portuguese* to the Declaration of Independence in 1822, it was always kept lmder by the mother country, to the extent indeed of preventing all progress. No less a personage than a Portuguese king himself, Don Joao IV. (who died in 1656), in a conversation with the French ambassador, with singular sincerity called Brazil his vacca de leite (milch-cow). Every measure that might have tended in the least to strengthen the colony, was strictly suppressed however advantageous it might have proved. Of course nothing was done for schools, Portugal never having distinguished itself in that respect; and, in the most inconsiderate fashion, immense tracts of land, so called capitanias, were given away to courtiers who never intended doing anything in the way of colonising or cultivating them, or to young noblemen who had become objectionable to their families by the extravagance of their lives, and who, of all men, were least fit for the difficult duties of colonisation and administration, though it must be remarked that, among these first Donatarios, there were some excellent men, such as Duarte Coelho, founder of Pernalbuco, and Martin Affonco de Souza, renowned for his deeds in India, and founder of the city of Sao Paulo. One of the privileges of these Donatarios was to enslave "Indios or Gentios," wherever they or their subordinates could get them, and to sell certain numbers of them " tax-free" at Lisbon. Of course, the settlers made large use of this right; and, also of course, the Indians sought to revenge themselves by sudden attacks and all sorts of cruelties; for which they were, in their turn, pursued only the more pitilessly. By-and-bye the Order of the Jesuits, that soon after its establishment had got a sure footing in Brazil,-especially at Bahia,-became a mighty aid to the settlers, protected their run-away slaves, and generally lknew how to arrange things so well that a Carta Regia (Order of the King), gave them the right to plan laws for their regulation. In due time these appeared, and were not to the disadvantage of the Padres, as may be imagined. They ordained, for example, among other things, that ally settler, asserting a claim to a slave, without being able fully to substantiate it, should lose it entirely, and that the slave should then be the property of the Order; and as, besides, by another Cparta Regia, only the Indians captured in "just " war could be considered as slaves, the colonists were entirely in the hands of the Holy Fathers, and naturally embraced with great zeal the proposal of the "philanthropic" Mexican bishop, Las Casas, to import African slavres, th~e right of whose possession it would be easier to prove. They availed themselves, on a large scale, of the permission given in 1511 of introducing " Alvares de (Dabral landied, in- 1500, first near A~onte Pascal, close to Porto Seg~uro, ally, ill the following year, he and the Italian, Amnrico Vespucci, set out with a small flotilla to sail round the supposed isle. They went along the whole west, and discovered, in January, 1502, tie magnificent bay of Rio de Janeiro, which they believed to be the mouth of a large river. This error generatedl the namne of the city and province. INTRODUCTION. 19 negro slaves, without payment of any duties, into the new colony; the more so as, from continual pursuit and ill-treatment, the Indian tribes living near the sea either were annihilated or had retired to the forests of the interior. Nor were they in security there, for, in spite of Papal Bulls which declared them to be free, greedy hordes of Paulistas (down to the seventeenth century) made great raids as far as the Jesuit Missions on the Parana and Uruguay for the purpose of fetching Indian slaves; and, even to the present day, many an Indian child is sold in the forests of the Amazon and Para, for a knife, or a hatchet% or a few beads. The difficulties of the young colony were soon increased by outward foes. The Governador Geral, Men de Sa, appointed in 1549, and residing at the Cidade do Salvador (the present Bahia), had immediately to make preparations against the French; who, under the leadership of the Htuguenot Villegaignon, and with the aid of some Indian tribes, their allies, had erected an intrenched camp on the bay of Rio de Janeiro (then Cidade de Sao Sebastiao). In January, 1567, a great battle was fought there, which cost thle brave Men de Sa', nephew to the Governador, his life, and which ended in the defeat of the French; and 3laranhao, which they had taken in 1614, was re-conquered by the Portuguese.* The Dutch were more pertinacious in their desire for annexation. In 1624 they took Bahia; in 1630 Pernambuco, which began to prosper well under the brief rule of the Prince Mallrice of Nassau; and in 1641 Maranhao; but, as they were not seconded sufficiently by the mother country, just when difficulties arose, the Portuguese succeeded, with some difficulty, in mastering them and finally drivingf them away in 1654. Unfortunately the period of peace which followed these victories, and during which the internally effervescing condition of things began to clear and settle, was used by the Portuguese Government only to get up a kind of old Japanese system of isolation, by which it was intended to keep the colony in perpetual tutelage. In consequence of this even now, after the lapse of half a century since it violently separated itself, Brazilians generally entertain a bitter grudge against the mother country. All the trade to and from Brazil was engrossed by Portugal; every- funntiongary, down to the last clerk, was Portuguese.t Any other European of scientific education was looked at with suspicion; A- Durillg the wall of the Buccessioll to the Spanish throne theyr revenged themselves, however, for all these failures. In 1710 there came a French fleet under Duclerc; and, in 1711, a, stronger one under DuguayTrouin, who bombarled, ransacked, andl plundered Rio de Janeiro. t To the present day the Brazilian calls the Dutch chleese qtueijo d~o Ie esao, cheese fr~om the kiagdozn, that is to say, from Portugal; brown Incisan pepper, Jpimenta d~o Iqeaizo; because these articles atndl many others, by no means prodlucedl on Portuguese soil, reached the colony only through Portugal, of course at three times their original price. Formerly in Brazil, as still in Bolivia, the costliest plate might be found in opulent houses, but not enough knives and glasses, since plate of true ortugueae mamufacture couly. be had lore easily and comparatively cheapler, than steelware or croclreryST 20 THE AMAZ;ON AND EMADEIRA RIVERS. and particularly they sought to prevent' by all means the exploration of the interior, as they feared not only that. the eyes of the natives might be opened to their mode of administration 2 but also that such travellers might side with the Spaniards in their long dispute regardiino the' boundaries of the'two nations, as the French astronomer, La Condamine, had dlone. This question, which arose shortly after the discovery, and was -hushed up only during the short TUnion of both the Crowns (from 1581-1640), brokie out with renewed vigour every now and then, mzaugre the Treaty of Tordesilhas in 1494; accordino. to which, by a bull of Pope Alexandler VI., the infamous Borgia, the transmarine possessions -of the two nations were to be divided by a'meridian dirawna arbitrarily over land and main; and in spite of a subsequent confirmation- of this strange partition of the terrestrial globe by Pope Julius IL., in 1506. Both, these extraordinary documents dating from. -period when the -real extent of our planet, and the situation of its various parts, were utterly unknown, either'a stout belief in their own infallibility, or a strong dose of sublirne audacity, was certainly required to induce the successors, of St. Peter ever to impose such an award.. By the Treaty of Sa-o Ildefonso, in 17777, both parties haying long felt how impracticable the old' arrangements'were-at least, for their American colonies-the bounldaries were fixed upon the principle of the uti~ possidaetis, at any rate so far as the imperfect knowledge of the inzterior allowed; but this effort also proved to be vain, as tlhe opportunity of at peaceful understanding between the two nations had been permitted to elapse (inztentionally, as is thought) by the Portuguese without a final clearing up of the disputed points. Arms were talren up anew, but until now they failedl to bring about any durable results anLld the unsolved qiuestion descended as an evil heritage to their respective heirs, Brazil, and the South American Republics. A few yrears ago it gave rise to the terrible war with Paraguay; and it will lead to fresh conflicts between Brazil and the Argentine Republic, which' though closely allied against the comnion enemy, will sooner or later have to fight it out, es ecially if the disatricts in guestion be opened to tradde and civilisa~tion by the world-transforming agency of INTRODUCTION. 21 any tissues, save the very coarsest cotton for the clothing of the negroes. But, unfortunately, he roused to a blazing flame the old hatred against the Portuguese, by filling all the offices with them, and by creating sinecures for the courtiers who had migrated with him. A Revolution, which broke out at Pernambuco in 1812, was easily subdued, as the neighbouring provinces, headed by Bahia, positively refused to join it; but the so-called Constitutional Revolution of Portugal, in 1820, found a loud echo in Brazil. At Par& and Bahia, and, finally at Rio de Janeiro, the Portuguese troops sided with the insurgents. The Crown Prince himself took the lead, and, in February, 1821, the King was forced to recognise the Constitution, yet to be drawn up by the Cortes at Lisbon. But, as this required before all things the return of the King, and, besides, was exactly calculated to reduce the colony to its former state of dependence, the enthusiasm of the disappointed Brazilians suffered a severe shock; new disorders followed; and, after a stormy session of the Chambers, the IKing was summoned to accept for Brazil the Spanish Constitution of 1812. He assented to everything; but, within an hour after the retirement of the King, the sitting of the Assembly was arrested by a volley fired through the windows by a company of Portuguese riflemen; and Don Joao VI. availed himself of the panic of the capital to withdraw all his concessions, and to set sail for Lisbon three days afterwards (on the 26th of April, 1821), leaving the Crown Prince, Don Pedro, as Regent, with extensive powers. The Portuguese Cortes, however, could not yet make up their mind either to abandon their old system of keeping down and tutoring the colony, or to concede to it any privileges. Continual chicanes and encroachments upon his rights drove the Prince Regent at last openly to head the revolutionary party. At Ipiranga, near Sao Paulo, having received another friendly missive from Lisbon, he raised, on the 7th of September, 1822, the cry of " lizidepmencia oil 9orte! "'Which was echoed with enthusiasm throughout the country. On his return to Rio, he was unanimously declared emperor on the 21st of September, and crowned as such on the 1st of December. In about a year's time all the provinces were vacated by the Portuguese troops; and in 1825, chiefly through the mediation of Englandl, Brazil was acknowledged as an1 independent Empire. But the inner commotions continued, and were not even soothed by a new Consfitution, drawn up in 1823, and sworn to by the Emperor in 1824. New revolts in Pernambuco, and some of the other Northern provinces, and a war of three years with the Argentine Republic, which ended in 1828 by Brazil giving up Banda Oriental, annexed only eleven years before, disturbed and weakened the land. The foreign soldiers, enlisted for this war, and retained after its conclusion to keep down the Opposition, and the extravagant private life of the Emperor, who recklessly trampled 22 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. down the honour of respectable families, provoked dissatisfaction and murmurs, which rose to the highest pitch when he insisted upon carrying on a most unpopular war ill Portugal to defend the rights of his daughter, )ona Maria da Gloria (in whose favour he had abdicated the Portuguese Crown), against his brother Don Miguel. In April, 1831, Don Pedro I., so enthusiastically raised to the Brazilian throne only nine years before, was forced to abdicate it, deserted and betrayed by every one, in behalf of his younger son, Pedro. The next period was the most clisturbedl one that the young Empire had yet witnessed. Slave revolts at Bahia, a civil war ill the South, which almost cost it the province of Rio Grande do Sul, and the bloody rebellion known as the Guerra dos Cabanos, in Para and Amazon, from 1835 to 1837, followed each other quicklly. In this last revolt, the Brazilians had stirred up the Indians and nmestizoes against the abhorred Portuguese, without considering that they should not be able to quench the fire they had themselves kindled. In a short time, the fury of the whole coloured population turned against all whites, Brazilians and Portuguese alike, without any distinction. More than 10,000 persons are said to have perished in this Guerra dos Cabanos; and, to the present day, those terrible times and the barbarous cruelties committed by the Indians, half-castes, and mulattoes, continue to be talked of with awe in the two provinces. A revolution in Minas, got up by the personal ambitions of a few political leaders, rather than emanating from the spirit of the people, and the war against Rosas, the Dictator of the Argentine Republic, passed over B3razil without leaving deep traces, at least when compared with the last war against Paraguay; which, besides the stimulus of the old differences about boundaries, was occasioned by the endless vexations and restrictions, with which the Dictator Lopez strove to ruin the Brazilian trade on the Paraguay, and to prejudice the province of Mato Grosso. This despot, cracked up by many European journals as a gallant hero and devoted patriot, at first imitated and, at last, surpassed the good examples of his predecessors, Dr. Francia, the first' Supremo" of Paraguay, who, out of distrust, had detained Htumboldt's companion, the botanist Bonpland, for many years in the country; and of old Lopez, his father, who in 1855 directed the firing-upon of the Wcaer vwitc/, a steamer fitted out by the United States for a scientific expedition. Even before the war, the younger Lopez indulged himself in the strangest encroachments upon the personal rights, not of Brazilians only, but of Germans, Englishmen, North Americans, and Frenchmen; and even his own countrymen, especially those belonging to the better classes, whose opposition he had to fear, were either made away with in one way and another, or expelled. INTRODUCTION. 23 It is inconceivable why Brazil so long continued to look on inactively while Lopez was erecting his fortress Humaita, and why it should never have thought of placing its army and navy on a better footing, or, at least, of opening a road to the menaced Mato Grosso, so easily to be cut off entirely. The importance of such a way of communication was proved but too clearly by the fate of a detachment of 3,000 men inadvertently sent by land, even in the absence of roads, to the ill-fated province, which had been devastated already by the Paraguayan hordes. Two-thirds of them perished miserably on the way; the rest arrived there, after eight months of terrible sufferings, in such a condition that they hacd all of them, to be sent to the hospitals. Besides cholera and small-pox, hunger and privations of every kind made sad havoc among the Brazilians, certainly more than the Paraguayan bullets. Notwithstanding several decided victories over the latter, the Brazilians never knew how to profit by them; and the restless enemy, in whose ranks the Dictator had maintained the strictest discipline and unyielding courage in the face of all privations, always contrived to rally, to take up new positions of great strength, and to receive fresh auxiliary troops and provisions. The heaviest blame in this respect falls to the Marquez de Caixas, who was entrusted with the conduct of the Brazilian army. His total want of energy and of military talent, and his perpetual hesitations, caused the disastrous war to last five long years. Only -when he was superseded in the command by the Comlte d'Eu, son-in-law of the Emperor, were the operations carried on more actively; and they succeeded at last in surrounding the fugitive despot and rendering him inoffensive for the future. Well-nigh incredible to Europeans will appear the cruelties of this petty tyrant; who, under a gold-embroidered uniform, bore the wild heart of the Pampas Indian relishing the tortures of his fellow-men. Especially when he saw that there was no help for it but to surrender or to die, his fury becamle boundless. No one better than a half-wild Guarani could hope to escape his suspicions; and whoever was suspected was doomed. A German engineer (Mr. F. v. T.), a highly accomplishedl young man who had been chief of the Paraguayan Telegraph system, assured me at Rio de Janeiro, whither he had been brought by the Brazilians, that h~undreds and h~undreds of prisoners of all1 nations, superior Pa~raguayan officers, priests and ladies, had been cruelly toptared, whipped to death, or shot, very often without the slightest shade of a reason. His woeful tale of sufferings was strictly confirmed by the interesting book of MIajor von ~ersen, who spent the last two years of the war in the Paraguayan camp, and who, like V. T., had been sentenced to death by Lopez, and had had a narrow escape. And this ferocious barbarian, who moreover had shown throughout the contest a cowardice and a petty care for his own Ego, surpassing all bounds; who was grand only in respect 24 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. of the cold selfishness with which he rejected all proposals of peace, as they of course involved his exile, and which enabled him to look quietly on while the whole nation perished for him; this man was praised by a portion of the European press (the Belgian especially) as a gallant hero, as the brave defender of his country against foreign usurpation! Brazil? it is true, has to make amends for more than one wrong, as well in its external as in its internal affairs; but (omitting Paraguay) in comparison with the other South American States,-Chile excepted,-it shines like a green oasis amid the desert of these so-called repLblics, which are for ever wavering between anarchy and despotism. If the Brazilians, in apology for the backwardness of their country, call it a new one, compared with even the United States, they certainly are right in some respects; as, only since its freedom from Portuguese mismanagement, could anything be done for its progress and improvement, or any steps be taken for the systematic development of its natural riches. On the whole, it seems as if, since the departure of the Emperor Dom Pedro II., Europe took a livelier interest in the Transatlantic Monarchy. Let us hope that this interest will be durable, and that both parties will derive advantage front it. CHAPTER I. FROM RtIO DE JANEIRO TO THE RtAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA R Io delo Janeiro. —Balia. -Pernambco. —. Parahyboa l do Norte.- eara'. -{aranh lo.-Par'. -Amazon. — Rio Negro. —Afanaos. —Lower Ai~adeira. —Seringueiros. —Praia de Tamandlud. I F the emerging of a flat, dreary coast is iX~~~~~~ ~ hailed with joy by. any one whlo but for a.| i few days has felt himself the football of the waves, certainly the magnificent Bay of Rio ~ l- ide Janeiro, with the bold outlines of its sur-:~I rounding peaks and its lovely palm-covered isles and islets, must delight the heart of the sea-weary wanderer The bare, strangely shaped cones of the Sugarloaf and of the -~.:~-/-f. Corcovado, the singularly flat top of the a1via ("round top"), and the rugged blue erra dos OrgaOs anld Serra da DEstrella, had long been clear old friends of ours; yet they impressed us anew when, in November, 1867, we took a last look at them and other less inviting frienzds from the dleck of the Pacclaza', tha~,t bravely fought her wtay through the blue wi~aves, leaving to her left Satnta, Cruz, an old fort defending the entrance of the bay, andl to her right the Pao d'Assucar, the first of a majestic row of towering cones. None of the other ports of Brazil can contest; the palm of beauty with the Capital, emphatically called the " Cidade Ieroica," although the charms so easily imparted by a rich tropical vegetation are the same, more or less, with all of them. lg 26 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. BAmA, is the first of them touched by the steamer on her way frooll Rio to Para. it does not offer anything very interesting except its public gardens, whence one may overlook the bay and port from beneath the cool slhade of some groups of beautiful old mangueiras. Still less interesting is the neighbouring little port Of MACEYO, the capital of the province; of Alagoas. But at PERNAMi\BUCO the trouble of going; ashore is well repaid, either by a visit to the new parts of the city, that are well planned and g~ive a more favourable impression than those of Rio, for instance, or by a visit to picturesque OLINDA on its lovely hill. On the remarkrable coral reef that protects the port are a fine new lighthouse and a: quaint old watch-tower, dlating from the time of the Dutch dominion. I~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ _ ~ c~ —-—'-~_: =77-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —— ~-= — I -_-,,~ —?~ —~ ENTRY OF THE BAY OF RIO DE JANEIRO AS SEEN FIZO.ALI THE COPLCOVA )O Thscoa eewic a gvnit ae Rc-f)t oeo tetre u- rso the town, is extending all alon the coast of Brazil, and allows only at a few places-~___1 —---— ~ —5-'-~-=== ~~if —-~~I~ —-=~ —~~lj~lRI — atCar' fristne-fasaeenr frlrg eses "j~ ~ ~~_L- 3 LI-_0J- 4 FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 27 are almost covered with luxuriant creepers, and lie there rusting in the sand. The female portion of the inhabitants, mostly coloured people, keep up an industry of lace-manufacture after somewhat old fashioned but not the less interesting Portuguese patterns. North of this point the coast of Rio G2ANDE DO ORTE and CEIRI presents itself as a waste of sandy beach, ever swept by the winds and the waves, though the latter province is said to offer rich and picturesque districts in its interior. In the port, or rather in the open harbour that serves as anchoring —round for the increasing commerce of the capital, Fortaleza or Ceara,' are seen sweeping along like i= M-I. - TEE RIUGGED PEAKS OF THE ORGAN MOUNTAINS. arrows those jangadas we had first seen at Pernambuceo. They are small rafts made of five planks of light timber, upon which daring fishermen, mostly half-bred Indians and mulattoes, venture far out to sea. Hie wrho would go ashore at Cear2 must trust himself on one of these frail and unstable ~chiclcs, at the risk of having it turnedl upside dlown, or, at the best, of being wetted to the skin by the raging surf. Of iWARANHi0, which, like Parahyba do iNorte, gives an impression of clecay, there B1razilians make a sort of dull-burning candlles.; 28 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. is little to mention beyond the extraordinary number of shark-s in the port, attracted thither by the slaughter-houses on shore, and, rendering bathing there impossible. At length, on November 29th, 1867, we reached PARA, at the mouth of the Para' River. The port was full of vessels of all sea-going nations, and among them was the elegantly shaped Brazilian steam corvette Xitliero,~. The church-towers Iand conv~ient-turretst and the far horizon, with the 11hal das 011cas, makle it a very pleasant picture, alfliough the absence of any~ coinnanding height reminds one forcibly of the flat Dutch landscapes. The commerce of thi's city has been rapidly increasing~ since the year 1850, owing to the improved communzication with the immense Azmazon basin, which extends from~ this favourably situated place to the foot of thcl., Cordlilleras in thze W17est. Stealu has been the powerful lover of the comm~ercial dlevelopment of Para'; and the supporting point of this lover has, until now, been found only inl the immense exuberance of thee vegetation, the fruUits, the resins, and the. tiniber of those colossal forests which extclzd over nearly'00 degrees of longitude and 20 of latitude. "A Lh Ind-ustria, do Am3azonas C' quasi toda extractiva, that is, based on a sort of robbery, say; the BraLziliazs th~emselves. Bountiful Nature does almost everythinff there, while man searcely ~helps her. The upper parts of the Amazon, the Solimo'es, and their mighty aIffluents, were almost a terrae iizeoynilae before steamers divided the yellow floods of the former. There were only a few slave-dealing regatoies,* tem ted by their illicit oains, or some clerkis of mercantile houses at Para', wlho braved the difficulties of a weary voyage inl small boats for three or four months, to kieep up a highly Incrative trade in cao-utchouc, cacao, Para' nuts, several kinds of resin, and dried fish. Some eight or tenl years aoo, all tlhis began to improve. The fertility of the land became better kinown; and tlie trade gradually lost the character of s~lave-traffic andl robbery, at least in the more peopled regions of the valley, free, competition havings been, at last, rendered possible. In Ahe, year 1867, the G~overnment of Braz'l finally abandoned the old narrowminded system of colonial exclusiveness, and declared the Amazon free to the flags of FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 29 But the results of this measure will be of imaginary advantage only, until it is extended as well to the various branch streams; for none of the neiglhbouring states, Perui, Bolivia, or Venezuela —which alone, even now, have the privilege of navigating them under their national colours —have the power to call into life a well-organised steam-fleet. The " Stars and Stripes" only could effect a thorough change there; but, as yet, they are floating on none of those mighty streams.* The city of PARI. does not yield a favourable impression, though there are some monumental edifices in the main streets that formerly might have had some pretensions to architectural beauty; but they have gone to decay, and the commerce of to-day is of too recent a date to make any display in public buildings. The Cathedral, whtose wide bare aisles are of strikino grandeur; the Episcopal Palace, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~S' —- ----?~ —- -- -- - ENTRY OF THE BAY OF RIO DE JANEIRO, AS SEEN FROM TIIE OPPOSITE SItORE. and the Palace of the President, originally intended for Don Joao VI.'s residence when he came to Brazil, are the most conspicuous of them. The streets are large and regular, but they have an abominable pavement of a soft ferruginous sandstone (pedra canga), whic h is ground down by the wheels to a fine red dust, apt to be extremely annoying.:But Par~ has one ornament of which it may well be proud; the shady wralkis beneath plantations of fine trees (mostly palms), known under the name of " Estraclas," and forming an agreeable avenue from the city to the country. Amid the rich vegetation of the gardens there is one species of palm-tree that Norh Aerian ompny arringoutourraiwayproecton he aderato endan mercanschooner up to Santo Antonio under her national flag. 30 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. especially strikes the foreigner with the matchless grace of its slender stem and light feathery leaves which are waved about by the slightest breath of air. It is the Assai, whose fruit (a small nut with a dark blue pulp) makes a very popular and, indeed, very refreshing beverage. Similar beverages are obtained from the fruits of the Bacaba and Bataua palms, by passing the rich pulps through a sieve, and mixing them with water and sugar. As soon as we had completed our official visits to the President and others, and had made a few private calls, we took our passage on board the Belem, a first-rate steamer of the Amazon Steam Company; whose commander, Senhor Leal, formerly in the Brazilian Navy, reeeived us with great kindness. The steamers of this company are from 500 to 600 tons burden, and of 200 horsepower. They are well fitted out; the quarter-deck especially is sheltered against sun and rain by a solid roof, thus forming an agreeable lounge. IHere the meals are taken; and in the evening the slender iron columns of the roof support the hammocks, which every one prefers to the hot beds in the cabins below. Our company was a very motley one. There was the Brazilian civil official, deeming it rather hard to be sent to such a place of exile as Serpa or AManaos; there was the Portuguese Vendeiro, unable to trake interest in anything save his percentages; and there was the American colonist fiom one of the Southern States, who emigrated in disgust at the defeat of his party, tried life at Santarem at the mouth of the Tapajoz, but found it so dreadfully " dull" tlat he is going to move heaven and earth at Para to get repaid for the cost of his passage home again. There were merchants from Venezuela and Bolivia, who, coming in their barques for hundreds of leagues through currents and cataracts, have sold their goods at Para', and boulght others to refreight their boats, which they have left at Serpa or _Manaos. Then there was the officer of the Peruvian Navy, come quietly as a civilian to inspect, in a friendly way, the state of things in his neighbour's home, and to report to his Government how much, or how little, the Brazilians have done within the last few y'ears to protect these regions against a surprise from h~is countrymen;* and last, Iut not least, there was the Italian missionary, a long-bearded Capuchin monk, certainly regretting in his innermost heart that blessed time when cassock and scapulary could place themselves as insurmoLntable barriers between Governments and Indians, and when his Church alone had the privilege of dealing with the latter. These were our fellow-passengers who peacefully extended: Tabatinga, the Brazilian frontier fort, against Peru, is in a most dilapidated state. A Brazilian officer of rank once told me, with that openness which characterises the educated Brazilian, "O nosso celebre Tabatinga, o baluarte contra e Perfi, que elles chamlo ale fortaleza, e antes ula fraqheza!" (Our celebrates. Tabatinga, the bulwasrk against Perli, that they cazll at fortress, is rather a weakness.) FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 31 themselves in their hammocks,'side by side, beneath the sheltering roof of the Belem, indulging in that dreamy dolce fiar niente, inevitably produced by a glaring sun and the soft rocking of a vessel, or chatting quietly, as the evening breeze slightly roused their drowsy spirits. The steamer now passed through the large Bahia de Marajo, whose flat banks are scarcely discernible, leaving us to guess only the wide mouth of the Tocantinls to be where sky and water are melting into one blue horizon, into the Estreito do Breves, one of those narrow, intricate channels, through which the powerful Amazon has to send its waters to the Para. Magnificent groups of Muriti palms line its sides, their broad waving fans silvered by the brightest of moonshine. At dawn the Belem touched ~~~~~~~~~1 m ~ —==2==_== —----— === ____ ___~ __ ~ i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~l A JAN'GADA IN THE BREAKERS. at GuitPut and PORTO DO MOZ, small villages, inhabited by Indians and half-castes, leaving at the right the singularly shaped fiat hills of Almeirim, the only ones seen on the whole tom-. After PR.aINHA and MONTE ALEGRE, two other stations of little importance, we reached at last SAKTg~li~r, at the mouth o'f the Tapajoz, a prosperous and pretty little town. There is a certain charm about that sloping hill, covered with whitewashedl houses and cottages, and green gardens, and overlooking a white beach full of boats and barques of every size. Tempted by the lovely aspect, we went on shore to stretch our limbs a little, and to gather some statistical notes, if possible; but we had no idea of the difficulties of the latter undertaking. We began by asking the proprietor of a little shop, who was sitting quietly on his doorstep and inhaling the exquisite 32 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. fragrance of some melons near him, while he indulged in that broad stare which probably all new arrivals are subjected to at Santarem: " Quantas almas tern aqui? (How many souls do you count here?). Uneducated Brazilians never being sure of their L's and R's. "Quantas armas?" (How many arms?) replied he, raising a pair of wondering eyes. "Well, almost each of us has a gun in the house, and sometimes two." " Mas nao, senhor, queriamos saber quantos homens morao neste lugar?" (No, sir, we wish to know how many people are living here). "Oh! how many men? Oh, about as many I think as there are women," he said smiling, the while archly giving a customer the required brandy, and pocketing the dirty large coins. "IMas nao e isso, men senhor, quantos habitaltes desejavamos saber! " (How many inhabitants? we inquire). "Oh, oh,-isto e outra cousa, quantos habitantes? " (Oh, that is a different thing! I ow many inhabitants?) Great pause. "Pois, habitantes tem muitos!" (Well, inhabitants, there are many here!) Just then the bell of the steamer began to ring. In despair we hastily purchased some melons, and hurried on board. How much water will have rolled down the broad Amazon before one can get informed at Santarem of the number of its inhabitants? The next station is OBIDOS, where the breadth of the river is considerably reduced, while the declivity increases, so as to form a sort of current. A little fort on the right is scarcely of any consequence, especially as men-of-war can easily evade it, at least at high water, by passing through a lake on the right bank, which connects itself to the main stream by deep channels below and above Obidos. The effects of high and low tide are felt here, though 400 miles from the sea; and it is only the increase of elevation thlat prevents it being felt higher up. Before passing the mouth of the Madeira, which is not visible on account of the isles, we reached SEnr, a village of a dozen or so of huts and cottages on a high shore, but which may expect a prosperous future from its favourable position near the Madeira. Here, as well as at the other stations, we toolk in some fuel, kept ready on shore in long, well-arranlged piles. Formerly the Amazon Company kept at Serpa a steam saw-mill, which they worked with a colony of Portuguese. The number of fine cedar-trunksx* swept down every year by the Mladeirn fron the shores of the 1eni, is so great that, ait the heggiling of the high tides, it suffieed for at few weeks to maintain boats on the river, towing the swimming giants ashore, to set the saw-mill going all the year round. Unfortunately this establishment, of which the best hopes were reasonably entertained, was badly managed, and abandoned after a short time; not without the peaceful inhabitants of Serpa having been kept in a constant agitation by the dissolute workmen, mostly Portuguese, 13nglishmen, and Germans. But it is to be hoped that this ~ Very similar to bay-wood. i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —-_~-;-~~: —;~~-~: —~~==CAFT ONT-tE AAZON AD THE ADEIRARIVERS FROM R IIO DE JANEIRO TO THIE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 33 enterprise, with the advantages of havinu large qlua-ntities, of the finest Brazilian cedar, and a navigable river to convey it to the very door, will not long be suspended. Some miles above Serpa, the BZelent enttered the black water of the Rio Negro, which. flows on, unmixed with the whitish-yellow floods of -the Ama1zon, for a considerable distance. Though of crystalline transparency, it looks quite dark brown wThen seen ill volume; the colour, common to many other rivers of these regions, being caused by decomposed plants, especially a kind of sw\immingr grass, growing in the layos (lakes) on both sides, in incredible masses. The steamer now shaped its course more and more to the north-west, and left, the Amazon to run into the Rio Negro. At its lower course this is 2 000 metres in breadth, its left margin showing the wavy lines of low hills, while the whole of the opposite side, consisting of either ig, avo' or vargem)* is exposed to inundations. Now the first houses of 31ANA-OS Come Ila sight, and in a few minutes the Belebm, a Hach~~~Ho -Watss Er.1Trdfrz Contzmex Ufe. Cvnvxej fer THE DIFFERENT DEG;REES O~F THE SOIL.. after sheltering us for seven days, is q~uietly rocking at anchor in the port of Xan'aos, the capital of the province of Amazon. The shallow bay on the left shore of the Rio Negro was full of fishinzg-boats, from beneath whose roofs of palm-leaves half a score of borown faces popped out to have a look at the stran ers, and of large batelo'es (barqyues), come from Venezuela, laden brimful 3sThere are three mark ed kzinds of alluvion in the valley that di-iffer materially fromu each other in their 34 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. witlh hammocks and piassaba, the hard fibres of a palm (Leopoldtiic Picacabc), used for ropes and brooms. There were also the two little steamers of the Government, besides one of the Amazon Company, whicl was to set out on the morrow, instead of the Bele)7), for the frontiers of Perui,-another seven or eight clays' voyage. As the shallow shore did not admit a direct approach even for small boats, and as, a landing-bridge seemed to be an unheard of luxury, there was no resource but to disembark in two-wheeled carts, standing up to t.he aXle-trees in the water, which took both npassengers and luggage safely ashore, thoual cert-ainl~y not in xwhat mignht be called. an elegant way. The ruins of the little Portuguese fort, Sao Jose da Barra do Rio Negro,* are seen on the left. But they awake much less interest than an old Indian cemetery, recently discovered on levelling the ground in the neighbourhlood of the ramparts. Hundreds of those large urns.:,Z. ~njw~: of red clay (I~afabas), in which the aborigines used to,: bury their dead, are seen there in long rows, and at no n~'.~ s.,,:':. great depth in the earth. In many of them the remains-. _:...... "of human bones have been found, whose state of decom-. position showed them to be of very ancient date.?. ~In spite of its pompous title, Capital of the:/M^;/>//pE, -< province of Amazonas, vana'os is but an insignificantlittle town of about 3,000 inhabitants. Unpaved and ~.<.~. —-;-.-..;.'. --....>...., badly levelled streets, low houses and cottages of' most primitive construction, without any attempt at architectural beauty, and numerous Portuguese vendas,-where anything may be had, from Lisbon wine and English printed cotton, to Brazilian cheese and dried pirarucu; from Paris soaps and pomatums, to caoutchouc and cacao; from the Belgian fowling-piece, torn their way after a general raising of the ground, or the bottom of a continental lake, filled by the melted water of icebergs, if we adopt with Agassiz the hypothesis of an ice period for the Amazon Valley. A sure vestige of the Terra Firma, besides its greater elevation above the level of the river, is the yellowish red clay, and the rich vegetation of its virgin forests. There the Bertholletia excelsa (CastanAleira) spreads its. gigantic crown; and there also are foul most of those precious woods which s~urp~ass the bestG of Europe both in beauty and in durability. It may be takren as a rule for the louver coul'se of tlze alffluent~s of the Amnazon, that wlrhenever there is Vargem on the left concave margin of the river, there mill be Igncpo on the opposite convex one; and spaice ufersa.; at the nex~t curve. Tile l~eTrrc I~irmeZ is generally at some distance from the shore; bllt sometimes it taklies the place of the ~argem for a short space. - The first establishment of the Portuguese on the Rio Negro dates from 1668. It was situated at the mouth of the little affluent Tarumr, and was founded by Pedro da Costa Favella. The fort of Sao J[ose was. built a year later by:Irancisco da li[otta Flalcao. FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 35 to the imported arrow-head-certainly fail to give an imposing eizseei7ble; while the population, showing samples of all possible mixtures of vwhite, negro, and Indian blood, also reminds us forcibly that we are in the midst of the South Americanl continent, in the very centre of the Amazon Valley, opened so recently to civilisation and trade. But the magnificent blue sky, a most exuberant vegetation, and the fresh air of careless geniality in the people, tend to make us forget the want of luxuries, and render our first impression of Manaos a very pleasant one, heightened greatly by its igarapes*-bays or channels running far into the land, whose baanks are covered with the most luxuriant verdure. We were lucky enough to find immediately a little house, in which we installed ourselves as quickly as possible, but in which, unfortunately, we were detained much longer than we had anticipated; for, notwithstanding the efforts of the President, we were unable to get, either there or in the vicinity, the required number of rowers for our expedition, though we offered high wages. The Indians and Mestizoes of these countries are extremely indolent, and will wTork just enough to keep themselves from starvation. The Rio Negro being full of excellent fish, which sell well and are caught with very little trouble, and the soil being as fertile as it can possibly be, they spend the greater part of their time, lolling comfortably in their hammnoclks, in a state of pleasant drowsiness, which they would not exchange for regular activity for any money. More or less they are all lilke the mestizo, who replied to a surveyor, offering him a high rate for his services as guide, paddler, hunter, and fisher: " Return to-morrow, after I have sold my fish in town, and I'll give you double if you will let me alone for the future." At last we were able to bid good-bye to Manaos, after surmounting innumerable cdifficulties, caused chiefly by the incapacity and carelessness of the Secretary to the Minister of Public Works at Rio, and the jealousy of the mighty Amazon Steam Company, who saw a dangerous rival iu some future Madeira Company. Through the Bolivian consul, Don Ignacio de Arauz, we had made the acquaintance.of an Italian merchant, settled in Bolivia, who was returning thither, and who, for due ~compensation' agreed to cede to us some of his unwieldly boats t with the required number of Meojos and Canichana Indians. These broad-shoulderedl sons of the plains of the. Igir%, canloe; and Pe, road. J- Mlost of the vessels on the Amazon have alhpellatiols quite cli~trellt firol thzose usedi on th~e coast. o -ilstallce, a schoonler with a solt of -\ooden awning on decli is ca~lled C'overtcc; a broad sloop With an arched covering T of palm-leaves, Bcateliio; a smaller half-covered boat for rowing ancd sailing, igcyrfte; ~while the calnoe is calleel.~ontrtriac, as it takes the place, so to say, of the horse (montaria, from mzontar a cavallo). The shape of these vessels, especially of thee smaller ones, often recalls the Chisaese juolfs with their peceliarly ofheecl proowso. iTlle details of their collstructioll are lather eurious. Tile bottomu is Illade of~ one piece of file elastic avood of 36 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. Mamor6 and Itonama had struck~ us already in the streets of Mana'os by their Binocular clothing: straw hats made by themselves, and long shirts without sleeves, of the brown bark of the turury-tree; and by their activit'. They were about the only persons we saw working in the streets, carrying turtles and fuel fromt the shore to the houses, or lending a, hand at new buildings. The' here gain about ten times as much as they could in their own counltry, where they live in great misery; and so there is an endless current of emigration from Bolivia to Brazil, in spite of all the reclamations of the fFormer. After having secured the boats and crew, we had to set about the difflicult task of buying provisions for the long voyage before us,-r1ather a severe trial of our patience, on account of the astonishing indolence of the sparse population, which barely allows it to provide for its own subosistence. Not only are the blackr beans, that IIstaff of life" for the greater par~t of Brazil, brought from Para&, a distance of about three hundred leagues; but even the mandioca flour is im orted fromt the Lower Amazon inl thousands of baskets, thlough that mealy root would thrive just as well in the neiglibourhood of Nana'os. In respect of meat it is even worse. Instead of the charque, or carne seca. (driedl meat) of the Southern provinces, which is nutritious enough and easily preserved, they have in the North only an abominable dried fish, the pirarucu', that becomes completely uneatable, after a long voyage and in such a moist atmosphere; and, as the limited space of the boats does not allow of making a large provision of live turtles, which (sp to speak) tak~e the place of beef in these reg~ions, the traveller must largely rely on his good Inck in hunting and fishing. We took provisionzs for about four months, the rest of the baggage consisting of tools for canoe-makling and repairing, ropes, tents, arms, druges, and presents for the savage -and half-savage tribes in the valleys of the Madeira, and Mamore'. Besides the eighty Indian paddlers the expediition consisted of my father and myself; a young Birazilian engineer TJoaquim MaIanoel. da Silval, our technical assistant; the, Italian merchant from Bolivia; and a youngs G~erman, P. v. S., whose restless spirit had lk;Ti-) rn-rinlk nlinvt+ Ti 0-in virn Y-1A,,A "Ti 1-10J -Inf"-pn -1 10 nn -0 01m;ilar FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 89 and of a bright yellow colonr; and C. tbout this part of tlhe river also the fu-st higlh trunks of thle caou-teb-oc-tree ar~e seen~-the Sipliozial ellst~ica,, or Seriyiyacc as it is called here. Onz the Amcazon and lower Mladecira these valuable plants are almost destroyedl by continuous wvitzclawal~ of their mlilky s81p. The huts of some cao-Litchotic-gatherers8 (Seringneiros) are seen now and then-low roofs of pal~m-leatves, beneath one end of which there is a raised floor or framnework of lath, one or two yards from the groundl, to wvhich tlhe inhabitants retire at high water, when necessity obliffes them to lead almost: an amphiboious life. The next settlemlent on the right bankl of the Madleira is SkP-UchiA-ORPS&A, a few Huts of the Mnra Irndians, a trib0e dlespised ac21d pursued by all others for their thievishness and -Lulsettled, gipsy-likie life'. Especially the mighty Mundnuruc-L' tribe seems to take the, task to heart of annihiltating them to the last man. As thence to Exaltacion on the Mlamore', and to Fort Principe dia Beira on the Guazapore, tlhere is not one settlement to be found of more than two or three cabins (even at Crato there is but one better house, and a few low straw huts); and as larger settlements also never existedl before on the Madleira, one canllot but wonder that, on both old and modlern maps, tlhere is a great number of towns and hamlets inscriboed inthese wildlernesses. For instance, the name of Balsamo, markedc on them as thazt of a town, is qyuite, -Linkown in these regions, event as the name of a river or a~nything else; w~hile Pederneira, llike~wise proclaimzed as a town, is th~e name of a current of the Mladeira amidst a most dlesolate wildlerness, only trodden by the wild Caripn-na Inctians. Far ancl wide th~ere~ is no vestige of any humnan habitation, no remains of walls, or other sians of bygone. splendo-Lr; nothing but the silent forest and the roaring river bounding over dark rock~s: and yet the maps show th~e well-known round mark of a town.on this spot, which cannotbe mistaken on account of a striking change of direction of the stream, and of tihe. corresponding longitude and latitude. Even on the lower Diadceira, so m ucli more accessible than the regions of the. currents, which are visited only boy wild Indians, the five thousand inhabitants of the. 40 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. Still it is to be wondered at that the population has not increased on the Lower Madeira, seeing its almost perfect navigability up to Santo Antonio, and the exuberance of precious timber, fruits, and resins in its forests. The Portuguese in the past century had better hopes. They used the river as a way of communication to the province of Mato Grosso, and built the fort of Principe da Beira on the Guapore' to protect their navigation. As I mentioned above, the river is almost perfectly navigable below the broad zone of cataracts and currents, which, beginning at Santo Antonio, extend as far as Guajara. The few obstructions to free navigation can be easily removed. At Uroa a few rocks blasted would serve to straighten and deepen the curved channel of 15 metres breadth, which at low water is less than a yard in depth. At Marmelo and Abelhas, near Crato, even simpler operations would suffice. At CRATO, a lovely Estancia (farm), the natural pastures (campos) extend to the water's edge. Their interior as yet is quite unexplored, but they are probably connected with the plains or prairies of Bolivia. The cattle of the Estancia, whose first stock had come from Bolivia (descending the Madeira in barques), are thriving wonderfully, and will one day become of importance to the population of the UTpper Amazon and Lower Madeira, who, until now, have subsisted chiefly on fish and turtle. A few years ago, when the first Bolivian caoutchouc-gatherers settled near the Madeira, some raw ox-hides they had brought with them were quite a marvellous sight for their Brazilian neighbours, who used to touch them and to wonder what great powerful animals oxen must be. Above Crato there are some ten or twelve Bolivian Seringueiros, each of them working with twenty or thirty Mojos Indians, who will make them rich men in a few years. It is true their lives are not very secure, the wild Indians not being the best of neighbours. Only eight years ago the house of one of them was attacked by the savage Parentintin Indians, and the poor victims were roasted and eaten by the cannibals; but as they were surprised on a sandbank at their horrid meal, and severely punished by their pursuers, they have never again ventured out of the depths of their forests. Yet no Seringueiro will dare to penetrate into one of the lateral valleys, be they never so full of the richest seringaes (caoutchouc forests). Sooner or later they would have to dread an attack at dawn of day, and their few fire-arms would be of little avail against the long arrows and heavy lances of the Indians, who, moreover, would not be the only enemies to be abreanded there; for the fevers, sesdes (or fe1res trcianas, as the Brazilians call them), are just as bad, or worse, than the fierce red solls of the forest. Myore th~an one settlement hadl to be a~bandoned on account of their prevalence, ='-?~ —=7-'= —i:'~ ===-r=~-==s.i-~__i-......~ -MEN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~S-P_._77~,>.~! mol~~~ — — ~I~r ~~~~~~HOS FAAVATYIDA-UBRCLLCO LWE AER) FR~OM RIO ~DE JANEIRO TO THE RAPIDS OF THIE MTADEIRA. 41. yet they are not so unliversally spread over the lower levels of these wide valleys as is generally sup~posed; on tile contrary, they are usually restricted to certain localities. At M~ana'os, for instance, there never was a case of ague, nor inl the plains of Bolivia; while it is very frequent on the rpper Rio Nearo and Rnio Branco, and inl the region of the rapids of the M~adeira. On the Lower Madeira there are only three places really dangerous, Sanzto Antonio, Jammary, and Aripuana, though in November, on arrival of the first; high floods from the. Benli, a fever-blatst sweeps through the whole valley. In 1820, and the following years, when the first symptoms of the revolution showed themselves flhiat finally separated tlhe colony of B3razil fr~om the m-other-conznt~ry,, Portnugal, there was a sort of Portuguese Cayennle, or Lambesesa, called Crato, on the Madleira, which had acquired a sad celebrity for its fevers. But it was not the Crato of to-day, -which, on the contrary, enjoys an uluusually wh~lolesome climate, in consequence of the extensive grassy plains inl its vicinity. That place of exrile was situated about thirty-six leaanes higher up, at the mouth of the Jalmmary, and it maintains its unhealthy rep-ute to the present, day. The plague gets more and more mallignante and freqyuent as one approaches the region of the ra2pids, wthere a greater elevation and a rocky soil would lead one to suppose it less dangerous anzd less regular in its appearance. It has happened that Boliviann merchantst descending thLe rivier have been in danger of losino, everything by the sudlden illness of all their crew, and the death of some of them. The rest reached Santo Antonio, the, last rapid, with tlie greatest diff~iculty; but thence th~e descent can be effectedl, even with a sick~ crew, in case of need. On. the extensive plainzs of Bolivia —between the Beni, M~amore', Itonamla, and Banre's — which -are completely subomergecl every year, and where tlhe subsicliiag floods leave a great number of stagnant pools, whose water, brown with decomp~osedl organic matter, is -used even for drinking, intermittent fevers, strange to say, are scarcely known. Within the last year only tlie first cases appearedl at Exaltacion, on the Mamarore'; andc the inexperienced inhabitants thought them some contagious disease brought from the Amazon or the Ma~deira. 42 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. plains of the Madeira and Mamor_, where the fresh breezes play. On the whole, it seems that the fevers are decreasing on the Madeira. Among the poorer caoutchouc collectors Peruvian barlki is rarely founds though it has already come in large hide-covered bags from the Cordillera through the 1iamore and Madeira to the Amazon and Para, while formerly it had to be transported over the icy heights of the Andes to the Pacific. Besides a great many most extravagant household drugs, they use commonly the caferana, a herb of bitter taste found in the woods, which is said to be as efficacious as Peruvian bark. On account of the singularity of the fact, I cannot omit to mention that there is a German among the Seringueiros of the Madeira. He had come over from Holstein twenty years ago, had enrolled himself as a soldier, and fought against Rosas in The La Plata States; and he is now leading a sort of Robinson Crusoe life near the Madeira. He is reported to be a very fast gatherer, and to prepare, with his Indian wife, during the three or four dry months, more than a hundred arrobas (one arroba is equivalent to 32 lbs.) of Seringa, while the average produce of a family is only about fifty arrobas. It was pleasant to see the joyous surprise and the brightened face of the man, when he unexpectedly heard our loud salutation, in German, of "Good morning, countryman! " from out a canoe full of Indians. We had easily recognised him by his fair hair and beard, the more so, as we had heard of him before, and had been looking out for him for two days. He stood near the water's edge, watching our canoes coming slowvly up. Near him was his female companion, a stout, strongly built Tapuya,* and behind them some of their offspring, whose yellow hair contrasted strangely with their. dark skins. A thousand such families, living along the river, soon would completely change the aspect of the country. Especially if an energetic company, fully alive to the position, and sure of adequate support from home, would lead the settlers and protect them against the inevitable jealousies of land and trade monopolists, such a colony might anticipate full success, particularly as facilities of intercommunication will soon give a heavy blow to the old system of robbery. Some of the hundreds of European workmen, necessary for the construction of the Madeira railway, certainly ~z'l remain there, in spite of fevers and difficulties; and it will depend only upon the ability of the company and the conduct of the Brazilian Government, whether this number is increased or diminished. In the Tupi language Tapuro Ieans foreig~ner and enemy; but nowadayrs the ap~pellation is given not only to all Indiall settlers of the Amazon Valleyr, of wha~tever trite theyr nay foe, but, also, promriscuously to all mestizoes; so that very likely, a hundred years hence any one who has a brown skin and catches fish there will be designated by the word. FROM RIO DE JANEIPRO TO TrHE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 43 By-and-bye, the monotony'of the vegetation, magnificent as it is, and of the landscape, whose uniformity is unbroken by mountain or hill, wearies the eye of the traveller; who, as he paddles slowly up these immense distances in his unwieldy canoe, sees nothing save the blue sky, the smooth water, and a dense girdle of evergreen forest. The appearance of the low-thatched roof of a Seringueiro's wretched home, or the sight of some small Pac6va plantation, whose vivid soft green contrasts sharply with the gloom of the forest behind, is then regarded as quite a happy event; and we often wished heartily to change the easy navigation on this smooth surface for the variety of troubles and dangers that we knew to await us at the Rapids, and of which we were soon to have our full share. A remarkable point below Santo Antonio (the first rapid) is the PRAIA DE TAI;ANDUA (shoal of the ant-eater-M1yrmvecopl/cgga Jubc6at), a long, sandy shoal on the right hand. There, and on similar banks, turtles comme in the month of September to lay their eggs, in such incredible numbers that he who sees these cuirassed armies for the first time cannot but feel a sensation of horror and disgust. With wonderful rapidity they dig large holes, one foot and a half deep, into the soft sand, and are often in such a huLrry that the eggs of some nest, which had been already covered with sand, are disturbed and scattered about. These shy animals, that generally dive at the slightest noise, are deaf and blind to aly danger at this season, and are easily laid on their backs by the fishermen and Seringueiros; hundreds of whom assemble on these occasions, like birds of prey round dead game, to prepare the Aanteiga de Tartaruga (turtle-butter). The eggs are dug out and put into the canoes. The thin shells are broken and crushed by treading on them, and the fat yolks, with which they are almost filled, become a thick yellow substance. Under the glowing rays of the tropical sun, the oily parts soon settle on the surface, and are easily skimmed into large earthen jars. The fat thus gained is not remarkable for delicacy of taste, and is by no means a substitute for butter and olive oil, as one might suppose from the fresh eggs being very agreeable to the palate. The decomposition of manifold impurities, and the circumstance that often some of the eggs have been already half-hatched by- the sun, give it an abominable flavour, recalling to mind Russia-leather and tanneries, which renders it thoroughly disgusting to a civilised Christian's palate, at least. Even in the basin of the Amazon the turtle-butter is used only for lamp-oil, and seldom for cooking purposes. As the exuberant Flora of these countries offers more than one rich oily fruit, O'e PaGOva, the Tup~i nalue for a species of larg~e plantain, also called Bnlzanch dc terrae (that is to say, the a6borfgcfncl Banctnan, to distinguish it from the other species imported, probably from India). This fruit is cuite indispensable to the population of the whole Amazon basin. It grows there to the enormous height of forty centimetres, and is eaten both ripe and unripe, raw and cooked. When ripe and dried in the sun it surpasses the fig in delicacy of taste, while it is much like our potato when dried unripe and boiled. 44 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. yielding excellent material for combustion (the ricm~cs or pal)azc C1risli, for instance), such a war of extermination against the turtles, on whose meat the population largely depends for food, is doubly unreasonable. It is clear that, with the present procedure, they must rapidly decrease, and that, at no distant date, they will be counted amongst the things of the past, as will be seen by the following figures. On the Madeira, about 2,000 jars (potes) are annually filled with turtle-butter. For each jar about 2,000 eggs are required. Thus 4,000,000.~~~~~~~~~~.c _. —-.... -- _ ~ — TURTLE-HUNTING ON THE MADEIRA. eggs, on a moderate calculation, are destroyed every year. Besides which, three or four thousand female turtles are caught in the laying-season at the Praia de Tamandua alone, as every Seringueiro takes a few hundred away to keep them as live stock; and, finally, as if such a destruction were not enough, none of the canoes passing there at the right season will omit the opportunity of searching the shoal for newly hatched turtles of five or six centimetres length, which are reckoned great delicacies; so that comparatively fewr will come to full growth. NTow, considering that on the Solimoes and its tributaries, the Purfs, Teffe, &c., a similar process is going on, it can be easily understoood why these animals, in spite of their enormous productiveness (a turtle lays from one to two hundred eggs), have sensibly decreased in number within the last five or six years, and that, FROMI RIO DE3 JANEIRO TO THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA. 45 henceforth, they must necessarily decrease in the ratio of geometrical progression. A few years ago a good-sized tartaruga of about one metre's length, one metre broad, and thirty-six to forty centimetres thick, equal to the provision of a good dinner for fifteen persons, could easily be purchased at Manatos for two milreis,t whereas nowadays it is very often not to be had at five. The tartaruga is hunted, like the other species, even out of the laying-season, with bow and arrow, called sararaca, especially adapted for the purpose. The arrow's iron point is loosely stuck into the shaft, and fastened to it by a long, thin string of pineapple fibre (caraua), which unrolls when the wounded animal suddenly dives, bearing away the inserted weapon. The shaft swimming on the surface indicates the exact spot, and is taklen up by the fisherman, who thus hauls his prey easily up by means of the caraua-string. As soon as it appears above water, it is finished by a blow with a heavy harpoon, andcl put into the boat, which not seldom is upset in the efforts of the inmate of the tiny craft to secure his prize. Above the Praia de Tamandlua are seen the first precursors of the cliffs, which cause the rapids-small islets of rock, and boulders of granite near their margins,'such as we had not seen for all the long months since we left the sea-coast. Soon chains of hills came in sight on both sides; and, after having doubled the next wooded projection of the bank, the Rapid of Santo Antonio, the first of a long series, lay before us. " The different species living on the Amazon and its influents are: 1. The Tartaruga, the largest of all; the male is callecl Capitary. 2. The Cabequda (the big-headed). 3. The Pitia (Emys Pitia). 4. The Tracaja (Emys Tracaj': Spix), considerably smaller than the formler. 5. The Alata-mat' (Chelys fimbriata: Spix), with two deep furrows on the back. By far the most important of them for the population is the Tartaruga. t One milrei =-abLout three shillings. -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~3~t; CHA[APTER 11. THE RAPIDS OF THE MSADEIRA AND THE MAMORLt~ S~anto Antonio. -Theot~onio. —The Caripunas. —Tho Caldeirho do InfEerno.-Inscriptions on the Rockis. — The Salto do G~ira'o.-OCur old M~ula~tto's description of an Attack. -FForsalken cabins of the Carip-unas.-R~ibeirdo.-Other Insceripttions.-The B3enii. — The Marnaore' Ex alt acion.-The Return.. pHE yellow floods of the Mivadeira rush, roarP~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~ing and splashing, at a furious rate over the dark rocks in the middle of the streamn qluite a new andl refreshinzg siglit after the monotonous scenery of its lower course. Mi~ ighty blocks of a gneissose metamorphic rock, their smooth jagged points resembling a wildly waving sea, line continuously both I~~~i~ t~~~te shore and the isles. .. --— —c —-- t —-- -s== 5 —--- --- - ----------— 7= — --- ---- --- - -- —— , —--— _E-=_c___-c_=;-=-L= =-c= —i== —===-~s==r==-i-- -- —--— cc —--- — ~-L —-"'- __ 5pbD-c---= —=1= —= —===c--r-=-:: == --;1-; —- — t~;`l-2--=-:-=i —==~ —— - —-s —-----------— —=-~- —-- -- —;-= —-----— —-,:-r_:-:~i r- -~-1-I-- ;_=r —-,_;- —--:~i -' —-~------I-:, 1- —— ~:-I" --:I---ij -T;-LL-T-___=r= :__:r_: : __rIi l:_~:I :: _:-=~-=L-----=I-c-,.== ~~ — ~ — ----------— -_l;~j -;;=;--- —-=-==" — -: -L7 —, —— -_- —;`-_,I~ —- -:__ -"'---- —"- "I---i- -; —TL--_:. —: —- —=iI_ —;===-:-L, —... I —-C_=ZC=:-- ==..-`.- — —.. —...hnVWII\Y`-ci,r-=1--_-~ —TL-,_r___,,_ — 3"~L=====1 —== -- ------ —- --— = —— i —= —-i — --- _C- --- - — _- — -- --- —-__I —-= -,-- —- —--I --_- —- ____ ______=___--=,,-=- -E--,------ --- — — _-- —--;=,,,,,I_=-,,--";1~;-;--=-';r -"';"' I: - I:-J! t'~ -``~- -;1 —-- — --" i W -n a8 iiii/ I~ ~r t- ~ ~c; ~::-~ ~1 —: C —-:-j:;'i:;-= —- —---— =I:,I- (,:~- — i —-u,/- —`-=l=;;;;; —~--=-r-=;;/:~i/j ''i-5, —-----— i=T____i: I-- —--'"' -I-!,I A[lsa ------" - —"1 `-iL-S~~~',~~~- """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ------ ------ --— * —-, — —S-2~LS=a~-,-I~i —S= -'I'BE'I'I-IEO'I'ONIO IIIlIL, ON THE D6BDEIRB. (iOO 6rItss sBo $HOBE TO SHOR~E, 10 DIETREB IIEIGHT OB CBTABBCT.) THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA AND THE MAMORE. 47 on the right about six times that distance. Here the canoes must be lunladen, and their contents carried to a point on the left bank above the rapid, while the empty vessels are towed there through a labyrinth of intricate channels, amidst large granite blocks, close to the edge of the right bank. Over a large shoal and some flat islands, we could see already from Mlacacos, the next not very considerable rapid, the rising water-spray of the mighty fall of THEOTONIO. Between low hills running down to the water's edge on both sides, the river has hollowed a course of 700 metres in breadth, through which it dashes at furious speed, terminating in a majestic fall 11 metres high. Not only the cargo, but the canoes themselves, had to be transported hence on land for more than 700 metres to the quiet water above the fall, a heavy task which took us three complete days of hard labour, our Mojos working with right good will, although the passage of the boats was facilitated by cylinders being placed under them. No wonder, by the way, that one or the other of the canoes, after encountering so rough a transport, was so damaged as to require immediate repair, caulking, and even the addition of new ribs. On the ridge of a rocky hill on the right bank, we saw the remains of some walls, covered almost completely by shrubs, low palms, and thorny torch-thistles. They date from 1753, when Theotonio Gusmao, by the direction of the Portuguese Government, here founded, in a very good position for defence, a military post, which was, however, soon abandoned. At that time the commerce with the province of Mato Grosso having acquired a fresh impulse from the erection of the Forto do Principe da Beira on the Guaport, an impulse strengthened by the explorations in 1767 and 1780, such Destacamentos (or military posts) were of the first necessity on that water road, as well for securing the supply of provisions, and for the protection thus gained against the wild Indians, as for the assistance rendered by the soldiers in the hard work near the rapids. The material of the hills we found to be the same, more or less, over the whole region of the rapids; gneiss, with mostly a very pronounced stratification, and always the same run. We examined it more closely, expecting to find, according to the theory of Agassiz, numerous erratic boulders of different composition lying on the regularly formed rock. But neither there, nor higher up in 13olivia, could we discover any trace of these ~foundlings," even as Agassiz himself was unable to discover, in the environs of Rio de Janeiro, the " roches strie'es " and " roches ~noutonne'es of Switzerland, which testify to an ice-period with its immense glaciers. Agassiz attributes their absence to the rapid crumbling of the rocks under the combined influence of the tropical stu and rain; but he seems to overlook the fact 48 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. that they diminish much faster in moderate climates, by the severe disintegrating operation of freezing water penetrating into the smallest crevices.? While employed as engineer on a roadt in the province of Minas Geraes, I had occasion to examine numerous specimens of the spheroidic boulders of diorite, with their concentric coatings of red clay, pronounced to be' —> every possible way in the explora-.... v... tion of a river which was of as` -* —, ~ — 4 — great importance to Bolivia as to 70 Metres. GROUND-PLAN OF THE FORMER MISSION OF EXALTACION. Brazil, but that he greatly regretted he could not obtain in the thinly-peopled Pueblo of Exaltacion the whole number of paddles we required, viz., forty-two men, and that we were to wait until the Prefect residing at Trinidad, whither he was about to send an express, should decide out of which of the next Missions the rest of our crewv was to be taken. As we began to apprehend that we were going to have as long a delay here as at Mandos, which, at the then advanced season, would prove (as it did) of evil consequences to us, I resolved to face the hardships of another fortnight's voyage in a small canoe, and to go myself to Trinidad. I chose the lightest canoe at hand, and, availing myself of the clear moonlight nights, succeeded in reaching Trinidad (a distance of 150 miles) in six days. There is no rapid in this part of the river, but in some places there is a strong current. Arrived at Trinridadc, which is laid ont exactly on the plan of Exaltacion, I was kindly received by the Prefect, at French-man, and th~e Chefe da Policia, a true Bolivian of 70 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. Indian descent (of the Guichoa tribe). Luckily for us all, I was enabled to set out on my return on the second day, with the necessary orders for the Corregidores of San Joaquin and Exaltacion, and with the promise that from Trinidad itself a part of the crew should follow me within three days. Descending the river without intermission, I arrived at Exaltacion in two days and two nights, having on the way encountered a heavy squall and rain of tropical violence, and sustained the loss of the coberta or tolda, the hide-covered awning of the canoe, which was caught by the branches of a low-lying tree as we glided swiftly along the banks. Having immediately despatched a messenger to Sanl Joaquin, we with all haste set about the repairs of four of the boarques and the collecting of provisions (chiefly Indian corn-flour and sun-dried meat), in which operations we were so valiantly assisted by old Cardozo that we were enabled to leave Exaltacion after a month's sojourn, and to turn the bows of our barques homewards. It was the 19th of October, and high time it was for our departure Already fearfil squalls sweeping over the country told us that the rainy season was at hand; and, if this were to find us still in the region of the rlapids, we surely should expiate our delay with intermittent fevers. The disheartening story of the Bolivian merchant overtaken by the floods there who had to bury eight of his crew within a few days (the rest having had a narrow escape), haunted us incessantly; and we did our best to make the detailed maps of the river-course, and to take the soundings of its depth, with all possible dispatch. Luckily we had already made the astronomical observations on our ascent. We arrived at Santo Antonio as early as the 18th of November, yet not without having, all of us, suffered in various degrees from fits of the fever; which, though subdued, was not cured by repeated doses of quinine, so long as we continued to be exposed to the same pernicious influences. The labour and trouble of passing the rapids are less, of course, on the descent than on the ascent; but the risks to vessels are greater; and, with the true Indian carelessness of the crew, it is almost miraculous that they escape from being wrecked on the rocks, which are half covered with the bubbling white spray. Several times our barqcues were in imminent danger, and with them all the results of our troublesome tour; especially once at G~uajaran and another time in the currents below Banavneiras. The unloading ait the principal break~s, which in the descent also are unapproachable, the transporting of the freight and vessels over stone and rocks, the frequent breaking and cracking of ribs (of the vessels, I mean), and their hurried repair, are just the same as in the ascent. Suffice it then to say that at last we sawe with relieved hearts our boats floating again on the smooth surface of the Amazon, and at 1ganaos the THE RAPIDS OF THE MADEIRA AND THE MAMORE. 71 warmth of the greeting extended to us by friends and acquaintance was intensified by the circumstance that only a few days before the newspapers had stated most positively that one and all of us had been killed and eaten by the Caripunas. On the 14th of December, 1868, we arrived safely at Para by the same Belein which had first brought us to 3lanaos; and on the 4th of January, 1869, at Rio de Janeiro, which we had left fourteen months before, a little less sunburnt, and unweakened by intermittent fevers. I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'. W~ 9 WO~\ CHAPTER IIIo CANOE AND CAMP LIFE..~: The Starw.-iPreparation of the Bast Shirts and iV~ /'~ Panamatt Hats. —Breakfast. —Turtle Soup. —Huntthem;~~~ ~ in~~ing the Alligators.-cNivigh Camp. bE lower course of the M-adeira presents, everywherefor more than a hundred geographical miles a picture of grand simplicity and, ~~ 00it must be owned, monotony, which, magnificent as it appears at first, wearies the eye and sickens the heart at last —a dead calm on an unruffled, mirror-like sheet of water glaring in the sun, and, as far as the ~:~[> ]Y~~I Illl~p~lYB~il 4oeye can reach, two walls of dark green forest with the dark-blue firmament above them; in the foreground. slender palms, and gigantic orchiid-covere-d trunksq with blooming creepers hanging from the wave-worn shore, with its red earthslips, down into the turbid floods. 1% hill boreaks the finely indented line of the foliag%, which everywhere bocundls the horizon, only here and there a few patlm-coveredl shedsx peep out of the green; and still more rarely do we sight one of their quiet dark inmateso Stately igihr okn huhfl it h iir ht eo sadn o us jaggy tails and scarcely protruding skulls might easily be taken for some half-sunken trunks, are the only animals to be seen; and certainly they do not increase the tlII!itr~'*~ ~'l!~11rllltT**i'llllllltlll~lllllh~'~~ 91~~ p ~" ~*~1 lllllllttIi~"'~l........,,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mlilctvl, ~-, ~j ~~~~~~~~~i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. lPreparation of "the Chscara or D-ark1-Shirt.2.5ldooa OURt MOJOS INDIANS AT BRIEAKFAST (MADEIRA). CANOE AND CAMP LIFE. 73 liveliness of the scene. Dreary and monotonous as the landscape, the days too pass _. in unvaried succession. WVith the first dawn of day, before the white mist that hides the smooth surface of the river has disappeared with the rays of the rising sun, the day's work begins. The boatswains call their respective crews; the tents are broken up as quickly as possible; the cooking apparatus, the hammocks and hides that served as beds, are taken on board together with our arms and mathematical instruments; and every one betakes himself to his post. The pagaias (paddles) are dclipped into the water, and the prows of our heavy boats turn slowly from the shore to the middle of the stream. Without the loss of a minute, the oars are plied for three or four hours, at a steady but rather quick rate, until a spot on shore is discovered easy of access and offering a dry fire-place and some fuel for the preparation of breakfast. If it be on one of the long sandbanks, a roof is made of one of the sails, that rarely serve for anything else; if in the wood, the undergrowth, in the shade of some large tree, is cleared for the reception of our little table and tent-chairs. The functions of the culinary chzef for the white faces, limited to the preparation of a dish of black beans, with some fish or turtle, are simple enough, but, to -be appreciated, certainly require the hearty appetite acquired by active life in the open air.'The Indians have to cook by turns for their respective boats' crews; their unalterable bill of fare being a pap of flour of Indian corn or mandioca, with fresh or dried fish) or a piece of jacare (alligator). Most of those who are not busy cooking, spend their time preparing new bast shirts, the material for which was found almost everywhere in the neighbourhood of our halting-places. Soon the wood is alive with the sound of hatchets and the crack of falling trees; and, even before they are summoned to breakfast, they return with pieces of a silky bast of about 4 metres long and somewhat less than 1 metre wide. Their implements for shirt-miaking are of primitive simplicity,-a heavy wooden hammer with notches, called maceta, and a round piece of wood to work upon. Continuously beaten with the maceta, the fibres of the bast become loosened, until the originally hard piece of wood gets soft and flexible, and about double its former breadth. After it has been washed, wrung out to remove the sap, and dried in the sun, it has the appearance of a coarse woollen stuff of a bright whitish yellow or light brown, disclosing two main layers of wavy fibres held together by smaller filaments. A more easily prepared and better work~ing-garment for a tropical climate is hardly to be found than this, called cascara by the Indians of Bolivia, and tururya by those of the Amazon. Its cut is as simple and classical as its material. A hole is cut in the middle of a - c(uratari legris, SlaritiUs. 74 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. piece about 3 metres long, to pass the head through; and the depending skirt is sewn together on both sides, from below up to the height of the girdle, which usually is a piece of cotton string or liana. Another branch of industry our Inclians were busy at, in their hours of leisure, was the fabrication of straw hats, with the younog leaves of a kind of little palm, the same which supplies the excellent hats imported from Ecuador and Perl, and known in Europe under the name of Chile or Panama hats. Dexterity at all sorts of wickerwork seems to be innate to this race; and the prettiest little baskets, and the finest TOTJJOURS PERDRIX! mats of coloured -palm leaves, are to be bought on the Missions of the Mamor! at............. =- -- ~ - _ — _, ~ IL~~~~~~~~T~~. _ ~ ~' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ — ~_....- -:____~i' ~. —~~~~~~~ - -~....~....... the lowest prices. But all these occupations are left at the call of the first-mate; ~who has ~the proud title of Capitano. The boats' crews crowd round their pots; each one receives his allotted portion in a calabtash or a basin of horn; and their spoons of the same mnaterial are soon in full activity. If a jalcare has lately been shot, or caught inl a laco (sling), every one, after roasting his own piece of it on the spit, proceeds to Gut at the large slices of the wh~ite meat (which, thoug~h in appearance likie fish, is as i; At Rio cle Janeiro a Panama hat Goats twenty and more clollarx; in Bolivia, about -five or six:. CANOE AND CAMP LIFE. 75 tough as India-rubber) with the satisfaction usually produced by three or four hours of hard rowing on view of anything eatable. One tribe especially, the Canichanas, from the former Mission of San Pedro at the Mamore, think roast caiman the finest eating in the world; while others, the Cayuabas from Exaltacion, and the Mojos, from Trinidad, whose palates are somewhat more refined, prefer beef, fish, or turtle to the musk-exhaling saurian. Notably the turtles, which are not found on the Guapor6 and MIamore' (they are not met with above the rapids of the Madeira) are prized by them, though cue grew rather tired of them, and no wonder. On the lower Madeira, at our fires, there was almost daily going on the cooking of turtles, of all sizes, from the full-grown one of a yard in length to the smallest of the size of a hand; and in every variety of preparation too-whole, and chopped up as for soup; stewed; and roasted in their own shell or on the spit. Bathing in the river, immediately after meals, is a luxury invariably indulged in by all the Indians; and I never remarked that it was attended by any evil consequences to them. After a rest of two hours' duration, the cooking utensils, the hammocks, and improvised tents, were carried on board'again, and the voyage continued. A second halt was made after rowing for two or three hours, when we came in sight of a good place for fishing, such as the month of some smaller river, or an extensive mud bank. Such places were usually recognisable from afar, by the multitude of snow-white herons, and of long caimans, which, finding it out before us, crowded there in peaceful unity, and with similar intentions. The vicinity of the scaly monsters is scarcely heeded by the Indians, who fish and take their bath, laughing and jesting, though somewhat hugging the shore, just as if there were no such thing as the tail or the tooth of the jacare in the world; and, indeed, these creatures are themselves in much greater danger than the red-skins. When the last stealk of crocodile has been consumed, one of the Canichanas is sure to ask leave to have some fun, and to provide at the same time for their next dinner. Of course the permission is always granted, as the sport keeps up. their spirits, and spares our provisions. Without loss of time, then, one of them, having carefully fastened a strong loop of raw hide at the end of a long pole, and having dexterously slipped off his bast shirt, creeps slowly through the shallow water, pole and sling in hand, as near as possible to the alligator, which looks on at these preparations with perfect apathy, only now and then betraying a sign of life by a lazy movement of its powerful tail. But it does not take its eyes off the Indian as he crawls nearer and nearer. The fatal sling is at arm's length from its muzzle, and yet it does not see it. As if under the influence of witchcraft, it continues to stare with its large protruding eyes at the bold hurnter, who in. the next moment 76 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. has thrown the loop over its head, and suddenly drawn it to with a strong pull. The other Indians, who the while have been cowering motionless on shore, now rush into the water to the help of their companion, and four or five of them land the ugly creature that with all its might struggles to get back into the water, lashing the sand with its tail and showing its long teeth; lout a few vigorous blows with an axe on the tail and skull soon render it tame enough. If, instead of dragging back, the alligator were only to rush forward boldly to the attack of the Indians, they would, of a certainty, leave pole and sling and run for their lives; but this bright idea never seems to occur to the uncouth animal, and the strife always ends with its death. -------- --— ~~~~~~~~~....... — ------ ALLIGATOR-HRUNTING. Though there were more than a dozen of them killed during the voyage, I never when I was afraid that one of our Canichanas was about to makze too close an accquaintance with the hard, jagged tail of an extraordinarily strong monster, which measured full five metres. Even before the huge spoil is cut up, four musk-glands, placed by twos under its jaw, and on its belly, near the beginning of the tail, must be carefully taken out, to prevent the diffusion, over the whole body, of the penetrating odour of the greasy, brown liquid they contain. These glands, which are about 4 centimetres long and as thick as a finger, are carefully tied up and suspended in the sun to dry. Mixed with -------- ----— C1 -— C- _ —I —- -= — _ —---- -— _-= - I —- -= __==- —==; —=t==~= —;==__ —- --- ----— —-c; —---—;;-~ -— ~ ----. __ _I —---------— - -----— i====I==== —== —— ==r_ —F —-— —2;_ -— ~ —-— ~-~ — — C-I_ — —L- -— Ti —-_ ---------— ______________C=I===L_ _- _ -==--=-=======I-=-= —;;I"^i -- ---- ---------------- -------------- ---— —--- --— —. — ~~ —-- -- - —; — —— _ -- —;=~ — —;-_.= —- —===-T=; )t=_~== —-T= —--_i--- —T=- — = —_==-= —q;-7--:==;-_______ u_~-_C ___ = I ----— - —--------— ~2 —--- -------— ~- --- ------ -- - — L —C F-==~==-L_=-=__ .____-__-=- L —--------------- ,_~ —~_- —---— ~r==== —-i- —,-;; —=_==;=__ —===;====li-=5-==-;;; l-_ —i;====-===-===== —2-L"-L=LL_-= —- ------------ --- - - —----- L--I —-L ___ _ —C —: -- -- --- --— C —— L — — = —-: —- - -~ —;_____-_- -; —- -------------------- ---- -- I-'--;- ------------— —---—: ----------------------- ~ —-- L —____ __==-L~ —— —- I — ---- iI____L —-- _==c,=-__ __ --- -------— ' ='= -- -_LjC-I ---— -j- --— -I, -=L-= —~-=-= —— ~-=- T;-I=- —TS-- —-=--;=i -T —-- I —------- __ _. ------- c(2-,u-3; —=F==L===__=- —— LL —-— i~: _ iL- _-:i — I —------- --- ij --— LI-= —— = —.-`-L — —-FIC —— _ — I7 — —------------ i -— ~ —------ --- I —;F ~ -- —— L —— _- r;==I~-=====;-== — —= —;== ==-=-. —i,__;=-::=. — -— ~-I —-i —--— =--= —== —— = —-===-I -- _ = - —— — -jfI; —,- L- —.- -. —-- - —JI —--- —;-; —— -: L-l —— .. — —--------—, —-__ ----I------I~"::_LCZ-I ___C==___l___-__j_:____;.:5=___c —--- ==---_ —- —,`::j==: —.-- I:_-__ -— "-_- —---— —-' —c;:'L-S'L-- ~ —Ii_- —-_-: Z —— — ~ I-:~ -~~ -~,,- —-- -- —-i ii-i ct -__i- ~ -"'-;== —= — —'-'= —I====- " ----- rlc:i-'\,\;IlUY'_~:;_:j;::I::;:'\\\\\\\\\iZ: ;rI--,= —I;,.!R\\\\\\\\\U\,\ - -.[i,t=':~';\`\\\\\\$%P"--- --- -— - —-' 1; ------— - - -— = — = —---- -F; — L —-_-S — z —=-==-- e-S Z Z- --S-'-3 "-" v —- —i if; inmT-"-;=cS-l7P-f —E--;;- - —-- —- — c~--zs= —-s===Z= ---- —;_=-r,-= --5- —-"-- —~ —-] c~rc=- —;- —- —,_ - — —-s -----— —5 — = —- ==- —- —-5; -.-;c-===-=-=-= — —-=;-=~r,= — CATCIIINa AN ALLIGATOR VCrITB LBSXO (MAnEI). CANOE AND CAMP LIFE. 77 a little rose-water, their contents serve, as we were told, to perfume the raven-black tresses of the elegant Bolivian ladies at Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba, in spite of, or rather by reason of, their strong scent, which gives the headache to all save these strong-nerved Seioritas, who love a bull-fight above everything, who know how to roll the cigarito, and to dance the fandango with matchless grace, but who scarcely are able to write their own names. After such a pleasant interlude of fishing or hunting, the paddles are plied with renewed vigour until the evening, when sleeping quarters are selected, either on a sandbank or in the forest. The canoes are moored by strong piassaba-ropes in some recess of the bank, where they are protected against drifting trunks; the tents are erected, and preparations ensue for the principal meal. Meanwhile, after the very short interval of twilight usual in the tropics, Night almost suddenly throws her dark veil over the valley, and the bright constellations of the Southern sky in quiet majesty adorn the firmamlent. While we prepare to take astronomical observations, half-a-dozen large fires are lighted round about, in whose fitful blaze the neighbouring forest trees appear like huge phantoms, looking contemptuously down on us, poor tiny mortals. Our Indians warm themselves in the cheerful glow, smoking, and chatting of the day's adventures, or rather of what are regarded as such-unusual good or ill luck at fishing and hunting; the casual meeting of some canoe; or the sight of a seringueiro's poor cottage. Work over, they take off the rough cascara, ancd put on the camiseta, a cotton garment without sleeves, resembling a wide poncho sewn together at the sides, and whose dazzling whiteness is set off by two scarlet stripes along the seams. The ample folds and the simple cut of the garment, which is made by the Indian women of the Missions on very primitive looms, give quite a stately, classical appearance to the numerous groups round the fires. Such must have been the aspect presented by the halting-places of those daring seafarers, the Phcenicians, who were the first to call into life an international commerce, and whose light-rigged barques first ventured to distant shores, to bring home the precious amber and the useful tin. Only the dense swarms of mosqnitos, which set in immediately after sunsets remind us rather unpleasantly that we are far off from those happy Northern regions, where such a nuisance can hardly be well imagined. Especially in the dense forest beneath cacao-bushes, or under the close leafage of the large figueiras, where no breath of air incommodes those light-winged tormentors, it is quite impossible, for the European at least, to close an eye without the shelter of a mosquiteiro (mosquito-net); and we could but wonder at our Indians, most of whom did without it. After supper they simply spread a hide on the ground, on which, with no covering other than the starry firmament above them, 78 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. they slept undisturbed till the dawn, only occasionally brushing away, as if by way of diversion, the most obtrusive of the little fiends. The capitanos only, and one or other of the older rowers, allow themselves the luxury of good cotton hammocks, which are also made by their wives in the Missions. Such, with few variations, was the course of our daily life, until we reached the regions of the rapids, when, of course, the hundred little incidents connected with the dragging of the canoes through narrow, foaming channels, and with carrying the goods and the vessels themselves overland, disturbed the monotony of this rude forest life. 5.Z"~ ~ ~~~~~" _ ~-~, -, ~k ~,~-~, ~ ~L. ~~~~' i1' CHAPTER IV. HUNTING AND FISHING IN THE PROVINCES ~~~:~~ f M~ OF AMAZON AND MATO GROSSO. >H-BB~~~~~~j-E=S~i~S The PiraL-rncu'. — Tli Peixe-boi. -Thze Boto. -Fishing with the Covo.-Ta~pir-hrunting.-The Barreiros. DO the inhabitants of the above-mentioned proIq ines h-tunting and, still more, fishing are of an. importance hardly to be estimated in l urope; and in anyr be it the slightest, but forsubsiste,description of these lands, special attention must be directed to these branches of national economy; which are of small consequence in Indians and mcivilisel countries. There the colossal turtles, course of the mazobyhthe pira-rucu (suds gigyas),* and the lamantin of th le t,.~.~.:or peixe-boi, are captured as thec tapirs, the wild hogs and deer, are hunted, not for sport but for subsistenc%, for the daily food of the inhabitants. The oxp though no lo nger aod altogether unknown animal in thes e regionG is still strange enough; and its meat will be rarely met with isy t ne isolated huts of the Indians and mestizoes, for the few heads of ~attl%, brought up-stream from the lower course of the Amazon by the fortnig~htly steamers~ barely suffice to supply the wants of the little towns: such as M~an~os: Sanltarem, etc.-' Other of our domestic animals...':"' From oire, fish; and rued~, red. The population of the Bra~zilian coast, living on fresh anti dried fish all the year round, go to the nearest 80 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. also, such as pigs, goats and sheep, are very rarely found near the huts of the riverines, though the first would thrive excellently. A number of cackling hens, and perhaps a few ducks, are their only live stock; as they give no trouble whatever, and find abundant food on the soft earth, and in the roots and fallen leaves near the cottages. The marvellous bounty of nature, on the one hand) and the innate disposition, confirmed by habit, to do as their fathers have done before them, on the other, will sufficiently explain why Indians and mestizoes so markedly prefer the life of hunters and fishears to the less exciting and more settled vocation of breeders of domestic animals. SUBJIERGED FOREST. From his earliest years, the young Tapuyo (Indian of the Amazorn Valley) accompanies his father either on the open river or on the inundated plains, where, in the cool shade of large trees, or amid the submerged tops of palms wvhich are mirrored in the smooth dark water, they quietly lie in ambush, patiently awa~iting thze proper moment for throwing their harpoons into the broad back of the pira-rucfi, a fish of 3 to 4 metres long, covered (as if it were armour) with big scales bordered by a sharp scarlet line. When caught, it is dragged on land, opened up the whole length of its back, the vertebrae taken out, and the meat salted and dried in the sun. In its fresh state HUNTING AND FISHING IN THE PROVINCES OF AMAZON AND MATO GROSSO. 81 it is not very palatable; but when prepared in this way, as it is largely consumed by both rich and poor from Para to the frontiers of Peru, it makes quite an abominable dish, decidedly inferior to cod-fish. And this is not the worst of it. As the meat is very hygroscopic, and the atmosphere, especially in the rainy season, saturated with aqueous vapours, the foul smelling slices have to be laid out in the sun from time to time; and as the vendeiros (shop-keepers) in small towns like Mi-an'os seem to think no spot more appropriate for that operation than the pavement at their doors, their neighbours and passengers have the pleasure of at least smelling the nasty fish, if they have been lucky enough to escape it at table. Very different is the lamantin or manati, a fresh-water cetacean, which, despite its Portuguese name of peixe-boi (ox-fish), derived from its broad snout resembling that of an ox, is no more a fish than its gigantic cousin of the sea, the sperm-vhale. It abides especially in the quiet lakes on the borders of the large rivers, which are covered with a profusion of long reed-grass and wild rice, the chief food of the peixe-boi. Its flesh is fat and nice, and, when properly prepared, deeidedly reminds one of pork. Although fishing is of far greaer importance tha hunting to the inhabitants of these countries, for the simple reasona that- the latter requires powder and lead, and a far costlier weapon than their own bow- or sillple iron hook, I will spare the reader the infiction of a dry ichthyologic register of all the species and varieties that people the mai stream and its endless ramifications. Their number has been augmented, by several hundreds, by the discoveries of M. Agassiz, in his exploration in 1866, and some future explorer may, perhaps, discover as many more. It is quite a host of fresh-water fish which inhabits the yellow floods of the Amazon and its tributaries. Only some of them spread over the whole length of its course, while the mass (according to the observations of Agassiz) are restricted to certain localities; every section of the stream, indeed, having its charaeteristic species. A temporary transgression of their proper bounds sometimes talies place; on the whole, however, the -enormous water-net may be divided into several regions, which differ more or less sharply in their fauna. Some trifling differences in the vegetation, variety of formation of the banks and of the river-bed, its depth, and especially e greater or minor declivity, doubtless determine these restrictions. The most constant companions of the traveller on the Amazon are the dolphins, or botos.'k From Par& to the rapids of the affluents, and even to the smooths above " Bows al arrows are usec everywhere on these rivers for shooting ~fish ana turtle; but only wild Indians employ them for hunting on landl. t From a popular Portuguese word, bote, jump. Mr 82 THE AMAZON AND MA1DEIRA RIVErRS. them, they play arowznd the boat.- Being manimifers, likie their oceanic brothers, thley are compelled ever andl anon to come to the surface, to take breath; and they describe therefore, in the water, a peculiar wavy line or cycloid, often. leaping high into the air and returning, blowing and puffing, to their native element. One moonligh-t nig~ on the upper Aladeira —it, was at the mouth of the Jammary —our boats were surroundedl by a troop of them, that played about, snorting and splashino, and mnaking such a noise, as though hunudredsx of mermatids were pursued by beardedi mermen, that we could no~t g~et a wink of sloop all night.,lon,(,Y This noisy play, those motunds that seem so stranoge for animals of fish shape, andi their obvious passion for the society of man (they accompany the boats sometimes for long distances, in troops of thir~ty an;ld forty), may have given rise to the extravaoantl~ ~rs. P ~SX. A. TH~E PIRA-RUCU (S-UDIS GIGAS). tales regardingr them, which are stoutly believed by tlhe whole population of the country, from the hallf-savauge Tapuyo and Mameluco to~~ ~f~ the~ ricSh Portugueseea vendeiro. The botos are.represented to` have the property of assuming the humnan shape from time to time, HUNTING AND FISHING IN THE PROVINCES OF AMAZON AND MATO GROSSO. 83 them, and though they yield an excellent train-oil. They multiply, therefore, within the boundaries assigned by nature. Another fabulous aquatic monster, in all likelihood a near relation of our celebrated sea-serpent, is the so-called minhocao (big worm), a snake of such immense size that the riverines assert with all seriousness that the river rises or falls as the monster either enters or leaves it. It is also called mae d'agua (mother of waters), which name it shares, though, with a sort of Brazilian Lorelei, haunting the picturesque fall of the Tarum'a a little influent of the Rio Negro. This beautiful maid with golden hairwhether she combs it with a golden comb, like the German ILorelei, has not yet been ascertained-bewitches with her loveliness any man who sets eyes on her. Madness overpowers his senses, and he is deprived of ability ever to find the way back to his cottage. Therefore the narrow glen which the siren has chosen for her abode, and whose -----.... -- _ -= _ 7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:........... ~- ~ ~ —:~~ s _~r -='' -~- = —-~~ TEE LA51[ANTIN, OR PEIXE-BOI (AIANATUS A},IERICANUS). u.mbrageous depth is uninvaded by sunbeam, is regarded with superstitious awe, and no Tapuyo will venture to stay at nightfall at any place within hearing of the roar of the haunted fall. Another dreadedl ghost of the forest, though it be not by far of so lovely a shape, is the Caepo'ra (Ca'a pu man of the an ugly old man coveredfwt a, is th~e Caepbra (Caa p6ra, man of the forest), an ugly old nzan covered with hair, of immense bodily strength, who waylays the hunters and twists their necks. Any unusual sound in the woods is ascribed to the caep6ra, and only absolute silence and motionless cowering ~nmler bushes and branches will, it is thought avail to save from his dreadful claws. Incredulous people are forced by urgent entreaties, or, if need be, by menaces, to comply with these arrangements, in order not to rouse the wrath of the totally invulnerable monster. If large man-like monkeys, such as the gorilla, the chimpanzee, and the orang-outang, were to be found in the Brazilian forests, this widely spread superstition would admit of easy explanation; but even the liveliest hunter's fancy is 84 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. not equal to so hideous an exaggeration of such poor representatives of "Lour cousins"J as are howling monkeys (or Barrigudos); and the origin of the fable is certainly to besought only in the gloomy belief of the Indians, who fancy themselves pursued at every step by demons and witchcraft. Moreover, every tribe has its own hLnting-customs, or rather hunLting-snperstitions, for here also the sons of Nimrod are more inclined to credulity than other mortals. The Coroados of the South will not taste the meat of the deer, lest they should lose their rich black hair; or the protuberance on the neck of the tapir, which is the best morsel, lest they should lose the love of their wives. In the same way they avoid the meat of the luck and of the cutia, a very savoury rodent lest their children should acquire big, uglyoshaped feet and ears. He who, has shot the deadly arrow nmust not eat of the game if he would have steady aim and good luck for the future; and the women also, to the evident advantage of theirselfish, lawv-giving halves, are prohibited from the eating of many animals.* The fishes apparently are not subject to the same objections, and every means seems lawful for their capture: hooks, bows and arrows, casting nets, and drag-nets, that are spread out in a wide circle and drawvn in on shallow sandbanks, sometimes filled with exceedingly rich spoil. At some points whole tribes will unite, as the above-mentioned Coroados of Parana: in the operation of forcing them, by raising little stone dykes upon and between the boulders of a current, to take a certain channel so controlled by a plait-work of bamboo that at the upper end the water rashes into it with considerable force, yet leaves it perfectly dry a little farther down, whence it escapes through the interstices. As these "parys" (as the contrivances are called by the Coroados) are usually fitted up at the season of the multitudinous return of the fish after spawning up-stream, few of the larger ones escape their fate; and their profusion would be seriously impaired in streams with parys, if these were not regularly destroyed every year by the floods. One mode of fishing practised on the 1Mamore (though it be not very frequently) is too singular to be passed over in silence. At certain seasons millions of small fish move up-stream in dense swarms. These migrations, which occupy several hours, are awaited by the Mioxo Indian, who takes up a standing position in the shallow Trater, near the shore or near a sandbank, provided only with the c6vo, a sort of conical basket, without bottom, carefully made of laths of a heavy palm-wood joined by plait-work. This basket he throws at the passing fish, which he can afterwards, at his leisure, take out by the smaller opening at the top, provided the water is not higher than the covo itself. Another method, —the worst of all, since it destroys both the old ones and the "- The best species for eating are the Surllill, Pintaclo,:3agrre, Tamb3alk, Tucunare, Pira-lara, Piranha, &c. HUNTING AND FISHING IN THE PROVINCES OF AMAZONAS AND MATO GROSSO. 85 spawn, the eatable and the uneatable together, leaving generally the greater part of them as a meal for the urub'us (vultures),-can be applied only in smaller sheets of water, in the little lagoons or pools left by the retiring floods. A poisonous creeper, cipo timbo (Paullina pinnactca, L.),* is crushed, and the sap thrown into the water, which in a few minutes will be covered with dead fish of all sizes, the eating of which does not seem to endanger the health. Though I think this mode of fishing worthy only of barbarians, I should not have hesitated once to use the poison, had one of the plants been at hand. It was at the Salto de Theotonio, the most considerable of the cata- -2 _ _..-2.'T_.'...... _ _.. _..... -acts of the Madeirat where a rugged reef of 10 metres height crosses the river-bed. A great _.. number of pools had been left by the receding floods in its holes and on shore, just about i=.. where the fish probably had tried to pass the fall in lateral channels, or by leaping and _ bounding over the breaks to continue, in the = smooth above, their search for an appropriate place to deposit their spawn. In the largest.. of these pools many hundreds of gigantic fish lhad been cut off from tyle main stream, perhaps - V weeks before our arriyal, and were dying slowly - in the warm water of the, basin, which was impregnatedl with every variety of putrid matter. We counted already more than five hundrecl bodies of large dead fish in every stage of decomposition, floating upon the surface of the slimy green water, and emitting pestiferous exhalations. From time to time a F ISHIING WITIH TIHE COVO. huge surubin rose frbm the depth and moved slowly, almost torpidly, through the thick element. Some dozens of black vultures (urulvis) looked sharply and anxiously at us, and at the foul pond, their richly laden ta~lcl, tlze while sitting rigid and motionless on th~e neighbouring rockis with their wide wTingcs opened to the evening breeze, probably to air their -feathers. They reminded us, in their immoobility, of the bronze eagles on the crown of some old tower. In spite of the sickening aspect, we had the greatest difficulty to prevent our Indians from -a Besides this, there are a few other similar plants used in the same way: Goyana-Timb6, Piscidia Erythrilla, VELL.; TsLraira-3Ioira, Cocculus inerme, MIART.; COnal;i, EUphor'biix et Ichthyothers, MART. 86 THE AMAZON AND 5MADEIRA RIVERS. harpooning the half-dead fish and malking themselves seriously ill with this nauseating food, although they had, with but little trouble, succeeded in taking a large quantity of wholesome fish below the fall, in the bays and creeks of the shores, and at the mouth of a small rivulet. We were taken with the strange shape of the "rays," whose broad wings and projecting eyes are to be met, it is usually supposed, in salt water only. We caught some specimens that measured more than a metre from the extremity of the head to the tail which is armed with a horny sting, of a finger's length. These rays mere of a greyish brown, with black spots encircling a yellow point. They are much feared by the Indians, for their sting, which is indeed well calculated, with its double edge and finely dentated point, to inflict excruciating wounds on the bare foot of some bather, who may incautiously trample upon the creature, as it lies lurking for spoil half-buried in the mud of the shallow banks. The annexed sketch represents one of our paddlers returning from a fishing excursion, and carrying, besides a ray and a large surubin, another smaller fish, whose sharp curved teeth have given it the name of peixe cachorro (dog-fish). It is not so dangerous to man as the rays or the piranhas.* broad fishes of little more than a span's length, which have literally torn to pieces many a daring swimmer. Their two rows of projecting teeth, whhich are sharp as needles, are the more to be dreaded, as the terrible creatures are almost always together in hundreds, and they throw themselves upon their victim with the rapidity of lightning, as soon as the water has been dyed with the blood of the first bite, each individual one of the dreadful snapping little jaws tearing off a piece of flesh. Without any doubt these piranhas are a much greater obstacle to bathing than the jacares (crocodiles), whose victims are far less numerous than is generally believed. Another dangerous animal, though in a different way, is the candirui, an almost transparent, thin little fish, of less than a finger's length, which penetrates with eel-like nimbleness into the orifices of the bathers and causes many fatal accidents, according to the reports of the riverines. So much for the scaly inhabitants of this immense water-net. I trust I have succeeded in giving an idea of the incredible variety of their forms, which surpass the analogous ones of our rivers both in beauty anid in number: even as these gigantic streams surpass our noblest rivers in size. As for hunting, it is followed much less by the half-civilised mestizo population of the Amazon basin, although its endless forests are full of game, than it is in that of the La Plat%, in the neighbouring province of Mate G~rosso. ~'" From pira, fish, and anlha, tooth. ~~~~-= —-— ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__-: -.s ~-' —--- ii - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - -:~ S — - _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ _~-iiiiii:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~iii i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —;~~T O~"' OF UR ~0...-05I-rD.S RTU~-N-.O'- FTS-IG'I-~.~:D:~:~,~. HUNTING AND FISHING IN TH-E PROVINCES OF AMTAZON AND M~ATO GRZOSSO. 87 The noblest and most generally pursued game is the'anta (tapir), that representative of the pachyderms in the New World, which, in the 01dy is founzd at,only a few places in India. It flourishes in extraordi-nary nuumbers, yet does not herd together in troops, on thze densely wvoodedc shores of all tlhe tributaries of the Am~azon and La,. Plalta. All the narrow gorges and moist ravines, clad ~with rich vegetation, and the, forests on'the shores of mnnrmuring rivulets, and near the roaring cataracts of large, rivers, are sure to shelter that diminutive of the elephant. At early dawn, it leaves its qyuiet nook behind thorny bamb7usacecT, or leafy bushes, and walks gravely to the river by deeply trodden paths of its own engineering, for it ~thoroughly enjoys. a cold bath in the morning~; and often, wThlen qluickrly doo~Lbling some sharp bend in the river, we surprised it sitting in quiet majesty up to the necki in the -water. it HIEAD OF SmW~~ITNIMI TAPIR, ]PURtSUED BYU DOGS. swims and dives with alstonishing agility; and it may be the sense of greater, spe'lritv In fl if euselmet or if, Twa u-, a lolwil-wo for a rnfroslii-ng linfl aftor 88 ~ ~ ~~ THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. blow; elso it wouldl sinki to the bottom, and tlie hunter wsould I-lave to await its rising again. Only the female anta, with her young one, never flies before the dogs. She remains courageously in her retreat, endeavonring to protect with her own body the ~trembling little creatuLre that creeps between her le(Is, and6 ventsi its anxiety in shrill whistli-ng soundls. ~Woo to the hardy cur that dares to leave the semicircle of its eompan ionsl barking in these cases from a safe clistance, and to come within reachz of the grim dam. H~er elevated short jaw bares some teeth that demand respect, and under her powerful fore-legs the weak ribs of a dog wVould snaptl likie thinz reeds. At last, riddled witlh bullets, she falls dlown, a victim to maternal tenderness, on the body -of her terrified offspring. If th~e hunter succeeds in protecting the latter3 against the fury of th~e pack, who are courageous enough now, an~d if he does not handle it too roughly, it will become as tame as a dlog, even on the second or tlhird day of its captivity, (as I witnessedl myself), and soon will abandon all thought of returning to its native wvilds. As its food (grass, pumpkins, fruits, etc.) is easily procurable, it is not only possible but -very easy, to makie it quitce a domestic animal. In C;uritiba, the capital of the province of Parana', a, stray tapir ran about the streets, and the negro boys used to ride upon it. from mong to night. A temperature of 2 " or le" below freezing point, not uncommon there in J~une and July, did not appear to incommode it in the least. Almost all the larger South American animals are easily tamed; the wild hog, thee deer, the guaty, the pacaz, and even the onca~t not to speaki of the monkeys, parrots, cacd gallinaccouss birds. Indeed, there. is scarcely a'honse or cottage in aill tlhe Amazon region, that does not swarm with " jerimbabos 1 (pet animals), such as araras, periqyuitos, malrianitos, jacamins, jacutingas, mutuns, tneanoes, 6utias, pacas, monkeys, etc.; wvhich sometimies are of the most troublesome a2nd6 ridiculous t~ameness. The half-caste ladhies espcialyare fond of their favourites, and often tvould not part with thein for the world. Even, fho gilhoin a qnr f. n f A-rnrionn;oa_ On+ -Pr i of-1,nfAe ill CARIPUNA INDIANS WITHIT TAPIRI (MADEIRA). (ORCHIDs, BROMELIAS, AND~FERNS). HUNTING AND FISHING IN THE PROVINCES OF AMAZON AND M1ATO GSROSSO..89 MUMStu) are saidl to cause certain dea th. Y4et I: once saw a negro, at Barlbacena'n the province of Miinas, wh~o escaped withl only a stiff leg after hatVilg been bitten by a rat~ttlesnaake. Atll the animals of these forests birds included (with the single exceptionz of the onea), eat clay* with great voracity, and mayS be found peacefully congregated, sometimes in great numbers, at favourably situated spots, on steep broken banks, for instance, whose reddish yellow walls often show distinct traces of the teeth of a great many species. On moonliglht nights particularly, when Ahe who le animal world is awakre and more restless than nsual, th~es6 6 barreiros 11 (clay-pits), easily visible fr~om the river, are excellent places for lying in anzbush for all kinds of game; a21d,1 if he be lucky, the hunter may kill even a spotted or black onea, in qluest, not of tlie clay, but, like the hzunter himself, of deer or wild hogs, which are an easy spoil for its long -fangs and powerful paws. Antas, that is funll-grown ones, do not fall victims so easily. These pachyderms —th~anks to their skiin of a. finger's thickness —dash so swiftly throuagh the shrubs alid bushes, with a weight that carries everything -resistlessly before them, that, in the first denlse thicket of thorns an1d liaznas, they violently disengage themselves of their tterrible riders, o~h tightly clasp them round thleir neckrs, before tlze one~a's powerful clutches penetrate below their stout skin. In the endlless Yirgiin forests on the shores of the Parana' before: us un3visit~ed byo Europea~n for two hundred -years at least, our hunters shot, at the mouth. of the Ivahy, an old tapir, which had evidently bad a hard struggle with its sleek enemy. It had one eye only, and its broad backr showed deep traces of the on~a's claws. And thus' this poor patriarch of the woods who~ had escaped the tooth of the tiger, at last f ~ell a vic~tim tGo the bullet of one of ou~r half-caste Indians. The meat of the tapir is excellent, tazsting mu'h like beef. The fat bunch on its neck, covered with long bslack bristles, is a delicacy which would do honour to the talble of Ca Lucull-Lis and equally esteemedl are its short trulik, and the fEeet, which yield, when booiled, a rich jelly. The Indcianrs and mestizoes usually prepare the head in tlze following manner; which also serves for w~hole hogs and other game. A number 90 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. them, and the hole filled up with earth. At the end of six or eight hours a supply of the best and juiciest roast meat will thus be ready. Besides the tapir, two species of wild hog, and several kinds of deer, are especially appreciated. Among the latter is an exceedingly pretty one, scarcely three spans high; Stags (and very powerfulones too), whose antlers are much thicker in proportion, and taper much more sharply than those of the European species, are found only in the campos or prairies. Of the wild hogs, even the larger variety is considerably smaller and weaker than the European class; and, though they are together by hundreds, and the Brazilian hunters generally bring them down at close quarters, we never heard of any damage occasioned by them, beyond badly wounding some dogs. In the middle of the back, these animals have a sort of gland, filled with a greasy, strongly scented substance, reminding one of musk, which, when irritated or hardly pursued by the dogs, they emit through a small opening. As soon as the peccari is killed, it is the hunter's first care to see that this gland is cut out, lest its foul odour should communicate itself to the meat, and so render it uneatable.* The monkeys, the queerest and nimblest of all the inhabitants of the woods, who with infinite agility swing themselves, in numerous troops, from bough to bough, are often hunted by the Brazilians; but I should not advise a European to partake of the sport. Their piteous cries, if they be not killed on the spot, their desperate, almost human gestures, and their excited examination of the bleeding wound, will more than suffice to spoil the pleasure of the day for any one of sensitive feelings. Gallinaceous birds, and parrots in endless variety, are found everywhere; yet the latter, especially the long-tailed arafras are exceedingly shy and very difficult to shoot, while of the former twenty or thirty together may sometimes be seen in the abovementioned barreiros or clay-pits. Amongst them the jacus (Penelope cristcatac) and jacutingas (Penelope jacutinga), of the size of our tame fowls, and the jacamins (Pso8iic crepitans, P. oclzroptera, P. leucoptera), somewhat larger, are considered excellent eating.t When to all these we add the multitude of smaller quadrupeds, such as " The capivara (water-hog), a rodent of the shape of the Guinea-pig, but of the size of our tame pig, has a similar gland on the baclr of its nose, the contents of which smell even worse, if that be possible; and for this reason the calpivara is seldom hunted. i A highly prized because rare bird is the anhuma, or alicorne (Pc1anmedea coornuta), whose strangesounding cry is said to denote a change of weather. It has a horny protuberance on the head of 6 or 7 centimeires length, which the Talpuyos believe to be a strong talisman. We saw at Manaos a little silver chaill, belong~ing to an old half-caste woman, fr~om whic~h were suspended, besidles the horn of the anhuma, the formidable claws of an anteater (c(mcnndfua bcexdfexrc6), a tooth of an onga, and bristles of diifferent anim~als, set in silver; and I really believe the old squaw would not have plarted with her treasure for all the wealth of Caifornia. HUNTING AND FISHING IN THE PROVINCES OF AMAZON AND MATO GROSSO. 91 cutias (Dasylro-ta filiginosa and D. auti); coatys (Nascta socialis and N. solitarit); pacas (Coelogyenys Pcca); and large flocks of ducks, mutuns (Crax), herons and waterfowl, the most exacting son of Nimrod will admit that the forests and prairies of Brazil have attractions enough, though the hippopotami, elephants and giraffes of Africa are not found here; and that a ramble on the Amazon or the Parana, with a good clouble-barnelled gun, fishing-taclkle, and a harpoon, amply compensates for the trouble, even did we omit from the account the aspect of a vegetation of unrivalled magnificence. K_ CHAPTER V. THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF E >,~~ ~ ~THE AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. kn;3 BakBB~ l 9,Changes and New Formations.-Terras Cahidas.-Orchids and Bromelim. - Lianas. - Figueiras. - Palahs. —The':Caoutchc. - The Cacao. - Drugs. — Resins. - The Urary. —The Qnuina.-~The Guaranm. —The Coca. fJW1 odVERYWHERE the decomposing organisms serve as bases for new formations. No particle, however small, is ever lost in the great household of Nat-Lure; but nowhere is her restless activity so conspicuous as in the tropics, where the succession. of vegetable decasy and life is so much more rapid than,.1~6~1~1~?a~ ~~e~p~~a~ i it is in colder climes; and which will: ~i ~~~strike the reflecting student more especially /~'BJ in the wide, forest-clad valleys of tropical'T "~h America, and on the Amazon and its affluents. On the heights of the Cordillera, the process is already at work. The waste of the mountain-slopes, broken off by rills and torrents, and carried by them into the main river, slowly drifts dlownv stream ine the form of gravel-boanks, until, scattered and rent as~under ill a thousandl ways, it finally ~takes permanent form as light green islands, which are soon covered and protected with a dense coat of vegetation. As every zone of geologic formation ill the extensivre valley adds its tribute, these banks are a kind of mineralogical collection, which shows samples of all the rocks on the river-banks; with the exception: perhaps, of light pumice-stone, the produce of the volcanoes of the Andes, which drifts down stream in large pieces: and is highly THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. 93 prized by the Tapuia population (on the lower course) for sharpening and cleaning their weapons and tools. Even when not picked up by hunter or fisher, it is not lost. It will be arrested by some snag or projection of the shore, it will so get embedded in the newly-forming sediment, and thousands of years hence its silicic acid will afford the necessary material for the hard glassy barki of a bambusacea, or the sharp edge of a reed. When the currents are not strong enough to move the larger banks, they at least carry sand and earth with them, and deposit them as shoals or new alluvion at less exposed spots.* But there is no stability in the liquid element, with its periodic rise and fall, and the restless working of the busy waves. Divertel by the obstructing shoal, the river eats away the banks originally formed in the sea basin; and the sharper the bend the quicker the demolition. Then begins to form a serpentine, whose vagrant course gets more and more pronounced by the concave bank breaking down and forming new deposits on the convex one; until, at last, an esxtraordinary flood breaks through the narrow isthmus and opens up a straighter bed for the river, which soon resumes its playful operations afresh.t The convex bank, therefore, always consists of igap6, the newest sediment; while the opposite one may be vargem, or terra-firma. Trees of soft wood, most of them with white bark and light green foliage, like the embafiba (C6ecropica), and the siphonia; asnd herbaceous plants, broacl-leavel heliconias and reeds, find the fittest nurture in the light soil of the igap6, while thorny muru-muruis and javary-palms, cacao, various myrtacee, and fig-trees prefer the vargem; which is flooded for TRANSVERSE SECTION OF A BREAKING SHORE, CAILED TERRAS CAHIDAS. only a short time of the year. The noble castanheira (Bertholetis excelse) the cedar, and all the other splendid timbers of the tropics, thrive on the terra-firma only, above flood-level, in the " drift" of Agassiz. The undermined concave shores are sometimes a serious danger to the passing barque,: The laws of these movements, the sediments, &c., are of course the same in all climes; but in old Europe all the larger rivers are so controlled, regulated, and canalized, narroweel by dykes and other restraining ap~pliances, that this restless power, the wondlerful perpetzGulis anodize of a large river, must be entirely imiperceptible, at least to non-professional observers. n We found places on the Mamore where three several becs of different periocs could easily be distinguished, the oldest of which formed a lalrelet connected with the river only by a narr'lowF channel. NatuLral corr~ections of the sharpest curves lby the breaksing thlrough of the narrowest point of the isthmus are not rare. 04 THE AM)IAZONU AND MADEIRA RIVERS. as even the slight ripp] e of a canoe is su-fficient to bring down the loosely overhanging earth often covgeredl with gigantic trunks. These concave sides, with their fallen trees, and their clusters of sinking javarypalms, supported sometimes by only a tangled net-work of tough lianas, give to the scenery that peculiar character of primeval wildlness, which is so charming to foreigners. When one has climbed up the steep shore, often forming huge terrace-like elevations, and has safely passed through a labyrinth of inrterwoven roots and creepers into the interior of the forestc which is getting freer from Underwood at some distance from the river, he.is oppressed with the sensation of awe and wonder felt by man on entering one of the venerable edifices of antiquity. A mysterious twilight encom~passes us, which serves to intensify tlie radiance of the occasional sunbeam, as it falls on a glossy palm-leaf, or on a large bunch of purple orchid-flowers. Splendid trunks, some of them from 6 to 10 metres in diameter, rise like so many pillars supporting the dense green vault of foliag~e; and every variety of tall, graceful palms, spare and. bushy, and bearing heavy berries of bright yellow or red, struggle to catch a glimpse. of the li ht, from. which they are shut out by the neighbouring giants; of which the figrueira (or wild fig-tree) is one of the most striking, in the dimensions of its crown and stem, and in -th~e strange shape of its roots, which project like huge outworks. These seem to grow in all directions, forming props, stays, and cross-bars wherever they are wanted, just as if the whole were a1 soft plastic mass, the sole purpose of which was to supply, with a minimum of material, as nlczst ltya os ible to the trunk; whose wood is of extrem softness and whose roots' are not dleep.*I The pachiubat-patlm (Tria~rtea~ exorltiza)) and some species of cocropioe, exhibit other extravagances in their roots. They appear as if standing o11 stilts, the real trunks only beginning at 2 or 3 metr'es above ground. But, more than all, it is the profusion of orchidsx and bromelive that excites our adcmiration. These bright children of the tropics envelop with dense foliage as well th~e fallen aLlld mouldering trunks as those yet upstanding in full vigour and bloom, thus formina hamanu.g aardens of astounding maanlificence. which reveal leaves and --- —- 21- —- -— - ---------- I — —--""=-;~-==-=- --— — - - --- -'t —'-'--"-----=-_-s=== —--------- r-- —-__-,-~_~_--I-~ ""-'-""I"" —"-- —-.` - —:- -- --— —------ ---- -L —~ll —--— —--- L_SI-__- — ====== —= —=-=;= -- — ------- —---—;; —...._ ;_-=r_ —-=-l== —— ======= -~ —— I —--— i- —- ~-I - =_ __ I-I — _:::::12 ---—.-i-.;-i~~::i:~:i.-riii:iiiiinjiii~~ir-:i _-=-T;==--:=-Ttr;z —IL_=-;=;li-_ - —I- —-- -----------— __;;= —----— __ c=~ ---- G;ROUP OF JAVRP PIILMS, ON THE BdlVIFS OB THE ADEIBA. ~// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~u ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~.. ~"~.... t~~,~,','I.'..~,~11~~~~iJl!~' ~~' THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. 95 moss spring up and clothe the decaying trunks with fresh green. Of mosses and ferns, especially tree-ferns, we found a greater exuberance and a larger variety, ill species as well as in individuals, in the Southern provinces of the empire, S-o Paulo and Parana;* but for splendid palms and gigantic dicotyledons, the North is decidedly the richer of the two.t Without the aid of the pencil it is, indeed, scarcely possible to give an adequate idea of the magnificence of this vegetation; especially of the manner in which the different forms are grouped. We may see, it is true, in our own hot-houses, well-trimlmed plalmnXs, beautiful orchids with their abnormous blossoms, and aroidc, with their bright, sappy, sometimes regularly perforated, leaves' but how different is this from the virgin-forest, wherein lNfature, undisturbed by man, has created her own h prodigies, and where no narrow potsBai separate her children from the maternal soil, and where no dim roof of glass intervenes betweenp them and the blue_ ether Nor, in our car efully tended hot-houses, is the eye ever tgratified with such agreeable contrasts as are afforded by the silver-grey and rustbrown tints of the decayed leaf of the _-palm or the fern-tree, or the black bark of the rotting trunk, with' the blazing scarlet of some heliconia-blossom. IIow GROTEsQUE SHAPE OF A SPECIES OF FICUS. difficult it must be to give to every plant, especially to orchids, the exact quantity of light, warmth and moisture it reqyuires~ can be understood only by those who have seen clusters of them hidden ir frequently form dense boscages, and where the fern-like zatmise with their strangely ornamenteel bark,'whose. fossil predecessors we have probably to seek in the so-called stigmarim, arse found everywThere on the shores of little rivulets, we may see at miniature living copy of that antedliluvian vegetation whose remains we encounter in four coMl-mines. On the shores of these rivers, especially at the mouths of affluents, the formlation of charcoal still goes on, though on a minor scale; the immense heapls of leaves and branches being covered by the high floods with sand and mud. several canellaz and laurus species) Jacsarandc piranga (~fa~cf~rerf~u~ f~'irrnu~, Jacarand~&-tan (Jia~c]~e~rfu~n 96 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. the deep shade of the tree-crowns, while others are exposed to the scorching rays of the sun in the vicinity of a river or in some clearer part of the forest; some species thriving on the bare rock almost, and others clinging fast with their white rootlets to the moist rotting bark of a tree. As for the temperature in the interior of the forests, it is generally lower by several degrees than on the river, or (of course) on the glowing sand-banks, or the slabs of rock, as in the region of the rapids, for instance, where the thermometer rises to 40~ (Celsius), even in the shade of a large open tent. The severity of this heat is felt the more acutely that, in the early hours of the morning, the air cools to 200, and sometimes even to 14.* Though the difference of level between the mouth of the Amazon and that of the Rio Negro is only 21 metres in a distance of more than 1,000 miles, and 144 metres till above the rapids of the Madeira (tle climate remaining, therefore, much the same in spite of the higher latitude of the latter), there is yet a considerable difference observable between the,vf0 E,Evarieties and species of palms, for instance,,~;!, wlithin the above-mentioned boundaries. Not to speak of the coco da Bahia (the real cocoa palm), that thrives only where the salt atmo" sphere of the sea reaches it, the noble mauritia, as well as the pretty assaY-palms, are much',.'% h m e U rarer on the higher course of the Amazon ~,: tthan on the lower; while a small slender palm, USUAL STRULTCTUBRE OF PALA-ROOTS; STILTS OF THE with bifurcated fan, whose name I unfortuPAXIUBA. nately could not learn, is found only near the rapids of the Madeira. Other varieties of palm, like the murui-murui, and the creeping jacit&ra (Desmonezlncs), which grows to the length of 30 metres, while it does not exceed a finger in width, are found everywhere, and are not peculiar to any part of the river. Though real groves of palms are not found on the Madeira and the Amazon, at scle~roxylon), Jacara~ndcla-uc (lvctergli e6 nsrcrG), Palisalller (corrupted:i~ola ~Pa~o sccnto), Ipe (Cecoza; cucricals), 8ucupira (BozVC{GAlzia), Vinhatico ( C~'hryso2~zy1c~lzc vinhczGtiCO), ParoBa (As2ptgsp642?a),zc) ]Barauna (Icanoxylb on Brazina), Bapucaia (ILevy~tls grac~nig~forac), niIassaranciuba (l;?bstbza procera), Cedlro ( C~1ecls al Brabsiliensis), Tap~inhoamn (yvXaiuc nCaVctizba), 31kfira piranga ( Cisct3izic ee/~inatcO), Angelinr rosa (Percdt/ze eryt/rinxctfotia). " The sensation of colel at this latter ~temp~erature mas about ~the xalve for;Lsa as at 1~ or 2v under fr~eezingpoint in ]Eulope; andl, with even my wvari cloak on, I was scarcely able to hold the pencil sometimes. q- In the interior of 3Brazil, in the province of Minas, now and then a cocoa-palml or two are to be found in front of the house of soze fazendeiro (landlowner); but th~ey are plalltecl tlere, and to thrive recuire to be regularly irrigated with salt-water....; 'ST~lrlvcT URI aa(ITKII LLK HL arl0 - 41 THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE A~MAZONT AND THE M~iADEIRA. 97 least not on the extensive scale of the cocoa-palm wvoods'on the coast neart Pernambuco, or of the pallmito groves (Eyterpe oleraccea) ill Minas Gerales, Sa-o Paulo and Parana; we. often found grovips of hzandreds of palms, whose noble shafts and light fealthery leaves imparted an enhanced charm to the spectacle of white'-foaming cataracts, dark reefs, and:islets glow~ino, in the light of the setting sun. Of the perfection exhibited by, Nature in the most trifling, dletails, the shapes of th~e cross segments of the ribs of different pl-ev give' an in eetngeape. These ribs take a more or less curved shape. according to- their weight; and, as the'fibres, themselves more easily resist, as it appear1s, bruising andt pressing than tearing,- the tizpper, part of the crosssegment is much more -developed than tile under one; the' lassy silicious skin'being, besides, much thicker bl ta ov and more pronounmced at the sides, just as is the case w~ith the top and bottom plates of tubular wrlought-iron girders. So perfect is the acljustment thiit the ribs of tile uauassu'-palm (No. 1), w\\hose "~;P~ stiff leaves, standing vertically at the end likre - those of all the alttalea, species, present a large surface to the windc, showc a brbaader cross-cnt; wyhich imparts greater lateral stiffness. No. 2 does not reqluire this, as the feat~hery leaves of the mur-in-muru, are hori- 2 zontally placed, and. therefore suffer less from the wind. The ribos of the fan-palm, No. a', hzave a roarndish shape, as from the peculiar~ form of their.3 leaves they aire more exposed to torsion. As. all these ribs, besides, are filled with a soft marrowi and as 7WO the hardest fibres are placed on the surface, it is DIFFERENT TRANSVERSE CUTS OF IIALMT-RIBS. evident that, if tlie problem had been to construct a rib of the greatest power of resistance with the least; expenditure of means, it could not have been solvedl more suzccessfiffly. Another fea n-V A III Q Vnin Ion xeg ftdtq + fl- ov-n rnnro fhwn thn its, innhln nq.1rno, 98 T~HE AMAZON AND, MADEIRA RIVERS. orchids, for whose beauties they have no eye, are the caea'o and the caoutcchonc-tree (Sip231oniaI elastica), products of the virgin-forest, essential to the future prosperity of the whole country. Although India contributes to the supply of eaontchouc,* the' precious resin whiclh is transformed into a thousand different shapes every ySear in the factories of Europe and N~orth Aimerica, and sent; to tlie ends of the earth, it cannot compete with Brazil, which takes the -first place amzong the r-Lbber-producing countries, in respect as well of the vastness of its export of tlhe material as of its superior quality. On the shores of the Amnazon, its production, it is true, has already been diminished by unreasonable treatment of thlz e trees; the idea of replacing the old ones by young saplings never having presentedc itself, apparently, to thle mind of the indlolent population; but the serinzgaes, or woods of rubober-trees, on the banks of the Myadeira, tlhe Puru's, and other triboutaries of the main river, still continue to furnish extraordinary qluantities of it. The province of Amazon alone ex orts more than 50 000 arrobas (I 600,000 lbs.) yearly; while the total of the exports of the whole basin slightly exceeds 400,000 arrobas 7 or 12,800,000 lbs. per ann-iam. Even more remarklable tlian2 these figures is thle fact that, with the quantity, the value of the exported ware has steadily risen witlhia thne last yearsx, as may be seen by.the following; statement: In 1865 were exported 256,967 arrobas, worth 3,969,036 milreis. 1866 291)091,,, 5,5211853,,,1867,, 301X10,,, 5 9371,441 2 2 1868,, 334)97~5 8,,,003) 550 1869 365,35`4 9,,, 9 698, 721 t, This increase of pr-ice, keeping pace with the increase of exportation, certainly proves that the long list of ar~ticles of every k~ind,, for whose fabrication the caoutchoue is The word cao-deho-uc is of Indian origin; while seringa and borracha (of whicli the former signifies syringe or squirt., and the latter tube) are names given to the s;Lme materia~l by the Portug~uese, who were -first facailiarized by tlie Indians with the rubber, in the shape of tubes, whicha they used as squirts. t- The total value of tlhe exp~orts of Para' in 1869 w~ias 12,89'7,598 milreis, somewhat more thazn C1,000,000 *TnilY;IIOYl;;r;KCln;lnrmS~D3c/ — _J-I~*U\\L'~C~'L*LMIVli-/r L--f_(= — _o 1 — —--- - =-, L' -~ ---- 1'",1_ b ~~.i.S* ~:~4_'~'.4II j::iri.i'ii-I:iiiiii'iiiijijii.iiiiiiii 1;'1 s I;; LTIIL j --— r =_1~ —--_:=r~-,=,,- —-— --;-,J —— Fi5iX'--"u \~ —- 7 - = 1 z Z''1EF"ir--f,. _2c-3 L iiiip,; —Y;;i)~ C-CCT iL5 _ —.;11111111111111111111111111111111111 L~ " —----- 7--..ILCL —— — ---— ~1 rr -zI"- CS4,- rl LP9.. &__jlZi —-— iT_iWldlkirdlRWn 6C- -:-iiiii- — — 2. FIRXT SETTLEMENT OP AN INDIA-ILUBBER COLLECTOR (iiDEIn_4). THE~E VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. 99 wanted, from the old goloshes first made by the Indians themselves to the protecting coats of tile telegraph~ wires, has not yet been exhaustedl or, at least, that most of them are in increased requisition. -Unrfortunately there has not been unztil now the slightest attemptS maden to cultivate this -useful tree; and all the caoutchouc exported from Para' is still obtained from the original seringaes. The trees of course suffer, as they naturally would under the best of treatment, from the repeated tapping and drawing-off of their sap, and the seringueiros, therefore, must look about for new seringaes in the unexplorecl valleys of the more distant in-terior. The planting of the Siphoniaic elast~ica would be a more profitable investment, as it yields the precious milk in the comparativeely sh~ort space of twenty or twenty-five years; but, under the combinned influence of the indolence of the mestizoes and the shortsightedness of the G~overnment, measures to that end will.be adopted and carried into effect only when the rubber exportation shall have diminishedl with the destruction of the trees, and wvhen European and North American manufacturers shall have found out a more or less appropriate substitute for the too costly resin. Near the PRAIA DE TAIUAND ADv we acqluainted ourselves wit l h atclr respecting the collection and preparation of the cao-utchouc, at the cottage of a Bolivianz seringuoiro, Donl Domiingo Leigue. As I bave already s~tated,, the Siphonia grows, or at least thrives, only on a soil w-herein its stem is annually submerged boy the floods toi the height of I metro or more. Thze best ground for it, therefore, is the igapo', thelowest and most recent deposit of the river; and there, in tlie immediate -vicinity of' the seringaes, may be seen the low thatches of the gatherers' huts, wretched hovels, mostly, rendered tenantable during the inundations by tlie device of raising the floors, on wooden piles of 2 metres height, in which the canoe, the serinzgueirols indispensablehorse, alsao finds a protected harbour. Unenviable truly must be the life of the happyproprietor, who has nothino, to do in the seringal during the wet season, and who then. hzas ample leisure to calculate ex~actly the intervals between his fits of ague, and to let, himself be devoured by carapana's, piulms, motu, cas, and muc-uims; unlder which euphonious,~ 100 TSHE AMAZON AND MAIDEIRA RIVERS. straps, wchich he empties at home into one of those lar e turtle-sh'lls so auxiliary to honse-keeping in these regions, serving as they do for ~troualis, basins, &c. Withoutt any delay he sets about the smokin -p-rrocess, as the resinous parts will separate after a while, and -tho quality of the rubber so become inferior. An earthen jar, without bottom and with a narrow neck, is set by way of chimneyr over a fire of dry ur-acury, or uauassu~ palmn-nnts, —- whose smoke alone, strange to sazy, has the effect of instantly coa~gulating the caoutchoue sap, which, in this state, greatly resembles rich cow's-milk. The wvorrmt sitting beside this "chimney," thronglh whicih roll dense clouds of a smothering white smokze, from a small ealabash po-urs a little of the m3illc~ B3IFURCATED PALMI-LEA4F. 'V81l URIVIT Mll AO SNX88 M-I;1 NO MA10V A A-XVTTl UH a-a8d`VITIXI ME~~~~~~~~~~~~Wk~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —~~~ Fij THE VYEGETATION OF THE VTIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. 0 ready. Cutting it on one side, he takies it off the shovel, and suspends it In the sun to dry, as there is always some water between the several layers, which should, if possible, evaporate.. A good workiman is thus able. to prepare 5 or 6 lbs. of solid seringa, in an hour. The plancha, from its initial colour of a clear silver grey, turns shortly into a yellow, and finally becomes the wcell-known dark brown -of the rubber, such as it is exported. The more uniform, the denser and freer of bubbles the whole mass is found to be, the better I's its quality and the higher the price it fetches. Almost double the value is obtained for the first-rate article over that of the most inferior quality, thze so-calledl sernamby or cabeca de negro (negrols head); which is nothing but the drops collected at the foot of the trees, withz the remains of the milk scrapedl out o f the bottoms of the calabalshes. The rubber of India is said to be much. like ~this sernamby, anzd, like it, to be mixed w~ith sand anad small pieces of boark~. By w~ay of testing$ the quality, every plancha is cut-t thzrough again at Para'; by wh~ich means dtiscovery is made, not only of the bubbles,' but also of any adulteration that might be effected with the milk of the mangaba, that fine planlt with dlarki glossy leaves, now found so often in European saloons undier the erronzeous n~ame of rubberplant.. Of the milk of the mangaboa also a sort BO0UGHI OF THE SIPHONIA ELAS~TICA (CAOUTCHOUC! TREE). of spurious caoutchouc is made, that has, however, so little of the elasticity and toughness of the genuine article that it, has as yet acquired no value in commerce. But, for certain purposes, for making hardenedcaoutchouc for instance, the mangabla sap would certainly serve quite as well; and, as it can be obtained at a much lower price than the true serin a, it would be well worth 102 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. conveyance of an arroba of caoutchouc (32 lbs.) from Manaos to Para, for example, costing 500 reis (about 1 shilling), whereas by tugs and barques it could be easily effected for 300 reis, the passage taking sixteen dclays instead of seven. Moreover, this direct communication between consumers and producers would tend at the same time to destroy, at least in great measure, the vampire-like dominion exercised by a few land — owners and other influential persons over the poorer seringueiros, who have not established for themselves a correspondence with Para. These monopolists, for the most part majors and colonels of the National Guard, being able, by virtue of their positions, to bring most considerable influence to bear on the elections of deputies, are caressed by the Government; and, employing with impunity all manner of vexations, they compel the poorer class of collectors to sell to them the fruits of their industry at half-price; to be content with 14 milreis per arroba (about 28 shillings for 32 lbs.), while they themselves dispose of it for 36 milreis at Pard. To make matters worse, even this wretched price being scarcely ever paid in ready money, but rather in goods and provisions charged at thrice their value, it is not to be wondered at that the poor seringa collector, though he works a gold-mine (so to speak), at the end of the year owes more than he can discharge; and from this cleverly designed bondage he is never able to liberate himself. Thus disheartenec, these poor creatures, mostly ignorant mestizoes and mulattoes, become even more inconsiderate and frivolous than Nature has made them; and, out of the temptingly arranged stores of their " protectors," they are sure to select the most ridiculous gewgaws, such as high riding-boots, gold watches, and silk jackets, and silk umbrellas for their brown ladies, although they kinow that the useless articles will cost them a year or more's hard labour. In this condition of things, it will be readily understood that no thought has been given to improving the preparation of the caoutchouc, either by the use of alum for its solidification, in place of the weary process of smoking it with palm-nuts, which are not always to be had, or by the mixture of ammoniac-a still more important discovery-by which the milk may be kept liquid, and thus would become transportable in casks. And equally evident is it that only with a total change of their commercial conditions, by the establishment of new lines of steamers, by the construction of railways, and by the opening of branches of European ftrms, can these highly favoured coumtries~ be divorced from the errors of their old routine, and led into other and more prosperous ways. These happy changes effected, the cacao plant also, which grows luxuriantly over an immense range, may be turned to good account, more especially as the preparation of it for export is so simple, the seeds being only dried in the sun. There is also a coarse sort of chocolate made of it, but it spoils easily. It still continues to be planted. otl a, small scale on the Amazon and near the mouths of some of its tributaries, THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. 103 -and its quality is said to be first-rate; but, as it was often sold mixed with the inferior Seeds of the wild cacao, its purchasers fell off. This wild cacao, with its large, lancet-shaped hanging leaves, and its cucurnber-like fruit springing directly from the stem, is one of the characteristic features of the vargem,.o n which it often forms dense thickets, which are all the more impenetrable that the boughs, exhibiting frequently at the same time the small reddish flowers and the ripe golden fruit in which the seeds lie imbedded in a sweet white marrow, bend to the.ground and there take root again. But the india-rubber and the cacao are not the Only treasures worth Collecting in these forests. Even now the export of the Par& nuts, the fruit of the Bertlioletis ezcelse, yields an annual revenue of 200,000 dollars; and the copaiba oil and the urucu, the seeds of the Bixa Orellana, used for dyeing, about 100,000 dollars. These sums seem small enough, it is true, but there are perhaps a hundred times those values of the rich-flavourecd nuts rotting unheeded in the forests, and above a score of other rich oily seeds, at present collected only for the use of the natives, not to mention:several resins which yield the finest varnishes, plants giving the most brilliant hues,:and others with fibres that would serve not only for the finest weavings, but also for the strongest ropes; besides about forty of the most indispensable drugs, all which might become most valuable articles of export. or the benefit of readers interested in botany, I subjoin a list of the most. important,of these plants, with both their Indian and their Latin names, when I could find them out. It is taken partly from V. Martius's works, and partly from my own notes. OILS SERVING FOR COOKING, LIGHtTING, SOAPS, &a.,,~ Pataua (Oenocarpus pataua. _art.) Caiauhe (Elaeis melanococca.t Gaertn.) Castanheira (Bertholetis excelse. fEftmb.) Bacaba (Oenocarpus bacaba. _art.)Leythis ollaria. Veloso.) "Tucuman (Astroearyum tucuma. Miart.)l (Lecythis grandiflora. Aln.) Assai (Euterpe edulis. b[art.)?xAIS.+ Andiroba (Xylocarpus caropa. Spreng.) Maraja (Bactris maraja. Xart.) Peq (Caricar butyrosui). Mart.) Iupaty (Raphia taetigera. iT art.) TYaucuf (Monopteryx naucd'. 3-~art.) Ubussdi (Mtanicaria saceifera. Afart.) Uceuiba (3Myrist.ica sebifera. Seu.) Inaja (RiVaximiliana regia. _/art.) pr Toush the ricinus, which also gives an excellent lalyl -oil, daoes not groy wild in Brazil, it yields PrBnfU~e c~rOPS with scalnlrcl allyT troubnle, and l uight become another u~l ney-procnluc~i; ll article. -t Of the salv~e faln~ily as Ei~ueis Gzcineerasis (Jacq.), the G~uinea oil-palm, old clencle, w~hose thick, orallge-colourecl oil, madte of thle outer:Reshy pu~lp of the nut, g~ives ~that: ~peculiar flavourT ton t~he hgly l?;cpered na?~7 tiona dishes C;C -of Bahia, which, from the kiitchens of the blackr slaves, have foundl theill way to the tables of their luastelss. 3; As the real cocoa-nut tree only thrives near the sea-shore, it candlot Tvell bne counted among the products of the forests of the interior. Even there the rich oil the nuts contain is sellom~ e~xtrcatedl. They azre usually ~taklen ~down gr~een for th~eir cool, refreshing wat~ter, or sent ripe into theo interior for makiing~ " doce"' (sweoetmeat~s). 104 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. ODOROUs OILS. Cujumary (Ocotea cujumary. Mart.) Tamaquare (Laurinea). Cusard (Dipteryx odorata. IV.) (Tonca-bean). Uixi-pucuf (Myristica). Puchury (Nectandclra puchury. Nees $ Mcart.) RESINS, GumXS, AND MIIL-SAPS. Carna'ba (Copernicia cerifera. 3art.) Cajueiro (Anacardium occidentale. L.) Angico (Acacia angico. Nart.) IUcufiba (Myristica Surinamensis. Mart.) Almecega (Icica icicariba), the so-called sham Elemi. Cipo Macaco (? ) Jatahy, Jatoba (Hiymenaea Martianna), the so-called Murure (? ) Anime resin. Maporonima (? ) Sorva (Colophora utilis. Wart.) Pariry (?) ~angab (Hanorniaspeci sa)u tbstitut;es for' asrno-re Mangaba ( Eancornia speciosa) R ubstitutes for, Massaranduba (Lucuma procera), Milk or Cow-tree, Monpiqueira (? ) J india-rubber. with a resin much like gutta-percha. DYEING STUFFS.':..-Urucdi (Bixa Orellana. L.)t Baracutiara (? ) Urucurana (Bixa urucurana. W.) Tatajuba (Maclura.?) Ucuuiba (AIyristica Surinamensis. Mart.) Afuiratinga (?) Carajurdi (Bignonia chica. f2umbz.) Guariuba (M3aclura.?) TiEE MOST IMPORTANT OF TIE MSEDICINAL PLANTS. Ipecacuanha (CephaLlis ipecacuanha. Tussac and Sassafraz (Ocotea amara. Wllart.) -ic/card). l\iassaranduiba (Lucuma procera). Salsaparilha (Smilax Syphilitica. iXart.) Marupa (Quassia simaruba. L.) Copaiba (Copaifera Jacquini. Desf.) Puchury (Nectanclra puchury. Nees and Mart.) Jurubeba (Solanum paniculatum. L.) Jiquitiba, Turury (Curatari legalis). Anabi (Potalia resinifera. iJrat.) Caferana (? ) substitute for quinquina. Uixi (Myristica platysperma. Mart.) Jurema (Acacia jurema. Mart.) CanLjerana (Trichilia canjerana. M/art.) Caaopia (Vismia micrantha and Vismia laccifera. Jacareuba (Calophylluml Brasiliense. accrt.) Jfart.) Coajinguiba (Ficus anthelmintiea. Rick.) Andiroba (Xylocarpus caropa. Spreng.) Mluiratinga (?) Cujumary (Ocotea cujummary. art.) Biquiba (Myristica officinalis. Mart.) liata-mata (? ) Assacti (Hura Brasiliensis. W.) Abutua (? ) Cupuassui-ralna (Pharmacosyce doliaria. Jart.) Amapa (-?) Sucuuba (Plumeria phagenclenica. Wart.) Barbatimnao (Acacia adstringens. Reise). Cajfi (Anacardium occidentale. L.) 3Ilanacan (Brunfelsia hopeana. Benth.) Thze anil, or illcigo, cloes not grow wilcl in the xvoods, andc is not indiigellous; bu~t it thrives so plentifully there that we may hope to see it planted, ancl exporedl on a larger scale in future years. The most valuLabole of all clyeing-moods the Pernambuco, or Brazzilwoocl- Cisatl2;inicl ecahtncba (L~alarclr), called arabutan by the natives, is fretlnent in the South —in Pernambuco, ~Bahia, Minas, and Espirito Xanto, andt is still sent,abroacl as largely as ever. The red decoction of the wood gives, with the addition of an acid, a red deposit, while the liquid above it takes a yellow colour. With ammoniac, the deposit will be purple; with alum, crimson; witll perchloride of tin, pinkr; with acid protoxicle of leacl, darkr recl; and with iron vitriol, violet. WTith corrosive sublimate of mercury, or sulphate of zinc, the liquid gets of a bright yellow. nt o collecl after the daring Orellsna, who, in 1544, irpelled by the hope of beco fing governor of the nerv countries, was the first to descend the Amazon, from Peru to the Atlantic. The fanciful description he THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THEI AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. 105 iPLANTS MAKING ROPES, COPRDS, &C. Piassaba (Attalea funifera. 37/&t1-.) i Uaicima Guaxima (Urena lobata). Curua (Attalea spectabilis. Jfrt.) Piriquita (? ) Mlurity (Aauritia vinifera. Jcfrt.) Cur-Lumica (? ) FAL'11IS. Tucum (Astrocaryum tucuma. iflrt.) Carapato (?) Carna'ba (Copernicia cerifera. 3~1art.) Beriba (Anona?) Javary (Astrocaryum Javary. 271art.) Itua (? ) Castanheira (Bertholetis excelse. /fub.), Mlamaio-rana (?) Tatajuba (3aclulra? ) Carapicho (Urena sinuata). Turury (Curatari legalis. Jlfrt.) Cipo (liane) ambe (? ) Tanary (?),,,, pixuna (?) Curaua (Bromelia), giving a very fine and glossy,,,, timbotitica (Cissus). fibre.,,,, page (?) 3TUllgliba (Erithryna).,, ass6 (? ) Xury (? ),,,, preto (? ) SapLucaia (Lecythis ollaria. Velloso).,,,, rei (?) 1iata-mcata (Leeythis coriacea).,,,, titara (? ) Acapurana (W-ullschlaegelia. Ji/rl.) Rutacea.,,,, de erea (?) N!otwithstanding the fertility of tropical vegetation, I doubt whether any other part of the world, in the same latitude, can offer as great a number of useful plants as does the Amazon Valley; and now, when all-transforming steam is about to open up to us this rich emporium, European industry should take advantage of the hitherto neglected treasures. What might not be done with the fibres-some of which surpass; our hemp and flax in all respects? The curauta for example, a sort of wild pineapple, gives a delicate transparent flax of a silky lustre, such as is used in thePlhilippine Islands, on a large scale, it appears. It is sold under the name of palha at Rio de Janeiro. The tuelu r and the javary would make excellent ropes, cords, nets, &c., well calculated to resist moisture a-nd rot; and the piassaba the murity, &c., would readily supply solid brushes, brooms, hammocks, hats, baskets, mats; while the snowwhvite bast of others would give excellent paper. The lianas, or cipos of thlese countries, are, besides their minor uses, quite indispensable palm-leaf roof is fastened, and artificiallyT interwoven and intertwined, with tough creepers of 1 or 2 centimetres thickness. A~ccordling to a2 wridetspread p~roverb, the Jesuits, on first settling in ]Brazzil, lenzandecl of the Portuguese novetnens, as a compensation for thei harships c tt hey had undergone gave of an attack he sustained at the mllouth of the lhamuncla, from a horde of armed women, originated tMhe singular name of the river; the whole story certainly being founded on a mistake, andl his w~ish to make the mlost of his adventures. His Amazon1s, doubtless, were only the squlaws carrying the spare arrows of the fighting~ warriors, and allswerillg the cliachasgea of the Spanish blunclderbusses w~ith fearfu-l yells. 106 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. in spreading the Gospel, all those countries of the interior " zh/ere tMe customary nzails,uere to be found." This wrould have comprised pretty nearly all from the Atlantic to the Cordillera, as the lianas are found everywhere in the woods; and though, as is notorious, the Fathers never were timid in their demands, it is scarcely credible that they should have formulated them in so wide a way. But vox polp0i, vox Dei; and se noz e vero, b ben t ovato. in the above list of medicinal plants, I have not mentioned one of the most i~OUT:It OF A LATERAL RIVER ON THE IMADEIRA, WITII AN INDIAN SITOOTInG FISHES. important, the cinchona or Peruvian-bark tree, that gives us the quinquina; because -its llome, at leasxt that of the most precious species? is not the m~oist forest of the lowlands described here, but the valleys and glens of the chain of the Andes, some 1,000 %to 2,000 metres above the sea-level. The real calysai, that which of all cinchonas contains most of the precious alkfaloiat, abounds. especially near the sources of the Beni, while the species of the flats ( cinch7. BeryezialcGC, Ci~lzc/. LanijBertiilza, V~isa.~ Ri2acroeGel7/in Cizcn. THE VEIGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMhAZON AND THE MADEIIRA. 107 yfrmnula), though they certainly contain quinquina and cinchlonin, are as yet of no importance to commerce. A romantic tale has it that a Countess Cinchon, the lady of a viceroy of Perui, was the first European cured, by the bitter bark, of a violent fit of ague, towards the end of the seventeenth century; and that it was a descendant of the Incas, who, prompted by love of the beautiful countess, who was the wife of his hereditary foe, had given her the specific, until then guarded with jealous secrecy by the natives. However, it was not so much the physician as the confessor of the noble lady, or rather the mighty Order of which he was a member, who took advantage of the discovery by completely monopolising the cascarilha trade. For more than a century the pounded bark came only through the Jesuits to the European market under the name of Jesuit-powder. In the total absence of regular means of communication with the interior, it was easy enough for the Padres to stifle any attempt at competition in their numerous Missions on the Eastern slope of the Andes, where, without any restriction, they disposed of many thousands of Indians, and to ask any,price they pleased for the more and more appreciated drug. Like the seringueiro of the Madeira Valley, the cascarilheiro, or bark-collector, generally a poor half-civilised Indian or mestizo, is most shamefully cheated out of his small, harcl-earned gains; the traders always contriving to get the bark at half-price, while for the lead and powder, and the half-spoiled victuals, given in exchange, they charge double and treble value. Yet the cascarilheiro is fond of his wild roaming life, the hardships and fatigues of which he will endure for months, cutting his way through the dense forest to get at the trees he seeks, and carrying his heavy bundle of bark over hill and dale only to be perpetually robbed in the next village. There the cascarilha, or bark, is sevwn into large bags of untanned hide, and carried by beasts of burden to La Paz; whence it is sent by the Peruvian sea-port, Arica, to Europe and North America. When one considers the immense distances the bark has -to travel from beside mnurmuring mountain rivulets, —from the valleys of Apolobamlba, for instance, at the foot of the Eastern slope of the Cordillera, over snow-covered passes of 14,000 feet above the sea-level to La Paz and to the Pacific, and round Cape Horn to Europe, it is wonderful that the idea of following the course of these mountain streams to the Bleni and the Madeira, and by the Amazon to Para, has not before been taken into earnest consideration. It is true that, in this direction also, the difficulties are not inconsiderable. The middle and the upper course of these rivers are almost totally unknown; one of them, the Maclre de Dios, till wit, in a few years ago, was believed to be a tributary of the Puris, whereas it is one of the Beni and the Madeira. The 108 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. Indians on their shores are a race of treacherous savages; and the falls and rapids of the Miadeira are not, all of them, easy of passage. To take a valuable freight, in the charge of a score or two of untrustworthy Indians, clown such a venturesome course, requires not a little courage; yet, after all, it seems as if the merchants of La Paz andl Arica, whose interest, of course, lies the other way, had a great deal to do with this neglect. During our stay at Exaltacion, however, a mercantile house of La Paz (Farfan & Co.) made an attempt (andl, as we afterwards learnedl, a successful one) to take a large and most valuable cargo of cascarilha) collected in the Sierra of Apolobam ba, on light rafts down the Beni to the Mission of Reyes; and thence on ox-carts, over the campos on the water-shed between the Beni and the Mamore, to the Jaefima, a tributary of the latter. At the former Mission of Santa Ana, boats were freighted with it; and they got safely through the BIamore, the Madeira, and the Amazon to the port of Para'. The expenses of this route, though by no means an easy one, were anbout half of thlose incurred by way of Arica; * and assuredly, as soon as the Mladeira railroad is ready, all the bark will go by the Amazon Valley to Europe. Then will an inereasedl export of bark take place; and the forests on the slopes of the Andes will be gradually invaded and explored, to the closer arrival of that period when the danger of the complete " It is strange that even Bolivia, though nameel after the " Libertadlor,'" and callel by him (in the highflown, soaring style of these nations) "the dearest of his daughters," shoulcd have been treated so illiberally in the matter of sea-ports when the boundclaries were fixel after the Declaration of Indclepenlence. It seems as if the poor country is to be clt off fiom tlie rest of the worcl, or put unnder the everlasting tutelage of IPeri. W~hile the latter extendcls over one hundred geographical llliles clown the,navigable Solimoes, or Amazo11, and has several excellent sea-ports on the Pacific, Bolivia lost Arica, whlich shouldl, by all means, be hers, and now is perfectly isolated in that clirection, as Cobija, being situatecl in a waterless desert, never will be of any great service to coullmmerce. And hardly better are its natural communications with the Atlantic. Thlere Brazil, owning both shores of the Maldeira far into the region of the rapids, and the Argentine Republic, claiming the right shore of the navigable Paraguay up to the confines of ]fato GLrosso, exclude it from the navigation of the two chief highways of trade —the Amazon and the River Plate-andl hinder the.. growing of staples near their territory. Almost all the Bolivian trade goes by way of Alica, the Peruvian Government levying heavy taxes; so that the openinQg of the 1\1adeira road will, indleed, be the source of life to all Bo0livia: andi the cession of soule hundrects of square mniles of (azs yet useless) primeval forest to Brsazil, thus removing its frontiers on the 3iadeira fiom Santo Antonio to the'moutlh of the ]3eni, that is, from 8~ 49' to 10~ 20' S. lat., appears a trifle in view of the advantages derived. It looks almost like madness on the part of the Brazilian Glovernluent to continue to acid to the ocean of forest it owns alreacly Qn the Amazon, especially as there is no strategic point of any.importance on the claimed territory, as in the contested land on the Plaraguay between the Apa and the 3Iondego. Thle only pretext for it call be that Perd', the everthreatening enemy of ]3razil, regards itself as the heir of Bolivia (so to say), andc will be so much the poorer for it some day. Of course there wvas no want of Peruvian protests and expressions of the deepest indignation, which soundiecl strange enoug-h from that quarter; and ]Brazil, in some future contest witll the Argentine IPepulblic, may surely count on seeing Peluvian men-of-war comling clown ~rom Iciuitos to test the solidity of the walls of Tabatinga on the Solilllmes. THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMAZON AND THE MADEIRA. 109 rooting-out of the useful tree may be anticipated. In this regard, surely, attention should be devoted to the planting of this blessing to suffering humanity ill countries wherein it is indigenous, seeing that the attempts made by the Dutch and English Governments in Java, Ceylon, and on the Himalayas do not seem to have been quite satisfactory as to the quality of the bark in respect of quinquina. In Brazil several plantations of cinchona have been made on the Serra dos Orgaos: but they are still too young to allow of our judging of the result. As the 13Bolivian Government has forbidden, under the severest penalties, the export of the young plants andl seeds,. it is very difficult ancl expensive to get saplings. Seecls, indeed, are easier to obtain; but they offer less chances of success. Witlout a very strong impulse from without, neither the Bolivian nor the Peruvian Governments, alternately in the hands of spur-clattering usurpers and ambitious lawyers, will make the slightest effort; and, as there is small hope of long diplomatic debates being held in the behalf of fever-shaken humanity, things will remain as statu u qo for many years to come. Let us return, however, from the snowy heights of the Andes to the hot lowlands of the Amazon, where, in the shade of endless forest, there is many a herb of mysterious virtue, as yet known only to wild Indian tribes, while the fame of others has already spread over the ocean. Who has not heard of the urary, or curare, the quick arrowpoison which, in the hands of clever physiologists and physicians, promises not only to become a valuable drug, but to give us interesting disclosures on the activity of the nerves? The wondrous tales of former travellers regarding the preparation of this urary have been rectified long ago. The venom of snakes is not used for it, but the juice of the bruised stems and leaves of several kinds of strychnos and apocyneas is simply boiled over a coal fire, mixied with tobacco juice and capsicum (Spanish pepper), and thickened with the sticky milk of some Euphorbiacea to a hard mass. This manipulation, moreover, is not undertaken by the old squaws of the tribe, devoting themselves to a painful death thereby, as the old stories ran; but, as there is no danger whatever, by the youmg wives of the warriors, naho look upon it as part of their household ciuties, or by the men themselves. There are about eight or ten different poisons of similar, but not identical, composition and preparation, of which the urary of the Macusi Indians, and the curare, from Venezuela andl Nueva G~ranada, are considered the most powverfu~l. This dark brown, pitchy substance, usually kept in little earthen pots, is lightly spread over the points of the weapons, their long arrows, their light spears, and the thin wooden shafts, of about a foot long, which they shoot through ilmnense blow-tubes (sarabacanas). Immediately upon the diffusion in the blood of the slightest portion of the poison 110 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. the limbs, one by one, refuse to worli, as if overcome with torpor, while the mind apparently retains its activity until death ensues, —which it does in a few minutes' time, from palsy of the lungs. It is strange that only those nerves are affected which regulate the movements depending on our own will, whereas those movements we cannot control, the beating of the heart for example, continue unaltered to the very last. Experiments made by French physicians upon animals have shown that, if the lungs are artificially kept in activity for several hours, the poison will be rejected by natural means, and no bad consequences will ensue. Of late the principal objection to the employment of the urary in medicine-its unequal strength-has been completely overcome by the effective alkaloid-the curarin-being extracted. This is about twenty times as powerful as the urary, and has been used successfully in the treatment of tetanus. The Inclians shoot birds and monkeys, which they wish to tame, with very weak curare, rousing them from the lethargy which overpowers them with large doses of salt or sugar-juice; and this treatment is said to be very effective also in the reduction of their wildness. It is a remarkable fact that the Indians on the right shore of the Amazon neither prepare nor use the poison, though the plants that supply the chief ingredients are certainly found there as well as on the left shore, on which tribes differing widely in customs and language use the subtle weapon. It would be difficult to say by what chanee their ancestors first came to prepare it, as the poisonous qualities of the plants, before their sap is concentrated by boiling, are by no means very striking. It certainly was a great invention in aid of their hunting, on which chiefly they depended for food; and we can well imagine that they took some trouble to improve it: but how came they to prepare the guarana, resembling tea and coffee in its effects, from an insiginificant-looliing dry fruit of the forest? Some weary and famished hunter must have tried the unpalatable beans, and found that they wonderfully strengthened and refreshed him, and thence must have ensued the collection and bruising of the fruits and the planting of the seeds near their cabins. The guarana, prepared from the fruit of the Patllhizia sorbilis, is a hard, chocolatebrown mass, of a slightly bitter taste, and of no smell whatever. It is usually sold in cylindric pieces of from 25 to 30 centimetres length, in which the half-bruised almondlike seeds are still distinguishable; the more homogeneous and the harder the mass, the better is its quality. To render it eatable, or rather drinkable, it is rasped as fine as possibsle on1 the rough, bony roof of the mouth of the sudis gigas (pira-rueul), and mixed with a little sugar and water. A tea-spoonful in a cup of warm water is said to be an excellent remedy in slight attacks of ague. The taste of this beverage, reminding one slightly of almonds, is very palatable; THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AM1AZON AND THE MADEIRA. III still it scarcely accounts for the passionate liking entertained for it by the inhabitants of the greater part of South America. It must be the stimulating effects of the paullinin it contains (an alkaloid like cafein and thein) that render it so indispensable to those who have been accustomed to it. All the boats, that come lightly freighted with ipecacuanha and deer or tiger-hides, from Mato G~rosso down the Arinos and the Tapajoz, in face of the considerable cataracts and rapids of the latter, take their full loads of guarana at Santarem; and the heavy boats of the Madeira also convey large quantities of it to Bolivia; for, at Cuyabai, as well as at Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba, there are many who cannot do without their guarana', for which they often have to pay 30 francs the pound, and who prefer all the rigours of fasting to abstinence from their favourite beverage. On the other hand, the mestizo population on the Amazon, where it is prepared on a large scale by the half-civilised tribes of the Mauhds and Mundurucis and sold at about 3 francs the pound, are not so passionately attached to it. They rather take coffee, and a sort of coarse chocolate, which they manufacture for themselves. The stimulant most in use with the Indian population of Bolivia is the coca. The thin leaves (about 3 centimetres in length) of the coca bush, which already is largely cultivated in Bolivia and Per', are dried ill the sun, and, with the addition of some fine ashes and a bit of red pepper, are chewed by the natives. It is said to render them less sensible to the cold on the icy heights of the Andes, and to reduce the severity of the soroche, that painful oppression of the chest with nausea caused by the rareness of the air on the mountain passes. The Quichua Indians, indeed, will not venture there without a plentiful provision of coca leaves; and all travellers concur in admiring their strength and endurance in carrying heavy burdens over the steepest and roughest paths, with no restorative save their highly prized coca. How indispensable it is to them is evidenced by the fact that one of the last presidents of Bolivia, who, in a fit of reforming zeal, conceived the idea of serving out coffee and brandy in lieu of their coca ration to his Indian and mestizo army, was forced by the outbreak of a mutiny to withdraw his ukase and to let them have their beloved herb as they desired. The Indians on the Upper Amazon and the Solimes also know it' under the name of ipadf. Taken as tea, it has a slight aroma of camomile. These facts considered, the question naturally arises, how it has come about that nations living so widely apart and so mutually antagonistic have, out of the rich tropicail vegetation, selected plants that have anailogous, if not identical, effects on the nervous system, such as the mate, cac~o, guaran~, coca, coffee, and tea; and this, moreover, at a time when even the rudiments of natural science rere not in existence. The process of satisfying this craving for stimulants, which seems to be so deeply - Eryt/hroxylon CocG. 112 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. rooted in mankind, has without doubt been the means of promoting the advance of civilisation. Our klnowledge of the facts connected with pre-historic American cultivation being so indefinite, it is the more to be regretted that the precise period at which some American 1Noah first made his lucky discovery of mate or coca will probably continue to be as doubtful as the exact date at which some serious Arab first brewed the revivingblack drink of the Levant. Whether these first movements of civilisation, visible in the use of such treasures? reach as far back in America as they do in Asia, cannot, therefore, be decided a priori. The salme impenetrable darkness covers both. 3Alt, notwithstanding their subsequent disparity, it is certainly possible that the natives of both the Old and the New World reached, at about the same time, a sufficient degree of civilisation to enable them to appropriate to the use of themselves more of the surrounding gifts of Nature than a few wild fruits and easily caught animals; they only began the battle of life utnder unequal conditions. Besides higher mental gifts originally perhaps, allotted to the Caucasian race, the advantages of more favourable climate, and the topographical superiority of part of Asia and Southern Europe, have enabled nations on the shores of the Mediterranean, more than two thousand years ago, to attain to so hitch a degree of civilisation that its achievements are our models to this very day, while the natives of the Noew Worlcd still remain wild and half-wild fishers and hunters. Only in Mexico) Central America, and Periu, havre favouring circumstances helped the red-skins to pass, by an easy transition, from the condition of hunters and nomads to that of cattle-breeders and agriculturists, and thus to reach a higher degree of civilisation; while, on the contrary, in the rest of America, immense tracts of forest rendered cattle-breeding impossible, reduced agriculture to a minimum, and necessitated the dispersion of the various tribes, in small hordes, to secure their maintenance by the produce of the chase. Of course, every such separation was rendered permanent by the difficulty of communication; and this must be regarded as one of the principal causes of the infinite number of languages and dialects in the New World; which, in their turn, were additional serious drawbacks to general progress. Languages whlich have not been reduced to writing must change rapidly. Even the bodily peculiarities of different families, the shape of their lips, etc., will suffice to form an idiom, differing materially from the original one;* and such changes must have contributed to keep -Gi Avery clever and lealnecl Illonll o~f the Orcler of St. 33elledict, Frei (Jamillo die Sonserrate, custoclian of the rNational Zibrary at Rtio ale Jalleiro up3 to the time of his death recently, and who, in his long voyages oll the \ATest coast of America2, hall llac amnple opport-unities for compar~t~ive stl;Lcy of Inclian languages, @1~exprecle hillaself in Pa converxatiorl with~ nze, to thze effect that everything in this respect was to be accounted for by natural ancl material reasons; ally that he mava sure thatt "1 el," for instance, a final syllcble recurring very fi~equently in the 3t~ersical language, hai allisell front the customn of tthe olc i Mesieaas of prickzing theill tong~ues, ill a sort THE VEGETATION OF THE VIRGIN-FOREST OF THE AMAZON AND THE MlADEIRA. 113 the separated hordes asunder, especially as the principle adopted by all people living in a state of nature seems to be: whoever does not speak my language is ly foe. Their division into so many hundreds of tribes and hordes, and the great number of their languages and idioms, made Martius, the learned explorer of Brazil, think that the state of the auitochthons of America, though a primitive, is not their original one; that they are not a wild but a degenerate race, the degraded relics of a more perfect past, whose dissolution had begun thousands of years before the Conquest. There is no doubt that this process has, since then, been accelerated by bloody wars and persecutions, reduction of their hunting-grounds, contagious diseases, and wvant of physical and moral comforts; but I do not believe there is any reason to date this decay from pre-historic times. When the hordes of Spanish adventurers destroyed the realm of the Incas, they found a prosperous and improving country; and their proud temples, as Martius urges in further proof, were by no means in ruins then. In additional support of his hypothesis, he points to the remains of hierarchical and monarchical institutions among all, even the most savage tribes, and the state of many of their plants, which nowadays are not found anywhere growing wild. But might not these vestiges of institutions be the beginnings as well as the remains of a civilisation? Anl might not nations standing on a very low level have brought these plants to the state of culture we see them in now, unintentionally and almost involuntarily? To the present day, even the wildest hordes have plantations of Indian corn, tobacco, cotton, plantains and mandioca, near their cabins; not on a large scale, of course, as that would be impossible with their roaming mode of life and inferior implements. No one can doubt that the improved form exhibited by these plants is the result of a very ancient cultivation; but there is no proof, in it, of an extinct higher civilisation on the part of the planters, though it must be confessed that the analogy with our own nutritious plants, brought from the seats of the earliest civilisation, is rather tempting; and the contrast between the very primitive mode of life of half-naked savages and the existence of such treasures is, at first sight, very striking. Another proof of the very ancient influence of man on these plants is the fact that some of them (as the banana* and the lapunha-palm) no longer produce seeds fit for germination, but are entirely dependent on the human hand for their propagation; and so is the existence of a great variety of others, the Indian corn, for instance. Of this several tribes have favourite varieties, of religious frenzy, with the long thornus of a large cactus, so that this organ was continudlly afcectecl with mnaly of them, and cavlsec tllel to lisp a-ncl stamzmer, ultimatelyr producing the str1anges sy~llable.;': The hitusaebe (ltbsI6 pccractgisczccb? and the other Last Indian varieties imported by the Portuguese (iltssf6 sfi~pieltecnz and th~e lilre), Etave numerous shoots if the chief stem is cut dowin; ancll nothing grows easier than the banlana ill these climles: yet its ranage wvoulcl be a very lilaitecl one if it were left to multiply only in this way. 114 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. which they cultivate exclusively. Thus the Guaranis of the Southern provinces prefer the small stripes with red and bluish speckles, whose grains are easily pounded to a palatable flour, while the Coroadlos only plant corn with large stripes, red on the lower and yellow at the upper end. To reach their present state of perfection, all these plants required human tending the more that, with the single exception of the papunha, they were of the class of tender herbaceous plants, of short-lived duration, incapable of thriving in the close mato vargem or primeval forest, and whose light-green leaves and slender white stems offer a striking contrast to the latter's hard column-like truinks and dark-leavel underwood. Their first requirements are air and sunshine, whereas the shade and protection of their own leafy canopy are so vitally necessary to the plants of the mato vacrgem that, if seeds are planted in the ground, on a space cleared beyond lesign, they do not germinate, but make room for a secondary vegetation, longing for air and light.* Only after the lapse of some fifty or sixty years, when daylight shall have stolen somewhat through the dense leafage of the capoeira (as the B3razilians call the second growth), which never rises, however, to any considerable height, here and there perhaps some seed of a palisander or a bertholletia may shoot up; and two hundred years afterwards the proud, dark, primeval forest spreads again over the ground that once was its own.` In our European forests something similar is going on, though not in so striking a way. If an old oak-forest is felled, useless and worthless shrubbery first springs up, and is replaced by better timber only,afterwards. CHAPTER VI. THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. A de Moras. the Ar' as. The munzoruegn-The a t o t i t graves insult to betkPerentintins.oThe Caripunas. —O r First Meeting with the Latter.-Their lsce alocca. Their Way of ]uryitg the nead. —Former Attaclks on the.Madeira J.vary, and Purds.-The Unnown ad teorcr oftrylburers at the ointh of the p uores.-somtimes in ~)t lllas;~3j~"~ [, of these Indians. —Their Languages and Religious of runaway slviewxs.hTheir fajas.eAn Old Settlement. ~HERIE is a proverb~ial saying dliffu~sed'i'f,:~,~<~! J~_![~ over the whole Amazon region' "lazy like a Afira who sleeps on tlhree cords" that is, who dloes not even take the trouble of makting a proper hammock; and indeed the saying is right. The Miui'ras are the laziest of all the lazy Indians of these parts. They are despicable alike to white and coloured men; and, notwithstanding their wellJ Imknown skill in h unting. fishing, diving.,i~('!]'/,'~~'~] and'~~tll similarIIC free arts," any other Indian: or mzestizo w~Tould think it the gravest insult to be tak~en for one of these pariahs. Once they w~ere a powerful tribe; but boloody feudls with the DiV~undrucfis, at the end of th~e last century, redcedcc them to the poor condition we now see them in: leading an unsettled: g~ipsy life on-the Amazon in flotillas of twenty a~nd thirty: may ]be seen glidin~g swiftly along. Owing~ to the accession of runawazy slaves, they exhibit somewhat of the mulatto type; and their dlegeneracy 116 THE AMIAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. has been so complete as almost to have extinguished their original character; which, said to have been a warlike and courageous one, now fitfully breaks out in daring robberies and treacherous murders. In less than a hundred and fifty years even their last remnants will probably have vanished entirely, not miuch to the detriment of the country, which can well spare a stubborn element, incapable of adapting itself to the new order of things fast approaching. At Sapucaia-Oroca on the right shore of the Madeira, at about 200 kilometres from its mouth there is a Miura settlement; which consists of about a dozen miserable shedsl scarcely large enough to tie the eelebratedl three cords underneath, iln which they repose after their fishing or thieving excursions. Below Sapucaia-Oroca, towards Borba and the mouth of the Madeira, the population is the same mixed one as on the Amazon. The light cabins, peeping picturesquely out of cacao groves and banana plantations, are inhabited by mestizoes of all shades and degrees, and occasionally by a mulatto or sambo, all of them able to speak Portuguese just to the extent required for intercourse with the outer world. Assuredly the time is not far distant when easier communications ancl the all-levelling influence of trade will have erased the last traces of real Indian life from these regions. The above-mentioned Mundrucus, formerly the mightiest an d most warlike tribe of these parts, have only a few decaying settlements, of three or four cottages, on the Lower Madeira, their chief seats being on the Mauh's and the Tapajoz. After a long and most violent resistance, this tribe made peace with the Portuguese, at the end of the last century; and they have faithfully adhered to them ever since, even during the terrible'guerra dos cabanos," so fateful to all the pale-faces. If proper attention had been devoted to some branches of their national industry, such as the preparation of the Guarana and Para tobacco, the manufacture of magnificent hammocks and feather ornaments, this tribe certainly would have had a prosperous career. At Manaos we saw some of their chieftains, with their faces tattooed all over in black. This unfortunately was the only item of their national costume. They wore-11orribile diclu! —coloured cotton shirts, black coats and inexpressibles, and tall hats! Anything more ludicrous could not well be imagined. Generally speaking, there is nothing so conspicuous and ridiculous as coloured people (negro, mulatto, sambo, or mestizo) in what they consider Sunday apparel of unrivalled elegance. A pretty negro or mulatto girl (of the lMina, tribe, for instance) lookis quite a queen, in her way, in her costume of lace-trimmed chemise of dazzling whiteness, set off by the velvet-like dark skin, her gaudy short petticoat ending in points below; a white, yellow or green kerchief, slung with inimitable grace turbanwise round her short ringlets; and a shawl they call panno da costa, with large blue, white and black stripes hangings carelessly over her shoulders =ILi .r, I,I u-V ~_ i -— —==-=___=- —-- -----— = c ----— —- — s --—. - ----—, I311TtT-CaNOE OP WILD INDIANB (ilx;nas aNo CanIpvrobs). TH-E WNILD INDIAN TRIBES OFi THE MIADEIRA VALLEY. 117~ ~or ronnnd her waist. Sonic coral bracelets, or ornaments of massive gold, which never,sawv th~e inside of a Pforzheim melting-pot, complete the outfit' whose brilliant colours -and easy grace contrast st~rikiing~ly with our fashionable black, brown, or grey straitwaistcoats. But when you see th~e sanie creature, after (it may be) her entering the'Service of sonic noble family as nurse or lady's-maid,, in a tight black silk dress; her woolly curls twisted, with pomatumn, scissors, and combb illito a shape sligh~tly resembling -the chignon of her mistress; in high-heeled boots, instead of her richly embroidered'slippers- with some big, tasteless brooch~ instead of her corals and heavy gold filigree;the, graceful creature is transformed in~to a Izideously ridiculous monster: but sqlueamish Decency is not offended, and does not now, with averted head, hiss out-"LShocking!;., The same happens with our own country people: how nzuch more with the Indians! The M-Lindrucu's have long abandoned their supremacy on the Madeira. They left this river even before the Conquest, I believe, to another powerful tribe,'the Araras, who also nowadays are not held int the same fear as they were formerly. Towards the end of the last century, more than once they seriously menaced the former Mission of Araretama, now Borba; andl the whole lower course of the -Madeira was haunted aaid Tendered unsafe by them: - but now they have totally retired to the forests on the right:Shore, whence they breakl out only now and agvain, apern d disappearing with the rapidlity of lightning. None of the settlers, however) will venture into one of the smaller lateral valleys, where they are still kept in awe by the strong bows and long arrows 4f the former masters of the territory. The immediate shores of the main stream are tolerably safe now for many a weary day's'Voyage, as one may readily conjecture from the cottages of the peaceable seringuoeiros thinly scattered along, until one has reached the domain of the ill-famed Parentintins, anthropophagous hordes, always ready for robbery and murder, and evidently the closest guardians of the rich seringaes (caoutchouc Woods) on their territory, for the chances of being murdered and roasted ar~e heavy odds.aogainst the acquisition of a few pounds of india-r-L~ber. -Usually the traveller sees so little of these dlangerous neighbo0urs, the Ar~ras and.Parenltinltins, th~at he miarht be tempted t o takle the fearful tales of the caoutchon c 118 THE AMAZON AND MADERIA RIVERS. As in such cases nothing at all is done by the Brazilian Government, whose principle (very different from the fire-and-sword policy of the Portuguese) it is to spare the natives as much as possible, the few unprotected settlers must make room if they would not incur the danger of sharing the fate of their neighbours. The only mode of evading the difficulty thus created, of uniting humanity towards the natives with a sound protection of the settlers, so necessary for the future prosperity of the country, is to found Indian colonies-Aldeamentos or Missions —anong the Indians themselves. But this gigantic work, as is well known, has been undertaken successfully only by the Jesuits, and even by them under particularly favourable conditions. Under the energetic rule of this Order (whose evil influence in civilised countries I have not forgotten, by the way), numerous Inclian settlements, or Missions, had been created on different points of South America, in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries; whose crumbling fragments still excite our admiration and wonder. In the midst of pathless wildernesses; on the shores of rivers showing more than their full share of rapids, cataracts, and other obstructions to navigation, and scarcely ever heard of before, there sprung up flourishing settlements, with extensive plantations of Indian corn, mandioc, cotton, sugar-cane, and ilex Paraguayensis, and numerous herds grazing around; in short, containing all the germs of future prosperity and the sound development of agriculture and trade. The difficulties the Padres had to overcome, too, were greater by far than they are now. There were then no proud steamers ploughing these gigantic waters in the tenth part of the time taken by their slow sailing-boats; and a traveller or a missionary can now reach at least the botclzaries of these ont-of-the-way places in vigorous heaith, and unworn by the fatigues of the way. Diligent inquirers have familiarised us somewhat with the languages and customs of a good many Indian tribes; and we know, at any rate, what we have to expect from them; and, even if the certainty be not always a very comforting one, it spares us the pang of disappointment, and enables us to prepare for all eventualities. In spite of the improved condition of things, the present Catechese dos Indios (as the Brazilians call it), mostly in the hands of Italian monks who have formerly been clerks and schoolmasters, yields but poor results, such as not to encourage the Glovernment to further efforts. and a few days afterwards an outpost a little higher up, consisting of a few Mojos Indians, headed by an engineer, were driven baclk by another troop of savages. As in both eases these escaped without any loss, not one shot having been fired at theln, while the Companly had two niI~ojos Indians k~illed, they are sure soon to return, andl will not, by their visits, add to the comfort of the little colony. Howvever, the hiring of a larger number of workmen, principally Europeansvsay to the eftent of two thousangand of as many taojos Illclians from B~olivia (which might easily be effectedt),, besides being absolut~ely necessary for the prosecutio: of the WsORDS, Quill finallyy have the effect of putting dtown these atttacles. THE WILD INDIAN TRI13BES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 119 Tile following literally true narrative of an occurrence will throw a pretty clear light on the present position of affairs. Some six or seven years ago, the inhabitants of a small cottage on the Rio Negro, above M1anaos, were found murdered. As the tibie of the victims, which are used for flutes by a neighbouring tribe, had been taken out, there could lot be any doubt left as to the identity of the murderers. The Government, reluctantly yielding to the petitions of the surrounding families, resolved to send a missionary; and one of the Italian Capuchlin monks at the Hospice of Rio de Janeiro was ordered to go. At Maanaos he provided himself, at the expense of the Government, with a large nunmber of presents for the sons of the forest, such as scissors klnives, beads, and small looking-glasses, and demanded a well-armed escort of twenty men, with a sergeant or cabo. Though this seemed to look rather suspicious, the new apostle to the heathen was liumoured, and he betook himself to his post of danger, relying for his security on his lofty mission and his bayonets. Nothing apparently had taken place there from the date of the last attack; the blackened posts, which once had supported the light palm-roof of a happy family, pointing sadly to the sky, and around the devastated mandioca plantation the silent density of the forest -uninvaded by the trace of either friend or foe. It would require one to have felt all the heart-sickening loneliness, all the dreary melancholy of such a desolate place, to understand thoroughly the thoughts which must have then assailed the poor Brother, and how, not quite prepared to become a martyr, and with a secret yearning for the dull cell he had left behind him in the convent, he must have stealthily examined his shin-bones at night to see that they were there all right. But an Italian friar has ingenious brains; and had not he considered and studied, theoretically at least, all the difficulties a modern missionary has to encounter in the Old and New World, even before he had left his convent at Genoa? Besides, he had twenty stout negro and mulatto boys behind him; and he thought it best to make the most of /en, and to reserve for himself the supreme finishing-stroke, such as the christening of the subdued chieftain, with all his family or even all his tribe. So the cabo, with six men, was orderecl to ascend a small affluent of the Rio Negro, whose shores gave signs of being peopled by the expected Indians, and, as an introductory measure of conciliation, to leave there some of the presents. The sergeant, lgho probably saw his way somewhat more clearly than his holy master, was luckry enough to discover near the mouth of the little river the opening of a narrows Indian path; and there he hung up his beads, scissors, &c., on the surrounding bushes, as if they were German Christmas-trees. On the next day he returned to fetch his answer; and he got it; but in the unexpected shape of a thick hail of arrows showering from out the very bushes whereon his presents were still suspended. Luckily the ungrateful waylayers 120 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. ]lad taken aim too hastily; the sergeant and his men leaped out of the boat, and, screening themselves behind it as with a shield, drifted slowly dlown the river to where the Frater waited impatiently for them. The holy man had not even the satisfaction of curing a wound got in the strife, and had to content himself with showing the arrows stickling in the boat as corpus delicti. His wisdom, however, was at an end; and he coulcl not hit upon any better plan than asking the President of the province for one hundred soldiers more, with a view to taking more energetic measures. Of course he w-as given to understand that the Government by no means intended opening a campaign against the Indians; and, even if such had been the case, Sua Reverendissima should certainly not be troubled with the conduct of the military operations. The champion of' the Church, who, perhaps, on that field might have given better proofs of capacity, returned, rather offended, to his convent; and the mestizoes of the Rio Negro, prizing their tibice somewhat, help themselves as they did before; that is, they kill every wild Indian they can set hands on, and everything remains in the old bad state. Very different from these Indians, and the above-mentioned Parentintins ani ArAlas, are the Caripunas, who live a little higher up in the region of the Madeira rapids. They also do not enjoy a very high reputation for peaceableness: but, at least in our case, they condescended to have friendly intercourse. Perhaps their good behaviour was influenced by our numbers, six white men armed with guns, and eighty Indian paddlers with knives and bows, though they certainly must have known that the latterare not much to be feared in case of a fight. As we passed one morning the smooth below the rapid of Caldeirao do Inferno, we saw three bark canoes, full of Indians, half-hicdden under the over-hanging boughs of the opposite shore. Before we had time to think of the course we should pursue, one of them was turned round, and in a few moments had reached us. There were two Indians and a very corpulent female in it, all quite naked, save a small apron on the latter. They were strong, well-shaped figures, of middle size, with long black hair hanging down to their shoulders; one of the men had it twined into a big plait. They had the long curved fore-teeth of the capivara stuck through their ears, and both males and female wore small bunches of red feathers, looking like scarlet mustachios, in their noses, which gave thea cluite at queer and strange appearance even to us, who had already seen others of the brown sons of the woods.l $ EE3/roclzmrtcs ~cc2zvewra, a roclsut of the size of our taine pig, and much resetnbling the G-uinea pig, is found in numerous troops on the shores of almost all the South American rivers. tf (Jaripwlas-Illdiai penem ad pr~sputium l ilis liga~tum et stlrsum trlactum destlnatumqlue adl Illeall ven~tri circunmdatam ita gestant, ut perpendictlari ratione erigatur. [/Iiri istius moris qum sit vera causa, non satis compertum habemus. l~[ojos Idciianos tamen, qui pertinent acd nlissiones juxea l[amor8 fiuvium, novimus praeputium eodem mode 2srxligare; scilicet quum fistulx urialis os velant prorur satisfeisse se pulieitine legilous eredelltes. MFmm OUR FIRST INTERVYIEW WITH- CARIPUN~A INDIANS (MADEIRA). THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 121 They had no arms whatever with them; and this fact and the company of one of their spouses were to us sure signs of their friendly intentions. Yet our Mojos Indians, who appeared quite respectable and decent in their long bast shirts, when compared with our new acquaintance, looked shyly and suspiciously at them from under their large-brimmed hats. " No Christianos! " whispered in my ear Remigio, our bigot capitano and steersman, in whose mind the doctrines he had been taught in the former Mission of Trinidad had fallen on but too fertile ground. Probably he meant it as a last, though unsuccessful, protest against ally intercourse with his unbaptized naked cousins. IHe, whose ancestors less than two centuries ago must have presented about the same appearance, could not discover any worse fault in them than that they were "no Christians," while his own Christianity, of which he thought so highly, barely went beyond hearing mass, mumbling his rosary, and singing endless litanies. lHowever, our heathens did not seem to heed the sulky looks of their browYn relations since they were received kindly by the whlite-faces; and, without waiting for a further invitation, the steersman of the nutshell, as soon as he had put her alongside of our heavy bark, leapt over with an engaging gri, and sat down among us just as if he ere an old friend. He was a lively fellow of twenty-five or thirty years. With a quick eye he took in everything around him; our arms, guns, cutlasses, and wood-linives, suspended beneath the palm-leaf awning of our boats, seemed especially to interest him; and I aml sure he did not forget to mention them in his report to the chieftain. Unfortunately, our conversation, carried on for the most part by signs, was perforce a very limited one, and though "The Driving Cloud," or "The Tiger's Claw," or whatever else he might be called,* did not disdain to accept a knife, a little mirror and a row of white beads (of which he already wore such a quantity round his neck that they formed a sort of cuirass on his chest), we only could make out of his gibberish that "at home" they had much sweet macacheira, that is mandioca; which we regarded as a sort of rustie invitation. The Mojos-our most Christian Remigio even included-obeyed the order we gave them to follow the bark-canoe, shooting rapidly ahead, with better grace than might have been expected. Mayhap the behaviour of the "no Christianos" had not struck them as being so very ferocious and cannibal-like, or the mention of the greatly longed-for root sounded sweet in their ears. As we approached the opposite shore, we saw the whole tribe, about sixty warriors and as many women and children, waiting for us under tf-e shady roof of orchid-covered figueiras, interspersed with slender palms and magnificent fan-like strelitzias. In the first row stood the chieftain, a strongly built,'* Ni~ith the Ctoroados of the South, such~ nalues as'; Falcon',s Bye," and the like, remindiing~ of th~e North,Ilrrerican red-skins, are very col]:llol, while thze softer Guaraniys call th~e~rnelves after fruits, trees, Stars, &zc. 122 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVEtIS. short man of about fifty, shouldering his long bow and two or t.hree arrows. His broad face, framed within thick masses of lank, black hair, was painted black near the large mouth; and his appearance altogether could be called anything but lovely. Besides the thick cuirass of beads and the graceful trinkets in ears and nose, he wore a magnificent diadem of yellow and red touean feathers; and it must be confessed that he wore it with the dignity of a king. He seemned to be inclined graciously towards us, probably in consequence of the report of his tambassacdor who in his feather-light craft had arrived a little before us; =X \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~S' ~ "~ ~,,, PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG CARIPUANA INDIAN. and with a majestic wase of the head he invitedl us to,pproach and to follow; which we didcl, surroumdecl boy a dense cr'owd~ of laug71C~hing CT and chattering squaws and children, serious and respectable-looking oldl men, and young warriors. The chieftain marched slowly ahead, and led us along a narrow but carefully cleaned patlh, bordered with a vegetation by whose profusion we had never before been so impressed. Trunks of gigantic size, graceful palmns of every variety, blooming creepers and bromelias, orchids of the strangest shapes, and light ferns, with the warm sunbeams brealking through the dense leafage at intervals, and suddenly setting off some brilliant flower, some scarlet feather ornamlellt, or thze wrhite glittering beadsa oll the brogYan skins of our new friends- - THE WVILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA. VALLEY. 123 all combined to make it a picture none of us shall ever be able to forget. Our own myrmidons followed, looking not over-confident in their own strength, and completed the long cortege, the end of which was lost in the darkness of the forest. At the distance of about a kilometre friom the shore we reached a clearing in the wood, with three large cabins closed in on the sides, and a smaller open shed, which, evidently, was the meeting-hall of the men. WVe were desired to take seats there in hammocks, not very remarkable for their cleanliness, and we forthwith began the distribution of our knives, scissorse fishing-hooks, red cotton handkerchiefs, &c.; in barter for which we got a good quantity of maacaeheira and Indian corn, half-a-dozen long bows and a bundle of arrows.* On the whole, they did not seem to be as greedy for the produce of our industry as we had seen other more civilised tribes, for example, the Tapuyos on the Amazon, and the Mojos of Bolivia. They had not yet had enough iron in hand to understand its value thoroughly. Their arrow-points of bamboo or hard wood, and the sharpened edges of a river-shell,t evidently appeared to be quite as effective to them as our knives; + and if they graciously accepted our glittering steel-ware, it seemed to be more out of curiosity than anything else. Very different was it with the glass beads, which they prized highly, and which seemed to be a sort of money with them, and the place of which, before their intercourse with the white race, is said to have been supplied by the small hard seeds of certain plants. Besides the hammocks there was no <'furniture" whatever in the Parliamlent-house, save some long thin drums,-for their festivals, probably,-a few pretty baskets of palm-leaves with feather ornaments in them, and some bows and arrows suspended to the bealms; the former of the cldark wood of the pasiuba-palm, the latter of the light stemls of the nba/ reed. Some slight eavities in the ground, with flat stones in the middle of each, showed us clearly that the Caripunas followed the custom of many other tribes, of burying their warriors in large earthen urns (or igaqabas) in the cottages. " The bartering for a pretty cotton apron tastefully adornlel -with feathers mas a little more cifficult; yet one of our companions at last succeeded in getting one for us. The brown beauty, who hlad dexterously replaced it with a heliconia leaf, looked rather abashed on the ground, in spite of all the paradisaie innocence of the clothing. tr The Carip~una squaws give birth to their ellilclren before the wvhole tribe, but without the assistance of any one, and themselves cut the navel-string with the shalrpenlecl edge of a river-shell. The Cayowa women of the Sotlth go unsttteaiecl to the Twooci when their hour of labour alerwies, and return with the baby, whlen all1 is over, to liyschalqge their household cltties, and to wait llpOl the husband, who for a week lies motionless ill his hamnmock, and behaves himself as if he were the patient. On remonstranes or railleries of the white faces, he only answers with a pitying smile. On closer acquaintance, however, they used to say that it is necessary for the welfare of the child, who would infallibly fall ill if the father did not observe a strict regimen. f: The Coroaclos fasten old knife-blacles at the end of the arrows they use for tiger, tap~ir, and wild-hog shooting. Formerly they had flint points, quite identical with those found in the Pfahlbauten. Hluncldrecls of them are sometimes ciiscoverecl together on the sites of former settlements. 124 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. We counted five of them; and it was easy to see that soon the burial-ground would have to be enlarged, or the whole tribe would require to shift, if they were all to have the same honours. The latter course will probably be adopted, as by stress of the scarcity of the game they scare away the Indians are compelled to change their abodes from time to time. The Coroados, in fact, do so every few years, and burn clown their light sheds on account of the vermin. As the igacabas were barely covered with earth, we suppose that they contained only the clean bones of the dead. We could not, of course, think of excavating one of them or even of looking closer at the tombs; the more so as a characteristic incident revealed to us the degree of respect and awe with which they regarded whatever has to do with their dead. I asked one of the younger Indians to give me, in exchange for a pair of scissors, a very clueer-loolking instrument, consisting of a thin board of half a metre length, wvlich, when whirled about by a slender cord drawn through the mniddle) must give a whizzing sound. The boy, immediately turning round to one of the elder Indians, explained to him my request, in a tone whose excitement contrasted strangely with his former self-possession and impassibility. With a very serious face, but with a sort of quiet politeness which I could not but admire, the old mtan tried to make ne understand that these instruments, whose lhowling tone he imitated +while marching slowly and majestically round the burial-places, were used for their lamentations over the dead, and could not be parted with like any profane object. Such an exhibition of sentiment by a real naked savage, in a real dense primeval forest, struckl me indeed even more than the solemn manner in which the announcement was delivered.* I afterwards prevailed, with some difficulty, upon the same young Caripuna to keep quiet for a few moments il one of the hammocks, until I had drzawn his profile. HItis hesitation did not seem to arise from any superstitious fear-the " civilised " Tap-uyos at Manaos were far worse in this respect-but I fancy he simply thought it dull work. But the hour for parting calne, when the whole tribe accompanied us to the river" orale year~s before I h-ad witnesseci a simlilal scene ill thee province of Palwanti, oll tile sh~ores of the ParanLaanemla, mhell the olcl Ca~yowa chieftain, Pah-y (in the Aldceamlento cle Xanto Igmaio), on OURS taking~ leave of him, presented us with a fine bow, aclorned with toncaln-feathelrs. I thanked himl heartily, anld, ill Rcknlowleclgment of his g~ift, a~ssured hilll, with as serious a face as I could lllustee, that I atlxays should u~se it in wall andi in hlutltillg, aLZC remember hinl by it; bu~t, looking quite frighlt~enedl, he took ~the bow hastily frola my hands, alld, llandcling it likes a sceptre, moved roundl ws with pompous meaaured strides, at the same time, with uplifted heacd, singing longg-clrawn notes of ear andl heart-rencding' harmnony. He could not be qu~ieted ~until I had prollised, when iI at last undlerstoocl what he lneant by some larokel words in Portuguese like "Casa nao! Gluerra nroe! Amigo! Santo!" that we woulcl ever keep sacred the gift of our brown friends, and never soil it in wa or hullyI cal, ith good conscience, declare we hade always faithfully obsellvecl, THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 125 shore; the women carrying great quantities of mandioca-roots, and heavy bundles of yellow and red maize in baskets suspended on their backs by broad glossy stripes of bast, which passed over their forehead. They carry their babies in similar contrivances slung across their shoulders. We parted evidently the very best of friends; and we were fully confident that such attacks as our old mulatto hunter had spoken of were not now likely to happen again. But we were the more disagreeably surprised when we learned, on our return to Manaos, that the same tribe had, only a few months afterwards, attacked the boat of a Bolivian merchant, and had killed the proprietor and five of his paddlers, while his wife, though badly wounded, had succeeded in making her escape with the rest into one of the canoes, in which they drifted down the river, instead of continuing their voyage upwards. Without doubt, this had happened while the Bolivians were busy dragging their boats over the rocks, when the dispersion of the crew did not allow of any serious resistance. We could not ascertain whether in this case any provocation on the Bolivian side had preceded the outrage.* Behind the " padrao's " back the paddlers might rouse the wrath of the Indians, especially by brutal behaviour towards the squaws, who are regarded with jealous eyes by very many tribes (not by all, it is - An incident that occurred in 1860, in the province of Parana, is too characteristic to be omitted here, the more so as the facts were relatedi to me by two of the principal actors in the drama. On the ruins of the former Jesuit Mission of Nossa Senhora do Loreto do Pirapo', on the shores of the ParanapLanema, the Brazilian Govermment had founded a colony (or Aldeamento) of half-civilised Guarani Indians, and had confided it to the direction of an old Portuguese major, one of whose legs had been stiffenedi for life by some ~Iiguelistic ball about forty years ago. The Guaranis had their cottages a little apart from the Director's house, which sheltered, besides himself, a white overseer, six negroes, and four negresses. One day, quite unexpectedly, appeared a troop of Coroados before it, about eighty men, women, and children. They seemed to be quite peaceably inclined, received and gave little prese.ts, and partook freely of a meal served to thzela at the fire in the courtyard, until nightfall, when some of the squaws, who had become more intimately acquaintecl with the negroes, laid their greedy hands on their comfortable woollen jackets, and would not give them up. A general tumult ensued, in which the Coroados advanced upon their enemies with the glowing firebranclds they had rashly seized. The impossibility of explaining themselves, the Director's want of pluck, ancd, above all, the deep aversion existing between blacks and Inclialls, in spite of temporary friendships, could not but lead to a bloody crisis. One of the elder blacks, the tall Ambrosio, had silently prepar1edl his gulp, anci, at the momlent of the highest eonfusion, firing from behind a corner, shot the Indian chief right through the head. Some of his friends had apparently only waited for such a signal. Three more loaded guns with coarse shot were immediately fired into the diensest crowd. The effect was magical. The smoke had not yet quite clisappeared, when the Indians, silent as ghosts, had vanished, taking their woundied with theml; the dteadi chieftain azlone was left; lying close to the house; and1 the expiring fies shone only on his grim features and the dismayed faces of the Director and his blacks. They retired speedily to the house, appre inrenlbalimgen, anit olawd of day; but pursningu cae without the (oroados: so, after having well searched thle place, alld, to their surpsrise, cliscoverecl that the Illdialls had ta~ken away, during the night, the bodiy of their dlead chief fi~oll nnlcler ~the very winclows, they all croasel the river —there about 500 me~tres wide; for the Coroados are indi~fferenlt boatmen, andl could not easily purzsue them. The G~uaranis of thze settlemnelt, nwho until 110w had scrupulouslyr kep~t aloof firouz the wh-ole affaiir, followed their 126 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. true); and their vengeance does not always fall exactly upon the offenders; for the fury of the Indians then turns on all the whites, and the innocent suffer in common with the guilty, even as the settlers, to revenge an onslaught, will shoot down any red-skin they can encounter. Very often, what are trifles in our estimation are to them the springs of fatal feuds. Thus, for example, a few years ago a Brazilio-Peruvian expedition, started for the purpose of determining the boundaries, under the conduct of Captain Jose da Costa Azevedo, was attacked by a numerous troop of Indians on the Javary (an affluent of the Solimoes, running along the frontier against Perui from the parallel of 10~ 20' of South latitude), because they had destroyedl some of their primitive bridges, that is, felled trees which lay across the river, to the obstruction of the passage of the boats. While they were dragging their canoes over a shoal, an overpowering number of savages broke in upon them with fearful yells. The situation was a desperate one, their ammunition having been damped by the upsetting of a canoe on the previous day. When at last they succeeded in getting their boats afloat, the second in command, Lieutenant Soares Pinto, lay dying in one of them, while, in another, the Peruvian commissary, Roldan, writhed with pain from an arrow-shot in the leg, besides several of the paddlers who were more or less wounded. After a dreadful voyage of many leacders, and a few clays afterwards had to sustain a bold attack of their hereditary enemies the Coroados; the Major and his men having already left the place for Curitiba, the capital of the province, where, after a strict investigation, he was dismissed; and Ambrosio, the white overseer, and one of the blacks, were sent to prison for many months. In the skirmish on the shores of the Plaranapanema, the gentle Guaranis, with the aid of a few fire-arms alndl sworclds, got the better of their bold assailants. We afterwards brought over one of their trophies, the skull of a Coroado woman, which showed a deep sabre-cut. It is now in the collection of skulls belonging to the Aledical Faculty at Freiburg, in the 3Breisgau. In almost every case of bloodshed between the white and the red men, it has been found that the latter would not be molested on their hunting-grounds by the white intrulers, or that they were refused the inclemnification they asked for them. Twenty and more years ago, before the law was in force which gave to the Government all tracts of lallc the titles to the possession of which could not be proved, every estanciero, or cattle-breeder, in the thinly-peoplecl Southern provinces longedl for new campos for his increasing herds. One of them, living near the Passo Fundo, on the Uruguay, discovered a magnificent pra1irie, (ctapablet of mpastqring tosns of cows, which was divicled from t~he older possessions by atract of forest some miles wide only. It was a perfect godsend; and the estanciero forthwith set about opening a way to the new campo for the transport thither of a few headl of cattle, withzout heedling~ in the least the prot~est of a horde of (Soroados who had been in the hacbit of visitillg hint from time to tilde, andl with whom he had always been on a friendly footing. ohen the Igo cfians san that their old hunting-grouncl, the abode of nseveroua ies h of stags and t eer, Mas lost to them, they demallclecl all indemnity first of five, and at last of two, Spanish ounces (about; ~ 15); Thut they got; for allsmell nothing but a sneer and hard words. They tried several tildes to blockr up the llex path by felleci trees; but, as they saw that the negroes of the estallcia removedi the obstructionz with~ less trouble than they took to makre it, they seemed to give up the task, and did not appear for some time. However, when the younlg animals of th~e new herd were to be coaumtedl, andl to b3e brarndel with th~e uark; of the estancia -a festive occasion, on whzich the proprietor ande all his family went to a light house erectecl THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 127 days, they reached the steamer stationed at the mouth of the Javary, which conveyed them to Maliaos; but the poor Peruvian was in such a state that the physicians thought amputation necessary, the setting-in of gangrene being apprehended in this hot climate, and after the sorry nursing he had received. Another case, involving the guilt of both parties,-the disregard of human dignity on the one side, and treachery and barbarous violence on the other,-is this: —When the brave English traveller Chandless, whom we had the pleasure of meeting at Manaos, explored the Pur'is in 1865, his servant, an Italian, informed him, on the way, that he had decided on not accompanying him farther up, and that he wvas going to return alone to the Amazon Valley. Chandless, who knew his man well, and who guessed rightly that it was not so much the increasing hardship of the voyage as the desire to malke a good bargain for the Indian children a little lower down the river which caused this sudden resolve, tried to dissuade him from his purpose, but in vain! He went, and-never reached the Amazon. His master, on his return, found pieces of his canoe near an Indian malocca on the shore, and there heard the particulars of the horrible tale. The Italian had, immediately upon his arrival, begun bargaining for an Indian boy, and had at last purchased him for a hatchet; but, as he was conveying him to his canoe, the child began to scream piteously; upon which his nother, running up, rescued him, on the new possession-the Coroaclos made their appearance again, and were kindly received by the master, in spite of warlnings from his subordlinates. iHe offered the chieftain a piece of roast-meat, and, upon his request for a knife, handled to hil his own dagger-like one, which was stuck in his girdle, after the fashion of the place; wheretpon the Indian, with a movement quick as lightning, drove it into his chest -up to the very harlclle; and, as if this were a concerted signal, a crowd of arnied Coroados poured il from all sides, and, after a short resistance, killed eight white people, women and children included. Only one boy of fourteen years old escaped by a window; and he, throwing himself on one of the horses without, spread the horrible news. In an expedition undertalken by the neighbours to avenge the murder, a few Indians were killed; but the greater part of them escaped, and retired further into the interior of the forests. Another bloody encounter-let us hope the last-occurrecl in 1862, in the so-called Sertho de Guarapuavathat is, the immense wooded region extending west of this little town to the shores of the Paranla, and even farther on.' An enterprising Paulista had settled there in the face of all warlings, and, by constant vigilance and cautious behaviour, had, for six years, held the Coroaclos, his neighbours, at a respectful his house, cldlaorously themar ing Iar dian corn, and ofying to force their way in after they e ad been refused, and in the contest that enasuecl, onle of theml was Lkillecl by the son of the proprietor of the house. I11 a renewed attack some time afterwards, a great number were shot by the Brazilians, who were well protected by their palings against the arrows of the Indians. They were again obliged to retire, and were not heard of for years, though one or other of the B3razilians, wcho never failed to kreep a sharp look~-ouLt, even while working in the fields, swore he had seen some lurking in the bushes. Xomle years after this, a son-iu-lnw of the old Paulista's, hazving bough~t the produce of a corn-plantation a few miles off, belonging to the military colony of Chagrin just then given up by the G~ovsrnment, went there with wife and children and some of his brothers-in-law, eleven persons in all. It was the moment of revenge so long awaited by the Coroados! None of them ever returned; their corpses were found lying near the 7urnt cottages. 128 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. and would not give him up. Hereupon the Italian demanded his hatchet back, but was haughtily refused. A short skirmish ensued; and the white man was killed and, I suppose, roasted and devoured. But to return to the Indians of the Madeira. The most dangerous footpads on its whole course are a tribe whose real name even is not known, scarcely any individual of whom has been distinctly seen, yet who do not allow the traveller to breathe freely until their domain is passed. Scarcely a year goes by without one of their bold wellcalculated surprises, or the treacherous murder of some traveller, or Mojos Indian from the Missions, descending the river to gather cacao. They seem to live chiefly near the confluence of the Mamore and the Guapore, along the shores of the latter to the old fort of Principe da Beira, and on the campos east of the Alamore towards the Itonama. Not even the best gun is of any use against them, as the sharpest eye cannot penetrate to their well-chosen ambushes behind the dense boughs, whence their nevererring arrows are always the first to proclaim their presence. Hence the only possible protection against them are light cuirasses of hard leather, or other stout stuff, such as were worn by the Portuguese troops not many years ago in their combats with the Botocudos on the Rio Dote. But who will ever think of putting on such things in that climate without the risk of absolute and immediate danger? * The Indians of the old Missions, most exposed to them by reason of their frequent voyages on the rivers, live in constant dread of them; and around the fires of our Mojos every evening might be heard whispered tales of their horrid deeds. Several times; the savages attacked and killed the soldiers while fishing in the Guapore, near the fort of Principe da Beira, nay, under its very gams, though these are by no means so formidable as might be supposed~t and the commanding officer had to prohibit such excursions, save in sufficient numbers andcl under due precautionary arrangements. The Bolivian traders would annihilate the whole tribe without any scruple, if they could. More than once, they have tried to get up a general insurrection, and have invited the - Dr. Eiras, from Rio de Janeiro, has already been mentioned as one of their victims in 1869. built with so lluch trouble and explense (in 1780), and which, il case of war with Bolivia, would be of great impor med Blaazilianx have fold me that the soldiers of the g.ltrison not only pulled out the strong craip-irons of the p~arap~ets, but also stri~pedi the chap~el of all its rich wood-cavilzS in order to get at the nails, &c., which they gave to Bolivian traders for brandy. The doors of the fort still are scruul~uously shut ever, is r eady not esince the soldliers, with the aid of a hill of rubish situate against the wall, are not impeded by t~hem in their sightly visits to the brown 7ueauties living outside ill their fiail palml-cottages; but certainly not one of the hleavy gulls, whose transport up the MSiadeira allotC G~UapleO~ llUSt have been no light work, is ready fort use. It is loo idle boast of the Bolivians, who, slleelling at the hatrnlexx monsters mlarkred with the escutcheon of the Brag~anzas, vow they will have the old fort by means of a single barrel of cachaqat (sugar-brandy); upon which provocation the blacki defenders, protlcly exhibiting their blunderbusses, swear they will with them open such a firee on the (Sastelhallox that there shazll be loo need of th~e artillery. THE WVILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 129 commander of Principe da Beira to take part in it; but, even if he had consented (which he could not without acting against the clear wishes of his Government), its success would have been very doubtful. As it is now, the son of the forest has decidedly the upper hand, and scarcely ever gets what he deserves for his murders; but, twenty or thirty years hence, perhaps the tables will be turned, and then will ensue what happens everywhere when the white race and the red get to close quarters. Every stroke of the settler's axe will be as a nail driven into the coffin of the native; for, at every such stroke, he will be thrust farther away from the main sources of his life-the principal rivers and the hunting-grounds near them; and, as soon as the shrill whistle of the locomotive shall sound through the clearing, and proud steamers rock on the rivers, he will be totally undone. Hie never will submit readily to the entire abandonment of his old ways, and never will take to agriculture, an employment which he despises as belonging to the lot of his humble enslaved wives, unless he be compelled to adopt it, or unless he be brought up to it by patient degrees, with a combination of paternal kindness and unswerving firmness. The unalterable course of his thoughts ever will be that he had a better claim to the soil on the ground of priority of residence, and that it was asking too much of him to change his mode of life in favour of the intruders; and the white man (I mean the settler, the uneducated man) will always look haughtily down on the brown " animal," and will be only too happy to execute his mandate:' Get hence to make room for me and my family!" A violent contest carried on from both sides with treacherous* weapons must ensue; but its end cannot be doubted, and another nation will soon have ceased to exist. An intelligent Guarani Indian of the Aldeamento of San Ignacio, on the Paranapanema, once asked me: "Why do not the white people leave us undisturbed in our forests? Why are we to live like them? Is there not room enough for us all? And what could I reply? He would easily have refuted any sentimental talk about However, such is the dependence of the fort on Bolivia for its supply of provisions that it woulle be the easiest thing in the world to starve it out in the event of war. All the little forts on the southern and south-eastern borders of tfhe realm were in similar condition at the tilue of the wall with Paraguaty; indeeed, in all South America there is not at single fortress which at all answers to modern requirements, not excluding the renowned Humaita itself, whose chief strength lay in the deep swmnups surrounding it. With the exceedingly high wages of workmen, and the great difficulty of getting~ a suffieienel ntlmbell of them to such distant plazces, iron forts made in Europe would be adlvisable one near Santo Antonio, on the Macleira, and another near the mouth of the Beni or the Mamrorw. -a If a tale we heard oll the Rio dia Poluba (all affluent of the Parlahybaz) be true? the palul of treachery moust be conceded to the,/viite race. Planters who had been occasionally trou2bled by little thefts committed by the Italians, but avho, otherxvise, lived in peace with the numerous hordes of the vicinity, had the woollen jacklets allot blatnkets of their negroes, mlho hadl been swept off in an outbreak of smzall-pox, carriedl into the woodes. In accoria-nce with the ctesig~n, the effect on the IndianxJ w~ho of course availed themaelves of th-eclothing, was terrific. Nearly the whole tribe wFas destroyed. 130 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. the blessings of civilisation by simply pointing to the importation of the measles, just then decimating his village; and it would have been cruel to insist upon the naked truth that by the highest light in the world, the right of might, we should in time drive them to still greater extremities. The schoolmaster-like advice, to keep on good terms with the white man for his own benefit, was all I could give the honest fellows To sum up our observations on the ~I1 i~f................future of the South-American Indians,. Il~~~~~ i B~~we may briefly note that, whenever they Ilave comt e into conetact w-i the white race, their doom has been sealed. LikeB their more energetic northern brethren, I | especiallthey are visited with physical and I~I~ 1 ~~moral destruction the rate of which can be retarded only by founding aldeamentos after the plan of the ~t least b toformer;missions but with the conpition that less care be paid to the religious, and more to the agricultural and industrial, element. clg~ ~~~It is impossible to overestimate the civilising influence which might especially be exercised over the women by a kindly active lady, versed in the several branches of household industry, and which would thus get diffused through them over the whole destruction, ~~community. In every village, in fact, there should be a female teacher for the long-neglecte(1 squaws. A new CARIlPUNA INDIAN LUTI~iXTIG. generationi would then arise, wchich, if not endowed with th~e energy and activity of the European 1Oopulation, would at least become tolerable neighbiouts to it; anti by amalgamation with which, in process of time it might contribufe to f he formation of a stable race adapted to the climate. To many it may appear that such mixed races bear inl themselves the germs of destruction, nature generally havingr a tendency to return to the pure types; but closer obser THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 131 Ceara', Parahyba do Norte, Maranhao, and Para', will clearly show that so much of the Indian element has survived there that more than one-third, or a fourth part, of the whole population must be ascribed to it. Even if it be more and more diminished by increasing immigration, and should it at last be discernible only by an experienced eye, yet there it is, and it has been the means of profit to the thinly peopled country; and surely no one will assert that the black-haired, dark-eyed mestizoes of these countries are less fit to live and work under the glowing rays of the tropical sun than the fair sons of the North. However, I am still far from joining in the Lmunwarrantable lamentations of novelwriters over the impending extinction of a mythical red race, far superior to the white in heroic virtues and noble qualities of heart. Such a red race exists only in their imaginations. The indolent, sensual, and sometimes treacherous race of real life will and must give way to the growing exigencies of over-peopled Europe. The titles of possession enjoyed by the autochthon, important as they may be in his own narrow and childish judgment, are abolished in the Court of Appeal which takes cognisance of the wider needs of the world. And to ultra-sentimentalists of the novelist type I should like to put this query: "Is not the prosperity of the family of some hard-working settler, trying with the sweat of his brow to create a new home for his children and his grand-chilclren, of more importance than the comforts of a set of savages, with which that prosperity might possibly interfere? " Moreover, by way of justifying this complete extrusion of an unwilling race, a really higher civilisation, in the form of agriculture and regular industry, should replace the hitherto prevalent system of wild robbery; the hidden treasures of the country should be explored for the benefit of mankind at large, and the last traces of that narrow Spanish-Portuguese system of destruction, which took only its own ego and the immediate span of time into consideration, must for ever disappear. In the United States, we may well wait patiently for the completion of this process, wvich draws to a close with the inflexible rigidity of a law of nature. There the waves of immigration already touch the foot of the Rocky Mountains. There the wigwam is destroyed to make room for the railway station or the streets of nascent cities, and Indian savagery and modern culture, unable to exist side by side, mnt~st daily coine to bloody conflicts. But in the South American States, in Brazil especially, wVhich~ with a population of only 40,000, owns provinces larger than Germany, all hands, be their number never so small, should be tunned to account, particularly as the bulk of European emigration is not likely to turn in that direction for the present. The association of the Brazilian Indians with useful communities in Aldeamentos, on a larger scale, is also favoured by the consideration that their character, on the whole snore gentle and peaceable than that of the North-American Indians, does not offer 132 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. insuperable obstacles to earnest and persevering attempts. What the speculating spirit of the Jesuits conceived and brought about, should we despair of achieving through the agency of a Government animated by higher views? One of the chief difficulties of such an undertaking is, as already mentioned, the great number of South-American idioms; and it must be reckoned a capital idea of the Jesuits that their missionaries, instead of teaching Spanish to their Indians-which would have turned tMat way the torrent of European adventure-did all they could to make the Guarani language, the richest and most flexible of those idioms, the prevailing tongue. Though they may not have been quite successful, yet the Guaralni has spread, through their labours, over an exceedingly wide range; and, to the present day, there are many G~uarani words in the language of the ordinary population of Brazil (quite independently of their colour and descent), and at places where Gluarani was not the language of the autochthons. As to the language of the Caripunas, MARTIUS gives a short vocabulary of it, from which I take the following:Water, onipcassna. Fire, tschii. Tree, jui. To die, nzmaO. Bow, cannati. I He has died, naia miake. Head, mapo. uArrow, p/a. Waterfall, saschu tschama. 1ion, ursCel. Knife, nd ac. Tapir, au ara. Teeth, seta. ]Dog, tsclzaspa. God, oar&. Stag, tsclhassu. Day, sabacka. Tiger, kamnan. Sun, baari. Alligator, kapuena. Son, shako. 1, aares, Daughter, jussawakb. 2, eranbue'. Madeira river, ffunnu. 3, k]imischae. River, ednne. 4, eranbue narabue. White man, cariba tschilo. 5, mvueken tiinca. We should have much liked to ascertain whether our friends the Caripullas have the:same mode of conveying their thoughts as the Coroados in Parana, especially as the'written rocks"~ of the Madeira seem to be beyond their comprehension now. In the immense primeval forests extending between the Ivahy and the Paranapane ma, the Paran2 and the Tibagy, the rich hunting-grounds of numerous Coroado hordes, one frequently encounters, chiefly near forsaken palm-sheds, a strange collection of objects hung up between the~ trees on thin cords or cipos, such as little pieces of woocl, feathers, bones, and the claws and jaws of different animals. In the opinion of those well versed in Indian lore; these hieroglyphs are designed as epistles to other members of the tribe, regarding thle produce of thre chase, the n~umber THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 133 and stay of the hiuntsmen, domestic intelligence, and the like; but this strange kind of composition, reminding one of the q-uippos (knotted cords) of the old Peruvians, has not yet been quite unravelled, though it is desirable that it should be, for the naive.son of the woods also uses it sometimes in his intercourse with the white man. Settlers in these countries, on going in the morning to look after their very primitive mills Inearttheir cottages, have frequently discovered them going bravely, but bruising pebbles instead of the maize grains, while on the floor of the open shed the names -and purposes of the unwelcome nocturnal visitors have been legibly written in the sand. Among the well-drawn zigzag lines were inserted the magnificent long tail-feathers of the red and the blue macaw, which are generally used by the Coroados for their arrows; and, as these are the symbols of war and night-attacks, the whole was probably meant for a warning and admonition ad honin3em: "Take up your bundle and go, or beware of our:arrows! " On the Iguassu, one of the mighty affluents of the Parana, there still are a few wild, little-known tribes living side by side with the sparse population of civilised cattle-breeders. The German colonists of Blumenau: their Eastern neighbours, include them under the Portuguese name of Bugres, while the Brazilians falsely call them Botocudos. Driven into straits upon all sides, and particularly averse to friendly intercourse with the white race, they retire farther and farther; and, as the progress of cultivation deprives them of one tract of wood or rich campo after another, they protest in their own fashion, either by asudden night-attack or by one of these puzzling proclamations. Thus, a few years ago, when the Iguassu was getting a little livelier with trade, they set up a long bamboo in a conspicuous spot on its shore with a Dig bundle of feathers bones &c., waving at the top like a huge scarecrow. Unfortunately the floods had carried all off some time before we passed there, and so we were deprived of the pleasure of trying our wits at the strange riddle. In the same drastic way, in ages long gone by, the nations of Asia must have written their first letters, until the palpable symbols were supplanted by images and signs, which in their turn were replaced by syllables and letters with the higher gifted races and tribes. If by the words of Goethe - "So wird erst nach und nach die Sprache fest gerammelt. lUnd was ein Volk zusammen sich gestammelt, Muss ewiges Gesetz fiir Herz unct Seele sein," the sozcncts are meant in the first place, yet the process of slow "feat rammeln " is the same for the arirten language; and those first "stamlmlerings" of any nation are not devoid of interest. ALre not the soundsa anld the vlihsil signs for them so closely linked -that it seems 134 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. as if a language cannot rise beyond a certain degree of development if the letters do not come to its aid? The American languages, above all, cause such thoughts to arise. They all are polysynthetical, that is, formed by agglutination, or a loose adding of formal elements to the word-root. MARTIUS says, in the Portuguese preface to his II Vocabulary of Brazilian Languages:"" The monosyllable or -bisyllable radical words of these languages are loosely put together to express a more or less complicated notion. Yet, in all of them, are missing the flexions which are intended to convey the thought easily and clearly in all its sharpness and logical power to the spirit of the hearer. These flexions are substituted by certain particles, that express the most necessary grammatical and syntactical notions. Of course they are less apt for the purpose; and these idioms cannot possess the beauty and precision of more civilised languages. While in the latter these flexions and composed words appear (so to say) as the results of an organic process, as a spontaneous emanation of the spirit, showing the laws regulating the course of ideas already in the construction of the sentences; the polysynthetical languages, on the contrary, having nothing of the kind, appear only as a loosely joined conglomeration of words. This inflexibility and poverty characterize all the Indian languages of Brazil, even the Guarani, and the Lingua geral do Brazil, or Tupi, which has arisen from it under the influence of the Jesuits; so that the eulogies lavished on it by the old missionaries seem to be applicable rather to its phonetic character than to its construction.' Thus far the excellent German linguist and botanist. At the end of his treatise he proposes the erection of schools for instruction in the Tupi language, thinking that thereupon the greater part of the native population, or rather the half-civilised descendants of the autochthons, would not regard the white men as strangers and intruders any longer, and would join them in larger numbers. Well-meaning wishes! If I conjecture aright, Brazilian statesmen must have thought: "If we but had schools for our own descendants! In a short time the last remains of the natives will, notwithstanding all our efforts, have vanished, and the low degree of civilisation to which they were capable of advancing by their own unaided efforts certainly did not warrant bright hopes of them!" So it is always the same vicious circle. They are not helped because they do not progress; and they do not progress because they are not helped. However, when we judge of the civilisation, or rather of the aptitude for it, of the " The following passage is taken from the Introduction of " Tesoro de la lengua Guarani, que se usa ea el Peru, Paraguay y Rio de la Plata. Pop el P. Antonio [Ruiz (dle Montoya) de la Campalia de Jesus. Madrid: J. Sanchez. 1639." "Along the chief difficulties of this lang~uag~e aire the particles, many of Thic have no meaning by themselves, but only when joined to some other mrorcl, be it entire or maimed by the composition. For this reason there are no particular forms for the verb, wvhich is conjugatedl by the particles: X, ere, o, ye6, na, pee, THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 135 Soouth-American-Indian tribes, particularly of those in the valleys of the Amazon, the Parana, and the Paraguay, we must not forget the impossibility of their achieving per saltlum the great advance from a life of wild fishers and hunters to a life of cattle-breeders, in the midst of those endless forests, and in the total absence of domestic animals comparable with our cattle. When we remember that the semi-cultured condition of a great part of Asia, and of some parts of Africa, is based entirely on the existence of different dolmestic animals, and how the Zulu Caffre, despite his negro brutality, seems and the pronomina —che, ide, &c. The verb,!emnboe, e.g., is composed by the particles, e', mod, and e. Ne is reciprocal; Use is an active particle; andcl e means cleverness, aptitude; the whole together meaning to exercise, to learn.' I learn' is expressed by X ie'mboe." For the benefit of readers particularly interested in Guaranni, I here add a dialogue on Christian Doctrine, as it was taught two hundred years ago in the Spanish Jesuit Missions:Priest. How ought a man to behave in this world Mara oicobope ace ico ara pube anhan garata iii to free himself from hell and to get into heaven? onhe pycyro pota ybaky pe oiere raqo ucar? Phupil. He must believe in God, be christened, and Tupa rerobiar inhe mom garay p a; Tupl nhe enga follow his commaclndments. rupi oicobo. priest. Is there a Gocl? Oicobepe Tupa?'Pupil. There is. Oicobe. Priest. Do you believe in this God? Pererobiarpe a6 Tupa? Pupil. I do. Arobiar. Priest. Who is Gol? Mba6 Tupa? P= apil. He who has created all things. Opacat' mba6 tetiru- monhang ara. Priest. How has he created all things? Mba6 pupe Tuph opacatu tetiruh oimonhang? Pupil. Only by his word. Inheenga pupe nhote. Priest. Has Gocl a body like us? Cetepe Tup' aqei hbe? Pupil. He has not. Naqetei. Priest. Has God ever had a beginning? Ni y py pe eri mbae Tuph? Pitqil. He has not. Ni y py i. Priest. Was he from eternity? Ceco abanhe pe cecoi? upil. He was. Ceco abanhe. Priest. Will he be for ever? Aujera manhepe qecoi? upil. For ever. Aujeramanhe- ne. priest. Where is God? UTmamepe Tup- rece? PujG/i. In heaven. On earth there is no place where Ybaky pc, yby pe noico mba6 amo qecoablyma. he is not. Priest. Can one see God? Ei catupe age ykebe Tupa repiaca? 7-ppi. One cannot. Ndey catui. Priest. Why? Maranamope? Puyi. Because he has no body. Cete - [y m - nhe. Priest. Where can one see him? 3iaamepe a9eo 9epiak - ne? Pupil. In heaven. When we get there we shall see Ybaky pe iande 9oreme - oqepialky ne. him. Priest. And those in hell will not see him? Anhangara tape o go mbae rama ndo - cepiak - xoerene? PuGpil. By no means. Nidoqepiak. Priest. Why not? Maranamope? PuGpil. On account of their sins. &c. Inheenya abyagoera repyranmo. &c. 136 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. a Crroesus with his fat herds, when compared with the Indian -arho depends on his luck. in the chase, the primitive immobility of the latter is not so mery incomprehensible, even if we altogether disregard the difference of race. The only animal fit to become domestic, of all the rich fauna of Southern America7 is the tapir; but its habit of isolation may be a difficulty in its cultivation. The all-stifling luxuriance of tropical vegetation, against which man is quite helplesss without iron implements, was, at least in the densely wooded valleys of the Amazon and the Parana~ and of the innumerable smaller affluents of the Atlantic, one of thechief obstacles in the way of development; and, if at the time of the Conquest the Indians of the pampas also were on the same low level as their cousins of the wooded regions, the reason must be sought in the afore-mentioned want of domestic animals, which did not suffer them to live otherwise than by fishing or hunting, and the scanty produce of their very primitive and limited agriculture. The intermediate connecting-link of cattle-breeding, that, since the introduction of European cattle, has acquired so high an importance in -these countries, was then totally missing; and without it there was no possibility of getting on for a not very highly gifted race. The religious notions of all these nations cannot be very exalted; and, moreover, it is an extremely difficult task to make them out. Besides the difficulties of the language and the difference of individual convictions, the Indians sometimes take a sort of malicious pleasure in wilfully misleading troublesome questioners; and the missionaries, both the, old and the modern ones, who might have been expected to pay special attention to this matter, have always treated their poor, childish religious fables with scorn and disdain. On the whole, it seems as if the Indians belonging to the great Tupi family had somewhat better notions in this respect; and part of the early success of the missionaries was owing, perhaps, to their innate awe of a mysterious spiritual world, and of the priests mediating between it and them. The Coroados, whom I have so frequently mentioned, though in many respects aboveother tribes, seem to be almost void of religious feelings, certainly according to the judgment of our good old friend Frei Timrnotheo do Castello Novo, Director of the Aldeamento Sao Pedro d'Alcantara. With a pitying shrug of the shoulders, and meaning it, perhaps, as an apology for his own rather passive conduct, he narrated to us the shocking story of a Coroado with loud voice once asking him, during mass, for a plate of farina! " Since that time," added the grey-bearded father, with a melancholy smile, " I have been rather disenchanted, and have refrained from asking my savages to hear mass." But even this matter-of-fact nation of Coroados I cannot believe to have no religion at all; and the question whether there are any such nations at all seems to be an open one still, and likely to remain so for some time. THE WVILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 137 Even the Tupi tribes have no kind of religious service; and, whatever their ideas on the surrounding Nature and the reasons of its phenomena may be, they certainly do not rise above the childish notions of demoniac powers, hostile rather than friendly, which may be conjured and rendered harmless by their Pajes, or charm-doctors. These sly impostors, who sometimes may delude tflemselves into believing at least in their sacred mission, if not in the infallibility of their medicines, play quite a conspicuous part with all fhe independent Indian tribes; and it even seems as if the awe within which they know how to shroud themselves was shared by the Portuguese-speaking mestizoes and zamboes. As with the Shamans of the North-Asiatic nations, the influence a Paje' may secure over his tribe depends entirely on the success of his cures and his more or less imposing personal qualities. Woe to him if by some unlucky ministration or fatal advice he forfeits his prestige. The hate of the whole tribe turns against him, as if to indemnify them for the fear and awe felt by them until then; and often he pays for his envied position with his life. And an influential and powerful position it is. His advice is first heard in war and peace. He has to mark the boundaries of the hunting-grounds; and, when quarrels arise, he has to decide in concert with the chieftain, sometimes even against the latter's wishes. By a majestically distant demeanour, and by the affectation of severe fasting and of nightly meetings with the spirits of another world, these augurs have succeeded in giving such an appearance of holiness to the whole caste, that their influence is a mighty one to the present day; even with the Indians of the Aldeamentos, where contact with the white race is sure by-and-by to produce a certain degree of scepticism. Whell I was at the Aldeamento of San Ignacio, on the Paranapanema, Guyaba' chieftain and Paje of an independent horde of Clayowa Indians, made his appearance; and I had e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~n I a the llonour of being introduced to this magnificent sample of a conjurer. He was a man of about fifty, with large, well-cut features, framed within a dense, streaming mane of long black hair. The long xerimbita on his under lip (a long, thin cylinder of a resin resembling amber), a great number of black and white beads, covering his chest in regular rows like a cuirass, and a broad girdle holding his eheripa (sort of apron), which was fringed all round with rich, woven ornaments, gave him quite a stately, majestic appearance. Though he had never seen white men before,-the few officials of the Aldeamento being all more or less'"amulatadosx,' that is, showing the mulatto type,-and though our expeclition could not but interest him in more ways than one, he did not deign to show the least surprise, or anything like it, and on our invitation took a seat at our table with such a quietly supercilious self-possession that we ourselves nearly forgot the nil acdcmitrtr and our duties as hosts. ~135~ ~ THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. In an interview he had with the Director of the Aldeamento, who wished him to leave his forests and to join the whites, whro had plenty of knives, hatchets, salt, and even powder and lead, and among whom only polygamy was prohibited, he owned,gravely nodding his head and repeating over and over again, "Mnesmo, mesmo " ("Likewise, likewise," used affirmatively), which had already gained for him the nickname of " Capitao Likewise,"-that what the white capitao had said as to the power and riches of the white men was all right and true; and that even polygamy had its disadvantages; but that, nevertheless, on account of his people he preferred remaining in the woods, and coming only occasionally to the Aldeamento to trade with his white friends. " Yes; and to pilfer this and that," was savagely whispered into my ear by the Director, who had now, for the third or fourth time, been baffled in his attempts at " ivilising the sly fellow. " Whenever he comes here," he assured me, "I have to send a few spies after him, if I don't wish him, or his worse set of women, to take away an axe, or a knife, or even a gun to his canoe, in addition to the little bag of salt I always present him with." "What do you think fine rogue did some time ago, in the Aldeamento of Sao Pedro d'Alcantara, on the Tibagy? He knew that one of the Cayowa Indians there, one of his own tribe, was possessed of an excellent axe, not one of those imported ones, wThich are useless with hard wood, but a good solid one made in our own country. To get this axe was the subject of Cuyaba's dreams both by day and by night. By a clever use of all his worldly and spiritual authority, and with an eloquence he knows how to display in the right place, in spite of his usual curtness, he contrived to make the poor fellow promise to hand over to him the coveted weapon, on the condition of the Great Spirit, moved by Cuyaba's intercession, granting him an interview for the purpose of initiating him into all the mysteries of Pajeism. After a course of preparatory ceremonies, severe fasts, and morti-fications, to which the zealous neophyte submitted with patient readiness, Cuytaba informed him that the great day had arrived, on which he was to recite the prayers and magical words he had been taught, from sunrise unto sunset, on a particular spot in the forest, with strict observance of the rule of abstinence from both food and drinlk. He should then be certainly favoured with the presence of the miilAty Spirit, who would reveal to him the most wonderful things: but he, Cuyab&, must have the hatchet before the arrival of that great moment, as urgent business (Government affairs probably) called him thence." With the earnestness of profound faith, the honest youth took up his position on the appointed spot, from early dlawn lmtil thie beams of the setting slun gilded the tree crowns around him and the returny~ing parrot-~flocks ~filled the valley with their shuill tries. HRis prayers and supplications became louder and more ardient fr~om holu}to hour; but the Great Spirit did not reveal itself to his weary eyes. So at last he returned sadly and THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 139 slowly to his cottage, there to learn that the old impostor had left the settlement with his wivies and-the hatchet of course, and was now far beyond his reach; his complaints to the Director being of no avail, as the old humbug never returned to Sao Pedro d'Alcantara.* He had more legitimate claims, however, on the gratitude " of the best of his time and tribe " than this conjuring a' la Cagliostro. The Director had once witnessed his cure of a bad case of rheumatism. Singing aloud his exorcisms, and shaking the maraca' (whose sound is said to be especially disagreeable to the ears of the bad spirit J-urupari), Cuyaba danced round his patient, a young Indian, the while smoking a cigar of immense size and of peculiarly miraculous potency, whose smoke he, blew into the sufferer's face and over his naked body. Presently he began to stroke and shampoo him from top to toe with such wild energy, that in a short time the perspiration poured in streams down his own and the patient's limbs. After he had, by a steady course of stroking from the middle to the extremities, pretended to concentrate the disease in his fingers and toes, like one of our jugglers, he pulled it out with a sudden wrench, put it into his own mouth, and swallowed it with fearful grimaces. He then declared the sick man to be cured; and, as the latter without any doubt felt some relief after all that kneading and perspiring, the Indian public at large was more than ever convinced of the efficacy of the huge cigar, the maraca, and the magical words, and of Cuyaba's power over diseases and evil spirits. I mentioned the xerimbitai as an integral part of Cuyaba's costume. It is a cylinder of from 12 to 15 centimetres in length, made of the transparent yellow resin of the jatahy tree, inserted into a thin bamboo tube. It is polished afterwards, pointed at one end, and provided with a small horizontal piece at the other, which secures it in the perforated underlip. This barbarous ornament though in that form and of that material we found it only with the Cayowa Indians of the province of Parana2 must not be omitted in a description of the Amazon basin some 300 geographical miles further off; for on the shores of the Mamore, on a hill calledl the Cerrito, near the site of the former Misaioa of Exaltacion, three white quartz xerimlbitas of 5 to 6 centimetres length have been found, identical with some of the same material fished out of the Tibagy near Sho Pedro d'Alcantara. -'- The maraca is a sacred instrumlellt, much resembling a child's rattle, used only by the Pajes and chieftains on solemn occasions. It simply consists of a gourd, with an ornamented handle, filled with pebbles, and always reminded me (I beg the pardon of all good Catholics) of the holy-water sprinkler of the Roman Church. Ljike that, it ins inldispenlsable for thle exlpulsion of evil spirits. 140 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. On this Cerrito, an elevation well suited for a settlement, as in times of extraordinary high floods it rises like a lonely island out of the wide-spreading muddy waters (and which at present is inhabited by a clever and active Brazilian, Senhor Antonio de Barros Cardozo; to whom we and the leader of a former expedition, Lieutenant Gribbon, are alike indebted), the showers have washed out, besides the heavy stone xerimbitas,* a great many fragments of old earthen pots, ornamented in their interiors with simple undulating lines. If we must regard the easily made resin xerimbitas as the unmistakablo evidences of a particular tribe, how much more the stone ornaments, which must have taken a deal of time and trouble to finish? And the circumstance of their being found in regions so widely apart from each other confirms the hypothesis of a once wider range of the Tupi tribes, or testifies to the extent of their victorious expeditions. All the members of the tribe most probably did not wear these quartz xerimbiftas, but only the chiefs and the Pajes, who to the present day pride themselves on the particular length of them. One of the Cayowaf Indians of San Ignacio once told me, with evident signs of a deep-felt awe, that some holy men (santos) were living in the far interior cf the forests, who were distinguished from other mortals by the unwonted size of their xerimbita's. Might not such holy personages have used the hard quartz in past "heroic" periods; and might not these time-defying signs of their dignity still be found, in large numbers, near their places of worship, not unlike our own Druid temples? As for the multitude of earthen fragments found o the errito, evidently an old Indian settlement and burial-ground, they may have their origin in the custom of breaking the earthen pots at funerals, even as our own ancestors are said to have done ill prehistoric times. Nowhere in any of the present Indian Aldeamentos, though the women there bake the pots just as they did ages ago (but where many of the rites may have fallen into disuse), did I see such a quantity of broken vessels accumulated as on that hill on the Mamore' But the white: man has long appropriated to himself the old burial-ground or sanctuary. Dense cacao plantations cover its foot, while on the summit the juice of the sugar-cane is boiled under large open sheds, or meat is cut in thin long slices and dried in the sun. Already a small steamer ploughs the yellow river, and soon its impatient puffing and whistling will warn the lingerers - Olle of these, kindly presented to mle by Benhor Cardozo, is now in the high~ly interesting ethnographical collection of Mr. ]31ackmore, at Salisbury. May many follow the example of this Msecenas of Art and Science, who not only collects and preserves the historic and prehistoric remains at and near Salisbuoy, but tries to embrace the whole history of hrumana developmeat i THE WILD INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MADEIRA VALLEY. 141 at Cerrito that it is time to get ready, if they would catch the train in Guajara, and by that the steamer at San Antonio, and, by that again, the Transatlantic Mail at Para! And then, after the lapse of another age, the Red Man will have gone, and nothing will be left of his transit but-a few broken pots. CHAPTER VII. THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. Foundation of the issions. -Life there.-Severe ~ 4>~ ~ ~ ~~~~~ n Discipline.-Their actual State.-Bloody Episode at Santa Ana. Consequences of the political Storms. —High Festivals and Processions.-Visit of the Excellentissimo. —The Chicha. —~ocabu-!~ 7 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~' l ~ ~ vlary.-The Missions on the Paranapanema and Tibagy.-Final Considerations. n l the campos or prairies of Eastern Y Bolivia, between the Bent, the Mamore, the Itonamaa and the Guapore, about T d30,000 real funmixed Indians, the ojos, still exist in the former Jesuit Missions,~ fifteen large regularly planned' villages. Totally cut off from the outer world-on ~"~"~~~ one side by the ice-covered Cordillera de los Aindes; and, on the other, by pathless deprived, moreover, of their leaders and teaehers, they live in a state of disheartening dieporessionz and bondage little removed from absolute slavery. " Trinidad was founded in 1687 San Jos6! was founded in 1691 San Ignacio,, 1689 San Borja,, 1693 San Javier,, 1690 Exaltaction,, 1704 In the church of the latter Mission may still be seen a slnall crucifix, with a tiny palrticle of the Holy THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 143 and, finding themselves settled in places little suited to their former modes of life, gradually gave up all their old customs, they bent before a far superior mental power, ~which soon discovered the patriarchal severity of sway to be the form of government best suited as well to the selfish purposes of the rulers as to the childish intellect of the Indians. If they felt their subjection, and if their proud chiefs had to bow before the Fathers, they were recompensed by the protection extended to them by the latter; which, especially during the slave-robbing expeditions of the Paulistas, was of great service to them. The ruinous feuds between the different tribes ceased; and materially they were better off than before in many respects, the planting of maize and mandioca on a larger scale, and the breeding of the smaller domestic animals, ensuring a more regular and equal course of life than that supplied by hunting and fishing. The early stages of the work of civilisation must have been attended with great difficulties; and it is much to be regretted, in the interest of both history and psychology, that the scanty reports we have on them are too partial to be implicitly relied upon, coming as they do from the Jesuits themselves, and from their adversaries, who triumphed after the suppression of the Order. Our chief authority, out of the ranks of the latter, is Don Feliz de Azara, a Spanish astronomer and surveyor; who, towards the end of the last and in the beginning of the present century, visited these countries, and communicated with several of the Indians, who well remembered the government of the Fathers and their expulsion in 1767. He even goes so far as to deprive the Jesuits of all credit for the foundation of the Missions; which, as he labours to prove, had their origin in the so-called Encommiendas, plantations of Indian slaves established by private persons, civil and military officers of high rank, under the protection of the Government; and whose success and continuance were rendered possible only by the dread felt by the still independent tribes of the terrible razzias of the Paulistas. But Azara is too prejudiced altogether. Surely the cruel treatment of the Encommiendas cannot be taken as having added to the prosperity of the Missions, institutions founded by the same hated white race; and the fear of the invasions of the Paulistas could not have been very great with the Chiquitos, andL Cross carefully sectlred writhin a crystal case, with the following words referring to the foundation engraved on a silver plate at its base: — "S. ignumn Crucis, del cue se adora en el Colegio de S. Pablo de ima, le dis el Pladre Provincial, Antonio Vasquez, al Padre Jualn del Campo, quien como Rector de S. Pablo lo dio a otro Padre grave y este al P. N. de O., que con bene placito de los Superiores lo applic a la Recluceion de los lNojos de la Exaltacion de la Cruz clue funda el Padre Ant. Garriga anno 1704." The nine other Missions, Loreto, S. Pedro, S. lnamon, S. Maria Bagdalena, N. S. de la Concepcion, N. S. del Carmen, S. Joaquiln, S. Ana, and Reyes, were likewise founded in thie beginning of the eighteenth century. 144 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. the Mojos for instance, lving in the far West (the present Bolivia), though Celsewhere it might have counted for something.* The secret of the complete success of the Jesuits doubtless lay in the strict organization and discipline of the Order, the zeal and unselfishness of its members, the tact with which they treated the Indians; and in the docile temper and quiet humility which down to the present day characterize the tribes they chiefly experimented on, the Guaranis and the Mojos. Some attempts at reducing to submission other tribes, like the warliie Coroadlos between the Parand and Upper Uruguay, were quite unsuccessful; and in one case ended with the death of the daring missionary. According to the notes of Azara, and of the Jesuits Dobrizhoffer and Charlevoix, the way in which these Missions (or Reducciones, as they were then called) were administered was as follows. On each of them were two priests; one apparently to attend exclusively to spiritual affairs, but in reality directing the whole concern, and the other to look after worldly matters, the administration in all its details. All the Missions within a certain district were under the superintendence of a superior, who resided at one of the principal ones-for the Paraguay Miissions, it was Candelaria; for those of the Beni, S. Pedro-and formed the medium of communication between those outposts and the General of the Order in Europe. The preliminary measures for the foundation of a new Mission are thus described by Azara. First of all, some Indians belonging to an established Reduccion were sent with presents to the tribe to be'"reduced,"' and the decoy birds were instructed to tell their wild brothers that a noble white mall in the neighboulrhood, who loved them dearly, greatly desired to come and live with them; that he would bring them gifts even more valuable than those presented; that they then would always have plenty of cattle, iron utensils, and wearing apparel; and that he would build houses for them, cure their sick, and altogether be of the greatest service to the whole tribe. The messengers, of course, were chosen from the best looking and most intelligent of the Indians of the nearest Mission; their contentedness was in itself a strong inducement; and the promises of the white man csually sounded so prettily in the ears of the hearers, that they willingly consented to the -visit of the G~reat UTnknowlz vho, naturally losing no time, made his triumphal entry in the malocca, accompanied by a considerable number of his former pupils, carrying presents, and driving a small herd of cattle before them. In a highly elevated state of mind, generated amid festive dances and revels, the materials for which the Padre supplied with unsparing hand, the new village is planned, streets are measured out, a chapel and solid houses of pise are built (of course, by the s Once eas far as Chiquitos; but they were driven bac, and have ever sincee left the niTissionx there in peace. THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 145 Indians of the older Mission, whom I can fancy laughing quietly in their sleeves), in place of the light open sheds; and, above everything, the surrounding country is planted with mandioca, corn, and cotton. The magnificent climate ripens the crops; new herds are brought over from the old Mission; and, when the season of harvest arrives, the delighted savage finds himself in the possession of an unwonted abundance, and in a short time gets so used to the new order of things that he does not think of returning to his old habits. Without much trouble, he now has plenty of everything; whereas formerly, especially in the rainy season, when the swollen rivers spread their thick floods far and wide over the plains, and the fishes, finding worms and insects to their heart's content, despised his baits-more than once hunger had stared him in the face, in spite of his exertions. The ague, which long had tormented him, has vanished before the powerful bitter medicine of the white man; the ugly wound, which had defied even the conjuring of his mighty Paje, has closed with the balm supplied by the holy man. In short,. the son of the forest has never before felt so rich and so happy.* Then there is another element not to be overlooked. The female sex could not but profit by the diffusion of gentler customs, just as in the time of our own heathen forefathers, when St. B3oniface and other pious sons of Erin's green isle first preached the Gospel on the Rhine and Fulda; and the squaws, having the satisfaction of learning from the Indians of the Missions that there the lords of the creation had to be content with one wife only, and moreover that, like themselves, they had to work in the fields, doubtless were the first to be won over to the new doctrine; and there, as in our own country, and then, as in our own time, became the most powerful auxiliaries of the white men in black gowns. Anyhow, we get nearer to the arrival of the period of decision, which will show us whether the love of freedom or the honeyed words of the Father will prevail; and some fine morning he calls together all his children, and, in wellknown accents,t delivers the following speech, or one conducting to the same conclusion:Rneferring to the hearty appetite of the Indians and the course pursued by the Jesuits, Dobrizhoffer says: "If, after the saying of St. PauLl, faith enters by the ears with other heathens, it certainly enters by the mouth with the savag~es of the Paraguay." t- Already in the sixteenth century the Jesuits, Joseph de Anchieta and Manoel da Vega, had written vocabularies of the Tupi language, the Lingua G~eral. Brazilica; and in 1639 followed several G~uaran vocabularies by Montoya. They wvere intended to help the missionaries in their task, and also to render that complaratively rich idiom the genzeral one, a sort of lingua franca,"' in all South America. H~owever, thle Padres also took the trouble of learning less-spreacl iclioms, when they thought it necessary for their success. One of our Mojos, from Triniclad had a little book of well-written I prayers in his own la~nguage, which is quit~e different from the Tupi. The original dates from the Jesuits, and the copies taken by the Indians themselves, as the proprietor proudly assured me, descend from generation to generation. In the Redtucciones on the Beni, the missionaries had to learn, in this wayr, no less than seven languages. 146 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. guidance. I hope you will now altogether give up your old life in the woods; only, as it is quite impossible, you know, that your brethren should go on working for you as they have hitherto done, you must yourselves lend a helping hand in the fields and with the herds; and, in short, you must do all I tell you." Even if some of the elder Indians sulkily took up their bows, and turned their backs on the orator and his nearly complete Mission, the greater part of the tribe thought of the fleshpots of Egypt, and-remained. Then a proud staff of overseers and assistants was named from among the Indians themselves, very likely, at first, from those of the next Mission; the Correjidor and the Alcaldes carrying silver-headed sticks as emblems of their exalted rank, and visiting the Director every day to receive his orders; the fajor-domo de Collegio, who, as chief master of the household, had to look after the provisions of the community, and to distribute the weelely rations; then the masters of the diferent trades-the Cap itano de los Carpinteros, the master of the carpenters; the Capitano de los Herreros, the master of the smiths; the Capitano de los Tejederos, the master of the weavers; the Capitano de los Rosarios (instead of Torneros), the master of the turners, so called because he had to make the rosaries worn by every one,* and was attached to the service of the church; the Capitano de la Capella, the Capitano de la Plata, and the Capitano de la Cera, the masters of the chapel, of the plate, and of the wax. Besides, there were the Fiscales, to look after the works in the fields; and the Cruzeros, a sort of sanitary police, recognisable by black crosses onr their white camisetas, who had to take care of the sick, and to register the births and deaths. The pomp of sacerdotal sway, which to the present day profoundly impresses the childish mind of all these nations, certainly contributed greatly to make them forget the loss of that golden liberty which the next generation never even knew; and the Fathers took special care to allot to the whole population as large and as active a share in its display as was possible, be it in the shape of the execution of sacred music or of processions, or of symbolic dances. The churches, now half in ruins and bereft of the best part of their ornaments, inl the time of their spleSdour must have surpassed everything till then seen in South America, in respect of magnificence at least, if not in artistic beauty; and as for the processions, Charlevoix relates wonderful t hings about them. Especially on CorpusChristi daT, not only was there the display of a profusion of the richest carpets, banners, and stanclards, but even the luxuriant tropical vegetation was brought under contribution " Our paddlers, each of wh~om had two old thnree rosaries with them, cut very pretty beads of thie Pallo Mliaria with their long knives, and perforated them with threebedged needles; eviclentlyr reminiscelloes of their old industry. THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 147 for the embellishment of the "Via Triumphalis;" and no activity of the teeming fancy of the artist is equal to utilizing all the treasures that offers. How poor seems our Northern vegetation in that respect! Firs and birches are about the only things we use on such occasions; whereas with the palms, ferns, orchids, aroidee and creepers of those forests, one might decorate doorways "fit to be the gates of Paradise." Under high arches covered with palm-leaves and magnificent fruits and flowers, brilliantly coloured parrots and macaws, toucans, snow-white herons, and demure-looking falcons were chained up. Even the yellow puma, and the black and the spotted onca, were exposed in cages; and the scaly inhabitants of the neighbouLring rivers were to be seen living in large basins. The procession itself-with its long train of musicians, and fantastically clad sword-dancers wearing aureolas of long arara feathers and carrying gold-embroidered canopies, banners, silver crosses, &c., and followed by the whole male population, armed partly with guns and partly with bows and arrows-must, indeed, have presented an imposing spectacle, even to minds less impressionable than those of the A1ojos. Other shows, which gratified their taste for the pomp of solemn sights, and at the same time served to keep up their recquired military exercises, were the sham fights, which were held once a week on the square before the church and the collegio; and in which the whole population, capable of bearing arms, had to take part. Horse and foot then engaged each other under the command of richly accoutred leaders, the whole being directed by the Correjidor as commander-in-chief; and the combatants are said sometimes to have warmed up to such a degree that it has been judged necessary to separate them by force. These exercises-continued with even more zeal wThen the Spanish Gtovernment had, on Montoya's request after the invasion of the Paulistas, provided the Indians with fire-arms-enabled the Jesuits not only to send the latter back with bloody heads, but also frequently to assist the Spanish Government in the wars after the separation of Portugal from Spain; when, in Uruguay especially, there were hot fights about the so called Colonia. This severity of discipline and of military regularity did not apply only to their exercises. Tlheir whole life was punctually regulated in the l1educeiones; and to each hour was allotted its particular function~~ which was rigidly maintained. Act dawn of day, a bell called the Indians to prayer; and, after the whole population had assembled on the large sqluare, the musicianzs playing th~e while, those destined to field-Tork betook themselves to the scenes of their activity, under the guidance of their $- Usqu-Le eo illic omnues res, vel ma:xime priva~tee, ad certarn quandam. normam. et conxtantern directse erased ut secundum morem in Bolivia traditum conjuges Indiani media noete sono tintinlnabuli ad exercendum coitum excitarentur. 148 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. overseers, and carrying the image of a saint with them, while the artisans went to their shops with their capitanos or masters. To every one was appointed his daily task; and, with the perfect drilling and schooling they had undergone, we cannot suppose that it was often necessary to apply compulsion. Yet compulsion was applied sometimes; and the whole scheme of education was so arranged as toemphasize the necessity of submitting to law, and to chastisement as the atonement inevitably due to the commission of an offence. On this head there still survives a tradition in the Missions, according to which one of the Padres themselves (probably'one of the younger ones) had to submit to the discipline of a severe punishment, it may be for some imaginary crime. The course of reflection designed to be impressed upon the astonished Indians evidently was this: If this can happen with the green wood-the clever, reasonable white man, communing directly with the Divinity-how, in the like case, can the dry wood murmur and rebel, the poor sinful Indian? Dark stories also are afloat of rebellious chieftains imprisoned for life, who, in their enforced leisure, pondered over their fruitless endeavours to cross the plans of the Society of Jesus. And what were these plans? Had they really the intention of founding an independent realm of G uaranis? Was it to be a refuge for them in the event of some storm sweeping them out of Europe? They have been charged with designedly excluding the Spanish language from the Missions (which is the more striking, as with that exception they devoted tolerable attention to the efficiency of their schooling), with the view of securing to themselves the monopoly of direction; and by this prudent measure, indeed, they rendered any instigation of the Indians by their enemies exceedingly difficult, if not altogether impossible. However, though they were well able to resist the royal decree of their expulsion, and to detach themselves and their domains from a State incapable of opposing them energetically (as did their mental cousin, the memorable Francia, in Paraguay), they delivered up their Reducciones (which in Rio Grande do Sul, Corrientes, and Paraguay alone, are said to have numbered 100,000 souls) to the Commissary, who was attended only by a few horsem~en and st couple of Franciscan monkls, with a calmness and philosophy the grandeur of which we might admire, but for the suspicion which intrudes itself that the Fathers regarded the whole as only a passing storm, and were unwilling to incur the odium of rebels for nothing. Or did they look upon their South-American M~issions~ as a mnilch-cow, which would give them the means of carrying out their ambitious plans in Europe? At any rate, the speculation in the immense natural treasures of these countries was not a bad one. If, even at that early period of development, the opening trade in hides, THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS OF BOLIVIA. 149 cotton, Paraguay tea in the South, and caca'o in the North, proved to be the source of so much wealth that the churches of the Missions abounded in plate, richly ornamented sacred vessels, and chasubles, the remains of which are still treasured up and jealously guarded by the Mojos on the Beni as heritages of the good old times, what might not have been the condition of these unparalleled colonies, after the lapse of half a century? The trade in Paraguay tea, which is so indispensable to high and low on the River Plate, would alone have yielded an immense revenue, as it nowhere thrives so well as it does there, not to speak of the cattle and, in the Northern provinces, the sugar-cane, coffee, cac&o, &c. The Missions would have become the grandest and the best administered agricultural institutions the world had ever seen, for there can be no doubt that the Jesuits would have succeeded in bringing them down to our own time in almost unchanged condition; only a ceaseless stream of immigrants, a far-extending net of roads and railways, and a general activity of trade (such as has been observed to spring up within the last ten years), might have interfered with the continuance of the patriarchal system: but, in any case, it would have taken some time to abolish it entirely. After all we have seen, the condition of the Indians during the prosperity of the Missions differed from real slavery only in the particular that they were not exposed for sale; and it almost sounds ridiculous when Jesuit authors like Charlevoix speak of Christian republics, in allusion to the institutions of early Christianity. The Indians certainly were held on about the same low level as slaves. There was no private property in the community, save their trifling household goods; the soil was cultivated jointly; and they were strictly prohibited from selling to strangers the produce of their industry during their hours of leisure. The community of goods, therefore, existed only in favour of their masters; into whose pockets all the profits of the common work went, and who gave to their subordinates only such share as they pleased or thought absolutely necessary. Whether such treatment was at all Christianlike, or not, the famous disciples of Loyola must have been the best judges themselves: but IRepublican it surely was not; and our Socialist theorists, not to speak of th~e ftirebrandl-wielding disciples of the same school, will hardly assent to this interpretation of their principles. On a review of all the circumstances, we cannot look upon the Missions in the same rosy, ideal light as Jesuit authors; yet, when we observe the state of degeneracy and misery in which the descendants of those Indians (who ill the narrowness of their views certainly felt themselves happy) exist, within an ofge frem the mibrty thevoluto of thinjo, it entikes us t~hat t~he seeming adv~a~-ntage of the greater liberty they now enjoy has been too 150 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. dearly purchased. If the Jesuits did take advantage of them, it was after a cleverly conceived system, calculated to bear fruit for a long season. Their existence, at least, was ensured to them; whereas now they are cleaned out, ruined physically and morally, after no system at all, by hundreds of pitiless adventurers, who have no concern whatever for their future welfare. While under the rule of the Fathers, they were, it must be owned, in a condition of tutelage not exactly favourable to their future development; but the time of emancipation would have arrived to them also, perhaps under better auspices than the present; for let us hope that the sun of real civilisation will some day shine upon unfortunate Bolivia, continually disturbed with internal storms, and that her latent treasures will still emerge to the light. In the present state of things, the Indians are entirely in the hands of a horde of lawless adventurers, intent upon their own gains; from the vain but crafty Bolivian, and the fugitive defaulter from Rio de Janeiro, to the ignorant Polish pedlar, and the dirty Neapolitan tinker. Under pretext of trading, these cheat and defraud the artless red-skins in the most shameful way. And withal it seems as if these people had all sworn to do as much injury as they could to the morals of these children of NatLre. The vigarios, the priests of the Pueblos, especially do their utmost to undo the work of their predecessors. To them neither the silver vessels* nor the wives nor the daughters of their parishioners are sacred;t and, with the innate frivolity and sensuality of the natives, such examples of depravity must exercise the saddest influence on their habits. These introductory remarks will serve to continue my reference in Chapter II. to the present state of the late Missions now called Pueblos, that is, villages. They are under the superintendence of Correjidors, officials appointed by the Government and sent over from La Paz, Cochabamba, or Santa Cruz. But, as the Departamento del Beni, in which these Pueblos are is regarded as a sort of exile, and as there usually " In a conversation I had at Trinidad with the Superintendent of Police respecting the treasures still existing in the Pueblos, he dwelt Ulpon the enormity of the vigarios, over whoml he had no authority whatever, who secreted one after another of the vessels, had thela melted dlown, and then sold the silver. Besiles, added he, with a characteristic movement of the hand, as though he were crushing some basin, they sometimes so dlisfigure the dielicately ornamnented allc2 carved vessels that they im~pudently us~e them at their own. tables. tF fSexn;um inter se consuetudo cum apucl nullnzm Indlianorunl gentium ~AuLstro-Americanar arul magna cum severitate exerceatur, tum alpucl MdZojos Boliviae verecundia imprimis laxata est. Maritus si post sex vel octo mensium absentiam domum rediit, duummodo ei nxor novam "Camisetaml" novumclque leeturn suspensum texuerit, miti animo audit mulierem culu hoc vel illo rem habuisse se narrantem, a t-um demum indignabitur, si forte corpus miscuerit cum aliquo ex Albis. Quue cum ita aint, syphiliticox morbo8 atroeem in modurn ing~ravescere, facile intelligitur; atqure ii vel prmecipue in causa sunt intermorientium paulatim ant marcescentium corum, q(ui Alborum consuetudine utmntur, Indianorumn. THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS OF BOLIVIA. 151 are few aspirants to the offce, the Government, having small choice, frequently entrusts the post to totally unfit hands. As in most of the South-American republics, the endless political disorders, which are caused by personal interests, and not by the conflict of political feeling, must also have contributed to make the remote Departamento a sort of forlorn outpost, undeserving of any, even the least, sacrifice. Had even competent Government officials taken greater interest in it, and been inspired with the desire to do something towards its progress, the short interval between the pulling down of one president and the fall of his successor, the excitement produced by these always more or less bloody dramas, and the subsequent changes in the offices, have not admitted of the execution of any wide improvements. If, for example, the importance of a regular line of communication between the lamor6 and the Amazon had not been impressed from without, Bolivia never would have done anything for it; and for ages to come the few imported European goods would have continued to be carried over the desolate paths of the Cordillera, w-hile the rich products of the country would have been left to decay and ruin, like its poor brown population. Only twice, in a space of more than forty years, did the Government at La Paz deign to remenmber its subjects on the Mamor6; and on both occasions they designed only the robbery of the Missions. In 1830, or thereabouts, the Indians of the Pueblo de Sallta Ana rebelled against their Correjidor, whose brawling son had killed their chieftain in a scuffle. The criminal escaped, and in his place the incensed Mojos murdered the father, whose house they burned down at the same time: but their vengeance soon cooled; they quietly laid down bows and arrows, and returned to their wonted occupations. Nothing could have been easier than to find out the ringleaders, to bring them to trial, and to have them severely punished. The Government of the Republic, however, had other intentions than to make an example of them. They had long waited at La Paz for an opportunity of getting hold of the silver treasure of the Pueblos; and now it had come at last. Some hundreds of soldiers were despatched to the Departamento, charged to seize half of the plate of all the fifteen Pueblos, the remotest of which, perhaps, had ot even heard of the coumittecl crime, and to bringP it as satisfaction to La Paz. As tile want of sympathy between the seven different tribes of the Missions, which might have been insidiously enoulraged by the Jesuits, put the idea of an orgranized resistance out of the question, the pilfering soldiery went from Pueblo to Pueblo, and had but to pack up the sacred vessels and to load their beasts of burden with them. ~[ow much was carried off in this way cannot now be exactly ascertained; but it may be presumed that it was not less than the prescribed half; and at the present day there 152 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. are, in the fifteen Missions together, nearly 100 arrobas, that is 3,000 pounds of silver.* But when President Melgarejot —a brutal man, a murderer, and a drunkard, who by pitiless oppression of the financially ruined country secured the means for his life guards —also conceived the idea of robbing the churches in the Pueblos on the Mamore and the Itonama for a second time, and of making clean work of it once for all, the Indians of Trinidad rose as one man, and obliged the lieutenant and his little troop, who had been sent thither for a start under an evidently erroneous conception of things, to beat a hasty retreat without fulfilling their mission. Save these sporadic and, as will be allowed, not very profitable interventions on the part of the Supremo Gobierno, the Indians, who do not meddle with the regularly recurring political revolutions, are completely abandoned to their own indolence and to the mercy of the traders I have already named, upon payment of the annual tax of 4 pesos, about n0 francs per head. In illustration of the reckless indifference with which the amplest sources of wealth, that might powerfully contribute to the country's future prosperity, are left to ruin, let me give the following narrative: On the campos near the Missions there were innumerable herds of half-wild cattle, the descendants of those bred in the time of the Jesuits, and under their iron government so jealously guarded that the Indians never dared take more of them than the Padres graciously permitted. + It was a stock which, though a The church in the Mission of S. Peclro alone had 2,000 lbs. of silver in the time of the Jesuits. t Nothing witnesses more strikingly to the sad political condition of the country than the number of its Presidents since the Declaration of Indepenlence, or, perhaps, the way in which most of them retired from the scene of politics and —life. They were: 1. The Libertador, Simon Bolivar, born in Caracas 1784, died 1830. 2. Marshal Jose Ant. de Sucre, born at Cumana 1793, murdered 1830. 3. General D. Pedro Blanco, murdered 1838. 4. General D. Andres Santa Cruz. 5. General D. Jose Miguel de Velasco, died 1860. 6. General Jose Ballivian, poisoned at Rio de Janeiro 1851. 7. General Manoel Isidoro Belzu. 8. General George C6rdova, murdered 1861. 9. Dr. D. Jose MVfaria inares, died at Valparaiso 1861. 10. General Jose Maria Ache. 11. General l~l1ariano Melgarejo, murdered 1872. 12. Dr. A. l~orales, assassinated 1873. 13. Iieutenant-Colonel Adolfo Ballivian, elected 15th May, 1873. Only two of these formally surrendered their supreme office to their successors. Some were murdered immediately after their fall; others on their flight after ith; some of them even oly neutral territory. "i According to a tradition still current in the Pueblos, the Jesuits, in order to utterly spoil the Ialdians' appetite for beef, and to give their newly imported herds timle to increase, tried to makre them believe that the meat of the horned monsters which had come firom such a distance was injuloiou~ to the sled man; and it is THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 153 sprung from small beginnings, had in the course of two hundred years increased to an immense total; judicious management of which would have continued to yield increased results. But el Supremo Gobierno at La Paz, who, adopting Apres nots le deluge for his motto, apparently prefers immediate profit to all the bright visions of the future, has for twenty-five years past allowed a set of adventurers, coming mostly from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, to carry on a war of destruction against these cattle. The payment of a tax of one peso per head purchased the right of any one to kill as many as he liked or could catch; and, if he understood his business, and hit on the right way of addressing the controlling Correjidor, he paid, let us say, 300 pesos for 3,000 head of cattle. But as this mode of destruction was perhaps found. to be rather a slow one, twelve years ago a well-organized company purchased, for the round sum of 5,000 pesos, the monopoly of slaughter on a large scale, for a period of ten years, on the campos of the Beni and the Mamore; and it must be confessed that the utmost was then done, even for South America, in the way of beastly brutality and thoughtless waste. In these cases, generally, only the hides and tallow were made use of, the meat being left as worthless to the vultures. To be sure, neither the hands nor the appliances for cutting, salting, and drying-such as may be found in the great saladeiros of the Argentine Republic, Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul *-could be easily found in Bolivia, and the preparation of Liebig's extract of meat, in the absence of machinery, has been, of' course, quite out of the question. This summary mode of doing business, though it may be sometimes justifiable, will always be opposed to European sentiment, especially when disclosure is made of the disgusting particulars. The above-mentioned company, for instance, caused to be erected t strong fences, extending widely over the campos, and narrowing gradually towards the end. Into this waterless "corral" the flying herds were driven by mounted Indians, and the poor animals, distressed with fear and thirst, died in such numbers that, under the glowing tropical sun, the greater portion of the hides and fat was spoilt long before the hides could be taken off. But, where one of these abominable chases proved ruinous rather thn profitable, others, eected with more circumspecti4on, proved successful-; and many thousands of the valuable and easily transported hides, when sold, brought such a plenty to the country, that a perfect Fools' Paradise ensued. azclclecl that, by way of emphasizing the statement, they mere careful to let them, have some poisoned pieces. ~Vho is not reminded by this of the well-known Jesuitical principle? -&s In some saladeiros, or charcqleadas (that is, factories of charque, or carne secca, dried ~neat), fiom 800, to 1,000 oxen are slaughtered daily, and their meat cut with a dexterity that surpasses belief. -t The palings of these fences are bound with strips of untannedi hide, which is used in these countries. for the most different purposes. Lagos (slings) are made of it; beds and chairs are covered with it; and the~ cat-o'-nine-tails (the guasca) is a bundle of slightly tfwisted strips of it. 154 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. The caballero, who galloped proudly along in his red-striped poncho, with the large sombrero on his black hair, and silver spurs to his tall deer-skin boots, but showing none of the grand qualities of his Spanish ancestry save unbounded vanity and dandyism, then lost and won immense sums, and hundreds of hides, at dice. These he always carried with him on his rides over the campos; and, at a moment's notice, the saddle-cloth was spread on the ground, and the blind goddess was tempted. In the Pueblos the lazy Indians burnt tallow instead of fuel, and yet there remained such vast herds of cattle that a fat cow did not cost above two pesos. So the Government, always embarrassed for money, and thinking this source of wealth to be inexhaustible, had the effrontery to pay their officials in the Pueblos on the Mamore (the corrcejidores, rigarios, and schoolmasters) with bonds for so many head of wild cattle, leaving it to their own judgment whether they caught them themselves, or sold their bonds at a considerable abatement to the professional slaughterers. Hunclreds and hundreds of fat, easily domesticated animals could be had in this way for little more than the trouble of capturing them; but unfortunately the example of our old friend, Antonio Cardozo, who acquired such herds and made them the stock of an estancia, near Exaltacion, has not as yet found many followers among the Bolivians; and this is the more to be regretted as the consequences of such an inconsiderate policy -soon began to show themselves. The herds were gradually reduced until their last remains have retired, u-nder the guidance of proud bulls,* to remote corners of the campos, where by reason of the wild Indians they will be left in peace for some time to come; and thus has a country, particularly adapted for cattle-breeding by its immense natural prairies, excellent climate and sparse population, been most brutally deprived of one source of future national wealth and prosperity. TWith the wild cattle have also vanished the stags, the deer, and the troops of longnecked emas,t which once lived on the campos in the immlediate vicinity of the Pueblos. - The B3olivians say that the strongest of the young bulls, after bloody fights with his competitors, forns a new herd, at the head of two or three dozens of cows, while the weaker bulls also unite in troops of some clozens. It is a strange fact that the hide of these wild bulls is far superior to that of the tame, in respect of -toughness and durability, and therefore is always much valued, especially for the lasso-rnakri]g. Every year a great numnber of Gauchos come over from the Argentine Republic, from Salta and Tucuman, to buy these hides for makiing tlle indestructible nooses so indispensable to them for the seizure of the half-wild horses, mules, &c., on their pampas. As the so-called: tane cattle of Bolivia, as well as of the Argentine Republic, ar~e as little stabled as the xvilcl bunlls on the n~alaore and th~e Beni, the difference in the toughness of the hides can arise only front the tamle bulls being coupled with a far greater number of cows than the wild.ones. "r The American ostrich, Ema or:Emui, also cailled N'handu, by the Miojos Pi-:Tu (R~ea Amertvcanc), is still frequently found on the remoter campos of the province of Minas. Its eggs are about two-thirds the size of African ostrich-eggs. THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 155 All have been sacrificed to the wild greed of the white man, and the thoughtlessness of the Indians; durable profit being postponed to the advantage of the moment. One thing only, strange to say, survives amid all these sad changes; the practice of the Government in Sucre and La Paz, of paying the officials in the Pueblos by bonds on wild cows; these gentlemen evidently shutting their eyes resolutely to the reductions they have already effected; and I should not at all wonder if, on occasion of some future 0loan, European capitalists were offered the wild herds on the campos as supplementary securities to the treasures to be dug out of the silver and copper mines in the mountains, and to the taxes and tolls to be levied on roads and railroads yet to be built.* At present it is impossible even to calculate the extent of the damage that has been done; but it is quite certain that the Indians of the Missions, who till now were well fed, are already so far degraded as to seek greedily for earth-worms, which they dry on cords before their cottages for their own consumption, and that they have begun to decrease in an accelerated ratio; which is surely effected, among other causes, by physical want., While, on the one side, the wild cattle are destroyed with a zeal worthy -of a better cause, on the other, no pains whatever are taken to turn the rich vegetable treasures of the country to account. Not the least effort is made to extend and improve the culture of the cacao, sugar-cane, tobacco and cotton, or to make use of the magnificent dyeing woods, timbers, and resins wherewith prodigal Nature has so lavishly endowed it. As little is done for industry, to wit, in the development of the extraordinary skill exhibited by the IndiaRs in plaitings and weavings of all kinds, and which, if assisted somewhat by European culture, would justify the best hopes for the future. On the contrary, everything is done to dishearten them thoroughly in this respect. They are required to sell at the lowest prices the varied produce of their industry; solid palmstraw hats (the so-called Panama-hats), tastefully ornamented mats made of brilliantly dyed rushes, and cotton weavings (maca'nas), which far excel European goods in quality of texture and harmony of colour, and which, moreover, are in great demand and fetch high prices in the towns, Cochabamba, Sucret and La Paz;' and again, they are forced: Xillce Tnritilg~ the above, I have seen the Concessioll of the Boliviall Govermuzelt, auth~orising Colonel G. E. Chunrcl to run steamers oll all the rivers of the Itepnblic belonging to the 3Iacl~eira basil; and, sure enough, in it wvas an article, No. 3, which ran as follows:- The Bolivian G~overllmenut concedes to the St~eam Navigation Comlpaly the right of approp~riating fuel and timber wrherever it is not oll private property, aznd of takling 8,000 head of cattle frola th~e herds owned by the State ill the Departamento clel Beni (sic), on c~llit~iol, however, that this be clone in the way most adlvantageous to both the State and the Company1S. t In the Brazilian province of MIinas G~eraes similar fabrics are produced by the wives and dzL-ghlters, and sometimes the female slaves of the poorer planters, or cattle-breeders. As these were always on a small scale, anal therefore ill larger demand than the supply, some merchants of Rio de Janleiro had them imitated in England, allo imlzortecl great qluantities of cotton stuffs exactly reseinblillg them in colour, but of very 156 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. to buy, at six times their fair value, our gaudy cottons, printed with glaring aniline colours which the fair sex vastly prefer to the spotless white, or to the subdued colours of their own manufactures. No wonder, then, that a kind of lethargy creeps over the Indians, thus abused, and that with their good humour their skill at the work also gradually wears away. Indeed, experienced Bolivians have assured me that, of late, it was easy to observe not only a reduction in the quantity, but even a deterioration in the quality of their macanas. The chieftains, of whom there is one in every Pueblo, usually negotiate in the more important matters; they hire the paddlers for your voyage to the Amazon, for instance, and are entrusted with the money paid in advance; but even they, as well as their inferiors, are exposed to frauds perpetrated by white men; and they have so often fallen victims to their own credulity that little may now be expected from their interYention. Only recently two of the richest of them, the one at Exaltacion, and the good old chieftain of Trinidad, had been swindled by unscrupulous rascals out of their whole fortune,-house and home, cattle and plate. The former, who to his misfortune took to dressing after the European fashion, was persuaded by an itinerant Neapolitan jeweller that a man in his position should never wear less than two gold watches, with heavy chains. The poor fellow, accordingly, bought two third-rate Geneva watches, and other useless baubles, at stupendous prices; and he was thereupon so pestered and dunned by his creditor that, in despair of otherwise satisfying him, he sold off his house and his herds, and all he possessed; and he now lives, a ruined man, in as poor.and wretched a condition as the meanest in the Pueblo. Besides the correjidor and the vigario, whose offices are not always filled, as at Exaltacion while we were there, the Government pays —it is startling to record the -fact-a schoolmaster in every Pueblo; and, poor as the teaching may be, yet one occasionally finds an Indian able not only to speak but also to read and write Spanish. different quality. The consequence was that all these fabrics fell into discredit, from which the modest Brazilian industry was not exempt. These pedlars, or mascates (a word sprung probably from the intercourse between Goa, which is still -under Portuguese rule, and Southern Arabia), with their worthless gewgaws, are absolute plagues and nuisances in Brazil. Their peculiar style of doing business is illustrated by the following authentic narrative of what happenedl some years ago in the province of Minax, at a fazendal on the Rio Preto, an a~ffluent of the Parahybana. Attended by his servant and his mules, a mascate arrived there one cay, who might have founded his proposed attackr on the experience he had acquired in previous visits. After selling a few trinzkets, he remained, as usual, to dine with the famnily, to whom he was careful to signify his intention to sttar on the morrow. In the course of conversation with the gentlema. respecting politics and the prie of coffee, and with the ladies touching the latest Par~is fashions, he suddenly stopped short, and took out his waztch, which he klissed respectfully before opening it, and which, having krissed it again, he returned to his pocket. The Brazilian had noticed the manceuvre with amazement; but only after some time did he venture to ask about it. The mascate, who at first feigned some embarrassment and hesitation, finally told him that this watch, an RI,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-; —-- ___ PR`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~ —c —'Rip,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ —- ~ —— ~~AIISA CANTADA IN THE ANCIENT MISSION OF TRINIDAD (AIAM ~ —.I —li). THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVI'A. 157 Among our eighty paddlers there were twvo ~who could read Portuguese almost fluently,,.and who accepted with the greatest pleasure some "bookis for the young" I had with me. Now.V as the' whole library at the disposal. of the Indians in the Pueblos consists of a few written prayers, which have descended from fatlher to sont, fr~om th-e time'of the H~oly Fathers, we may conclude that, with proper help, they would become tolerably lyood scholars. From the same period date also the scores for the Missas Canztadas, fine old Sacred Munsic, and the musical instruments, violins, violoneellos, flutes, harps, and their remarkable -bajo'nes, a sort of trombones in the shalpe of huge Pan's piemade of palm-leaves skilfully pasted together. All these are preserved in the churches; and the Indians th~emselves take special care to keep up their practice on them, and their familiarity in reading the -notes. A high mass at which I assisted in Trinidad was executed with a, precision and.correctness that didl not show the least trace of decline, and reflected credit on the musical capacity of the red race. Altooeffier, that Sunday morning I spent in the old church of Trinidad is one of the memories I most like to diwell upon of all the voyage.. At early morn I left the house of my kind host, and walked- leisurely through the lonely streets of the Pueblo to the squtare in which the clhurch is situated. The rising sun was gilding the clay walls of the edifice, which, though devoid of all architecttural -beauty, yet contrasted effectively with the low mud-houses in its vicinity; sparkling invaluable famlily inheritance, and a matchless talisman, contained a likeness of IINossa Senhora, " wvhich. protectedl the wearer against disease, poverty, and misfortune of every kindl, and that it had saved him already on a hundred occasions. Agazin reverently saluting the precious i owel witlih his lips, he showed to the fazendleiro, who had been listening with distended optics, a picture of the Virgin painted on the inside of the lid (wphich he gave it as his own judgment was probably executed by no less an artist than St. Lukte), then re-krissed it, and carefully stowed it awa~y. Yielding to the ardent entreaties of the fascinated fool, he Consented, reluctantly, to entrust the watch to his kreeping for a few hours; all his anxious proposals to purchase it boeing repelled with indignant resentment, which only served to inflame the planter's eagerness to possess the sacred treasure to such a degree that he continued to offer high~er, and still higher, terms for it. This was exactly what the rogue wanted. After his repeated protestations that he never could be so degraded as to 158 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. dew-drops clothed the grass and flowers; and a refreshing cool wind swept in from the campos. Again I contemplated the naively conceived frescoes on its front of St. Francisco and of St. Luiz de Gonzaga, albeit they were not executed by artists great in colours and lines, and the masterpiece of the tympanum, the mystic device representing the Holy Trinity. In a Mission singularly consecrated to this mystery, such an explanation, if we may be permitted so to call it, was rendered all the more necessary by the fact that the red neophytes more than once perplexed the Fathers with unanswerable questions. While I stood under the portico of the old building, philosophising.and speculating upon the term of active vitality yet reserved for the operations of the spirit of the _=_ _ age in which the rude imagery was executed, by ~ —__~~_ - hands that have long rotted away below either the,~:'......~~green grass of the campos or the dark vaults of the church, I was joined by two Indians, who emerged fromn one of the straight, long streets. They were the sextons; and almost immediately the Li TEili, i bells of the campanile summoned the villagers to prayers. As in Brazil, they are not rung in our <= way; but several well-tuned ones are hammered on at the same time after a peculiar, usually very ~~~:q&.! quick, rhythm. It does not sound very solemn; but 5~ ~the lively melody of the peals harmoliscs well with -~ijjd the blue sky, the bright sun, and the gaudily dressed congregation, which goes to church rather ~_~~ ~.... ~for diversion and for society than for devotion. THtE ~sYSTEpY OF THE TIINITY tEXPL2IIED It is far otherwise, however, in the old Missions on BY A JESUIT ARTIST. the Mamore, where both men and women approached silently and seriously; the former, without exception' clad in the classical camiseta of home manufacture; the latter already luxuriating in chemises of the gaudy, lrge-flowered cottons of Europe, with their long black hair flowing loose over the shoulders, sometimes down to the knees. Even the children, most of them lovely little creatures, walked as demurely as their elders, with rosaries in their chubby brown hands. For this auditory at least, church and divine service had retained all the glory and holiness wherewith the Jesuits of old had surrounded them. From the music-gallery, facing the altar, I could easily watch the filling of the wide hall below, wrapped at first in a mystic twilight. In the first row, close to the choir, squatted the women on mats, after saying a short prayer on their knees; and 1. College of Jesuits. 2. Church. 3. Campanile. 4. Habitations of Indians round the Plaza. ANCIENT MIISSION OF EXALTACION (AMORE') THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 159 behind them were the men. The few white faces, the secretary of the prefect and two or three merchants, were completely lost in the crowd of Indians; and I almost fancied I was hearing mass in the time of Montoya or of one of his successors. In this gallery, which showed two small organs in richly carved cases with painted panels, presently assembled the musicians, with their fiddles, harps, and bajones, under the leadership of the master of the chapel, a venerable-looking old Indian, with large spectacles adjusted by a cord, with little round pieces of lead, passing over the crown of his head; and the singers with a small red flag had taken their post close to the solid wooden balustrade, to help the choir below in case of need. The priest now appeared before the altar, and the solemn tones of a fine old missa swept through the spacious aisle. It was the festival of some saint; and the altar exhibited its richest silver adornments, while slender palms, waving their graceful boughs from the pillars of the aisle and from the music tribune, added the charm of tropical vegetation to the fairy-like picture. An incident, partly comical and partly pathetic, served to intensify my elated frame of mind. While I leaned over the balustrade in the effort to seize as much as possible of the lovely spectacle, an elderly Indian with a brave little boy had knelt down beside me. The old man had looked neither to the right nor to the left, and the beads of his rosary glided swiftly through his fingers; but the child soon began to feel dull perhaps; and his wandering eye at last caught my watch-chain with the locket attached to it; yet he did not presume to extend his hand for it: but his smiling face and brightened eyes, when I took it off and gave it into his hand, clearly evidenced the delight he felt. The old man as yet had only looked askance over his rosary at our doings; but when, on my opening the medallion, he saw a picture in it, which possibly he took for that of some saint, he whispered a few hurried words in the ear of the little fellow, who, seizing the locket with both his tiny hands, carried it devoutly to his lips. Quieter and more decorous behaviour than that of these Indians one could not witness. Here were visible none of those improprieties familiar to Brazil, where the free and easy ladies beckon to their negro boys to fetch them glasses of water during mass. As silently as they had come they returned to their cottages after the ceremony. Such indeed was the stillness that I should have taken the village to be deserted during the rest of the day, but for some groups of children out at play. Gorgeous festivals and processions were counted, as I have alreadly explalined, aleong the principal factors of a successful catechese; and at the present day, not only in Bolivia but all over South America, they are the shows which electrify the whole population. In the North of:1urope at least, one cannot easily form an adeq~uate notion of the 160 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. strange mixture of bigotry, childish delight in shows, and inclination to debauchery,. which impels both high and low to take part in them.* In the Pueblos, however, these spectacles derive a distinctive character from tihe prevailing Indian element, which strongly contrasts, in solemn dignity and a certain savageness, with the more clhildish, monkey-like conception of the negro-mulatto and mestizo population of the cities. In the Pueblo of Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz, where several high wooden crosses are erected in different places, probably in honour of its name, a dozen of the sword-dancers (macheteiros), on the day of the consecration of a church, went -singing and dancing and brandishing their broad knives and wooden swords, from cross to cross, headed by their chieftain, who carried a heavy silver cross, and followed by the whole tribe. They wore dazzling white camisetas, rattling stag's claws on their knuckles, and a fanciful head-gear composed of the long tail-feathers of the araras and of yellow and red toucan's breasts. At every cross, and before the altars of the church, they performed a sort of allegorical dance, with a great show of brandishing their inoffensive weapons, which they at last breathless and perspiring, laid down together with their savage diadems at the foot of the crucifix; the whole evidently representing the submission of the Indians and their conversion to Christianity. Old Bolivians have told me that these dances used to be executed by dozens of' macheteiros, and that they would probably have ceased altogether if the chieftains did not exert the full weight of their authority in behalf of keeping them up, even forcing the young men, in case of need, to take part in them. Self-inflicted tortures are occasionally witnessed in these processions, under the stimulus of religious fanaticism, apt to remind one of the great car of Juggernaut. It may be an Indian who, tied by his outstretched arms and by one leg to a heavy wooden cross, - In some towns in the interior of Brazil, in addition to the scapegraces dressed as Turks, hangmen and Roman soldiers, an actress takes the part of Mary Magdalene in the Good Friday procession. Kneeling on a vhole, it is a wretched exhibition, which gives rise to scandals of every kind. At Barbacena, a little town in Miinas Geraes that enjoys the worst of reputations as to the morals of its inhabitants, such of the women, both married and unmarried, as have to relproaeh themselves for any offence, on a certain day walk to a chalpel boasting a particularly m.erciful image of the Virgin, bare down to their girdles, with hair loose, anll carrying heavy stones on their heads.' Even persons of the highest rank are obliged to comply with local habits in these matters; and at Rio, on Corpus-Christi day, the Emperor Dom Pedro II., bareheaded for two hours, accompanies the procession, which is preceded by St. George, a hideous doll of life-size, tied on a horse; —much to the disgust of his sons-in-law, who also have to submit to the torture, if they happen to be there at the time. ',i~Va XJo H V Ko RFJ1qV H111 UU OJHU OXTO.KIATCEi~ Vvaixizu ao moissix ixuioxv ram jvHJ oui'xviN rNT,.i so-roj,\T c7~~~~~~~~~~~"~~~~~~~~-~~~~~~~=~~~~~~~~~~~~,~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ laey ~r"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~pl1 ~i~i~~i~g~-~A THE IVIlOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORM\IER JESUIT M1ISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 161 accompanies the, corle' e for hours in a painful crawl; or' it m be de, otees (women among them) who drag themselves along on their bare, knees, unmtil, fainting and bleeding, they sink~ down3 before the altar. These festivals regularly end in sharp drinking bouts, in which they contrive to consume a very large quantity of cachaea (brandy), or of their national beverage, chicha; of wvhich I ~shall treat below. Amlongr the chief II profane" occasions for shows and mirth-making are the rare visits of the Prefect of the Departamento, who resides at Trinidad, when he passes through the Pueblos on one of his circuits. Though it be no proud, richly-carved and gilt Venetian barue, that carries' him down 31 Iamor', but quite an ordinary boat with palm-leaf alwning, which at most boasts the green-yellow-Ted flag of the Republic, yet the grace and dignity with which the Excellelltissimo accepts the homage of the crowd waiting for him in the II port " certainly recall the proudest days of the noble city on the Lagoonzs. A volley of musketry'is fired, and the high dignitary is solemnly conducted to thee Pueblo, with a concert contributed by the fidldles, the pipes, and the inevitable bajones, which on these occasions are supported by boys walking before the musicians, like the trombones of antiquity. Headed by their chief, the whole Indian population passes under the windows of Sua Excellencia, after which a -solemn service is held; but the setting of the sun is awaited impatiently all the day. Then begin the entertainrments, wyhich reach their climax in a bull-fight of the most cruel kind, and terminzate with the night. On the Plaza before the loggia of the former Jesuits' College, where the Prefect and the officials have taken their seats, an arena has been formed within a circle of stout palisades. At a given signal, a wild bull, captured on the campos for the occasion, is brought in, and the ring is carefully closed on all sides. The animal, at last disengagedl of the several la~os by w~thich it was originally restrained, suspiciously looks around for a way out; —in vain! Nothing meets his view but endless palisades and the towering heads of a blood-thirsty crowd, inttent, from his Excellency down 162 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. their long, pointed knives beset the poor animal upon all sides, which, infuriated by endless devices, ploughs up the soil with its horns. With lowered head it boldly charges the first adversary; whereupon another sallies forth from behind, who with a sharp cut of his knife opens a gaping wound on its back; and, as the bull, bellowing witlh pain, turns round upon him, the first assailant, amid the yells of the crowd, the applause of the Excellentissimo and of the attendant respectability, and the triumphant music, which now strikes in, literally cuts off a piece of flesh from his back. Thus proceeds the brutal sport, which is sometimes fraught with the gravest risks to the fighters: but no casualty suffices to disturb the general hilarity for one moment. Should _-OJOS INDIANi FROMI TRINIDAD. any of them be impaled on the horns, or tossed into the air, or crushed against the palings till their ribs are broken, they are dragged out, and their places are taken by fresh gladiators, bolder and more savage than the first set. Yes, even women, with flashing eyes and flushed cheeks, like frantic Msenads, leap into the gory ring, to cut off their slices from the carcase of the rapidly expiring beast; which, when the final stroke is delivered that severs the sinews of the hind legs, sinks groaning and bellowing to the ground, where it rather resembles a bleeding mass of quivering flesh than the proud animal that had, an hour before, impatiently and defiantly stamped the sand. Hereupon arise yells of triumph and brilliant flourishes on the bajones. Sua Excellencia expresses his warmest thanks for the elevating spectacle, and retires to THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 163 his apartments; and the drunken Indians discuss their heroic deeds beside the fires, drinking chicha and devouring the meat of their tortured victim. As night advances, the gentry assemble in the spacious rooms of the old collegio for a festive dance, though the rough floors, which are divided into regular compartments by rows of bones, are far from inviting, the IIoly Fathers who had them laid down probably not having designed them for any such use. A few musicians, seated in hammocks in one corner, relieve the mionotony of their recitative,-which is partly an amatory effusion and partly an improvisation suitable to the occasion,-by thrumming on jingling guitars; and the caballeros and senhoritas pair off, either for the national fandango, or, as in these times of universal copying and. _??.'/m/ V1=W011/0//, i..2/. MAlIANO; MOJOS FROM~ TRINIDAD. aping is more likely, for the quadrille. A quadrille at the old Mission of the Beni! And the grocer, or the artist in waistcoats and great-coats who but yesterday mended our old poncho, in his shirt-sleeves, the vis-a-vis of his Excellency, with his lite, gaudily dressed, black-eyed senhora! And yet why not? We must never forget that in South America the colour of the skin, all toleration notwithstanding, determines the social position, and that every white man, or whoever can pass himself off for such, with the assurance of the proudest C~astilianl thinks himself to be of as good blood as the Kting himselL* of race in such cases weighs heavier than all other constiderations. I have known dark Brazilians in the highes posiions a Rio e Janero, wo woud cheefullyleave iven alf teir fotunesand thir inluenc 164 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. The refreshments handed round, chicha and cachaz~a toddy, are so freely partaken of on all sides that most of the c~ompa-ny will lono for a good ride on. the morrow over the fresh dewy campos; so, wishing them all a boass noires, we passed under the gloomy wooden colonnade which supoports the verandah of the collegio, wvhence we got a Yiew of the old church looming in the faint starlialit, and sought repose in our owyn hammrocks. Except malting a few feeble attemzpts at settling the ceaseless differences betwieen the Correjidlor and the chieftain of the Pueblo 2 andl addressing emphatic injunctions to the former as to minding the yearly poll-tax of flie Indians, and as to providing against their escape to Braz-ilian territory, I do not think the Excellentissimo Senhor Prefecto del Departamenlto had much business to transact with his subordinates on the following day; and we may well suffer him to continue in peace his circuit to have frequently mentioned the chicha, —the national beverage of these countries, the naming of which instantly brightens the gloomiest face and relaxes the severest brow. It is'but fair that I should givie some information as to its preparation, though it be at the riski of shocking delicate minds. In the first place, I have to' say that this chicha must not be0 confounded with the sour beverage made fromu apples, which Gerstaecker encountered among the Araucanians, and which, on due consideration, is as much at home on the Rthine anud -the 31ain as in the SouthlC of Chile. Oh no LaLc nuestrac chicciha is made of the golden grains of Indian-corn, which, bruisedl and moistened, are borought to a state of fermentation; but it is just this process of bruising and moistening which gives to i~t its peculiar national distinction, although the grinding stones ar1e to be found whyerever human beings aire. In short, they are no other than the masticatory~ organs of the ladies, —in our case, of the Indian ladies. About the time of a festival, on passing by the always open doors of the cottages, you are sure to fEindl three or four women (not always of the youngest or prettiest) squavtting and cowering round a THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 165 large trough made out of one piece of wood. They are busily engaged in chewing the hard grains, which they take out of calabashes beside them, and in spitting them, after sound mastication, into the trough. This thick mass, which is thinned with water, is poured into large earthen jars and left to ferment, which it usually begins to do within a very short time. How long this process should continue, in order to impart the particular flavour affected by Bolivian gourmands, or when and how it must be filtered, to separate stray grains from it, I am unable to say. Thinking it unlikely that the lovely drink would find many votaries in Europe, I did not inquire after the further details of its preparation. However, it is an interesting fact that not only the half-wild inhabitants of the Pueblos on the Mamore, but even the denizens of the more civilised trading towns, like Cochabamba, cannot do without the chicha, though there is no lack of either refreshing or intoxicating drinlks, from the innumerable lemonades and refrescos to the most ardent spirits. Beer alone, when its brewing shall have reached the foot of the Andes, may contest the supremacy of the chicha; but it must be of a weak, agreeable quality, not the strong ale or porter of English export, which, overcoming all the difficulties of transport, has already found its way there. As to the taste of the chicha (for, a victim to my love of science, I tried the yellowish, turbid, slightly pearling liquid,-though only after having carefully ascertained that there were no fragments of grinders, but only bruised grains, at the bottom of my calabash), it reminded me of weak cider with the slightest addition of starch; and possibly, when one succeeds in forgetting all about its preparation, it may not be quite so objectionable as the warm water of the river, or the thick water of the corridges, or pools, which are full of organic matter of all kinds. Of course nothing seems easier or simpler than the idea of doing the bruising of the grains in a mortar, or with a couple of cylinders; but an indescribable smile curis the lip of the true Bolivian when you are ingenuous enough to propose such a thing. With a pitying shrug of the shoulders, he will inform you that that was tried long ago, and that chicha prepared thus "artificialmente" was destitute of all savouriness,-in fact, was not chicha. And, indeed, who knows whether he be not right, and whether fermentation, brought about by different means, does not produce different effects? " Into the innermost secrets of Nature no created spirit as yet has penetrated; " and even the celebrated automatic duck of the late /tofrath Beireis may have awakened dubious thoughts in some of his fellow-professors, gifted with more delicate smelling-organs than the rest, as to the final result of its artificial apparatus of digestion. The tenacity with which the Bolivians cleave to their old ways in such matters 166 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. is evidenced by the following narrative of fact. Some years back a Frenchman erected at Santa Cruz de la Sierra a very simple chocolate mill. Notwithstanding the large consumption of the article, the cacao beans used to be bruised by the poor Indian women, in wooden troughs, with the aid of common field-stones —a mode which, besides being imperfect and laborious, involved the loss of time. Anywhere else the enterprise could not have failed to be a splendid success; but not so in Bolivia. The man was totally ruined. Nobody would buy his chocolate, for it was said to ~ital, CkPITAO PAY, CIIIEFTAIN OF THE CAYOWA INDIANS. cause-rision teneatis!-violent colics, through the novelty of its "artificial" preparation; and the Indian women have therefore to go on with their Sisyphean work. After these culinary diversions, let us return to the Missions, of which there are fifteen in the Departamento del:Beni, inhabited by seven different tribes. Three of these, the Canichanas, Cayuabas, and MIobimas, live in one Pueblo each, while the four others, the 3Maropas, ]~aures, Itonamas, and Mojos, have three or four villages each. Giving an average number of 2,000 souls to each 1Mission, we have a total of 30,000 Indian inhabitants of the D-epartment. In spite of the external similarity of the several tribes in respect of dress, customs, and habits —results probably dlue to Jesuit culture -there are marked distinctions, THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS IN BOLIVIA. 167 wvhich have resisted eftacement. Thus the Cayuabas of Exaltacion, who evidently have suffered most from the corrupting influence of the white man, are still renowned as the boldest and hardiest boatmen; while the Canichanas of S. Pedro, who from the first struck us by their sullenly stern behaviour and Mongolian type, are said to have given more trouble to the Reverend Fathers than all the rest, and to have occasionally indulged, up to a very recent date, in their anthropophagous appetites, to which they sacrificed more than one messenger from adjoining Missions, as he wended his weary way over the lonely campos. The Mobimas, at S. Ana, near Exaltacion, arrest attention with their tall figures. ~-2~~~~~ ~~~ -~-~-~~ —— ~CAPITAO VEI-BANG, CHIEF OF THE COROADOS. Notably the squaws, as they stride powerfully along in their white camisetas, might easily originate fables like those respecting the giants of Patagonia; while among the Mojos at Trinidad, Loreto, S. Ignacio, and S. Javier, there are to be found, not only figures of faultless symmetry and beauty, but the truest, the faithfullest, and the kindest of hearts. An illustrative vocabulary of the various languages is given in the annexed table; azndl,1 egazrding pronunciation, I have to remzark that the spelling is the G~erman one. For the outward appearance and the physiognomical and other points of interest of or Ill the Amazon Valley all Indians comzing fromt the Bolivian Mlissions are designated by the name of lYMojos; lprobablyr because the first crews that were seen there in their peculiar bast-shirts belonged to this tribe. 168 THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. these Indians, I refer to the illustrations. A sketch, be it never so hasty, cannot fail to impart a better idea of them than any verbal description. The two last sketches represent the chieftains of the Cayowas and the Coroados of the Province of Parana; and they may be regarded with greater interest from the fact that the Guaranis and their kindred, the Cayowas of the district called Guayra (now included in Parana), even so far back as the end of the sixteenth century, were the willing pupils of the Jesuits, as the Mojos became afterwards. The warlike Coroados, of an opposite character, at the same period were the trusty allies of the white settlers of the Province of S. Paul, helping them in their slave-robbing expeditions and in the destruction of the Missions of the Jesuits; who, in consequence of these repeated attacks, retired farther to the South, to the shores of the Uruguay and the Parana, taking their disciples with them. After numerous conflicts with the advancing tide of culture, the Coroados were outlawed by the Portuguese Government; and only within the last twenty-five years have some of their hordes deigned to live with the hated white man on any other footing than that of war, and to take up their abode in the Aldeamentos, or Indian settlements administered by the Government. In some of these, such as San Ignacio, and Nossa Senhora do Pirapo, built on the sites of the Missions destroyed by the Paulistas, in 1630; and Sao Pedro d'Aleca'tara' on the Tibagy, -and in the heart of the endless region of primeval forest lying between the Tiete and the Iguassui, I was enabled to institute comparisons between the several tribes there living beside one another, in peace though not in amity; and there were these likenesses taken. With the aid of the still visible elevations of the surface, attesting the remains of the ruined Pise walls,-which, like the ruins of Villa Rica on the Ivahy, were partly enveloped with close vegetation,-we could easily construct the plan on which these several Missions were laid out; and it apparently was adopted, with few variations, in all of them: In the centre, a large square, with the church and the collegio on one side; and the low Indian cottages disposed in long rectangular streets all around it; the strict regularity of the whole harmonizing well with the severe military discipline maintained therein. Only on the Paranapanema did we observe a peculiarity, of which the Bolivian Missions showed no trace, —the remains of walls and trenches, slight fortifications evidently necessitated by the repeated attacks of the Paulistas. When we come to review all that has been advanced on this subject, the achievements of the Jesuits cannot but strike us as having been grand and admirable, let their aims have been never so ambitious and selfish, and the means they employed never so immoral and disloyal. The degree of success effected by them appears the grander when contrasted with the existing condition of things under the modern THE MOJOS INDIANS OF THE FORMER JESUIT MISSIONS OF BOLIVIA. 169 Brazilian and Bolivian clergy. Indifferent as are the Government to the union of the diffused remains of the aboriginal inhabitants, if they desire to incite them to productive activity and to save them from complete extinction, recourse must again be had to the Italian Capuchin monks as missionaries; for there is not a single one, out of the many fat native bonzes who are to be found strolling icily through the streets of the towns, and scandalizing all true Christians with the laxity of their lives, who would consent to exchange his rich prebend for the hard life of an Indian aldeamento. %1 6 VOCABULARY OF INDIAN DIALECTS CURRENT IN THE BENI DEPARTMENT OF BOLIVIA. MOJOS. BAURS ITONAMA. (Chapacora). CANICHANA. i MOBIMA. CAYUABA. MAROPA. At Trinidad; Ni. S. At N. S. de Concepcion; At S. Ramon; GAt S. Pedro. At S. na. AUARANII. de Loreto; S. Ignacio; N.S. del Carmen; and S. M. Magdalena; and 2k S. Pedro. at S.irma. At Exaltacion. and S. Javier. S. Joaquim. S. Jose. ll avn |liro Kiritian Umo Enacu Itilacua Cratasi Uni a To man | Eseno Yamake Caneca Ikegahui Cutscha Cratalorane Yutscha Cu| a ITeaTd Nutchuti U Jpatchi |UtschuL Eucucu Bamacua Nahuaracama Mapo Acang CAzee | Numiro Urutaratchi Papapana Eikokena Kinto Iribuju Tamo Taipi -yes Nuuki Tucutchi Icatschi Eutot Sora Niyoco uiro Teso Ear Nutchoka Taitatatschi Mochtodo Eucomete Lototo Iradike Paoki Apicaqua Erand Nubupe Umitchi Malaca Eutijle Sojpan Daru | Muipata Mbo ~ S.. u Saatche |-uapuito Apatsche Nicojli Tinno Nharaman Vari uarai 3oor | Coche Panato Tiacaca Nimilacu Yetso Irare Oche Yaci.Vater Une Acum IHIuaLnuve Nese Touni Ikita Jene Y Fi'r | Y-ucu Isse Bari Nitschucu |Ve Idore Tschii Tafa t Iounttainl MIari Pecun Iti Come'e Tschampandi Iruretui 1fatehiva Boto Eziporomku Parami H-ualichklrt Niescutop Tanilo Iranpui Canati Guirapa' Arrow Takirikire Tschininie Tschere Itschuhuera Tullpaendi Irabibiki ia ui ouzng Amoperu Isohuem Tietie Ecokelege Ovenionca Mamihuasi Huekehu Cunumuu Old Etschasi Itaracun Viayachne Emmara Bijau Iratakasi Tschaia Tuya I Nu-ti Huaya Achni Ojale Incla Areai Ea Ndi-ni. ffe Ema Aricau Oni Elljale Icolo Are Aa Ae Give,ze Peeracano [Miapatschi Macuno Sitchite Caijleca Piboloire Eki ahue Elmboocho To eat Pinike Cahuara Ap AAlema Caiki Panii Pihue Acaru To sfeep | Migue Hnuatschiae Conejna Agaja Oroki Pibilii Ochahuan Ake I will Pivoro Mosi tschacum Itschavaneve tIuarehua Jirampala Orichuhueuhua Akekia Potari will not Voi-pivoro Masi tschacum Huatschi-tschvaco Nolmach ehua- Cai-jirampanaaca Yeitschuenhua Oje amakia Ndaypotari ere hu APPENDIX. THE SURVEYS-THE HYDROGRAPHICAL, HYPSOMIETRICAL, AND STATISTICAL RESULTSHOW OBTAINED. THouGHR in a few years puffing locomotives will be speeding through them, the districts we explored have till now been so detached from communication with the rest of the world, and have, notwithstanding their natural wealth, partaken so little of the influence exercised by commerce over the course of universal history, that it is likely mnere than one of our readers has had to refer to the map, to call to mind the exact position of the different points in the great Amazon Basin, or the Madeira or the Miamore Valley. Nevertheless, with the opening of better means of intercourse, and with the exportation of their produce, these countries wilacquire greater importance in the future. They should evoke at least as much interest as does Clentral Africa, for instance; which again and again attracts explorers and interests readers. Although, therefore, the results of our voyage may be incomplete in more respects than one, and though our investigations frequently were hurried, yet they may not be altogether devoid of interest, on the score of this having been the first expedition to these regions undcertaken of late years. I now proceed to give a short summary of the astronomical, hydrographical, hypsometrical, and statistical results obtained. The astronomical observations were made in the following way:Two ship's chronometers (by Poole, of London) having proved defective at Manaos, and former explorations having convinced us that these delicate instruments suffer materially, not only from their short transport on land, but also from the shocks and rockings of the rudder-boats, which soon disqualify them for determination of longitucle, we resolved to base our calculations on observations of lunar distances. Though these (we always made two of them on important occasions) did not all prove to be of equal exactitude, we still had enough to ascertain beyond doubt the geographical situation of the chief line. The latitudes were determined by the altitule of the sun and of the stars, taken almost wherever we halted, the nightly observations being greatly favoured by the cloudless serenity of the slky during the dry season. The instruments used were an excellent cercle te refleXion by Casella, and two sextants with artificial horizons; the one used in:irst line being a mercury horizon. Between the principal points of the expanse of water thus astronomically determined, the detail of the river course was obtaineel by means of a micrometer by:Rochon and a bussola with a glass prism. An exact triangulation, extending over the whole-width of the river, was necessarily out of the question, even if we could have found time for the measuring, properly so called, since the setting up of observatories and of the triSgonolmetricsL~ signals in the dense forest, with the lcnzitgcl staff at our disposal, would have requiredc the preparation of years. The levelling was generally done barometrically, with two aneroid barometers and a hypsometer (by the temperature of boiling water), and on the chief breaks the difference was, besides, directly measured by the levelling instrument. 172 APPENDIX. Exact transversal sections of the whole river, and measurings of its velocity for the purpose of calculating the quantity of the water, were taken on many points; and the deepest channel was fathomed throughout the explored course. For the principal objects of our exploration, that is, for the comparative estimates of expenditure for a railroad along its shore, and for canalisation of the river, and for the completion and rectification of the geographical maps, this mode of survey was thoroughly adequate; and on the results so obtained the concession granted by the Brazilian Glovernment to Colonel G. E. Church might be based and worlked. The results of the measurings are as follows:1. LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE OF THE PRINCIPAL POINTS. Names of the Points. South Latitude. Vest Longitude from Rio de Janeiro. On the Lower Madeira —Murassutuba... 5~ 37' 37" 0,,,, Ilha das Baetas.. 6~ 18' 28" 7,,,, Espirito Santo... 6~ 43' 20" 5,,,, Crato.... 7~ 31' 3" 4,,,, Domingo Leigue.. 36' 4" 0 On the Uipper Madeira —Rapid of Santo Antonio. 8~ 49' 2" 6 21~ 29' 8",,,, Fall of Theotonio.. 8~ 52' 41" 0 21~ 30' 57",,,, Rapid of Morrinhos. 9~ 1' 45" 0 21~ 36' 30",,,, Mouth of the Jaciparana. 9~ 10' 9" 0 21~ 42' 20',,,, Caldeirao do Inferno. 9~ 15' 48" 0 21~ 52' 14",,,, Fall of Girho... 9~ 20' 45" 0 21~ 54' 22",,,, Rapid of Tres Irmaos.,,,, Rapid of Paredho.. 9~ 36' 37" 7 22~ 13' 4",,,, RtLapid of Peclerneira. 9~ 32' 7" 0 22~ 20' 20",, -,, Mouth of the Abulna,,,,, Rapid of Araras.. 9~ 55' 5" 8 22~ 15' 20",,,, Rapid of Periquitos. 10~,,,, Fall of Ribeirho.. 10~ 12' 52" 1 22~ 8' 30'",,,, Rapid of Madeira,, I,, Mouth of the Beni.. 10~ 20' 0" 0 22~ 12' 20",,,, Rapid of Lages,,,, iRapid of Pao Grande,,,, Fall of Bananeira,,,, Rtapid of Guajara Merin. 10~ 44' 32" 8 22~ 3' 42" 2. DISTANCES BETWEEN THE PRINCIPAL POINTS. Extreme Points. Length. Developed length of the river course from the mouth of the Madeira to Santo Antonio. 901,000 metres.,,,,,, Santo Antonio to Guajar& Merim.. 363,846,,,,,,,,, Guajara Merim to the mouth of the Mamor6. 165,760,,,,,,,, the mouth of the Mamor6 to Exaltacion. 209,720,,,,,,, xaltacion to Trinidad.... 302,940,, The total of these distances, 3,879,820 metres, or about 620 geographical miles (15 to 1~), is the length of the journey made by the expeditionm in canoes. APPENDIX. 173 3. ALTITUDE OF THE PRINCIPAL POINTS ABOVE THE SEA-LEVEL. (N.B. —Reduced on the Low Level of the River.) Name of the Points. Altitude above Sea-level in Metres. Town of Serpa, on the Amazon.. 18 00 Mouth of the Madeira... 21 00 M'anicore on the Lower Madeira 28 00 Baetas,,,,........ 40 00 Tres Casas,,........ 50 00 Ilha do Salomdo,. 53 00 Domingo Leigue,,.. 54 00 Mouth of the Jammary,,.. 56 80 Rapid of Santo Antonio (below the break). 61 60 Fall of Theotonio,,.. 83 40 Rapid of Nl-orrinhos,,.. 87 70 Caldeirho do Inferno,,.. 92 80 Fall of Girho,,. 102 00 Mouth of the B3eni.... 122 45 Fall of Bananeiras (below the break). 137 30 Rapid of Guajara Merin,,.. 144 60 -Mouth of the Mamore..... 150 40 Level of the Mamore at Exaltacion.. 152 20 4. DIFFERENCE OF LEVEL AND EXTENT OF THE PRINCIPAL FALLS AND RAPIDS. Name of the Rapid. Difference of Level. Length of the Rapid. Metres. Centm. Metres. Santo Antonio........ 1 20 300 Theotonio (principal break).... 8 0 100 —300 Caldeirho do Inferno.. 2 2 400 Girao......... 8 0 700 Paredo......... 1 7 550 Pederneira......... 1 1 250 Araras......... 1 4 700 Ribeirho (principal break)..... 4 1 400 Madeira.......... 2 5 900 Lages.......... 2 5 750 tao Granle......... 2 0 400 BaLnaneiras (principal break)..... 6 0 500 Guajara Guassfi......... 1 7 450 The slope represented by eig~hteen largely andl twellty-eight; smua~ller rapidssi is 69 luetres 6 centimetres in an extent of 20,169 metres. The total difference of level between Santo Antonio and Guajara being 83 metres, 83 m. —69 m. 6 c.=13 m. 40 c.; which yields the slope of the smooths between the rapids. X The boatmen on the Madeira usually distinguish a Rapid by cabe~a, coapo, e e abo; that is, head, body, and tail. 174 APPENDIX. 5. WIDTH OF THE RIVER, DEPTH, AND GENERAL PROPORTION OF THE SLOPES. slope. 1) Slope of the Mamore between Exaltation and the mouth.... 1: 32,104 2),, Madeira from the mouth of the Mamore to Guajara.. 1: 30,000 3),,,, Guajara to Santo Antonio.... 1: 5,303 4),,,, Santo Antonio to the mouth 1: 26,490 Deptlh of the deepest CAannel at Loto -Level. Metres. 1) Mamore at the mouth (maximum)........ 10 0 2),, on the reef of Matucare (minimum)..... 0 75 3) Madeira between the mouth of the Mamore and Guajar& (maximum).. 15 0 4),,,,,,,, (minimum).. 1 4 5) Beni at the mouth. 15 0 6) Madeira, greatest depthabove Theotonio....... 37 4 7),,,, at Sapucaia Oroca...... 36 8 9),, on the reefs of Uroa (shallowest part of the channel).. 1 3 Midth of tlhe Rivers. Metres. 1) Mamore, at the mouth, at low water....... 295,,,, at high water...... 475 2) Guaporet, at the mouth, at low water.......500,,,, at high water....... 700 3) Macleira, average width above the rapids.... 435 4),, minimum of width within the rapids. 350 mlaximum,,,..... 2,000 5),, below the rapids at Sapucaia Oroca. 730 6) Beni........ 1,000 6. ELEVATION OF THE BANKS- DIFFERENCE OF LEVEL BETWEEN I-IIGH AND Low WVATER — QUANTITIES OF WATER. Near Exaltacion the banks of the Mamore rise on an average to 13 metres above low water level; and this is also about the height of the floods; but at its mouth the shores rise only to about 8 metres, and are inundated far and wide by the floodls which there usually reach 9 metres in height. On the Madeira the elevation of the banks varies considerably within the region of the rapids; and so do the high and low water levels. Immediately above each rapid they sink to about 2 metres 5 centimetres, or 3 metres; immediately below they rise to a maximum. On the Lower Madeira the normal elevation of the banks is 7 metres above low water, that is, a trifle less than high water level. At some places, however, as at 4apucaia Oroca, the difference between flood and low water level is 12 metres; the elevation of the right shore 13 metres, ancl that of the left 10 metres above lowT water. The quantities of water conveyed per second by the iMtadeira and its confluents at different levels are as follow:Low Water Level. Medium aVater Level. Flood Level. Cubic 3lietres. Cubic 3letfres. Cubic 5Metres. Guapor6, at the mouth..... 663 1,879 5,120... 1Vamore....... 835 2,530 7,024 Iadeira, at the upper end of the rapids. 1,498 4,310 12,144 [Beni, at the moulth..... 1,383 4,344 13,109 Madleira, below the rapids at Sapucaia Oroca. 4,142 14, 642 39,106 APPENDIX. 175 B3y way of comparison, I give the quantities conveyed per second by the Rhine near Mannheim:Cubic Metres. At low-water level........... 555 At medium-water level........ 1,660 At high-water level........... 5,550 The surface of ground drained by the different rivers is, after the existing mlaps:Square Geographical Miles. By the Guapore............ 9,118 By the Miamore........... 9,382 By the Beni........ 6, 648 By the Lower Madeira.......... 10, 356 35,504 Which shows clearly that the mighty Beni, until now, has been treated illiberally by cartographers, though its origin ill the high well-waterecl Cordillersa, which also supplies the MIamore with a disproportionately great quantity of water as compared with the Guaplore, must be taken into account. Though out of several proposals made by us for the improvemnent of the ways of commlunication, only our plan for an economical railroad was finally adopted, the estimates of the other projects may be of some interest to scientific readers. They were: — 1) The construction of inclined planes, at all the larger rapids, to track the vessels; such as are in nse in North America and Prussia. 2) The canllalisation of the river with sluices. 3) The construction of a railroad along the banlk. The expenditure required for the first project (which with a considerably increased trade might soon have plroveCt insufficient) was estimated at 900,000 milreis, or 2,340,000 francs. The second, the execution of which would have been attended with almost insurmountable difficulties, was estimated at 21,000,000 milreis or 54a,600,000 franes; and the third, which actually has been begun, at 8,500,000 milreis, or 22,100,000 francs. As the lengthl of the railroad to be constructed, with a minimuml of gauge, is only about 280 kilometres (on easy surface, on the whole), the estimate may appear rather high, even for Brazil; but in thinly peopled countries, hitherto entirely cut off from the rest of the world, and into which it will be necessary to implort everything, with the exception of the timber, and workmen especially, the cost of various operations, particularly of constructive works like bridges, will swell to enormous sums. In the total absence of reliable official returns, the number of souls living along the main river and near the extensive lake-likie lateral branches (e."q. the Uaupe's) can be estimated only roughly; and we place it between 5,000 and 6,000, the half-civilisecl l~Lunclrucdis and MViras included. They subsist chiefly by the preparation of India-rubber, the collection of Para' nuts, and other fruit of the forests, and on the produce of small cacao and tobacco plantations. Therefore supplies of provisions of all kinds (even of the mandioca root, which grows with scarcely any trouble) fail to be obtained in suffieint quantities in the most fertile valley in the world, and must be imported from afar. For the singualarity of th~e fact, I mention here that ~uallc6fzg~eze of zmandioca Ro~ur (about 50 cubic decimetres) costs, at Rio de Janeiro and Plar~, 2 —3 milreis; in Bolivia 1; and on the Madeira 12 —14. Proportionately high prices affect other plroducts, the sugar-cane to wit, which would thrive excellently. If the caoutchouc indux'cry quay be called a gold laine, agriculture shouldZ prove equally remunerative as it clic ill California at the time of the gold fever. Catctle-lbreecling, with the exception of the very nmodest beginnings oll the natural campos of Crato, has been quite wklznow n Olthe Maleira, anl probably vill continue so, for some tilde to colue. There are immense districts without an ox or a cow, or a horse, or a mule, or a sheep, or a goat. Even a pig is a rare sight. Dogs and fowls only are to be seen near the cottager' usually associated with a crowd of the easily tamnecl inhabitants of the woods, parrots, toucans, monkeys, several rodents, and even bristly peccaris. 176 APPENDIX. And yet the want of animal food is felt acutely by the dense population of the Amnazon Valley, and will be daily aggravated by the increasing immigration of Europeans, who do not relish the eternal fish-and-farina dishes.-': On the campos of the Mamore, Upper Beni, Itonama and Machupo, on the grassy plains occupied by the fifteen Missions, cattle thrive so plentifully that, with proper management, they would easily supply the whole country, as soon as the Macleira railroad shall have opened a market for them in the Amazon Valley; and the recently started National Bolivian Navigation Company, as well as the railroac, may reckon oon at least this considerable trade. Besides hides, tallow, dried meat, live stock, sugar, brandy, and cacao, the invaluable Peruvian bark also will then talke its way down the Madeira to Para, and the ethno-economical monstrosity of sending it to Europe over the Cordillera and round Cape Horn will cease. And the same observation applies to the produce of the rich mines of Bolivia; of which, by the way, only those of Potosi (the richest silver mines in the world) and the newly discovered ones of Caracolest are worked andl doing fairly, while the excellent copper mines of Coro-coro are totally neglected. These crooked ways, of which the example of the Peruvial bark is sufficienlt evicence, injuriously affect not only the exports of-the country, but also the import of European and North American goods; which are as indispensable to Bolivia as to the rest of South America. Let us (by way of illustration) follow them from some European port to their place of cestination, ILa Paz, Cochabamba, Sucre, or Santa Cruz cde la Sierra. Having arrived, after a sea voyage of eighty or ninety days, at the Peruvian port of Arica, and landed as usual with average (as it cannot be otherwise with the defective arrangements there), they have first to pass the custom-house of the " Sister-Republic," which, in consideration of the sum of 500,000 dollars annually paicl to Bolivia, has (by the treaty of 1865) acquired the right of levying heavy taxes on all classes of goods (about 30 per cent. cad vclorenz). From Arica they are carried by the railway to Tacna, where they are packck -up in parcels that must not weigh more than 120 or 140 lbs.; and thence by beasts of burden over the steepest and roughest moulntain-patlhs, in the most troublesome and tedious way, to La Paz. Arrived there, well shaken and, perhaps, saturated, the cost of the goods has amountelto 150 pesos, or about ~30 per toln; and to reach Cochabamba, or Sucre, or Santa Cruz de la Sierra, costs about half as much more. All these towns, however, are situated near affluents of the Amazon, and will be accessible frolm its mouth in an easier manner, in a shorter time, anll at half the expense, as soon as the short railway along the rapids of the Macleira is completed. The following is a tabular statement of the trade to and from Bolivia:Imports. ~ Exports. ~ From Englandcl... 528,000 Silver. 720,000,, France... 264,000 Peruvian bark.. 160,000,, Germany... 224, 000 Copper... 128,000 United States.. 72,000 Coca. 128,000,, Argentine Republic. 64,000 Golcl.... 80,000,, Peru... 80,000 Vicuniia and alpaca wool. 60,000,, Brazil... 56,000 Tin.... 40,000 Coffee... 6, 000 Tallow and hides. 2,000 ~ 1,288,000 ~1,324,000 From this it will be seen that the imports have been considerably liquidated by the produce of the mines.+'~ Fishlapland was the title bestowed on these countries by our factotum, Mr. O. v. Sch. t It is a well-linown fact that; in the province of Alto-Peru~ (the present Bolivia) the Spaniardsx worked on 10,200 spots for the silver ore. + In the last eighteen. onths, the produce of the silver mines of Potosi and C~rac0les has increased so largely that in 1872 it amounted to ~f1,350,000. APPENDIX. 177 Writh improved ways of communication, a country, whose population is increasing so rapidly` without any immigration from without, and which owns provinces of surprising fertility, may well cover the imports independently of the mines. Several attempts, or rather projects, have been made to force the barriers, and to open the country to commerce. Thus, the railroad which runs from Buenos Aires towards the north (extended to Cordova now) will by its contemplated prolongation to Jujui, connect the,Southern part of Bolivia with that important harbour ait the mouth of the River Plate; and another project has been mooted of opening a way by thePilcomayo (navigable though it be only during the rainy season) to Asuncion in Paraguay; where the magnificent river of that name will offer the best of all media of communication. A third project, the execution of which has been begun in right good earlest, in the face of immense lifficulties, is the railroad fiom the Peruvian port of Islay, by way of Arequipa, to Puno on the Titicaca Lake. It may ultimately become a rival to the Madeira railroad; yet, as they will touch Bolivia at nearly diametrically opposite pOilltS, and as moreover the construction of a railroad over the wild, rugged mountain ranged with tunnels, viaducts, and galleries, will involve the labour of scores of years in these countries,during which time the Madeira line will be at work and gathering its harvest, though difficulties will not be spared to it either,-the latter may well be recommended to the respective Governments and to the commercial World in general, especially since the agriculltural produce of the fertile plains on the Macleira and its affluents will always go by the Amazon. Thus before the powerful influence of- steam will one barrier after another fall; and ere the lapse of another century iron rails will penetrate to the remotest corner of the lew continent, now inhabited by wildl tribes whose names even are unlknown to us; from the forest-covered Ainazon Basin clown to the grassy plains of the Gran Chaco, to the retreat of the grim Pampas Indians, and to stony Patagonia; and the mixed population, which will have sprung up meanwhile, will be -united to the rest of the world by the strong ties of interest and of commerce. But the red-skinned native of pure blood will have become a myth; the world will be the poorer for many an idyll; but, on the whole, mankindcl will have achlievedl a vast stride in the career of Progress.: The population of Bolivia amnounted, in the first year after the Declaration of Independence, that is in 1826..... to 997,427 It has since progressed thus- 1831.....,, 1,087,792 1836... 1,18!,169 1841...,, 1,277,531 1846....,, 1,373,896 1851.....,, 1,448,196 1859....,, 1,950,000 1870.....,, 2,70,000 t The pass of Tacora, between ArequipaL and Puno, is 15,000 feet above the level of the sea.