[i]

ACROSS UNKNOWN

SOUTH AMERICA

BY

A. HENRY SAVAGE-LANDOR

WITH 2 MAPS, 8 COLOURED PLATES, AND 260 ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. II

HODDER AND STOUGHTON

LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO

The Mouth of the Putamayo River.

[ii]

Printed in 1913
Copyright in the United States of America
by A. Henry Savage-Landor

[iii]

CONTENTS

VOL. II

[ix]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

VOL. II

[1]

CHAPTER I

We struck the River Arinos at a point called Porto Velho. There were at that place the miserable sheds of three seringueiros (rubber-collectors). I had made for that particular spot because I had heard that a big canoe carved out of the trunk of a tree probably existed there. I was told that the canoe was large enough to carry many people. It had been constructed, it seemed, some ten years previously by a rubber-collecting expedition which came to grief, was abandoned, and had since been taken possession of by seringueiros. I had purchased it on chance from its last owner for Rs. 300,000. With accessories I gave about Rs. 450,000, or roughly, £30. It was the only canoe upon that river.

I considered myself lucky, when I arrived at Porto Velho, to find that the canoe actually existed at all. There she was, floating more or less gracefully upon the water. She had a total length of 42 ft., was 3½ ft. wide, and had been roughly scooped out of a giant tree which was not quite straight. Her lines, therefore, were not as elegant as might have been expected. For instance, her starboard and port[2] sides were not absolutely straight lines, but described curves—in fact, the port side almost an angle. That gave the canoe an original appearance, which to my practical mind at once suggested great difficulty of steering. Her sides, coarsely cut with an axe, were from 3 to 5 in. thick; her bottom from 6 in. to 1 ft. thick. The two extremities were solid blocks, so that her weight—she was carved out of unusually heavy wood—was altogether over 2,000 lb.

When I went down to the water to examine my purchase I found that the vessel was in a pitiful condition and needed sound repairing before she could proceed on a long journey. She was sufficiently good for crossing the stream—that was all she was used for by the seringueiros—but it would be a different matter to go down rapids for some thousands of kilometres. It took all the strength of my men, the seringueiros, and myself combined to pull the canoe out of the water upon the beach and to turn her over. We worked hard for two days with saws and hammers, knives, tar and wadding, in order to stop up a gigantic crack which extended from one end of the canoe to the other under her bottom. Although the crack did not go right through, I could well imagine that a hard knock against a rock might be quite sufficient to split the canoe in two. We scraped her and cleaned her; we overhauled and strengthened her thoroughly; we cut rough seats inside, and built an elevated deck upon which the baggage might be comparatively safe from moisture.

We were proud of our work when we launched her. Wiping the dripping perspiration from our foreheads,[3] necks and arms, we looked just as if we had come out of a bath, we sweated so in our efforts to push her back into the water, the heat near the water, screened as it was from the breeze by the high banks and trees, being suffocating! We gazed at her—the queen of the Arinos River. She looked lovely in our eyes. On her stern I fixed the steering gear, a huge paddle 12 ft. long; and upon a neatly-made staff, which I had cut myself, I hoisted the British flag, which had hitherto flown over my tent. It was, I think, the first time the British flag had waved over that river. The canoe was baptized the "Elfrida," after my sister's name.

It will be remembered that only four men remained with me. Not one of them had ever been in a canoe before—except to be ferried across a river, perhaps—not one had the slightest idea of navigation, and it followed, of course, that not one had ever used a paddle or steered a canoe.

As the river had never been surveyed, it was my intention to make an accurate map of its entire course as far as its junction with the Tres Barras, several thousand kils. away, from which point I imagined the river must be slightly better known. Therefore, as I should be busy all day long with the prismatic compass and watch, constantly taking notes of the direction of the stream and the distances covered (checked almost daily by astronomical observations) I should not be able to take an active part in the navigation.

The canoe was undermanned. Imagine her length—42 ft.—with only two men to paddle. A third man was stationed on her bow to punt when possible and be[4] on the look-out for rocks; while Alcides, whom I had promoted to the rank of quartermaster, was in charge of the steering. I had taken the precaution to make a number of extra paddles. We carried a large quantity of fishing-lines with hooks of all sizes, and cartridges of dynamite.

The river was most placid and beautiful, and the water wonderfully clear. Unlike rivers elsewhere, the Arinos did not show a branch or a twig floating on its waters, not a leaf on its mirror-like surface. That did not mean that branches of trees—sometimes even whole trees—did not fall into the river, but, as I have stated already, the specific gravity of woods in that part of Brazil was so heavy that none floated. Hence the ever-clean surface of all the streams.

We were then in a region of truly beautiful forest, with figueira (Ficus of various kinds), trees of immense size, and numerous large cambará. The bark of the latter—reddish in colour—when stewed in boiling water, gave a refreshing decoction not unlike tea and quite good to drink.

Most interesting of all the trees was, however, the seringueira (Siphonia elastica), which was extraordinarily plentiful in belts or zones along the courses of rivers in that region. As is well known, the seringueira, which grows wild in the forest there, is one of the most valuable lactiferous plants in the world. Its latex, properly coagulated, forms the best quality of rubber known.

Rubber Tree showing Incisions and the Collar and Tin Cup for the Collection of the Latex.

Coagulating Rubber into a Ball.

There are, of course, many latex-giving plants of the Euphorbiæ, Artocarpæ and Lobeliæ families, but no other are perhaps such abundant givers of latex as the[5] Brazilian seringueira (of the Euphorbiæ family), a tree plentiful not only in Matto Grosso on all the head-waters and courses of the rivers flowing into the Amazon, but also abundant in the Provinces of Para and the Amazon. In less quantities the seringueira is also to be found in Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Maranhão.

The seringueira prevailed chiefly near the water, in swampy places, or in places inundated when the river was high. Never was the tree to be found at a distance away from water.

The height of the seringueira varies from 25 ft. to 50 ft. Its diameter is seldom more than 35 in. Its leaf is composed of three elongated leaflets, smooth-edged and complete in themselves. The seed is smooth-skinned, and of a reddish tone. The fruit consists of a well-rounded wooden capsule enclosing three cells which contain white oily almonds not disagreeable to eat. From the almonds an oil of a light red colour, not unlike the colour of old port wine, can be extracted. That oil can be substituted for linseed oil, and has the further advantage of not desiccating so quickly. Mixed with copal and turpentine it gives a handsome varnish. It can be used advantageously in the manufacture of printing-ink and soap. So that every part of the seringueira can be put to some use or other.

Among the other more important trees which produce rubber may be mentioned the Siphonia brevifoglia, the Siphonia brasiliensis, Siphonia rhytidocarpa, and the Siphonia lutea, all found chiefly in the State of Para. In other parts of Brazil grow the Ficus anthelmintica, the Ficus doliaria (or gameilleira), the Ficus[6] elastica, Ficus indica, Ficus religiosa, Ficus radula, Ficus elliptica, Ficus prinoides, the Plumeria phagedenica, the Plumeria drastica, the Sorveira or Collophora utilis, and the Mangabeira or Harncornia speciosa.

At present we shall be chiefly interested in the seringueira (Siphonia elastica).

The collection of the latex from the seringueira and the subsequent process of coagulation were simple enough. A seringueiro, or rubber-collector, started from his hut early every morning carrying with him a small steel axe or pick, the head of which was 3 in. long and shaped like a bird's beak; a tin bucket, and some barro—soft clay which had been soaked in water. He walked along the estrada or track which he had cleared for himself, leading from one rubber tree to the next. There may be twenty, thirty, fifty or more rubber trees that have been tapped on one estrada, according to the district and the activity of the seringueiro. In the case of a new tree a collar of the fibre of burity palm was in the first instance nailed with pegs of hard wood round the stem, not horizontally, but at an angle: sometimes, when necessary, in a spiral. In other cases a similar band of clay was made to encircle the tree. These collars served as channels, compelling the latex, as it exuded from cuts made in the tree, to flow into a small tin cup suspended at the lowest point of the collar. The incisions were never made lower than 2 or 3 ft. from the ground. They must not penetrate deeper than the entire thickness of the bark of the tree, and they must on no account touch or wound the actual wood, or the tree would suffer greatly—even die. In some regions the[7] incisions were made longitudinally, in others transversely. The operation was repeated by the seringueiro each time on every rubber tree as he went along the estrada, the latex flowing freely enough into the tin cup after each fresh incision had been made.

The seringueiro thus tapped each tree on his way out along the estrada, which in some cases may be several miles long; in other cases, where rubber trees were plentiful, only a few hundred yards in length. On his return journey the seringueiro emptied each small tin cup—by that time filled with latex—into the large bucket which invariably accompanied him on his daily round. Rubber-trees possess in a way at least one characteristic of cows. The more milk or latex one judiciously extracts from them, the more they give, up to a certain point. But, indeed, such a thing is known as exhausting a tree in a short time. A good seringueiro usually gives the trees a rest from the time they are in bloom until the fruit is mature. In some regions even a much longer respite is given to the trees—generally during the entire rainy season. In some localities, too, in order to let the latex flow more freely, a vertical incision is made above and meeting a horizontal one. At intervals oblique incisions are cut next to the vertical ones, but in Matto Grosso I never saw that complicated system of incisions adopted—only vertical incisions parallel to one another at a distance of 0·25 m. (9⅞ in.) being made there, and in rows one above another. Some of the trees had actually hundreds of those cuts—many, of course, healed. Each cut only exudes latex for a comparatively short time, merely an hour or so.

[8] During the first month after a tree is tapped, the supply of latex is generally plentiful; the second month it gives less; less still the third month. On an average twenty trees give about one litre of latex a day. Three litres of latex are necessary in order to obtain one litre of rubber. At the head-waters of the Arinos River 600 trees gave from 30 to 35 arobas (450 to 525 kils.) of fine rubber in the first month, and about 20 arobas (300 kils.) of sarnambé (second quality with impurities). One aroba is 15 kils.

The latex of the seringueira in the Arinos region was of a beautiful white, quite liquid, and with a pungent, almost sickening, odour. When a new tree was tapped, the lower towards the ground the incisions were made the better. If after considerable tapping the tree did not yield much, it was advisable to incise the tree higher up. In that region the trees exuded latex more abundantly when they began to have new leaves in October. Late in the dry season the latex flowed less freely. When the weather was windy all the latex seemed to contract to the summit of the trees and hardly flowed at all from the incisions. When it rained, on the contrary, it flowed freely, but was spoilt by being mixed with water; so that a good seringueiro must know well not only where and how, but also when to tap the trees, in order to get good results.

Balls of Rubber outside a Seringueiro's Hut.

Method of Pressing Rubber into Cakes.

The alum process of coagulation being used.

Several ways were employed in order to coagulate the latex. The simplest was the one used in Matto Grosso. The latex was poured into a rectangular wooden mould, 0·61 m. long (2 ft.), 0·46 m. wide (1½ ft.), and 0·15 m. deep (about 6 in.). Upon the latex was[9] placed a solution of alum and warm water. Then coagulation took place. In order to compress the coagulating latex into solid cakes, a primitive lever arrangement was used—merely a heavy wooden bar, one end of which was inserted into the cavity of a tree, above the wooden mould, while at the other end of the bar heavy logs of wood were suspended. One night was sufficient for the latex to coagulate thoroughly and be properly compressed into cakes, weighing each about 22½ kils. The cakes were lifted out by belts of liane which had been previously laid into the moulds.

The discoverer of the method of coagulating rubber with alum was Henry S. Strauss. He also found that by keeping the latex in hermetically sealed vessels it could be preserved in a liquid state. The same result could be obtained with ammonia.

In the Amazon and Para Provinces a different process was used. The latex was coagulated by placing it near the fire. The heat evaporated the aqueous part and coagulated the vegetable albumen. In order to make what was called a garrafa, or large ball of rubber—some weighed 20, 30, 40 kils. and more—a small ball of latex was made to coagulate round a horizontal bar of wood. That ball was gradually increased in circumference by smearing it over with more latex, which became gradually coagulated and dried by the heat and smoke produced by the burning of certain woods, and of the oily seeds of the urucuri palm, technically known as the Attalea excelsa. In this process the rubber did not remain white, as with the alum process; in fact, it became dark brown, almost black,[10] owing, of course, to the smoke. Locally, the smoking process was said to be the better of the two, for the coagulation with alum took away somewhat from the elasticity of the rubber.

Interesting was the sorveira (Collophora utilis), a tree which gave latex that was quite delicious to drink, but could not be coagulated. The trees, to any untrained person, closely resembled the seringueira, only the leaves were more minute and differently shaped. It must be remembered that nearly all the trees of the Brazilian forest had leaves only at a very great height above the ground, and it was not always easy to see their shape, especially when close to other trees where the foliage got interwoven into an almost solid mass. We frequently enjoyed the sweet milk of the sorveira—it tasted slightly of fresh walnuts with sugar on them. It was unsafe to drink too much of it, as it had injurious effects upon one's digestive organs.

There was there also the leiteiro (or producer of milk), a smaller tree, and the liana macaco, which both produced abundant milk, but in neither case had a way, so far, been found to coagulate it.

The two days spent at Porto Velho were interesting. The four men who had remained with me behaved fairly well, principally owing to the prospect, that, in drifting down stream, they would not have to work, and would be saved the heavy trouble of grooming, packing and unpacking the animals, and the tedious job every morning of riding miles through the country in order to recover those that had strayed away during the night.

"Thank heaven!" exclaimed Antonio, as he gazed[11] at the canoe, "we shall not have to hunt for her every morning!"

"Yes," answered Filippe, "no more pack-saddles to fix, no more leading the animals to drink. She"—pointing to the canoe—"can drink all the time if she likes...."

Filippe was a prophet. The canoe did "drink" all the time, much to our concern. Little did my men suspect before we started that they would have the hardest time of their lives—so hard, indeed, that it was amazing humans could endure it at all.

One of the three seringueiros at Porto Velho interested me greatly. He was a tall, gentlemanly, refined person, who seldom uttered a word. I noticed that he avoided meeting me, and, although extremely civil, seemed afraid to enter into conversation. The little shed he had built himself (7 ft. by 4 ft., and 7 ft. high) was extraordinarily neat, and open on all sides—quite unlike the sheds Brazilian rubber collectors build themselves.

From my tent I watched him. The man got up before sunrise every day, going at once to the river for a swim. Humming some sort of a song, he would then go through a series of gymnastic exercises, interrupted by sonorous slaps upon different parts of his anatomy to kill impertinent mosquitoes, of which there were swarms on the Arinos River. That done, he would assume a suit of working-clothes, and, returning to his shed, would pick up his tools and noiselessly depart, so as not to disturb our sleep! At sunset, when he returned, he immediately proceeded to the river to have another swim and to get rid of the many insects[12] which always collected upon one's person in going through the forest. Then he put on a clean suit of clothes, and, saluting us from a distance, went to his shed to rest.

I was certain the man was not a Brazilian, but as curiosity is not one of my chief characteristics I took no special notice of him. This brought him round to my tent one evening. The man was a German by birth, of a good family and excellent education. He could speak German, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese to perfection, and was well versed in the literature of those languages. He had evidently drifted about for many years in many parts of South America in search of a fortune, in the Argentine, in Uruguay, and had ended by becoming a slave in Brazil. Yes, the poor old man was a voluntary slave. He had borrowed from his employer and was unable to repay. He was therefore a slave in the true sense of the word, as his employer could, according to local custom, sell him to any one he chose.

The Upper Arinos River.

The Arinos River above the Rapids.

I was terribly upset to see a European in such a position, and, what was worse, I was not in a position to help. Nor indeed was help asked for or wanted. The old fellow bore the burden bravely, and said he had never been happier in his life. Supposing he were made to return to his own country—from which he had been absent so many years—he philosophically argued, what could he be, with no money and no friends, but a most unhappy man? All his relatives and friends must have died; the habits he had acquired in the wilds were not suitable for European cities; he was too old to change them. The German was an extra[13]ordinarily fine type of a man, honest, straightforward, brave. He spoke in the kindest and fairest way of his master. He had sold himself because of necessity. It was now a matter of honour, and he would remain a slave until it was possible to repay the purchase money—some four hundred pounds sterling, if I remember rightly—which he never expected to be able to repay at all.

The German told me some interesting things about the immediate neighbourhood of the camp. The Indians of the Cayapo tribe, who lived close by, did not interfere with the seringueiros. He had been there several years in succession, and he had never seen an Indian. The seringueiros only went to collect rubber during some three or four months each year, after which time they returned to the distant towns south as far as Cuyabá and Corumbá. At the beginning of the rainy season, when the time came for them to retire, the Indians generally began to remind the seringueiros that it was time to go, by placing obstacles on the estrada, by removing cups or even the collars from the rubber trees. But so far in that region, although footmarks of Indians and other signs of them had been noticed, not one individual had been actually seen. Their voices were frequently heard in the distance singing war songs.

"Hark!" said the German to me, "do you hear them?"

I listened attentively. Far, far down the river a faint chorus of voices could just be heard—intermittent sounds of "huá ... huá ... huá ... huá." In the stillness of the night the sound could be dis[14]tinguished clearly. It went on until sunrise, when it gradually died out.

There was a big lagoon to the west of Porto Velho, formed by the river at high water. The lagoon dried up during the dry season. It was separated from the river only by a narrow tongue of land, 80 ft. high.

I took careful and repeated observations for latitude, longitude, and altitude, the latter by a boiling-point thermometer, from our point of departure at the headwaters of the Arinos River. The elevation of the river was there 1,200 ft. by aneroid, 1,271 ft. by the hypsometrical apparatus. The latitude was 14° 2′·2 South; the longitude 56° 17′ West of Greenwich.

We were having beautiful, clear skies. Only on July 4th at sunset a solitary streak of mist extended to the summit of the sky.

I had two plans in my mind when I decided to descend the Arinos River. One was to abandon that river at the point where it met the Juruena River and strike across country westward until the Madeira-Mamore Railway was met. The other plan—even more difficult—was to continue down the river as far as its junction with the Tres Barras, from which place I would strike across the virgin forest as far as the Madeira River. I had not the faintest idea how I could realize either plan with the ridiculously meagre resources at my disposal. I had money enough, but unfortunately that was one of the few spots on earth where money was of little use. Again I trusted in Providence to come to our help. Both plans involved thousands of kilometres of navigation of a diabolical river, in an almost uncontrollable canoe, with an in[15]sufficient and absolutely incapable crew. Then would come the crossing of the virgin forest on foot, for some hundreds of kilometres—nobody knew how many. The least number of men necessary in order to be able to carry provisions sufficient to execute either plan was thirty. I only had four. Yet I started. The second plan was successfully carried out, but necessarily at the cost almost of all our lives, and with sufferings unimaginable.

[16]

CHAPTER II

On July 6th we packed the canoe with our baggage and dogs. The British flag was hoisted at the stern of the canoe, and with tender embraces from the seringueiros, whose eyes were wet with tears—they imagined that we were going to certain death—we pulled out of Porto Velho at seven minutes to eleven o'clock a.m.

"We will pray with all our hearts that you may reach the end of your journey safely!... Beware of the rapids; they are terrible.... Be careful because the canoe does not steer true.... Do not let the canoe knock too hard against rocks, or she may split in two!... Good-bye!... good-bye!"

With those encouraging remarks from the seringueiros, who were sobbing bitterly, we drifted with the current, Antonio and Filippe the negro paddling in the style generally adopted for scooping soup with a spoon out of a dish.

I had provided the canoe with a number of improvised paddles we had cut ourselves. There were no two of equal size, shape, or weight. We had chopped them with an axe from sections of a tree. They were[17] originally all intended to be the same, but what we intended to have and what we got were two different matters, as the five of us each worked on a separate paddle.

The seringueiros stood on the high bank, waving their arms in the air. One of them blew plaintive sounds on one of the horns used by them for calling their companions while in the forest. Those horns could be heard enormous distances. Filippe the white man, who was not paddling, fired back a salute of ten shots. There was nothing my men loved more than to waste ammunition. Fortunately we had plenty.

The average width of the river was there from 80 to 100 metres, with a fairly swift current. It was lucky that ours was the only boat on that river, for indeed we needed all that breadth of water in our snake-like navigation. I remonstrated with Alcides, who was at the helm, and advised him to keep the nose of the canoe straight ahead, as we were coming to a corrideira or small rapid.

Alcides, who could never be told anything, became enraged at my words of warning, and also at the derision of the other men, as we were drifting side on and he could not straighten her course. Just as we were entering the rapid, in his fury Alcides, in disgust, let go the steering-gear, which he said was useless. We were seized by the current and swung round with some violence, dashing along, scraping the bottom of the canoe on rocks, and bumping now on one side, now on the other, until eventually we were dashed violently over a lot of submerged trees, where the bank had been eroded by the current and there had[18] been a landslide. The canoe nearly capsized, the three dogs and some top baggage being thrown out into the water by the impact. We got stuck so hard among the branches of the trees that we all had to remove our lower garments and get into the water trying to get the canoe off.

My men used pretty language. That small accident was lucky for us. The shouts of my men attracted to the bank a passing man. Half-scared, a wild figure of a mulatto with long, unkempt hair and beard, his body covered by what must have once been a suit of clothes, stood gazing at us, clutching a double-barrelled gun in his hands.

"Is there a revolution in Matto Grosso?" he inquired when I caught sight of him. "Why do you fly the red flag?"

"That is not the flag of revolution, that is the flag of peace. It is the English flag."

"The English flag! The English flag!" he exclaimed, running down the slope of the river bank. "You are English!... Oh, sir, take me with you! I entreat you take me with you! I am an escaped slave.... I owe my master much money.... I can never repay it.... I am a seringueiro. My estrada is some miles down the river. I have been there alone suffering for months. I had no more food, nothing. There is very little fish in the river. The life is too terrible. I can stand it no more. If you do not take me with you I shall kill myself."

I tried to persuade the strange figure to return to his master—the master lived in comfort in the city of Cuyabá. "If you chose to borrow money and[19] sell yourself, it was only right that you should repay your debt." That was the only way I could look at it. But the man would not hear of it. If I did not take him he would kill himself—there, before me, he repeated; that was all.

So difficult a dilemma to solve—at so inconvenient a moment, when we were as busy as busy could be, trying to disentangle the canoe—was rather tiresome. The strange man, having laid his gun upon the ground, helped us with all his might in our work. When the canoe got off, the strange man, gun and all, jumped clumsily into her and nearly capsized her a second time. He implored me with tears in his eyes to take him along. He would work day and night; he would present me with his double-barrelled gun (an old muzzle-loader); he did not want pay—he only wanted to get freed from his master, who, he said, robbed and ill-treated him.

"Do you swear upon all that is most sacred that you have made up your mind not to go back to your master?"

"Yes. If you say 'No' to me, I shall kill myself now."

Benedicto—that was his name—spoke with quiet determination.

"Very good, Benedicto. You can remain. What is more, you shall receive from this moment the same pay as the other men. You can keep your old gun, too."

Benedicto embraced and kissed my hands, then my feet. The poor man's joy was so great that it was really worth living to see that such moments of happiness could be procured in a man's lifetime.

[20] Benedicto was a free man again, and for the first time in his life was earning genuine money! He was handed a paddle, and he paddled away for all he was worth, splashing with water those in front and behind him. He was in a state of great excitement, tears flowing freely down his cheeks and beard, and dripping on to his knees as he sat in the bottom of the canoe. He sobbed to his heart's content, and kept on splashing us all over with his paddle. We were all so touched by that pathetic scene that we preferred getting wet to remonstrating.

Fortunately the river was placid enough under the corrideira. When things had quieted down a little, I taught Benedicto and the others how to paddle properly, and Alcides how to steer straight. I had then five men. That improved matters greatly, as four could paddle while the fifth was steering.

The Arinos River flowed from Porto Velho in a south-westerly, then in a due westerly direction, then north, then again west, from which last point it doubled, as it were, and proceeded east and south-east, returning to within quite a short distance of our original point of departure. We sounded our horn, and immediately heard in reply the horn of the seringueiros at Porto Velho. Judging by the sound, the distance could not have been more than a few hundred metres, although we had travelled some six thousand metres down stream.

The First Rocks in the Arinos River.

Enormous Globular Rocks typical of the Arinos River.

For the first time I noticed swallows flying swiftly over the river, close to the water. Another easy corrideira was encountered. When we had been out several hours my men were already beginning to get[21] into the right way of paddling, and Alcides was commencing to understand the capricious mysteries of the steering-gear.

On account of my men's inexperience—and due credit being given to the current—we went at the rate of 13 kils. an hour. Innumerable were the rubber trees all along the banks. Occasionally small sand beaches were met with. Here and there a fallen giant tree obstructed part of the river. Families of ariranhas (Lutra brasiliensis) played in the water. The pretty little animals—not unlike otters—raised their heads above water, and, hissing loudly, frequently came to attack the canoe. They were extraordinarily brave. They were greatly attracted by the vivid red of the British flag, which in their imagination suggested blood. They became wildly excited when I waved the flag at them, and when I placed it near the water they would charge the canoe—so much so that two or three times my men were able to kill them by striking them on the head with the heavy wooden paddles.

The river was at its lowest when I descended it, which made it all the more difficult for us, as we were treated to innumerable small rapids which would otherwise have been entirely covered over with water. A great island (80 m. long) of pebbles and beautiful crystals was passed in the centre of the stream, which there formed two channels; one entirely blocked by fallen trees and accumulated rolling material, the other, 40 m. wide, very deep and swift.

The banks of the river were about 20 ft. high, generally of red earth, with a stratum of white sand above. The vegetation was luxuriant and extra[22]ordinarily tidy along the summit of the banks. The water was quite crystal-like, it was so clear. All the time our nostrils were fully expanded to inhale the delicious scent of the forest, which closely resembled that of jessamine. Masses of violet-coloured convolvuli were festooned from the trees. That was a great treat for me, after the months I had gone through when my entire days were spent eating up dust raised in clouds by the troop of animals marching in front of me.

When you came to survey a river it was really amazing what zigzags water could make in cutting its way through a country. From north-west the Arinos veered south-west, and from south-west to north-east.

By one o'clock we were in a spacious basin, 200 m. in diameter, close to which a small tributary, 2 m. wide, entered the Arinos on the left bank. Farther down on the right bank were neat beaches of white and red sand. We stopped for a few moments at a seringueiro's shed. The poor fellow—a negro—was in a pitiable condition from malarial fever.

Those martyrs of labour were much to be pitied, and also admired. There, hundreds of miles away from everybody, they stayed, abandoned in the forest until the agents of their masters who had dropped them there found it convenient to come and fetch them back again. If they came back at all and never failed, it was not, you can be sure, for the interest they took in human life, but because of the quantity of valuable rubber which they expected would be collected before their return. Those poor creatures had no possible way of escape, except under extraordinary[23] circumstances. They were conveyed to their stations overland by means of pack animals, which at once were sent back and did not return until the end of the collecting season. Even then, if the seringueiro wanted to get away, he was frequently compelled to purchase an animal from his employer at three or four times its actual value—that is to say, perhaps sixty or eighty pounds sterling. So that the more a man worked or earned the more he became indebted to his master.

Like all men who have lived a great deal in exile and solitude, the seringueiros—nearly all blacks or mulattos—were extraordinarily generous. They always wanted to give you all they possessed—which was next to nothing, but meant a fortune to them. They would deprive themselves of anything if they thought they could give the slightest pleasure.

We left the seringueiro. I feared the poor man could not live long in his broken-down condition. He was most grateful for some medicine and provisions I left with him. His farewell to us was in so melancholy a voice, as he tried to lift himself out of an improvised bamboo couch, that for days it rang in my ears, and before my eyes constantly remained his skeleton-like, sunken features as he waved his farewell and fell back exhausted.

Behind a narrow barrier of sand, about 10 ft. high, as we proceeded down stream in a north-westerly direction, was a large lagoon.

The river was really too beautiful for words, the clear green water reflecting with precision in deeper tones the view before us. Only when its course was[24] disturbed and diverted by a sharp rock or by the branches of a fallen and dying tree, the successive angular ridges of the troubled water shone like polished silver in parallel lines from the reflected light of the sun, just like a huge luminous skeleton of a fish.

The trees were truly wonderful along the river—tall and healthy, with dense deep green foliage. But Nature seemed absolutely asleep. Barring the few swallows we had seen soon after our departure, and the ariranhas, we went the whole day without hearing the song of a bird, or the howling of a wild animal. We did hear a noise resembling the bark of a dog—so much did it resemble it that my dogs barked back. But it came not from a dog at all. The peculiar noise was made by a large bird.

A Rocky Barrier in the River.

A Picturesque Double Waterfall on the Arinos River.

After passing a handsome beach of white sand on our left, the river described sharp angles, west, north-west, north-east, then north. There were rapids, fairly strong, although not dangerous in any way. The river was forced through a channel 50 m. wide, in which the current was very strong. To make things worse, a giant tree had fallen and obstructed much of the passage, compelling us to negotiate the rapid in its worst part. A large bay, 180 m. in diameter, opened out below that point. Farther came a perfectly straight stretch of water for 3,000 m. Halfway down that stretch, to the right, we passed the mouth of the Agua Clara, a charming rivulet of crystalline water, 10 m. wide. A conglomerate stratum of alluvial formation, composed of well-rounded pebbles held together by red earth, and crumbling easily under pressure of the fingers, showed through in many places.[25] The beaches of handsome, fine white sand were most interesting.

The forest was getting thin on both sides. In fact, late in the afternoon we had open country on the left bank—only a few trees being visible near the water's edge, and an occasional giant jatobá (Hymencoea Courbaril L.), the latter chiefly on the right bank. The right bank was sparsely wooded, and at one time we had open campos on both sides of us.

A streamlet 3 m. wide entered the Arinos on the left. We got to one point where the river proved treacherous, although apparently almost tranquil on the surface. The Brazilians have an excellent name for such places—rebojo, or a curve formed by sudden deviation of a current. If we had not been careful in going across such places, it would have been easy for the canoe to have been turned over and sucked under.

Patches of thick forest were met on either bank, and in those patches numerous indeed were the rubber trees. In the afternoon we saw chiefly campos and chapada, or thin scrub.

Considering all, we did well—chiefly owing to the strong current—on our first day of navigation. We had gone some 70 kils. when we halted at sunset, at the junction of the very deep streamlet Quarustera with the Arinos. The elevation of our camp, 60 ft. above the river, was 1,200 ft.

The nights were cool enough—minimum 55° Fahr. on the night of June 6th—7th. There was a thick haze over the river in the morning, and as we did not know what we might be coming upon suddenly we[26] did not make a start until 7.15. After crossing a large and shallow bay the stream was forced into a channel 50 m. wide. There was open country—campos—on the right bank. A curious isolated volcanic boulder split in two was then observed in the stream, while the banks were of alluvially deposited conglomerate. From that spot luxuriant forest was on the right bank once more, while open country was on the left. Upon examination I found that the thick forest was merely a band or zone near the water—behind was open country.

Farther, the river went through a neck 40 m. wide where the current was very swift. The banks almost all along were from 10 to 20 ft. high. Slender tucuma or tucuman palms were to be seen, which had stems only 3 to 4 in. in diameter, but were 30 to 40 ft. high, and had a ball-like tuft of leaves at the top. We then came upon open country (chapada) on both sides, and went over small corrideiras, which we got to like, as we travelled along on them at a greater speed than in the still waters, with a minimum of exertion. The river seemed to be getting narrower all the time that day, and, of course, deeper. In many spots it went through a channel not more than 30 m. wide.

We heard—but not for long—the cackling of the jacu (Penelope cristata), a handsome gallinaceous bird. The jacu made most delicious eating. Then that day flocks of small green parrots flew over our heads on several occasions.

Ariranhas gave us once more a good deal of amusement and sport. It was seldom one found such cheeky and inquisitive animals. They would pop[27] their heads out of the water quite close to the canoe and sniff and grind their teeth at us. They had beautiful little heads—something between a cat and a seal—with lovely, but wicked, black eyes of wonderful luminosity. They had a perfect craving for blood. The Brazilians have strange tales about them—not exactly fit for publication.

The sand beaches were not so frequent as we advanced on our journey. We noticed instead extensive beaches of gravel. Another tributary stream, 10 m. wide at its mouth, entered the Arinos from the east. There was heavy forest there with plenty of rubber-trees on the right bank, whereas the country was open on the left bank.

Farther down, the banks became low, so that the slightest rise in the river would inundate the country. The forest was particularly thick, and the rubber trees plentiful, along a stretch of 4,300 m. of river in a perfectly straight line.

The river was getting more and more beautiful at every turn. We emerged into a bay 300 m. in diameter. Great blocks of conglomerate were strewn about. A great spur projected to the centre of the bay. The richness in rubber of that region was amazing. Wonderful giant trees, heavily laden with dark green foliage, were reflected in deeper tones in the water of the river—there almost stagnant because held up by some obstacle lower down. Innumerable festoons of creepers hung down from those trees. The stream was there 80 m. wide, and beautiful that day in great stretches of 4,300 m., 1,400 m., 1,000 m., 3,000 m., 1,500 m., and 1,200 m.—in a perfectly straight[28] line. The forest was occasionally interrupted on one side or the other by great expanses of chapada.

Immense bacabeira palms, 40 to 50 ft. high, were numerous, most graceful to look at, with their ten or eleven huge compound leaves placed like an open fan. Yellow filaments of some length hung in a cluster where the petiole of the leaves met.

We arrived at a pedreria—an accumulation of rocks—extending almost right across the stream, and which was the cause of the placidity of the waters above it. There were two channels—one to bearings magnetic 330°, the other to 360°—on either side of a central island. We followed the first and larger channel. The island, which had a most luxuriant growth of trees upon it, was subdivided into two by a channel 10 m. wide at its south-eastern end.

For purposes of identification I named all the islands we saw. The larger of these two I called Esmeralda Island. In order to establish its exact position I landed and took observations for latitude and longitude. Lat. 13° 15′·6 S.; long. 56° 46′ W.

An Island of the Arinos River.

Vegetation on an Island in the River Arinos.

We were then at an elevation of 1,150 ft. The temperature in the shade was 77° Fahr. and 98° in the sun. Six-tenths of the sky was covered with thick globular clouds, which made the air heavy, although the temperature was not excessively high. It must be remembered that we in the canoe were in the sun all the time and suffered a good deal in the morning and afternoon, when the sun was not high, by the refraction of the sun's rays from the water. The refracted light was so powerful that it interfered a good deal with the navigation. The river[29] looked like a molten surface of boiling silver, which absolutely blinded us at times, and made it impossible to see what was ahead in the water.

Esmeralda Island was formerly joined at its most south-westerly point to the western bank of the river. From that point the river described an arc of a circle as far as bearings magnetic 20° (N.N.E.). We negotiated successfully two small rapids with large volcanic rocks just under the surface of the water. We just escaped going over one of them, which would have certainly capsized the canoe. As it was we merely scraped the side of the canoe against it.

The left bank, which had crumbled down, showed strata of conglomerate and yellow sand, with upper alluvial deposits of a light grey colour.

We were travelling due north in a straight line of 1,800 m. when we came upon the entrance of a lakelet on the west side of an islet. A huge fish—some 5 ft. in length—unaccustomed to the unusual sight of human beings, played about under our canoe for some time, much to the excitement of my men. Birds of superb metallic blue, vivid yellow, and iridescent plumage played about among the trees. On the left bank farther down was a great growth of high bamboos, then again forest with plenty of vigorous rubber trees.

Again small and fairly swift rapids were encountered in a turn of the river from bearings magnetic 70° to 250°. A tributary stream which came from the south entered the Arinos on its left bank. Then we came to another island forming two channels—one (N.W.) 20 m. wide, with some rough-looking rapids; the other channel (N.), larger and[30] shallower, divided in its turn in two by a mound of yellow gravel.

Alcides, who steered, had an idea that in going down rapids you should always send the canoe over places where the water broke and foamed, which meant rocks underneath, and not keep her in the centre of the channel where the water was deeper. This idea was, I think, suggested by his inability to swim, and the hope that if we got wrecked he could touch bottom with his feet, so that his life might be in comparative safety. I tried to argue the point with him, but it was no use. It invariably led to such unpleasantness that once more I decided to trust in Providence, as long as we went forward.

I had just shouted to Alcides to keep in the centre of the channel. Of course he disobeyed. We were caught in the strong current. One moment later there was a violent bump which knocked us all off our seats and sent us sprawling in the bottom of the canoe. We had stuck fast between two rocks. The canoe, being of such great length, vibrated to and fro with the current forcing it at the side. Laden as she was with baggage, in a few moments she became filled with water, and it was only after working hard for the best part of an hour that we were able to extricate ourselves from our position. We had hardly finished baling the water out on resuming our course than, 1,500 m. farther, we came to more rapids, then 700 m. beyond yet other rapids.

The forest was fairly thick all along on both banks, with innumerable healthy rubber trees. Although the forest seemed impenetrable at first sight, I always[31] found that it was easy enough to go through it if one knew how. Quite close to the water naturally the vegetation was somewhat entangled. In many places were extensive patches of bamboos of considerable height; but there is a way of disentangling the most confused growth, if you happen to understand how those plants and liane grow and get twisted. Any one with a keen sense of observation should experience no difficulty whatever in going through the densest forest anywhere in the world—even without using a knife—although, of course, the latter is useful when you wish to keep up a certain speed in your marching.

Eleven kilometres and a half from the last rapids—having travelled north-west, south-west, east, and even due south, so winding was the course of the river—we came to a tributary stream 10 m. wide, on the left side of the Arinos. Eight kilometres farther we passed the inlet—then dry—of a small lagoon fed by the stream. The river banks, where eroded by the water, showed a lower layer of reddish-brown rock with a bright red ferruginous stratum above it. The top layer, 10 ft. thick, seemed formed of lime and alluvial deposits.

We emerged into a large basin 200 m. across, with a charming little island in the centre forming two channels with fairly strong rapids. We followed the channel on the right. At that point the river folded over itself into a great elbow. A cliff, 120 ft. high, towered on one side in brilliant red and yellow. The lower half of the strata was perfectly horizontal; the upper half at an angle of 45° to the lower. The vivid[32] colouring was intensified by contrast with a beautiful beach of immaculate white sand on the left side of the great elbow.

I observed a wonderful double lunar halo on the night of July 7-8, the outer circle in successive tints of most delicate yellow, orange, pale blue and white—the yellow being nearest the centre.

[33]

CHAPTER III

We were rather proud of ourselves, as we had gone 69 kils. on July 7th, paddling away—barring the interval for lunch—from 7.15 in the morning until 7.30 at night.

The night was fairly cold—minimum 57° Fahr.; the elevation 1,100 ft. Where I made camp at the elbow of the stream (on the left bank) there were innumerable rubber trees. A similar wealth of Siphonia elastica appeared to be on the opposite bank, where the forest was luxuriant.

On July 8th we began our journey by going down rapids. Then after some 15,300 m. of fairly smooth navigation we crossed a basin 130 m. wide, where we encountered strong eddies—most unpleasant, as they swerved the canoe about in a way that was alarming. Lower down a swift corrideira and more eddies gave us some trouble.

A beautiful ariranha peeped out of the water close to the canoe, spitting angrily at us. It was attracted by the blood-red of the English flag, which it evidently wanted to bite. My men fired and wounded it; but so vicious were those little otters, and so great their[34] craving for blood, that it still came on to within a foot or two of the canoe, when my men killed it.

The river was there compressed into a deep channel, 85 m. wide, with a strong current, after which it split into two arms—one north-west, 25 m. wide; the other north-east, 30 m. broad. The island thus formed between the two arms was 2,500 m. long. We called it Ariranha Island.

A streamlet 3 m. wide entered the Arinos on the right bank. Where the banks were free from vegetation an undulating stratum of red earth was exposed, directly above which was a stratum from 1 to 2 ft. thick of a brilliant yellow colour. Above that rested the usual grey alluvial deposits from 6 to 8 ft. thick.

From a direction due west the stream suddenly turned north, between high banks. A strong corrideira was found before the stream divided itself into three arms—two of those arms flowing north-east, the other north-west. We followed the latter—a channel 20 m. wide, with a high bank of gravel on its left side. Where those arms met again—some 500 m. farther—a basin 200 m. in diameter was formed. A hill 150 ft. high, covered with dense vegetation, faced us to the north. It was quite an unusual sight in such flat country. The stream took a sharp turn at that spot—it positively doubled. Strong eddies were encountered. The greatest care should have been taken in going over places of that kind, but "care" was a word I had absolutely scratched out of my vocabulary as useless in my journey across Brazil. How and why we ever got across those places with the crew I had on board, would indeed be beyond me to explain[35]—unless, as on preceding occasions, it was due to the unceasing protection of a guardian angel.

After crossing a circular basin 200 m. in diameter, the river became suddenly squeezed into a channel 30 m. wide, much strewn with rocks. A somewhat troublesome rapid had to be negotiated there, rendered more difficult by the recent fall, across the best part of the stream, of a giant tree. The branches which stuck out of the water formed a regular barrier and waved to and fro with the violent pressure of the water. Before we could realize where we were, Alcides steered us straight into the branches and foliage of the fallen tree. As we were travelling at an accelerated speed with the strong current, all our hats were scraped off our heads, and, what was worse, our scalps, faces, and arms had patches of skin torn off as we crashed among the branches. It took us some time before we were able to disentangle ourselves, resume navigation, and recover as we went along the various headgear floating independently down the stream.

Another little tributary, 2 m. wide, entered the Arinos on the left side. No sooner had we freed ourselves from the rapids than we were in a circle 80 m. across, with nasty-looking eddies, which swung the undermanned canoe now to one side, then violently to the other, in a dangerous way. We could not have struck a worse time for navigating the river. It was then the end of the dry season and the water at its lowest, so that every possible obstacle that could be found in that river stood to impede our progress. This would not have been the case at high water when navigation in that portion of the stream would have[36] been comparatively smooth and easy. We were thanking our stars that we had passed the vicious eddies safely, when we were confronted by more rapids, with treacherous submerged rocks. Yet another basin, 150 m. wide, was crossed, with large blocks of black rock showing through on the left bank. More rapids were met—quite easy to negotiate. The sky was half covered with feathery radiations from the south.

To the north another hill, 120 ft. high, eroded by water, stood on the left bank of the stream, where red volcanic rock was also visible in a stratum 15 ft. thick, covered by a thick layer of yellow earth. Strong rapids came next. We had had so much luck in the descent of the rapids—which, bad as they were, really were so far quite unimportant as compared to what we were to find later—that my men began to be quite adventurous. Saving trifling mishaps, we were getting on well. The tributaries of the Arinos we had seen so far that day were small streamlets 1 m. wide on the right; another, 2 m. wide—a limpid stream—coming from the south-west on the left. Several springs of clear water filtered through the left bank. In the centre of the river was an extensive bank of gravel held up by blocks of volcanic rock.

Preparing the Canoe to descend a Rapid.

A Cataract on the Arinos River.

In a basin 150 m. wide rose a pretty island. Rapids were found in the channels, of which the western was wider and more free from obstacles. For one entire kilometre there were strong eddies and rapids in succession; then came 3,500 m. of fairly easy travelling. The river for 23,500 m. had been flowing almost in a straight line due north, with slight variations of a few degrees to the north-east and once to the north-west.[37] Plenty of tucum or tucuma palms adorned the right bank; whereas on the left bank was fairly open country.

Again, after some more rapids, the river was squeezed into a neck only 25 m. wide, gradually widening to some 150 m., where whirlpools and eddies of considerable magnitude were formed. On several occasions the canoe was caught in them and swerved right round, describing one or more circles upon herself. Two islets were passed, then a tributary 10 m. wide coming from the east on the right side of us.

A great number of submerged rocks close to the surface formed a ridge 200 m. in length all along the centre of the stream. In a wonderful stretch 4,000 m. long in a perfectly straight line north, the river was from 50 to 100 m. wide. A small tributary rivulet entered it on the west. At the end of that long stretch a wall, 100 ft. high, of brilliantly yellow rock in its lower part, with 15 ft. of vivid red rock above, diverted the stream almost at a right angle toward the west. Rapids and eddies were encountered after passing an obstruction of accumulated gravel in the centre of the river, there 50 m. wide.

Giant trees, not unlike weeping willows, bent over the river, their streamers touching the water. A rocky barrier extended as far as the centre of the stream, leaving only one safe passage on the left side close to the bank. The stream was at that point 100 m. broad, and of great beauty, in a straight line north for 7,400 m.

My men were beginning to paddle a little better, and we were travelling at a considerable speed with[38] the current. We had glorious weather, and although the heat was great our travelling was perfectly delightful. In the daytime we were not worried much by insects. The canoe now and then stuck fast in shallow places or upon rocks, but we all jumped gaily into the water and pushed her along until she floated again. Those baths in the deliciously clear water were quite refreshing. We generally jumped in clothes and all, and left it to the sun to dry the garments upon our backs and legs. I usually wore pyjamas while travelling in the canoe, as they were more comfortable than other clothes and dried quicker when we came out of the water again.

Many sharp successive turns were met next in the course of the river, which then showed stunted vegetation on the right bank and thick forest on the left. A high natural wall, 100 ft. high, of bright cadmium yellow for 30 ft. in its lower part, of vivid red for 50 ft. above that, and darker red above, barred our way in front (north). On its summit were peculiar white-barked slender trees—so white that they looked almost as if they had been painted, but of course they had not. The entire centre of the river, forming there an extensive basin, was blocked by a high bank of gravel, leaving merely narrow channels close to the banks. The high wall deflected the stream from 290° to bearings magnetic 30°. A range of hills some 300 ft. high then appeared before us, extending from N.N.W. to S.S.E.

We went over a stony place which obstructed almost the entire river, except a narrow channel close to the banks. That was followed by rapids.[39] Some 2 kil. 300 m. farther, a hill range to the north switched the stream sharply from north to north-west, which direction it kept with a mere deviation of 20° for 6,500 m.

The stream was then 100 metres wide nearly all along, and of amazing beauty. Yet another stony place disturbed the placidity of the transparent crystal-like water. At the end of that wonderful stretch of river came another great vertical wall, on the left side—of most brilliant colouring, a stratum of vivid red 60 ft. deep with thin bright horizontal yellow streaks, and an upper stratum 18 ft. thick of a similar dazzling yellow. The northern portion of the cliff differed in colouring, and had a brown lower stratum 30 ft. thick, followed upwards by a yellow stratum 2 ft. thick, and a red stratum—a most brilliant vermilion—15 ft. thick. Above was a pink layer 15 ft. thick and a summit deposit of brown earth 45 ft. deep. There again the river was shifted by that obstacle from b.m. 290° to due north. A charming island—which I baptized Bridget Island—700 m. long and 100 m. wide, absolutely smothered in vegetation, was found there. It had an extensive spur of yellow sand and gravel. The right bank was sparsely wooded with open country behind. Two channels were found, one flowing north-west, 40 m. wide, the other north-east, 30 m. broad. We followed the latter, where the rapids seemed less fearsome than in the broader channel.

At the end of Bridget Island another island, 500 m. long, was found, which we called Lucky Island. This second island was 200 m. down stream from the first, and was situated at the junction of the River dos Patos[40] ("river of ducks") with the River Arinos on the right side of the latter stream.

We were amazed to see opposite the island on the right bank a fishing tackle and some clothes. As we had already gone 89 kil. 850 m. that day, having kept an average speed of 11 kil. 250 m. an hour, and the sun was about to set, we decided to halt on "Lucky Island" for the night. We were busy preparing our dinner when a strange figure appeared on the right bank, rifle in hand. His astonishment at seeing us was no greater than ours at seeing him.

"Who were we?" "Where did we come from?" "What did we want there?" "Where were we going?"

All those questions having been duly answered, I sent my canoe over to ferry the fellow across. He was one of the queerest men I have ever met. His eyes constantly roamed about like those of a wild feline animal. He never kept still a moment, springing up unexpectedly to his feet when he was sitting down, and squatting himself down when he had been standing up. All the time he was handling his rifle—a very handsome one—and with rapid movements watched intently now one then another of our party. He seemed in a state of great nervous strain and excitement. He appeared to be a first or second cross of Indians and negroes—quite young, some twenty-four years of age. He had very little clothing upon his person, which showed limbs of extraordinary muscular strength. Seldom is it given to one to see so cruel a face, seldom were criminal characteristics so clearly marked on any one's countenance and in the formation of the skull. A man with a face like that[41] could be capable of any crime. His conversation supplied ample further testimony that his physiognomy had not deceived me. I had so far thought that my men were the coarsest, the most brutal individuals I had ever met, but they were not in it at all with the strange figure we had before us. The conversation of my men had seemed to me disgustingly vulgar, but it now appeared the acme of refinement when the new man opened his mouth to talk. Good gracious me! what extraordinary oaths—what perversion of ideas—what foaming hatred for the Creator, our Saviour, all the saints imaginable, and humanity in general! Evidently the poor man had a screw loose somewhere within his brain-case.

I gave him some tobacco, a quantity of which I carried for my men. Without a word of acknowledgment he seized it, and, with paper my men gave him, proceeded to make himself a cigarette.

"I am tired of this life," said he, as he rolled the tobacco. "I am a slave. I owe my master 1 conto 200 milreis (£80). He sold me this rifle, and some cartridges, and I cannot repay him. I am rotting away with fever. I am dying of starvation, I am going mad in this place.... I have no more food, and have been unable for three days to catch fish. Do not let me die here. Take me with you. I will give you my rifle, this ring"—a cheap ring which he proceeded to take from his finger—"I shall work hard and require no pay if you will save me from death."

I told him that he had better consider his position seriously before doing anything rash. We should not be leaving until the next morning.

[42] The man, whom we shall call X, as I do not wish to divulge his real name, sat up the entire night talking to my men. His excitement was great—at least, judging by the loudness of his voice. During those long sleepless hours—with all of them shouting at the top of their voices it was impossible to sleep—I overheard the entire history of his life. What a life! I prayed my stars that X would change his mind and decide to stay where he was, for though I needed extra men badly I feared that his company would not be a welcome addition to our party, bad as it was. Like all men who have lived much in seclusion, he possessed marvellous vitality and magnetism. My men were simply hypnotised by the remarkable tales of his deeds, or rather misdeeds.

Long before we were ready to start, X went to seat himself in the canoe to make sure we should not leave him behind. When I asked him to reconsider once more what he was doing, which was not fair to his master, no matter how bad he may have been, X positively refused to remain there.

"If you do not want me to come," he said with determination, "you will have to fling me into the water and keep my head under until I am drowned."

That was rather a trying dilemma. Much as I disapprove of slavery, I did not like the idea of taking matters into my own hands and freeing other people's slaves; yet it was impossible to refuse assistance to a suffering man when he asked for it. In any case I had no wish to be responsible for his death.

"X," I said to him, "you have quite made up your mind to go with us?"

[43] "Yes."

"Will you promise faithfully that you will work and give no trouble?"

"May my old father and mother be struck by lightning this moment if I shall give you trouble!" was his reply.

"Very good, X. You can keep your rifle and cartridges and your ring"—he had just deposited them at my feet—"they are your own property. I do not want them. You shall receive the same salary as the other men from this day as long as you do your work satisfactorily."

X jumped out of the canoe to embrace me. On his brutal face was for a moment an expression of gratitude ... he rested his head upon my shoulder and sobbed for many minutes.

With a crew of six men, things were a little better for us. Four could paddle while one steered, and the sixth stood on the prow with a long pole punting, or on the look-out for dangerous obstacles.

X paddled with such vigour that Alcides at the helm had the greatest difficulty in keeping the canoe straight. It had a good effect on the other men, who also paddled away with all their might, and we were speeding along with the strong current almost as fast as a steam launch.

The minimum temperature during the night (July 8th-9th) had been 57° Fahr. The elevation above the sea level of Lucky Island was 1,100 ft.

The River dos Patos came from the S.S.E., then bent to the east where its sources were.

Lucky Island was 250 m. in length. The river had[44] an average width of 80 m. As we went along my men sang gaily, particularly X, who seemed like a bird let out of its cage, so happy did he feel at being a free man again. His répertoire was not of the choicest kind, but what was lacking in quality was made up in quantity. For some hours we were treated to a vocal concert, X's solos sending my men into fits of merriment. His wit—of the crudest kind—was sometimes funny.

This great gaiety seemed most weird in that region where silence reigned supreme always. The voices seemed to travel immense distances, echoed from one side to the other of the river. Words were reproduced with great clearness by the echo two or three times over. Especially when we had forest on both sides of the stream was the echo particularly perfect.

Quantities of rubber trees—absolutely going to waste—were to be seen now on one side, then on the other, of the river where the banks were wooded.

A Rapid on the Arinos River.

Taking the Canoe through a Narrow Channel.

Another most beautiful island, 800 m. long and 80 m. wide—Pedro de Toledo Island—was passed. It had a channel 10 m. wide in a north-westerly direction, another, which we followed, 50 m. broad, north-east. On emerging from this channel at the end of the island we were in a basin 140 m. in diameter. Some 3 kils. farther, another great basin was crossed—very shallow, only 2 ft. deep—with a gravel bottom. The current was swift. Then, 2 kils. beyond, yet another basin, 100 metres wide, 1½ ft. deep, with strong eddies, was crossed. The river, which had so far kept more or less in a northerly direction, at that point actually swung round in two consecutive angles from 350°[45] north to due south, in which direction it flowed for 1,000 m. An immaculately white beach was on the right of us, on which we duly stranded. It was quite enough for Alcides to see an obstacle of any kind in the river for him to send the canoe right over it. I seized that opportunity to land and commence a most interesting collection of the innumerable minute sand plants which were to be found on those beaches.

Where the river turned north once more there stood a hill 100 ft. high, the lower half of which was of red volcanic rock, the upper half of yellow earth. Along the water's edge a thick and florid growth of bamboo could be seen in many places, while on the edge of the forest hung myriads of purple convolvuli. For hundreds of kilometres the Arinos was indeed one of the most ideally beautiful rivers I have ever seen. Its banks of alluvial formation, 25 to 30 ft. high, had chapada on their tops. Farther on the chapada gave way once more to dense forest with plentiful rubber trees. Another basin, 150 m. in diameter, was met with, after which we entered a channel from 40 to 50 m. wide, through which the stream was compressed.

A pretty little islet of gravel, 100 m. long, 20 m. wide, and rising 6 ft. above the water, had a tuft of trees growing on it, and a spur, also of gravel, extending westward for more than another 100 m. The river in that section flowed in a W.N.W. direction for 1,400 m.

We soon after came to a shallow basin (1 ft. deep) 100 m. wide, in which eddies were strong and troublesome. There were many pointed rocks scattered about in its bed of gravel, as well as three parallel rocky barriers right across the basin.

[46] A rivulet 2 m. wide at the mouth entered the Arinos on the right side, while on the left side we had an island 800 m. long, leaving two channels, one 10 m. wide, the other 40 m. A tiny streamlet flowed into the main stream on the left. Banks, regular dunes of gravel, were formed where the river broadened into basins. We came to a basin 400 m. wide and extremely shallow. Three channels—W.N.W., N.W., and N.N.E.—were formed in the river by two islands, each 400 m. long—the Two Sisters Islands—which were in the centre. We found the N.N.E. channel the best. Where the river narrowed again to a width of 50 m. huge rocks stood in the centre. From that point for some 300 m. we went over a succession of gravel banks and nasty rocks forming barriers across the stream.

Small streamlets entered the Arinos, one on the left, the other on the right. A cluster of high rocks was on the right bank. On both sides were extensive white sand beaches. The river soon widened to 100 m. in a basin with an islet 12 ft. high, and a cluster of trees on its north-east side. Another island 6 ft. high, 80 m. long—Mosquito Island—with a spit of gravel to the south, was near it.

Rubber trees were most plentiful on the right bank where the forest was thick, whereas on the left bank was chapada. Huge gorgeous butterflies with black-striped brown wings and velvety bodies flew in great numbers around the canoe. Some settled on my hat, hands, and on the sleeves of my white shirt. They were so unaccustomed to see human beings that when touched they did not attempt to fly away.

The river was getting more and more wonderful[47] every hour as we went along—in great straight lines of 3,500 m., 3,000 m., 2,200 m., 2,000 m., 4,000 m., in length.

Some ducks rose from the water only a few yards in front of the canoe. The man who was behind me fired with his carbine close to my head. The bullet grazed my right ear. It was a trifle trying to be travelling with such careless sportsmen, but the best thing was to say nothing and go on.

A big island—Passos Island—300 m. long, preceded by a smaller islet 80 m. long—Passos Junior I.—was subsequently passed, where the river formed a channel (N.W.) 50 m. wide and a minor one (W.) 30 m.

The river there changed from a westerly course to W.S.W. Once more we had before us a great wall of red rock which at first seemed to bar our way. In the lower section of the wall was a cave eroded by water and extending some way back. It was too low to be entered by the canoe. The lower stratum of the wall was at an angle—in other words, had a dip of 21°—while the stratum above it, 30 ft. in thickness, intersected by a yellow band, was perfectly horizontal. On the left side of this high natural wall was a charming waterfall of limpid water. Farther on a great land-slip displayed for a length of 40 m. brilliant red earth over a stratum 60 ft. thick of white chalk. The river, which described a number of turns, was bordered on the left side by a hill range covered with handsome trees.

The ardour of my men for rowing had already passed away. They smoked and sang the whole time, and let the current—fortunately strong—carry us along.[48] Whenever I remonstrated they scooped the water carelessly with their paddles for a few minutes. As is the case with individuals mentally deficient, everything seemed to distract them. One moment it was the flight of a jacutinga—a handsome black gallinaceous bird with a white crest. Another moment it was the jump of an inquisitive fish. Many mergulhão commun (Podiceps Americanus), wonderfully graceful, velvety black birds with long beaks, flew about unconcerned from tree to tree. Whenever anything moved about anywhere, the paddles were abandoned, the rifles were seized, and there was a regular fusillade. The men seldom hit anything, although on many occasions, with the unsteady canoe, we all of us had narrow escapes. One day the man in front of me fired a shot at a bird—but so close to my head, not more than one foot away, that the concussion blinded me for several seconds. On other occasions the rifles went off when they were not expected to. I had ceased to give orders of any kind about the careful use of the weapons. It was time and lung-power absolutely wasted, and only made things worse.

After floating down a beautiful stretch of 3,000 m., two more islands were reached within a great circle over 200 m. wide. A small tributary entered the Arinos on the right bank. Another island, 500 m. long, was seen farther down, at the end of which, where two channels met again, violent eddies were produced by the meeting of the two strong currents.

Immense quantities of Siphonia elastica were there to be seen on both sides of the stream in the forest, which was getting more and more luxuriant as we[49] proceeded on our journey farther north. Many wild banana palms (bananeira do matto) were to be seen here and there along the lovely, deliciously clean river, with its extraordinarily tidy banks.

Another great basin, 300 m. in diameter, was met, with three islands and two gravel beaches in its centre. The two principal islands—Paolo and Francesca—were each 100 m. long and 50 m. wide.

We now made the acquaintance of the capivara (Hydrochoerus capibara), a rodent which we found common farther down in those waters. It was a stupid animal. When fired at several times by my men it remained perfectly still, gazing at its enemies. It was only when a bullet hit the ground too near that it would move away, surprised more than concerned.

After going down a corrideira (small rapid) we encountered thousands of white and lemon-yellow butterflies. On islets of red earth swarms of them were basking in the sun—which was getting hotter and hotter as we got farther north.

Again we were soon after faced by a high natural wall of brilliant yellow and red colouring. In its western part it showed a white stratum 3 ft. thick upon a layer of yellow lava of an equal thickness. A stratum of lighter yellow was nearest the surface of the water, while above was a thick layer of grey earth. On the right side, at this point, a tributary streamlet flowed into the Arinos. The basin formed by the crescent-shaped wall was perfectly circular. When the river emerged from it, it folded back from 40° b.m. to 290°.

Owing to the steepness of the banks we experienced[50] difficulty in finding a suitable camping place for the night. Eventually at sunset we had to clear with our big knives a patch in the dirty forest on the edge of the stream. I never liked to camp out of sight of the canoe in case anything happened during the night—an attack, a flood, a forest fire, or anybody trying to steal or get away with the canoe; the danger from my own men being quite as great as from any enemy I could have found. I well knew that if we lost that canoe we were done for entirely.

There was a great falling off in the distance covered that day owing to the laziness of my men. We had only gone 67 kil. 600 m.—or 22 kil. 250 m. less than the previous day, when we had travelled less hours and gone easily over a distance of 89 kil. 850 m.

[51]

CHAPTER IV

The night of July 10th was cool—minimum temperature 58° F. When we departed at 7.10 in the morning the river was extremely tortuous at first—in one place actually veering from north to due south. On the right side of us was a lake divided by a low bank, 3 to 5 ft. high, from the river by which it was fed. The entrance into the lake was narrow. We had hardly gone 1 kil. when we found ourselves in a great basin 300 m. long, 200 m. wide, with one large island—Nellie Island—150 m. in length, and several other small islets in its centre.

Another lagoon was shortly after reached on the right bank, its inlet being 10 m. wide.

The waters of the Arinos were, at this point, of a leaden placidity. We seemed to travel slowly now that the current did not help us. The river was again compressed into a deep channel 50 m. wide. Before us loomed a cliff 100 ft. high, reflected with irreproachable faithfulness in the almost still waters of the stream. There was not a breath of wind to disturb the mirror-like surface, nor to cool our sweating brows in the stifling heat of the broiling sun. The lower 40[52] to 60 ft. of the cliff was red, the upper light yellow—almost white. Where we reached this rocky wall there was a circle 150 m. in diameter, with a low, thickly-wooded triangular island, 80 m. long, 100 m. wide—Eleonora Island.

The north-eastern passage was shallow, with a stony bottom. We followed the northern channel along the vertical wall. On leaving the island we came to a stretch 2,500 m. long of beautiful water flowing due north, with ideally fascinating banks embellished by dense vegetation—neat, clean, and healthy—of the richest green.

After crossing a bay, 100 m. wide, with volcanic rocks showing through on both banks and in the river bed, the stream was squeezed through a rocky neck 25 m. wide, and spread again immediately afterwards to its normal width of 50 m. We were beginning to find big rocks more frequently, many in the river channel—a bad sign for us, for I feared we might soon encounter rapids.

Wonderful oleo pardo trees (Myrocarpus frondosus Fr. All.), with their octopus-like branches hanging down to the water, were fairly common in that region. There were two kinds of oleo trees in Brazil—the brown or oleo pardo and the red or oleo vermelho, the latter technically known as Myrospermum erytroxylon Fr. All.

We subsequently entered a basin 150 m. wide which contained a circular island 100 m. in diameter—Horus Island.

Eight hundred metres farther we came to another large circular bay with a large globular mass of lava on[53] its left side. The current was very swift over a nasty rocky bottom. The canoe was suddenly flung by the current between an accumulation of rocks and an island, and, as we found it impossible to turn, floated down at an uncomfortable speed through a narrow channel, dodging as best we could the many ugly rocks just below the surface of the water. At the end of this channel we encountered violent eddies forming wide circles of most treacherous water—although on the surface it looked placid enough.

The tributary Sumidoro, 30 m. wide at its mouth, entered the Arinos from the west-south-west at this point. Its water was deliciously clear. A little way off to the left we could hear the noise of a waterfall on the Sumidoro, before it joined the Arinos.

The river, after the meeting of this important tributary, became even more exquisitely beautiful than before. Rocks strewn about added to the picturesqueness of the landscape as well as to the dangers of navigation, while springs of crystalline water, cool and quite delicious to drink, descended here and there from the banks.

The river had an average width of 60 m. in this part, and was much strewn with broken-up volcanic boulders, especially on the left bank. On the right bank was a beach of immaculate white sand. For 300 m. we went over a great stony place with shallow water. We had to be careful, but all the same many times did we bump with great force and get stuck upon submerged rocks—which we could not see owing to the blinding, glittering refraction of the sun upon the troubled waters.

[54] A tributary 4 m. wide, coming from the north-east, entered the Arinos on the right bank. A great number of rubber trees were to be seen on the right bank, where the forest was luxuriant; but not on the left bank, where the growth of trees was scanty. Carandá or burity or tucuman palms were plentiful along the water's edge near the spot where a small rivulet entered the Arinos on the left bank. Two thousand metres farther down we came upon denuded country, low, and liable to inundation when the river rose. Farther on were campos and open country, with the exception of a thin row of trees immediately along the river. On the left we had luxuriant forest, wonderfully healthy, neat and clean. The stream was there beautiful—60 to 70 m. wide.

When we had gone 10 kils. 800 m. more the entire channel became strewn with rocks and mounds only 1 ft. below the surface of the water, and not unlike parallel small dunes of sand with a deposit of gravel upon them. For 700 m. the river was obstructed and navigation rendered somewhat troublesome.

Where the river turned from bearings magnetic 310° to 360° (due N.) we went over a nasty stony place with a strong corrideira above it, and we were confronted with a rocky barrier almost the entire width across the stream. We kept on the west side, the only way where it was possible to get the canoe through. A little farther another corrideira, stronger than the first, obliged us to find a passage on the east side of the river—which bore upon its bank campos and chapada. Curious mounds of white sand and gravel were visible in the centre of the river, and also near[55] the left bank below the second corrideira; then we came to parallel ridges of white sand and gravel right across the river bottom at an angle of 45° in relation to the general direction of the stream.

Two tributaries, one 3 m. wide on the left bank, the other 4 m. wide on the right side (the latter coming from the north-east), swelled the Arinos from that point. The width of the stream was now increased to 80 m., the water being shallow. The bed of the river was ever changing, and supplied me with constant interest. It was adorned with strangely precise triangles of beautiful white sand exposed through a layer of gravel which covered most of the river bottom.

A thickly-wooded hill range, 150 ft. high and extending from W.S.W. to E.N.E., stood to the north of us. Its slopes, eroded by the water, had caused a landslip, leaving bare vertical red rock for half the height of the hill-range and two much eroded spurs of bright yellow and white earth extending into the stream.

The river at that point turned from north to east. Open country was again on our right after leaving the hill range, and lowlands liable to inundation. Soon afterwards, however, higher land appeared with banks 35 ft. high.

Swarms of small white butterflies played upon the banks on the edge of the water.

Sand and gravel mounds were numerous in the centre of the channel, with occasional basins of shallow water with corrideiras upon them. For instance, in one of those places for 150 m. the river was only from 1 to 3 ft. deep, and we had to drag the long heavy[56] canoe, which drew 2 ft. of water, along the undulating gravel bed. In fact, we spent a good deal of our time every day in the water, pushing or pulling along the canoe over innumerable obstacles, her great length making it difficult to navigate her properly through the many shallow and tortuous passages.

In a circular basin, 120 m. in diameter, beyond that point we encountered strong eddies near the left bank. On the north side big rocks emerged from the water and a corrideira was formed.

An island 50 m. long and two other islets were separated from the mainland by two channels, one 20 m. wide and only 3 in. deep—the other 60 m. wide and 3 ft. deep. The right bank was there 45 ft. high.

Fifteen hundred metres farther down we entered another basin 200 m. in diameter, with an island 80 m. long and eight dry beaches of gravel.

My men were greatly excited in trying to capture a capivara they had wounded. We actually got the animal on board, but my men were so timid in going near it that it jumped overboard again and made its escape.

The right bank, which had been high, was now reduced to only 4 ft. above the water; whereas the left bank rose to a height of 46 ft. A rivulet 3 m. wide coming from the west had cut its way through the latter bank.

The main river was getting more and more magnificent at every turn. I should have enjoyed the journey very much had it not been for the constant attention I had to pay to my men, who left their paddles and steering gear at every moment in order to[57] fire recklessly at birds or ariranhas or capivaras, much to the danger of everybody on board. They would blaze away with their repeating rifles—and bullet cartridges, of course—at parrots and even colibri birds 100 or 200 metres off. They said the rifles were bad because they could never hit anything! I had ceased scolding them. They made me positively ill with pity, I was only praying for our supply of cartridges to come to an end soon, so that if we were to die at all it might not be through being pierced by one of our own bullets.

The river had been flowing, with slight deviations, northwards.

We came to an enchanting island 70 m. wide, with thick vegetation upon it and fine rocks.

The river in that portion flowed practically north in great stretches of 6,000 and 4,000 m. Another large and beautiful island, 250 m. long and 70 wide—Ghislaine Island—was passed, and we admired the gorgeous vegetation upon it.

Below the island the river was 100 m. wide and very shallow—not more than from 1 to 4 ft. in depth. We halted at sunset, having gone that day 92 kil. 300 m.

During the night of July 11th my men suffered a great deal from cold, the thermometer being as low as 45° Fahrenheit. In the morning there was a thick fog over the river—so thick that we had to delay our departure until eight o'clock, as we could not see more than two or three metres ahead.

Two kilometres beyond we came to a rivulet, 2 m. wide, on the left bank, and soon after to a small corri[58]deira with a navigable channel in the centre. Three hundred metres farther down we passed another tributary on the right bank. There was open country with sparse stunted trees on the left of us, thick forest with plenty of rubber trees on the right. I noticed several good specimens of the pao dolce—a tree with a curious cluster of yellow flowers not unlike the flower of wistaria upside down. Not only was the pao dolce pretty to look at, but a most refreshing beverage could be made from a decoction of its leaves.

The course of the river was winding, with basins and rapids of no great importance. Another tributary 2 m. wide was reached on the left bank, and soon after another tiny streamlet entered the Arinos from the same side.

I had a narrow escape. One of the men, who was sitting behind me in the canoe, saw an ariranha (Lutra Brasiliensis) put its head out of the water only ten metres in front of the canoe. In his great hurry to kill the beautiful animal he seized his rifle and emptied the eight shots out of his magazine, firing the first three shots close to my head on the left side, the other five just as close on the other side. The muzzle of his rifle was so near my ear that the noise deafened me for several minutes and my hair was almost singed off. The ariranha, needless to say, escaped unhurt, and luckily so did I.

We went over a long strip of shallow water from 1 to 3 ft. deep. We now had open country on the right bank, with a small streamlet finding its way into the Arinos on that side. The river was flowing again in long straight stretches—3,000 m., 2,000 m., 2,500 m.[59] in length. In the portions where the banks were thickly wooded innumerable rubber trees were to be seen.

In the centre of a basin 150 m. wide we found another island, 100 m. long and 50 m. wide, absolutely smothered in vegetation and with a handsome gravel spit at its southern end. Two kilometres farther another basin, 300 m. broad, appeared. An amazing quantity of rubber trees was to be seen round that basin. Near the water we also found fine specimens of the mate (Ilex Paraguayensis St. Hil.), with its wax-like leaves, much used in certain parts of South America for making a kind of tea.

For close upon 13 kils. the river flowed—with slight deviations—almost always due north, and with its limpid waters was of extraordinary beauty. The country was open on the right side of us. We saw that day two white urubú (Cathartes). The Brazilians have a curious superstition about them. They say that if you write with a quill taken from the wing of one of these birds any business which you may be transacting will go well; in fact, anything you may wish to do and which you set down on paper with one of these quills and ink is sure to turn out successfully.

That day I again suffered much, while taking astronomical observations, from the millions of bees and other insects which settled in swarms upon my hands and face and stung me all over. We were then in lat. 12° 26′·5 S., long. 56° 37′ W. The temperature in the sun was not unbearable—merely 85° Fahr.

In the afternoon, after we had enjoyed an excellent lunch of fish, tinned provisions, and rice—my men also[60] enjoying their feijao (boiled beans)—we continued our journey. The river for 9,000 m. displayed first clean campos and chapada on the left bank and dense forest on the right, then campos on the right bank and a belt of forest along the river on the left.

The campos were particularly neat in that region—merely a few burity and tucum palms flourishing on the edge of the water. In other localities a thick growth of beautiful bamboos interspersed with gigantic palms lined the banks.

Where the river turned due east we came to fairly strong rapids. The water was shallow with mounds of gravel, and we bumped about a great deal. Eventually we all had to get into the water and push the canoe along for greater comfort.

The river next formed a huge basin, 900 m. long and 200 m. wide. A small tributary flowed into the Arinos in the crescent-shaped bank on the right. That bank had a height of 80 ft. On its summit quantities of Siphonia elastica were to be admired. Farther down it was on the left side that the river had high banks, some 60 ft. high.

We went over a charming little corrideira. Strong eddies were encountered on emerging from the rapids. Where the right bank became lower—only 40 ft.—chapada replaced the forest. The left bank was but 1 ft. above the level of the river, and the low country beyond (south) was naturally liable to inundation. For 4,000 m. the left bank was never higher than 4 ft. The right bank also suddenly became very low in that region.

Where the river turned from 290° b.m. to 320°[61] b.m., there was a basin 700 m. broad with low banks. An island—Lydia Island—200 m. in circumference, rose within this basin on the north side and was luxuriantly wooded.

We found that day beautiful beaches of gravel, mostly on the right side. Then strong rapids and corrideiras; below these more clean-looking gravel beaches—this time on the left—were visible, and an extensive island of gravel close to the right bank.

For 8,000 m. the gorgeous stream flowed almost in a direct line northward, with dense forest and a wealthy growth of rubber trees on both sides. Wonderful figueira trees with their spotless white branches embellished the landscape.

On the left a tributary of some size entered the Arinos from the south-east in two arms with an island between; the largest arm was 40 m. wide, the smaller 10 m. Then another stream entered the Arinos on the right side.

We were again confronted by a large basin enclosed on the north by a crescent-shaped wall 100 ft. high, at the foot of which at the level of the river was a quantity of débris of yellow rock. The river at that spot turned sharply from 20° b.m. (N.N.E.) to 290° b.m.—that is to say, almost north-west. The width of the Arinos at this point was from 80 to 100 m.

Towards sunset we came to a beautiful island 200 m. long. We cleared a sufficiently large space in the dense and gorgeous vegetation to make our camp for the night.

[62]

CHAPTER V

We had another cool night on July 12th—minimum temperature 47° F. It was very damp, and in the morning we had, as on the previous day, a thick mist which prevented our starting until it cleared up, at 7.40 a.m. The mist rose in columns and square blocks over the warmish water of the river. The right bank of the Arinos was 40 ft. high.

We had gone some 1,500 m. from our camp when we came to a magnificent island, 400 m. long and 200 m. wide—Griselda Island—which divided the stream into two channels.

All the islands we had seen of late showed on the up-stream side a more or less extensive spit of beautifully coloured gravel and glittering crystals. The latter shone in the sun with such iridescent luminosity that it gave those islands a fairy-like appearance.

We encountered troublesome eddies which swung the canoe about, and in one case actually spun her completely round in a most alarming manner, tearing out of Alcides' hands the steering gear, which we had some trouble in recovering.

[63] There were many handsome large-leafed pacová, somewhat resembling banana palms; also quantities of Siphonia elastica, although these were not quite so plentiful as farther south nor the trees so high. A tiny brook of delicious water descended into the Arinos from the left bank.

Ten thousand five hundred metres farther down from Griselda Island we came to another island, 300 m. long and 50 m. broad—Negrino Island—with the usual spit of gravel and beautiful crystals on the south side. This island was 10 ft. high above the water, with some trees on it, but not such luxuriant vegetation as on most of the other islands we had seen.

A stream 5 m. wide at the mouth, coming from the N.N.W., entered the Arinos on the right side. The main river had a direction of 305° b.m.—that is to say, virtually north-west. Great volcanic slabs of rock and sand-banks were now reached.

The sun was not extraordinarily hot—90° F. at noon. The country on either side was open—chiefly chapada. Beautiful gravel beaches were now seen, extending half-way across the river, particularly from the left side.

Another tributary 5 m. wide coming from the N.N.E. was passed on our right, and beyond this a thick forest with rubber trees was visible, while chapada continued on the left.

Round a big basin 200 m. in diameter, containing shallow water from 1 to 6 ft. deep, stood a mass of gigantic trees with verdant healthy foliage, and innumerable abnormally tall burity palms, over 100 ft. high, and tucum (Astrocaryum tucuma)—also of immense size.

Many huge trinchão fish followed our canoe for some[64] time, gazing curiously at us. They came so impudently near that my men actually hit them on the head with their paddles.

One more streamlet entered the Arinos on the right side just before we reached a big basin, 250 m. in diameter, with wonderful gravel beaches in regular little mounds stretching half-way across the basin. Another little tributary (on the right side) came next, 7,000 m. farther down stream. The vegetation was there so dense and so entangled that we could find nowhere a suitable spot on which to land for our midday halt. About noon, however, chapada and open country again appeared on the right bank for a distance of some 2,000 m.

A Formidable Vortex.

Going down a Violent Rapid in a Narrow Channel.

There we indulged in a plentiful lunch, the country round being as still as death. Not a sign could be seen anywhere of a human being; not a column of smoke indicating the presence of man rose anywhere in the clear sky. Nowhere did we meet disturbed vegetation; nowhere did we notice a trail or a passage through the vegetation coming to the water; nowhere did we meet abandoned camps or any signs whatever that human beings had ever lived there. There was no animal life of fair size on the surface; no parrots, no monkeys, no mammals of any kind—only millions of insects, which made one's life a burden.

It was not so with the river, which was swarming with innocent fish, only too ready to be killed and supply us with excellent meals. The reason, of course, that the river was so full of fish, and that the fish displayed such delightful simplicity, was because there were there no human beings.

[65] Soon after leaving camp—all the happier for an excellent lunch—we came once more to thick, beautiful, clean forest on both sides. Again rubber was plentiful, and absolutely untouched by the collector's hand. The river was getting amazingly beautiful, 200 m. wide all along, the water like a faultless silver mirror irreproachably reflecting each leaf, each branch of the motionless trees on both banks. There was not a breath of wind to disturb the tranquillity of that deliciously restful scene.

Yet one more gorgeous island—Alastor Island—300 m. long and 80 to 100 m. wide, was seen. It was preceded on the south-east side by innumerable gravel mounds just emerging above the water surface, then by a magnificent gravel beach with numberless beautiful crystals. On the left bank a tributary 15 m. wide entered the Arinos from the south-west.

The river was getting more and more entrancing at every turn. Profuse blossoms of the most gorgeous yellow shone resplendent in all their beauty against the background of dark green foliage. The entire edge of the forest was festooned with daintily-leafed creepers and with myriads of convolvuli of the purest amethyst colour.

There was poetry in the scene—frequently disturbed, perhaps, by the inconceivable oaths of the man to whom was entrusted the heavy task of baling out the water from the canoe, which leaked badly. She was fissured from end to end, and we had no effective means of preventing the water coming in; in fact, if the baling were not done quickly and continuously with a bucket, the water soon gained and reached[66] the platform on which we had placed the baggage. Our feet, of course, were in water all day long. We did not mind that so much. In fact, our feet got so soaked with moisture that we could peel off the skin in big patches with the greatest ease.

After travelling across a basin 250 m. broad, we came to a corrideira with shallow water. We dashed with great speed sideways over a bank of gravel, and nearly turned turtle. The gravel was banked up against the lee side of the canoe, and with a strong current pushing her we had the greatest trouble to pull her off again.

There was a great deal of rubber, particularly on the left bank, while on the right, chapada was again observed. The river was so wonderfully tidy that, had it not been for its great breadth, one would have felt as if going through a watercourse in England.

From the east came a little tributary, 2 m. wide, on the right bank. Another beautiful island, 500 m. long and 80 m. wide—Helena Island—a most enchanting place, preceded by the usual gravel mounds and beach, was passed in the afternoon. Small streamlets entered the main stream, one on each side—one 6 kils. beyond Helena Island, the other one a little farther.

The river maintained its average width of 200 m. nearly all the time. Late in the afternoon we passed on the left bank a hill 120 ft. high, belonging to a range that extended from E.S.E. to W.N.W. at an angle to the river, which there flowed in a direction almost north. There was plenty of rubber of excellent quality near the water.

Shortly after leaving this range we came to a[67] lagoon, then to open campos behind a thin row of stunted trees on the left bank. The lagoon was situated at a point where the river described a curve from north to 70° b.m. Two small streamlets entered the Arinos on the right. We made camp near a small lagoon in the forest shortly after sunset.

The distance we had travelled during the last two days was 86 kil. 900 m. on July 11th, and 76 kil. 600 m. on July 12th, or altogether 163 kil. 500 m.

To anybody accustomed to travelling in equatorial countries it seems amazing, on returning to civilization, to find what curious notions people have of the tropical forest. Even in the case of writers of distinction I could quote many passages which are painfully ridiculous. One of the greatest modern Italian writers, for instance—who, by the way, in one of his latest novels, copied almost word for word many pages from my books—added the poetic touch that in the tropical forest flowers were found so large that they could not be picked, and fruit so enormous that no human tooth could bite it! Again, the majority of people believe that it is impossible to go through the forest without cutting your way all the time—the "cutting a way through" meaning to most people the constant chopping down of trees of all sizes, undergrowth, bamboos, liane, and other creepers. As a matter of fact, any experienced traveller has much less trouble in going through the forest than people imagine. This is not the case with people unacquainted with the forest, or with people whose sense of observation is not much developed. One can go sometimes for miles through the dense forest without once using knives at all;[68] although necessarily a knife must be carried, as there are places where a cut from its blade will make passing through more comfortable. This is particularly true of the Brazilian forest. The forests of that country, especially in the central region where I was then travelling, were wonderfully clean, when once you entered them, although, when seen from the river, they appeared impenetrable. Near the water, owing to the moisture, there was frequently a thick but narrow belt—only a few metres wide—of dense growth. Beyond it, when you were in the forest itself, nothing grew under the trees, and the ground was just as clean as the best kept English park. One could walk in comfort without the slightest trouble, an occasional well-applied blow with the heavy-bladed knife disentangling in a second an interfering liana which might stand in one's way.

It must not be forgotten that you can get under or over liane, or shift them on one side, without ever having the trouble of severing them. It is only occasionally, when they are entangled, that it saves time to cut them. Barring an occasional thick belt along the Amazon River, it is almost safe to assert that an experienced man can travel, alone, anywhere in the forests of Brazil without carrying a penknife. This is not the case, of course, when you are travelling with a caravan and with baggage, when a sufficiently large passage has to be opened.

In Africa the equatorial forests are incomparably more difficult to traverse than the Brazilian forests, and those who assert the Brazilian forests to be impenetrable only say so because they do not know what[69] they are talking about. Even when it comes to actually chopping down trees in the Brazilian forests, one blow with the axe or with the knife will easily cut down a fair-sized tree. As I have already stated elsewhere, most of the Brazilian forest trees have no resistance whatever. They are full of water, and, with a judicious blow, can be cut almost as easily as celery. Many are the trees also, the inside of which near the ground has been eaten up entirely by ants, and it was not uncommon when you leant heavily against a tree that you and the tree tumbled down. Ants do not seem to attack lactiferous trees, such as those producing rubber, which therefore flourished in that particular region.

Most of the trees in that particular part of the forest were small in diameter, and only had branches or leaves at a very great height. That was why the forests in Brazil looked so extraordinarily clean beneath, in contrast to the equatorial forest in such countries as Central Africa or the Philippine Islands. The wonderful cleanliness of the river, to which I have so often alluded, was a great contrast to the masses of floating decomposing vegetation which is always to be seen in the African rivers.

The minimum temperature during the night of July 13th was 51° Fahr. During that night we were suddenly roused by our dogs barking furiously. We heard strange noises, as if people were trying to run away quickly through the forest. Indians had, much to our surprise, come quite close to our camp, and had it not been for the alarm given by the dogs we should most likely have been attacked by them. In the[70] morning we heard in the distance their war-cries and piercing ululations, which rent the air. Judging merely by the noise they made, there must have been from thirty to fifty of them. My men were greatly excited over this experience. These Indians belonged, I think, to the Tapanhonas tribe.

We left our camp at 7.45 in the morning. As the river was there in an almost straight line for 8 kil., we continued hearing—more and more faintly, of course, as we went on—for some distance the excited yells of the Indians.

The left bank, through which a streamlet cut its way into the Arinos, was fairly open with chapada. An island, 150 m. wide and 200 m. long—Julia Island—was next seen. It had an extensive beach of gravel at its southern end, and the island itself was covered with dense and very beautiful vegetation. Another streamlet 1 m. wide entered the Arinos opposite the island from the left side. Farther on another streamlet, 3 m. wide at the mouth, and coming from the north, flowed into the main stream on the right side. Three and a half kilometres farther another tributary streamlet, also 3 m. wide, was met on the right. We there saw chapada on both banks as we went along, with merely a thin edge of trees along the river.

Where the river described a graceful elbow, a charming tongue of land, with deliciously green grass upon it, was most refreshing to the eyes. A river 8 m. wide at the mouth was met a little way beyond on the left side. We noticed opposite that place a beautiful spot for making a camp, but it was not a convenient hour for us, and so we went along.

[71] About 1,500 m. farther down a long narrow island (200 m. long, 80 m. wide)—Gemma Island—heavily wooded, was passed and admired. It had the usual gravel spit on its southern or up-stream point, the river in that particular spot flowing due north in a perfectly straight line for 4,000 m. The island stood in the centre of a basin 200 m. broad. There were campos and chapada on the left bank.

We landed on the island, and found most beautifully clean forest, nice and cool in the greenish dim light which penetrated through the dense masses of foliage. Particularly noticeable for their beauty were the handsome large mimosas.

On the right bank of the river was forest with plenty of rubber trees, but occasionally even on that side patches of what the Brazilians call serradão (close forest) were met with.

A hill range 120 ft. high formed a crescent from west to north-west on the left side of the stream. A kilometre and a half farther forest was to be seen on the left side of the river; whereas on the right was chapada and campos, quite open. A picturesque rocky island, 15 m. in diameter, in laminated horizontal and rich brown volcanic rock, rose 3 ft. above the water in the centre of the stream. From that spot for 2 kil. I noticed chapada on the right bank; then after that was beautiful dense forest on both sides, with innumerable vigorous rubber trees.

The river there was 200 m. wide and had shallow water with strong corrideiras over enormous parallel transverse dunes of sand and gravel which formed the bottom. Islets of gravel were exposed, especially near[72] the left bank and in the centre, leaving only a more or less navigable channel near the right bank.

We ran aground many a time along the 500 m. of shallow water, varying from 6 in. to 3 ft. deep. We emerged into a large basin 300 m. wide where eddies of no great strength were formed. On the edge of the beautiful basin we halted for our lunch, and to take the usual astronomical observations at local noon. We were in lat. 12° 26′·5 S.; long. 56° 47′ W.

I do not know if I have ever seen such swarms of bees and butterflies as I saw at that place. They seemed to swoop down upon us in myriads from all sides. Taking the solar observations with the sextant and artificial horizon, I endured positive torture with the hundreds of bees which settled on my forehead, nose and hands; while thousands of mosquitoes and ants stung my legs, arms and face in those spots where it was not possible to wrap myself up with towels.

It will be noticed in most of the photographs which were taken along the river, and some of which illustrate this book, that all my men have their heads wrapped up. This was done as a protection against the tantalizing insects. The temperature was warm; that day, for instance, was 105° F. in the sun and 86° in the shade.

We left again at 1.15, my men being—for a change—in a good mood, owing to the amusing time we always had fishing. We had been making excellent progress during the last two or three days. The strange man X enlivened our journey with diabolical songs and with crude wit, which sent his companions into fits of laughter. When they were in a merry mood or[73] excited, I noticed that they paddled along much quicker and better, so I did not try to put a check to the abominable language which would have jarred the feelings of any one not born and bred in the interior of Brazil.

It was quite interesting to me to find in that region so much chapada and open country, as I had fully expected to find thick forest all along. What struck me particularly on the Arinos, and which I could not very well explain, was that nearly invariably, when you had thick forest on one side of the stream, you had open country on the other, and only seldom noticed either forest or campos on both sides of the stream at the same time.

After passing chapada on the left bank we came to a great many rocks just above water. A river 3 m. wide entered the Arinos on the right side, and there was to be seen an immense quantity of beautiful rubber trees—as yet untouched by human being. The river kept its width of 200 m. After going along chapada on the left bank for some 3 kil., we came to magnificent forest—this time on both sides—with a luxuriant growth of rubber trees.

The scene, in its wonderful quietude, was most impressive. It made one's heart bleed to think that such rich land should lie unknown and unexploited in these enlightened and enterprising days of the twentieth century.

The sky above us was always interesting, with its typical filaments of mist, their lengthy radiations faintly marked upon the vivid blue of the sky vault and making a centre in the north. These radiations were[74] in appearance not unlike giant ostrich feathers. They were formed, I think, over the great streams which flowed northwards into the Amazon.

We were troubled that day with numerous eddies and shallow water, owing to the great width of the river. Innumerable mounds of gravel rose in the centre of the stream up to a few inches below the water level.

Another hill range, 100 ft. high, met that day was crescent-shaped, the arc of a circle thus described being from south-east by east to north-east.

The hill range on the north-east side of us was eroded, exposing a red vertical wall 60 ft. high. A small river 2 m. wide coming from the east entered the Arinos on the right bank.

For 3,500 m. from that point the stream had an average width of 250 m., and was really magnificent with the wonderful cleanliness of the water—not the slightest impurity, not a speck of wood or a leaf floating upon its surface.

Fourteen kilometres of heavenly navigation—barring X's language and the comments of his companions—and we came to an ideal triangular island, 1,200 m. long, 200 m. wide at its broadest point, with the usual extensive gravel spit at its southern end—Victor Emmanuel Island. The vegetation upon it was too gorgeous for words, but there was no animal life except insects.

Four kilometres farther a basin 300 m. in diameter and from 1 to 6 ft. deep was crossed, in which a strong corrideira was met. The navigable channel was in the centre of the basin. A stream 10 m. wide, of most beautiful crystalline water, which had its origin from[75] the south-west, threw itself into the Arinos on the left side, some 2,000 m. below the basin.

From this point for 8 kil. the river flowed with a slight deviation of 10° in a northerly direction. The left bank of the river was now quite open, with patches of chapada and somewhat taller but still stunted vegetation beyond; a thin row of tall trees lined the river side. On the right bank was luxuriant forest, and again plenty of beautiful rubber trees. Two islets of gravel were next seen.

We were experiencing great difficulty in getting suitable camping places at the right time when we needed them. By 4.30, having come across a spot which seemed suitable, we halted, having gone that day 85 kil. 700 m.

[76]

CHAPTER VI

We were still at an elevation of 1,100 ft. The water was almost stagnant, and was evidently being held up by some obstacle. I feared that we should soon encounter nasty rapids. Watching the sky, I was generally able to foretell what was ahead of us in the river. In fact, a pretty mackerel sky, particularly to the north-west, showed me that the water of our river must be breaking up considerably, either in rapids or waterfalls, in order to produce sufficient moisture in the air to cause the accumulation of those cloudlets. I always noticed that wherever there were heavy rapids farther down clouds of more or less magnitude formed directly above them at a comparatively low elevation, and remained there owing to the perfect stillness of the air.

On the night of July 14th the cold was felt intensely by my men, the thermometer actually showing a minimum of 38° F.

During the night my men had a great excitement. A large pachyderm, an anta (Tapirus Americanus) inquisitively came in the midst of our camp. It was[77] evidently as much astonished at seeing us as we were in discovering its presence. My men had been firing their cartridges away during the day at rocks, at fish in the river, and so on, so that when their rifles were really needed the magazines were all empty, and gave the anta plenty of time to hop away gracefully into the darkness of the forest.

I had given orders to them to keep watch all night, as a precaution against an attack from the Indians, but my orders were, as usual, disobeyed. Personally, I took the first watch every night, sitting up till 2 a.m., which time I occupied in writing up my notes, working out computations of astronomical observations, classifying the botanical and geological specimens collected during the day, and replenishing my cameras with new plates.

My men had eaten up all the supply of beans (feijao) I had purchased at Diamantino, and therefore even the cook could not be kept awake during the night. The first rubber collector I had picked up when coming down the Arinos was now our cook, and diabolical indeed was his cuisine. Several times already his life had been in danger from the angry attacks of his companions, the quantities of pepper he sprinkled on everything he cooked causing us all to cough sometimes for half-hours at a time. He was very fond of pepper himself, and could not understand why none of us liked it.

During the night we still had a mackerel sky, covering one-third of the sky vault, and a clear triangle of mist, the apex of which was to the west, extending towards the east, close upon the horizon line. When[78] we left in the morning at 7.30, we had chapada and campos on the right bank and forest on the other side. We had gone some 8½ kil. from our camp when we came to a hill range, 75 ft. high, on the right bank, encircling the river with its thickly wooded slopes. There was a tributary 25 m. wide, a most beautiful stream, on the right bank. It came from 70° b.m. Its water was deliciously clear. Where it entered the Arinos it had deposited a bank of crystals and marble pebbles—yellow, red, and white—which in the dazzling sun shone with great brilliancy at the bottom of the river. Numberless rubber trees were to be seen at that spot on the banks of the Arinos, and also on those of this new important tributary.

Two kilometres farther, where the Arinos was 280 m. wide, it looked just like a big lake of stagnant water. The country was quite open on the left side, first chapada, then campos.

By 9.30 a.m. we had a most wonderful display of clouds and radiations of what looked like so many mares' tales from the W.S.W. The river at that point flowed for 1 kil. in a direction due south. We came to a basin 300 m. across with a spit of white sand on the north-west side. In this basin was an island—Nattalì Island—200 m. long, 20 m. wide, 10 ft. above water, with a fine beach of sand and gravel on the south side. Gravel mounds were innumerable in the centre of this stream.

After we had gone some 8 kil. farther down my men shot an ariranha. They had a belief that these ariranhas would easily kill a man in the water. As we have already seen, they certainly had a great craving[79] for blood and were always brave in attacking. My men called them "water leopards." In fact, the head of the ariranha was not unlike the head of a cat or a leopard. Although shot through the body two or three times, the ariranha actually came thrice to the attack of the canoe—so that my men were able to seize it by the tail and pull it inside the canoe while it was in a dying condition.

Sixteen kilometres farther down we came to another beautiful tributary with delightfully clear water, 6 m. wide where it met the Arinos. One hundred metres lower down another little tributary, only 4 m. wide, also on the right bank, joined our stream. The first tributary seemed to come from the north-east. At the mouth of this tributary was a spot which would have made a lovely halting place, but as it was too early in the day we reluctantly went on in a north-westerly direction, first for 4 kil., then north-east for 5 kil., passing through a large basin 300 m. wide, containing two islets, then passing charming sand-beaches, and farther on another tributary, 8 m. wide, on the left of us, also with deliciously clear water. When we proceeded on our journey after lunch we found big rocks more frequent in the stream, and went over a field of great boulders just under the surface of the water that stretched half-way across the shallow river.

Eight kilometres from our halting-place we came to an extensive stony place with a strong rapid. One kilometre beyond, a small tributary flowed into the Arinos from the left side. On the left side we had a red and brilliant yellow bank 70 ft. high, part of a small range of hills which turned the river from N.N.W. to N.N.E.[80] Another small tributary 2 m. wide was seen on the left side. Then, 4 kil. farther on, another tributary, also 2 m. wide, and also on the left side, came from the south-west. Three thousand six hundred metres beyond this, we entered a basin 320 m. wide with an island 150 m. long, including its gravel spit. Three more islands were seen a little way beyond—Meraud, Tanis, and Loel Islands, Meraud being the largest. Another island was on the left of the river, leaving a passage 50 m. wide on its west side. The group of islands was of alluvial formation with deposits of gravel below.

The river in that region was too beautiful for words. The foliage of the thick heavy forest on both sides was densely green, the banks most tidy, and running in an almost straight line for 10,000 m. During all that distance the stream was 300 m. wide, and its speckless water reflected with marvellous definition each leaf and branch against the background of deep green. Neat gravel banks occurred frequently in the shallow water.

Some 300 m. down this long straight stretch of river a tributary 8 m. wide, coming from 210° b.m., threw itself into the Arinos. Strong eddies were formed, as many rocks were strewn in the centre of the stream.

One kilometre farther a conglomerate mass of granite and yellow and red lava, with impurities embedded in it, emerged just above the water in the centre of the stream.

Another streamlet, 2 m. wide, and of wonderfully limpid water, joined the Arinos on the right side. It came from the north-east. Then another little streamlet was seen on the left side.

[81] At the end of 10 kil., where the river made a wide angle from 330° b.m. to 350° b.m., and another straight line of 4,000 m. stretched in front of us, we beheld a huge submerged bank of sharp volcanic conglomerate rock. In fact, we unexpectedly almost ran into it. Had we done so at the rate at which we were travelling, our canoe would certainly have been smashed to pieces against the sharp-edged fractured rock—just as sharp at the angles as the blades of knives.

Where the river turned once more from 350° b.m. to 320° b.m. another small tributary appeared on the right bank, and there a lot of handsome mate trees (Ilex paraguayensis) seemed to flourish, and were certainly pretty to look at.

Farther down we again came to chapada on the left bank and heavy foliaged forest with a certain number of rubber trees on the right bank. The left bank, where it described a great sweeping circle, was low and sandy, some 12 ft. above the level of the river. Only a thin fringe of low trees grew there on the edge of the water.

Six kilometres from the last tributary on the right bank another streamlet, 3 m. wide, coming from the S.S.W., cut its way through the left bank. Two thousand five hundred metres farther on another tributary 20 m. wide—a deliciously beautiful stream—flowed gracefully into the Arinos on the right side from the north-east.

We made our camp at the junction of the two streams. The camp was extremely bad. It was already late in the evening and we could find no other suitable spot. We had gone that day 83 kils. I was[82] quite satisfied with the progress we had made during the last few days. During the evening I made an excursion on foot along the tributary river to the north-east for several kilometres, but I found nothing of particular interest.

During the night we received another visit from an anta, but the pachyderm again escaped before my men had time to kill it. We heard cries of Indians in the distance. My men were in a great state of mind for fear we should be attacked. I sat up the entire night in order to be ready in case of emergency.

I took that opportunity of computing and checking many of the astronomical observations I had taken, and developing a great number of photographic glass plates.

In my experience I have found that the fears people have of spoiling negatives unless one is shut up in an absolutely dark room are quite exaggerated. On that particular occasion, for instance, and on many previous and subsequent occasions, I developed the glass plates—and I think with satisfactory results—out in the open, with merely the fly-leaf of the tent sheltering me overhead so as not to have the direct rays of the stars shining upon the photographic plates. Indeed, there was light enough coming in around the tent for me to see quite plainly what was going on outside. I simply covered up the developing trays as an extra precaution, and seldom—in fact, never—spoiled a negative in process of development.

I also found developing tanks quite serviceable when a great number of negatives had to be developed quickly. The red lamp necessary for photographic[83] work was invariably a great nuisance. I do not believe that a compact, practical dark-room lamp has yet been invented which is really serviceable to an explorer. If it is a candle lamp the candle melts quickly in those hot countries, producing an extra large flame which generally cracks the red glass, and makes so much smoke that the upper aperture becomes blocked and puts the light out when you happen to be at the most crucial point of your work.

The oil lanterns would be better, were it not for the difficulty and messy nuisance of carrying and re-filling the lamp each time with oil. Electric lights, which are the only practical ones, of course are out of the question when you have to be away for a year or a year and a half, the storage batteries getting damaged easily by damp and the innumerable accidents which you have when exploring.

The greatest care had to be used in repacking the developed glass plates. I owe to the care I took of them that I was able to bring back 800 excellent negatives out of 800 glass plates exposed.

The night was a little warmer than usual on July 15th—minimum 53° F. There was a heavy mist over the river when we rose in the morning, and we had to delay our departure until 7.30 a.m. When the mist began to rise it hung about in beautiful curves converging to a common radiating centre to the west.

During the night I had noticed a weird lunar effect—a perfect cross of immense proportions intersecting the crescent moon, which had a radiating halo surrounding it.

Four thousand metres from our camp we came to[84] a tributary 3 m. wide on the left side of the river. It came from the W.S.W. Near this a streamlet 1 m. wide entered the Arinos on the right side, and another streamlet of equal size farther down on the left bank. There was fairly thin forest on both sides as we went on, kilometre after kilometre, the water of the river being almost stagnant in that part and heavy to paddle along.

Five hundred metres down the straight stretch of river, 4,000 m. long, we came to another charming affluent, 10 m. wide, coming from the E.S.E. Farther on, another tributary 2 m. wide entered the Arinos on the left side, and formed a shallow bank of gravel extending half-way across the stream.

The Result of Half an Hour's Fishing on the Arinos-Juruena.

As I have stated elsewhere, the mentality of Brazilians was somewhat difficult to understand by people of any other nation. They did everything the wrong way, according to our notions. I had been worried a great deal, the reader may remember, at the most unpractical way in which my men loaded the animals when I had my caravan of mules and horses. I had been more than amazed at Brazilian ideas of architecture, sculpture, painting and music. I had on many occasions been dumbfounded at their ideas of honour and truthfulness. Now once more I was sickly amused—I had by then ceased to be amazed or dumbfounded or angry—at the way my men daily packed the baggage in the canoe. The baggage was naturally taken out of the canoe every night when we made our camp, for the canoe leaked so badly that when we arrived anywhere and halted we had to beach her, or else, where this was not possible,[85] we found her in the morning almost entirely submerged. Naturally we invariably selected shallow places where we could bale the water out and float her again.

Returning to the baggage: the men every morning insisted on loading the canoe in front, where the four men were situated paddling, and the three dogs of the expedition were also accommodated. I sat in the centre of the canoe, and Alcides at the helm naturally stood in the stern. The man whose incessant daily occupation it was to bale out the water of course had to be with the group of four men in the bow, since, the canoe being so heavily weighted at that end, the water found its way down there.

Now, loading the canoe in such a fashion, at the bow, had the double drawback of causing a greater resistance against the water, and therefore nearly doubling the work of the men in paddling. Then again, when we ran aground or struck a rock, the impact was more severe on the canoe—not to speak of the difficulty of getting her off again. The steering, too, was also much more difficult with the stern of the canoe so far out of the water.

I pointed out the mistake to my men, but it was no use arguing, and they refused to follow my advice. Like all ignorant people, they thought they knew everything better than anybody else, and as, in a way, they were the chief sufferers for their own conceit, I thought I would avoid unpleasantness and let them do things their own way as long as we kept going forward on our journey.

Alcides, too, who by now had become imbued with[86] the idea that he was as good a navigator as Christopher Columbus or Vasco da Gama, had the strangest notions of navigation. He never avoided grounding the canoe on every bank he saw; he never avoided dashing the canoe into every rock which stood or did not stand in our way. I never could understand exactly why he did that, except for the mischievous pleasure he derived from giving the men who were sitting at the other end of the canoe a violent bump, which often rolled them over altogether.

When we left Goyaz my men insisted on purchasing life-belts in case we should be travelling by water. As only one of the Goyaz men could swim, I had gladly given them the money to purchase those articles. On our first day of navigation the men amused me very much, as they all appeared garbed in their life-belts, as if we had been going to the rescue of a stranded ship in a tempest. I laughed heartily at the sight. The intense heat of the sun made the heavy cork belts so uncomfortable for them, that they discarded them when they saw that the canoe would actually float on the water, and packed them away inside a wooden box, which they then screwed down tight. The belts remained in that box most of the time, except one day when a man put one on, as I had given him instructions to go some way off in the centre of the stream where the current was rather swift. By misadventure he lost his footing, and had we not been quick in going to his rescue he certainly would have been drowned.

We tested the life-belts, and I found that not only would they not float after they had been a minute or[87] two in the water, but they became so heavy when soaked with moisture that they would have dragged to the bottom even a fair swimmer. They were evidently old discarded ship belts. The cork, enclosed in a canvas cover, had got decomposed and pulverized, and therefore rendered useless.

As we are referring to the strange ways of looking at things by different nations, I might as well include the endless arguments I had with my men in selecting our camps. I naturally always selected the cleanest spots with a flat ground, so that the tents could be pitched satisfactorily without extra trouble, where there was little vegetation, and where the water was good. My men always quarrelled over this, and insisted on stopping in the filthiest places, either where some trees, rotted away, had fallen down, where the vegetation on the edge of the river needed cutting, and where the ground had to be levelled before I could pitch my camp bed. They always preferred sleeping under the stifling vegetation to where there was an open space and we had the clear sky over us.

They all slept in hammocks—the favourite resting arrangement of the Brazilian—to my mind the most uncomfortable and absurd fashion of resting, especially in tropical regions. First of all, it is almost an impossibility to assume a perfectly horizontal position for your entire body, except—if you are an expert—diagonally; then there is always a certain amount of swing and you are likely to tumble over at any moment; you can never keep the blankets in position, and you expose your entire body to the stings of the mosquitoes, flies and other insects, and of the ants which[88] crawl into your hammock by hundreds from the trees in which they swarm. It was not uncommon when we camped to hear during the night a crash, followed immediately after by oaths. The tree to which one of the hammocks had been fastened had suddenly broken and let the man down with a bump. Then again, the mischievous ants took the greatest delight during the night in cutting the strings of the hammocks, and on several occasions my followers had nasty falls. Yet the Brazilians swear by hammocks.

Another stream 2 m. wide, coming from the north, entered the Arinos on the right bank. A number of ariranhas, attracted by the vivid red of the British flag which was flying at the stern of the canoe, followed us for some time and came courageously to the attack, showing their teeth fiercely at us and snarling frantically. Entire families of those delightful little creatures were seen, and they invariably gave us a similar hearty greeting. They followed us sometimes for hundreds and hundreds of metres, and became most excited when I took the flag and waved it at them, and sometimes placed it near the water in order to drive them frantic.

We now had most beautiful forest on both sides. A stream 5 m. wide joined the Arinos on the left side from the west, forming a charming little waterfall as it entered the main stream. A little farther on the right was another streamlet, coming from the south-east. Generally, as in this case, when we reached tributary streams of any importance, gravel banks extended and blocked a great part of, sometimes even half, the main stream.

[89] A picturesque stream, 8 m. wide, coming from the north-east, was then reached on the right side. It flowed through a rocky gate. Five or six kilometres farther on a tiny streamlet dribbled into the Arinos, and also another, 1 m. wide, on the left bank.

At noon that day the sky was extraordinarily interesting. From the north-west extended a wonderful succession of loop coils of transparent mist, giving the sky the appearance of a peacock's extended tail.

Just before we halted for lunch we came to a charming streamlet of delicious water, 2 m. wide, on the right bank.

The days were getting warmer as we advanced farther north. It was hot work sitting in the sun—105° F. that day—to take observations for latitude and longitude. In the shade the thermometer registered 89° F. Lat. 12° 21′·3 S.; long. 57° 16′ W.

After lunch, 2½ kil. from our camp, we passed on the left bank a delightful tributary coming from the W.S.W. Its mouth was 8 m. wide, and poured forth waters of the most beautiful emerald green.

Five hundred metres farther down another large tributary, 30 m. wide, coming from the north-east, was observed on the right bank. Farther still, the river formed a large basin 300 m. wide. Lovely forest flourished round the sweeping curve of the basin. There was simply a solid mass of marvellously fresh foliage, with hardly a break through which, it seemed, a human being could pass. In that particular part the leaves came right down to the water, but there was no reason to suppose that they grew equally low inland.

The stream, which was 250 m. broad, showed farther[90] on an immense bank of gravel 700 m. long, which rose above the surface in the shape of two long islands—one 300 m., the other 400 m. in length.

We felt the heat considerably going down the river, as we were always in the sun in the centre of the stream, with a temperature seldom less than 105° F. Especially where thick forest was on both sides of us, there seemed to be no air close to the water. When we came to patches of chapada and open country we could breathe a little better. Several were the tributary streamlets to which we came that afternoon. First we saw one rivulet, 1 m. wide, on the right bank, then 13 kil. 500 m. farther on another affluent, 3 m. wide, coming from the north-east, also on the right bank; then 1,500 m. farther a rivulet ½ m. wide, coming from the south-west (left bank); then 4,500 m. farther a charming stream, 6 m. wide, coming from the north, and meeting with the Arinos near an extensive stony place with shallow and troublesome water. Strong eddies formed at that spot. One more streamlet, 1 m. wide, was reached that day on the right. It came from the north-east.

The river had that day flowed almost continuously in directions varying from north-west to north, barring two sections where its course had been 10° east of north.

After passing the last tributary the river described a sweeping curve, gradually turning so far back as to flow in a south-westerly (240° b.m.) direction.

There was there shallow water with gravel banks in the centre of the stream. Curiously enough, we did not notice so much rubber close to the river in that region,[91] but in an excursion a short distance from the water we came upon Siphonia elastica trees, not only along the Arinos but also along the tributaries.

We halted that day at sunset, having gone 73 kil. 400 m.; which, although much less than the previous days, was still fair going for us.

[92]

CHAPTER VII

The night of July 16th was heavy, the thermometer registering a minimum temperature of 62°F. We had great fun fishing during the early hours of the night. In the morning we had hundreds of pounds of fish spread upon the bank of the river, with many excellent specimens of the motimchun fish—so called, I believe, because of its noisy and rebellious habits.

The sky was overladen with clouds, and the west showed radiations of light. We had gone 2,500 m. from our camp when we came to a tributary stream on the left side coming from the south. Four thousand four hundred metres farther on, a hill-range 120 ft. high, with heavy forest upon it, encircled a sweeping curve on the left of us to the west and north-west. The cliff of this range, eroded by the river, showed rock of a vivid red right up to its highest point, laminated in perfectly horizontal layers, each 10 ft. thick. Farther on a great basin 350 m. wide and of great beauty had formed.

Leading the Canoe down a Rapid by Rope.

Characteristic Rocky Barrier across the Arinos River.

(Author's sextant in foreground.)

Some 10 kil. beyond a beautiful beach of white sand was noticeable on the left bank. We were always[93] glad to see these beaches, as we frequently found on them quantities of tortoise eggs—most delicious to eat.

An island—Gabriella Island—200 m. long divided the river into two channels, the larger one of which—200 m. wide—we followed; the other being but 30 m. broad and much strewn with rocks. The river, from the point where we met the sand beach, flowed in a S.S.W. direction for 6,500 m., when it gradually resumed its course northward. The island, thickly wooded, was extremely beautiful, with trees of great size upon it. Quantities of ariranhas were to be found near this island, and they came straight for us with their mouths open, shrieking wildly and snarling and spitting like cats. I was always amazed at their bravery, as they came right on while being shot at by my men, the reports of the rifles enraging them to absolute frenzy.

Shortly after we came to another most beautiful, oval-shaped island, 350 m. long—Maude Island—in a basin extending from east to west for a breadth of not less than 500 m.

Another island—Vera Island—150 m. long and of an elongated shape, was seen in the same basin. It also had luxuriant vegetation upon it, whereas, curiously enough, the banks on either side of the great basin showed chapada with stunted trees. Farther on, where a small tributary entered the Arinos on the left side, the country seemed quite open beyond the narrow fringe of trees along the water.

Another streamlet 3 m. wide flowed into the Arinos from the north-east on the right bank. The main river there was of a width of 400 m.

[94] Another great island—Luiz Schnoor Island—also most beautiful, like the others, was next seen. We halted on it for our midday meal, and to take the usual astronomical observations. The sky had, by that time, become beautifully clear, of a dense cobalt blue, and I was able to take twenty-three sights of the sun. I generally took a great many sights with the sextant and artificial horizon, in order to define the latitude and longitude with greater accuracy. We were then in lat. 11° 38′·4 S.; long. 57° 35′ W.

Gorgeous gamelleira or figueira trees (ficus) were to be seen on that island, standing high up upon arches formed by vigorous roots. In a way the lower part of those figueiras resembled a huge octopus, the branches being extremely contorted as they clung to the ground in order to support the weight of the giant tree of which they made part. One could easily walk under the tree among the roots and still have six or eight feet of space left above one's head.

As I went round to explore the island while my men were cooking the dinner, I discovered a small lake in the centre of the island—a most poetic spot, with its neat, delightful vegetation all round it reflected as in a mirror in the golden waters which reproduced in a deeper tone the rich sunset tints of the sky above. I sat myself down to look at the beautiful scene. The poetry vanished at once. There were millions of ants which swarmed all over me the moment I sat down upon the ground, and bit me with such fury that I had to remove my clothes in the greatest haste and jump into the water. That raised a cloud of mosquitoes, which made it most uncomfortable for me when I[95] came out again and was busy searching for ants in my clothes.

My men killed a beautiful long-armed spider monkey. I was sorry, as I had watched the wonderful jumps of this animal from one tree to another. Using the impetus of the swing which they could obtain from the immense length of their arms, as well as the swing of the branch on which they were hanging, they could fly enormous distances through the air. The span from hand to hand in proportion to the size of the body was really amazing.

Luiz Schnoor Island was 450 m. long. Plenty of rubber trees were to be seen on the right bank of the river after passing this great island, especially where the river described a large sweeping curve towards the north-east.

Farther on, close to the right bank, an island 100 m. long and 5 ft. high, of yellow sand and gravel, showed brilliantly with its vivid colouring upon the blue waters of the river. For identification' sake I named it Gravel Island on the map I was making of the river. I seemed to be in fairyland—but for the company of my men—as I floated down the stream, there 400 m. wide.

We had gone hardly 4 kil. when we came to another ideal island—Margherita Island—400 m. long and 200 m. wide, with magnificent trees upon it. A small stream joined the Arinos on the left side. Lower down stream we had thin forest on both sides, with some remarkable oleo trees, with their minute grey leaves and the branches, laden with red berries, drooping—weeping-willow-like—right down in the water.

Next we came to sand and gravel banks with islets[96] 1 ft. high emerging from the water in the centre of the river, all those little islets displaying verdant grass on their southern side and pure white sand on the northern side.

The river was at that point flowing in a N.N.E. direction. Then came a long straight line of 6,000 m. of river flowing to 305° b.m. About half-way through this long stretch the stream divided into two large arms, one in direct continuation of the above bearings, the other in a curve, encircling an island 1,000 m. broad. The basin—as still as a lake—in which this island was situated was not less than 1,500 m. across. The island—Charles Landor Island—was 2,000 m. in length. It had plenty of rubber trees upon it, and plenty were to be seen also on the banks. We went some 8 or 10 kil. farther that night, and at five o'clock we halted, having made poor progress that day—only 60 kil.

Immense quantities of fish could be seen in the river. No sooner had we made camp than we got out lines and hooks of all sizes, which we baited with pieces of toucinho. One end of the bigger lines we made fast to trees, as the fish we often caught were so powerful that on several occasions they had dragged us into the water and we lost not only the fish but the line as well. We had great sport that night and caught quantities of trahira (Macradon trahira)—not unlike a giant salmon and quite as good to eat; and also some surubim (Platystoma Lima), a large fish belonging to the herring family. The surubim was flat-headed, and not unlike the pintado fish which I have described in a previous chapter. It had thin scales over the body,[97] and an abnormally powerful lower jaw, with vicious-looking, sharply-pointed teeth on the edge of the upper and lower lip. These curiously situated teeth were far apart, and so firmly inserted in the hard lips that it took a violent blow to remove them.

Although after a few minutes we had killed fish enough to last us—had we been able to preserve it—for some weeks, my men sat up the greater part of the night hauling quantities to the bank. The excitement each time a fish 80 or 100 lb. in weight was hauled out of the water was considerable. The wild yells and exquisite language whenever one of my men was dragged into the water kept me awake the entire night.

We left that camp at 7.30 on July 17th, the minimum temperature having been 66° F. during the night. Heavy globular clouds covered the entire sky. We were then in a region extraordinarily rich in rubber; quantities of Siphonia elastica trees were to be seen. It made one's heart bleed to think that nobody was there to collect the riches of that wonderful land.

The river flowed in short sections from north-west to north-north-east, barring a long stretch of 4,000 m., when we came to a great basin 600 m. wide, with two large islands in it; the eastern island—Orlando Island—being 100 m. wide, the western—Elizabeth Chimay Island—220 m. broad and not less than 500 m. long. South of both these islands were islets of gravel 50 m. each in diameter.

Nine thousand five hundred metres below these islands an important tributary, 8 m. wide, flowed into the Arinos from the right bank. It came from the south-east. Close to the left bank, from which it had[98] been separated by the current, leaving a channel only 5 m. wide, another island—Isabel Island—300 m. long was found.

Shortly afterwards we came to a big equilateral-triangular island—Armida Island—fully 1 kil. a side. Albert Island, next to it, was of a narrow elongated shape.

From the beginning of Armida Island the river flowed for 4,000 m. in a direct line to 310° b.m. Four large rocks in a cluster stood in the centre of the stream at the north-north-westerly end of the island. Then we had another stretch of 4,300 m., during which the river was squeezed through a narrow neck, 100 m. wide, between low rocks. Immediately afterwards we emerged into a bay 800 m. broad, with three islets on one side of it. They were rather dry and somewhat mean-looking. I called them Faith, Hope, and Charity Islands.

After that the river was 800 m. wide. A deposit of gravel some 300 m. long was exposed on the right side beyond the last island of the group.

Three kilometres farther we halted for an hour or so, just time enough for me to take the latitude and longitude and for our lunch to be cooked. The usual torture had to be endured from the innumerable insects. The heat was also terrible—107° F. in the sun, 93° in the shade. Lat. 11° 23′·9 S.; long. 57° 39′ W.

When we left, we saw 3,500 m. beyond our halting place, beside a great heap of rocks on the left side of the river, a rivulet, 3 m. wide, entering the Arinos on the left.

From that spot the river was contracted from a width of 800 m. to one of only 120 m. Naturally the water was of great depth and the current swift.

[99] Two great volcanic rocks stuck out in the centre of the stream, and two extensive heaps of volcanic rock stood on the right side of us, the rocks being at all angles in a confused mass. Where these rocks were—a spot which my men called the "porteira" or gateway—the river turned sharply from 70° b.m. to 290° b.m. The water seemed almost stagnant there, and we had to make a great effort to get on. It seemed as if there had been an undercurrent pushing us back. The water was surely held up by some obstacle, and I feared we had at last reached the extensive rapids which I had expected for some days. Rocks were to be seen in abundance all along, and three more sets of giant boulders were reached, one after the other, in the centre of the river, there only 150 m. broad. Strange heaps of broken-up boulders of immense size were to be seen on the right bank; then farther on more great heaps in confusion on the left bank.

A tiny rivulet found its way among the rocks on the right side. The channel was much strewn with dangerous submerged rocks. I thought I would take the navigation into my own hands for a little while, and found a comparatively easy channel on the left side of the river close to the bank.

As I had expected, the rumbling noise of troubled waters was getting louder and louder, and the whitish mist which rose above the horizon line was an unmistakable sign that we had come to a dangerous spot. Soon after, in fact, we arrived at a large circular basin, some 600 m. in diameter, with rocks in the centre of it. Two clusters of magnificent rocks, 30 ft. high, towered on the left side of the river. Then came[100] a long row of rocks, also gigantic, and a sandy beach which had accumulated against them. A little farther another great mass of rocks in disorder stood up against the now once more fierce current.

We made our way tentatively along what seemed to us the safest channel, to 320° b.m., and with trepidation shot the rapids, which were quite fearsome. I must say for my men that by now they had acquired a certain amount of courage—courage, like all things, being a matter of training after all. We went down at a terrific speed amidst the splashing waters, shaving dangerous rocks and escaping collision by miracle. When we got to the bottom of the rapid we were shot into the whirlpool, which we might have avoided with ease had Alcides obeyed the orders I shouted to him.

When I had shot the rapids before in other countries, I had always avoided getting into the centre of the whirlpool; but Alcides, who had never navigated a river before, held the contrary idea, and always insisted on steering the canoe right into the centre of those dangerous rotating waters.

Whirlpool at End of Rapid.

In Shallow Water.

It was sufficient to remonstrate as I did, for Alcides to do a thing over and over again with the persistency of a mule, in order to maintain what he thought was his amour-propre. As it was, on that occasion, the canoe swerved round with such force that she nearly turned over, and got so filled with water that we had to struggle out of the difficulty as best we could and beach her, or she would have sunk.

At that point an island 400 m. long and 50 m. wide divided the river into two channels. The western channel had a small island of white sand and many[101] rocks on its southern side. Pretty yellow flowers grew wherever a little earth had accumulated upon the rocks.

After going 1,800 m. we found a great basin 600 m. wide with a rocky island and barrier right across it.

Farther on innumerable rocks of all sizes could be seen on the left bank; and 1,500 m. beyond these, where a solid rock rose in the centre of the stream, eddies of wonderful power were produced in the stream.

We glanced at a magnificent island of rock on the left side as we sped along swiftly with the current; but we were so busy with the difficult navigation, and expecting accidents at any moment—what else could I expect with the disobedient, unpractical, obstinate crew I had with me?—that I had not much time to admire the picturesqueness of the scenery.

I had quite foreseen that it was impossible to avoid disaster sooner or later, so that all I could do was to think of which would be the best way to minimize its effects, when it did come.

In the great circular basin which was formed in the river there was a passage to the west, which I did not like at all, so I ordered my men to follow the passage to the north-east. We met there violent eddies which knocked the canoe about in a most alarming manner soon after we had descended a short rapid of some steepness.

Our baggage was simply soaked owing to the amount of water we had shipped on various occasions during the day. We saw ahead of us, only a short distance off, a rapid of some magnitude. We decided to halt at four o'clock in order that we might go and explore on foot along the bank and see whether the[102] canoe could be navigated down, or if we had better unload her and let her down with ropes. We cut a space in the forest, which was there thick, in order to make our camp. We spread all our things to dry during the night. The air was stifling—we had a minimum temperature of 73° F. (July 18th).

I took the accurate elevation of the camp with the hypsometrical apparatus, water boiling at that spot at 210°·4, with the temperature of the air 73° F.; altitude 1,113 ft. above sea level. I also took observations for latitude and longitude: Lat. 11° 17′·5 S.; long. 57° 37′ W. We had to remain the entire morning in order to cut a way through the forest and take part of the most valuable baggage on men's backs until a point below the rapids was reached.

We named that place Camp Jahu, as we caught there several enormous fish of that name.

In a reconnaissance we made we found that from Camp Jahu we had to take the canoe along among innumerable rocks scattered in the only navigable channel on the north side of a basin 700 m. wide, with a large island 350 m. wide—Sarah Island—on the southern side of the bay, and another smaller island almost in the centre of the basin. There was a drop 2 ft. high—a regular step—in a barrier of sharply-pointed rocks. We had some two hours' hard work in order to get the canoe safely down. The rocks were so close together that we could not find a passage large enough for the canoe, and we actually had to pull her out of the water over some rocks and then let her down gently on the other side.

After leaving that great pedraria there was a clear[103] basin 250 m. wide, ending where two enormous heaps of rock formed a giant gateway. An island, 80 m. wide—Rebecca Island—was found near the left cluster of rocks. Another small island had formed close to the right of the river. We descended by the north-easterly passage, only 4 m. wide, where the current was extremely swift but the rapid comparatively easy to negotiate.

We then followed the channel flowing to 350° b.m., and after passing innumerable rocks made our camp again before coming to a large rapid which we heard rumbling in that direction.

We had worked hard all that day, and all the progress we had made by sunset was a distance of 2,000 m.—or a little more than one mile.

Alcides, Antonio and I immediately proceeded to cut a trail through the forest from that point down to the end of the rapid, 1,200 m. farther down. Then we proceeded to take all the baggage upon our shoulders—a task which occupied several hours. I was greatly surprised to find that the men did this willingly enough, although they were unaccustomed to carrying and the loads were heavy. They laughed heartily at one another as they struggled under the heavy weights, or trod upon thorns, or were jerked about with knocking against trees—the passage we had cut being necessarily not spacious.

I had not seen my men so jolly for a long time—in fact, I do not remember ever having seen them so jolly. I was in hopes that this state of affairs might last, as it was certainly not pleasant to be travelling in such usually morose company.

[104] During the night we caught an immense jahu, weighing over 50 lb., as well as some 200 lb. of smaller fish. As the bank of the stream was rather high and steep, we had a great deal of trouble to land the larger fish safely. Some of my men had exciting experiences, one man falling into the water on receiving a powerful blow from the tail of the struggling jahu. The scene was a comic one, the terror of the man being amusing to watch.

We carried a great quantity of salt; with it my men set out to preserve the best portions of the fish we had caught—a precaution of which I fully approved.

I noticed that whenever we came across rocky places the number of insects increased to an enormous extent, especially mosquitoes and gnats. I think it was due principally to the fact that in those rocks many cavities were found which got filled with stagnant water which eventually became putrefied.

The place where we halted we called Abelha Camp, because of the millions of bees which worried us to death there, not to speak of the swarms of flies, mosquitoes and ants, and myriads of butterflies which came to settle in swarms upon us. It was indeed curious to note the wonderful tameness of the latter, as they had never seen a human being before.

Fishing on the Arinos: a Jahu.

Fish of the Arinos River.

There was a nasty-looking rapid close to the camp. We had to let the empty canoe down carefully by means of ropes, my men on that particular occasion donning their lifebelts again, although they walked on dry land when they were taking the canoe along. When I asked them why they put them on, they said[105] that perhaps the canoe might drag them into the water and they had no wish to get drowned.

We left that camp late in the afternoon—at three o'clock—having wasted the entire morning conveying the canoe to a spot of safety and then carrying all the baggage along overland.

After having gone some 2 kil. farther we came to another rapid and a pedraria with nasty rocks right across the channel, the only passage I could see possible for our canoe being in the centre of the stream. That channel was only a few metres wide, and had in the centre of it a large rock just under the surface, which flung the water up in the air. We just managed to shoot that rapid safely, although with trembling hearts.

Farther down, rocks innumerable, rising only two or three feet above water, spread half-way across the channel from the right side. Then rapids and strong eddies were encountered. For 700 m. the river showed foliated rock strewn all along on both banks, and great volcanic boulders of a more rounded shape. The foliation showed a dip westward of 45°.

We were delighted when we discovered in that region many solveira or sorveira trees, or milk trees, exuding when incised milk most delicious to drink. Then there were plenty of figueiras or gameilleiras and wild bananas. We wasted much time extracting milk from the solveiras and eating wild fruit.

Monkeys were to be seen in that part. They seemed most astonished on perceiving us, and came quite close, gazing at us in the most inquisitive manner.

We felt that we had come to a real heaven on earth,[106] except for the river, which could have given points to the River Styx of infernal fame.

When we returned to the canoe we found obstructions of all kinds in the stream. Small rapid succeeded small rapid. Rocky islets and scattered rocks rendered navigation complicated.

Where the river turned sharply to the N.N.E. another dangerous rapid was reached, with rocks scattered all over the channel, some just submerged. We tried to shoot that rapid on the east side, but we got badly stuck on a submerged rock, and once more the canoe filled with water. It took us the best part of an hour to extricate ourselves from our uncomfortable position.

A beautiful island 400 m. long and 200 m. wide—Maria Island—was then reached. It had a long spur of white sand at its south-easterly end, and pretty vegetation upon it. Strange domes of rock were near by, one particular dome of great size showing a spit of white sand 70 m. long, on its north-westerly side. Many other islets of rock rose above the water along the bank of the larger island, while rapids of some magnitude existed at the end of the island.

We hardly ever came to a stretch of placid water. No sooner had we left the last rapid than, the river turning sharply at that point, we went over a strong corrideira, so strewn with obstacles that in the terrific current we had a narrow escape of having our unmanageable, long canoe smashed against one of the innumerable rocks.

As we went on at a great speed I had just time to notice rocks of all sizes and shapes along both banks, and strange rocks in the middle of the river, one or[107] two of them with stunted trees growing in fissures which had become filled with earth.

Another island, 300 m. long—Martia Island—with a picturesque spur of rock at its south-easterly end, was next reached as we were going swiftly down a corrideira in the channel to the right which we were following.

After the corrideira, as I was busy writing a description of the landscape, I was thrown off my seat. My men also had a similar experience, the canoe nearly turning turtle and becoming filled with water. Alcides had steered us right into the centre of a whirlpool.

These unexpected baths were not much to my taste—not so much for the discomfort they caused my person, as for the trouble they gave me in protecting my notebooks and instruments. Also, in these accidents we lost a considerable amount of our supply of salt, which melted away in the water, and the supply of flour and rice suffered from these unnecessary immersions.

A channel 30 m. wide separated Martia Island from a second island—Camilla Island—100 m. long, which must once certainly have formed part of it, but which had been separated by the eroding waters of the stream. Both islands were wooded, and were extremely pretty. Great heaps of rock, 20 m. in diameter and even more, occupied the centre of the stream after we had passed the last island.

We had only gone 12 kil. 300 m. that day, so difficult had been the navigation.

During the night in less than one hour we caught two large jahu, one huge pacu (Prochilodus argentius),[108] the latter shaped like a sole, but of a much greater size, and with brilliant red patches on its body—a most delicately-tasting fish to eat—and a number of large trahira (Machrodon trahira), also called by the Brazilians rubaffo because of the noise they make in the water. Altogether over 200 lb. of fish were got out of the water in less than sixty minutes.

We found many jenipapeiros (or genipapeiro) trees, from the stewed bark of which we made excellent tea. Its fruit was good to eat, and we used it for making sweets.

During the night of July 19th the minimum temperature was 67° F.

We started off gaily enough in the morning, passing first a great boulder, 10 m. in diameter, sticking right out of the water; then an island 200 m. long contained in a basin 500 m. wide. We left the island—Ruby Island—which was 80 m. long, on our left, and went down a channel with strong eddies and whirlpools. Looking back at the eastern channel, we were glad we had not followed it, as it was extremely rocky.

A Fine Cataract on the Arinos-Juruena River.

The river was contracting in narrow necks and expanding into large basins, another of these being 450 m. broad. A strong rapid existed here, owing to the barrier formed across the stream by a central island of rock and other boulders. After that came a basin 700 m. wide, with three islands—Teffe I., Nair I., Rock I.—in its western part. The central and eastern passages were difficult owing to the quantity of rocks which stood in the way, so we took the canoe down the channel from S.S.W. to N.N.E., which was also extremely bad, and where we had to let her down[109] with the greatest care by means of ropes, the baggage having been previously unloaded. Even then the canoe got filled with water. That involved a great loss of time and waste of energy, so that we had to halt longer than usual in the middle of the day.

Our halting place was most picturesque, situated on volcanic rocks of great beauty, and overlooking a canal cut into the rocks, with strong and foaming rapids from east to west. Strong eddies formed at the end of the rapids.

After leaving the camp and negotiating the rapids, we came to an island 150 m. long—Magda Island—separated by a rocky narrow channel from another island, 50 m. long, west of it.

After the last rapid we were in a basin 800 m. wide and 1,000 m. long. Strong corrideiras or rapids occurred all the time, and rocks alone or in groups standing wherever they were not wanted. Farther on we came to another big basin, 1,000 m. wide, with a square island on its western side. The island—Eva Island—was 400 m. broad and of course of an equal length.

Another island, triangular in shape, 700 m. long—Rose Island—was then observed, after we had gone over some strong rapids in the passage on the east side of it.

The river was flowing in a northerly direction, and shortly afterwards formed two channels—one north-west, the other south-west—which soon joined again.

A beautiful bank of white sand 120 m. long and 4 ft. high stretched along the edge of the water on the left side of us. Soon afterwards we entered an immense[110] basin, 1,300 m. broad with a large island—May Island—on its western side.

One kilometre farther the island ended at a place where a lot of rocks stood out of the water. A little lower down other rocks spread right across the river in two parallel lines, forming very strong rapids, which were shot, our canoe coming within an ace of turning over.

The basin which followed was extremely rocky, with strong whirlpools, most troublesome to negotiate. Another island of irregular shape, 200 m. long and 200 m. wide—Rita Island—was found in a large basin, 1,000 m. broad, where we came to strong rapids and violent eddies and whirlpools, the latter most dangerous-looking. The water revolved with such force that it formed in the centre of each vortex holes from one to two feet in diameter.

The channel flowing north on the left side of the river seemed the better of the two, but it was strewn with rocks against which we had many collisions, owing to the strong current, the unmanageable canoe and the disobedient crew.

Another island 350 m. long—Eloisa Island—was to the north-east of Rita Island. Fifteen hundred metres farther on another corrideira occurred. A small tributary entered the Arinos on the right side.

We were then travelling in a N.N.E. direction, the river being in a straight line for some 3,000 m., in the course of which we came to a small island on the left side; then to a great island, 3,000 m. long—Albert Rex Island—with beautiful forest upon it. There were two other islets in this channel, one a mere cluster of rocks,[111] the other, north-east of the first and 150 m. in diameter—Belgium Island—having pretty vegetation upon it.

A fourth and fifth—Laeken Island, 300 m. in length, and Elizabeth R. Island, 5,000 m. in length—were separated by a narrow channel. The latter had most gorgeous vegetation upon it; so tidy was everything in the thick forest, and the ground under it so clean that you might have imagined yourself in an English park.

Those islands were really too beautiful for words. Not being a poet, I cannot find appropriate language to describe their wonderful charm.

The river had a tendency to flow toward the west, and even for 1 kil. in a south-westerly direction. It had a width of 700 m. A small island 50 m. in diameter, chiefly formed of accumulated rounded rocks which had rolled down and deposits of gravel, had formed in the centre of the stream. Beyond it a charming little island, 180 m. long—Germaine Island—was found, on which we made our camp. It had an extensive gravel beach, on which I found beautiful crystals and pebbles of wonderfully coloured marble.

[112]

CHAPTER VIII

We left at 8 a.m. on July 20th, the minimum temperature during the night having been 57° F. We had hardly gone 1½ kil. when we came to another island, 500 m. long—Mabel Island—quite as beautiful as the one on which we had camped. Small rapids were encountered where we just managed to avoid dangerous submerged rocks close to the right bank, near the entrance of a basin 900 m. wide.

All those basins were really magnificent to look at. This one, for instance, displayed a lovely island—Noailles Island—500 m. long, and 200 m. wide on its left side. Picturesque rocks of a vivid red colour peeped out of the water and broke the current, the spray that rose in the air forming pretty rainbows. There was a channel there, 300 m. wide, after passing the last island. Then came one more great basin 700 m. wide, and yet another pretty island, with a rocky spur.

Preparing the Canoe prior to descending a Rapid.

A Nasty Rapid.

We followed a course of 10° b.m. on the left side of the island—Margie Island—which was 500 m. long, and had a number of subsidiary islands formed by picturesque groups of rock.

[113] We then came to one more great basin, with an immense quantity of rock in its western part. Many of the boulders showed a foliation in their strata with a dip of 45° east. The accumulation of boulders formed a formidable barrier before we reached an island most beautiful to gaze upon, so luxuriant was the vegetation on it.

This particular island was 200 m. long; next to it was another 150 m. long; then, joined to this by a link of high rocks to the south-east, was a third, also of considerable beauty. So charming were these islands that I called the group the Three Graces Islands.

The river turned due west from that point in a channel of continuous rapids and violent eddies for some 3,000 m. We went down, the canoe being knocked about in a most alarming way on one or two occasions, and shipping so much water as to reach almost up to our knees inside it.

It was fortunate that all my photographic plates, note-books and instruments were in water-tight boxes, or they certainly would have been damaged beyond saving. This was not the case with my clothes, shoes, and bedding, which had now been wet for many days with no possibility of drying them, as we were travelling all day long and every day, and during the night the heavy dew prevented them from getting dry. Why we did not get rheumatism I do not know, as not only did we wear wet things all day long, but we slept in blankets soaked with moisture.

The moment I dreaded most was that in which we emerged from the rapid into the whirlpool which always[114] followed, and in which the canoe swerved with such terrific force that it was all we could do to hold on and not be flung clean out of her—owing, of course, to the centrifugal force as she revolved quickly.

Making a survey of the river was getting to be a complicated and serious job, what with the numberless islands we encountered, the continuous rapids, and the constant changes of direction. I was busy writing, as fast as I could—only interrupted momentarily by involuntary shower-baths—prismatic compass and watch in hand all the time, the latter in order to measure the distances as accurately as possible.

We had now come to another group of islands in a line in the centre of the river. They had been at one time evidently all one, which had subsequently been eroded into five separate islands and an extensive bank of gravel and sand. Taken in succession from south to north, there was first an oblong island, thickly wooded, 120 m. long—Nina Island—having on its western side an elongated bank of sand and gravel; then, where a barrier of rocks stretched transversely across the stream and where extremely bad rapids occurred—three of them in succession, each worse than the last—was another island—Providence Island—1,400 m. in length.

When we reached any rapid we had to be quick in judging which was the best channel to follow, as the current was so strong that we had not sufficient strength to pull back against it. I generally selected the channel, my men by this time having gained sufficient confidence in my judgment, since so far we had had no serious mishap. But I foresaw that we should soon[115] have an accident, as they were getting foolhardy, and in their ignorance attributed the wonderful luck we had had entirely to their own skill in navigation.

On that particular occasion we had hardly time to recover from shooting the first rapid with the velocity of an arrow, and were wet all over with the splash of the water, when we came to the second and third rapids, where the channel was so narrow and rocks were scattered so near the surface, that it was really a marvel to me how we got through without capsizing. The men in their excitement were shrieking wildly as we dashed through the foaming waters, and there were also yells of positive terror from the man ahead, who with a long pole in hand tried to save the canoe from dashing now upon one rock then upon another.

Below the rapids the three other islands were Dora Island, 200 m. long; Edna Island, 500 m. long; and Lucia Island, 700 m. long.

The river was flowing in a westerly and south-westerly direction, the banks showing a quantity of rubber trees all along. A tiny islet 50 m. long had been eroded from the right bank, just above a strong corrideira, easily identifiable by later travellers who may visit it, since a huge rock stands there in the centre of the river.

On the left side of the river foliated rock 10 ft. high was exposed for the length of 1 kil. Dense forest was to be seen on both sides of the river all along the rapids.

Two more islands, each 100 m. in diameter—Romeo and Juliet Islands—close to each other, were then seen on one side of the main channel, which was 200 m. wide.

[116] From this point the river actually flowed in a S.S.W. direction (230° b.m.), and for 2,500 m. we had to negotiate strong and troublesome rapids with variations of shallow water, usually with a bottom of sharp rocks. The water in many of those places, coming with great force, hit the bottom and was thrown up again in high waves which swamped our canoe each time we went through them. In one place we got stuck on a rock in the middle of the foaming waters, and had a hard job to get the canoe off again and prevent her sinking when we had done so.

Where the river turned for another 2 kil. 500 m. more to the west, another elongated island rose on the left side of the stream. The island—Laurita Island—was only 80 m. broad, but had a total length of 1,800 m.

More rapids and shallow water above a bottom of red volcanic débris were found. A small tributary 2 m. wide at the mouth entered the Arinos on the left bank, not far from the spot where a rocky rugged island rose in the centre of the stream.

I halted at 11.30 in order to take the usual observations for latitude and longitude and soundings of the river. The stream, which was 320 m. broad, below some rapids, showed a depth of 6 ft. the entire way across. Farther down, where it contracted to 200 m. in breadth, it showed a depth of 8 ft. in the centre with a maximum depth of 10 ft. to the right and left of it, gradually decreasing to 5 ft., 3 ft., 2 ft., and 1 ft. as it neared the banks. Lat. 11° 7′·3 S.; long. 57° 46′ W.

A Giant Central Wave emerging from a Narrow Channel.

When we resumed our journey after lunch, we came to another thickly wooded island, 1,000 m. long,[117] 350 m. wide—J. Carlos Rodriguez Island—with a cluster of huge rocks on its southern end.

We had a few minutes of comparatively easy navigation, the river being extraordinarily beautiful in straight stretches of 3,000 m., 2,000 m., and 3,000 m., to 340°, 350°, and 360° (N.) bearings magnetic. In the first 3,000 m. we came upon another strong rapid over a barrier of rocks which extended right across the stream. Beyond the rapids the usual troublesome whirlpools occurred. A polished dome of rock 10 ft. high emerged in mid-stream. Then another charming island—Nona Island—with a spit of white sand at its southern end rose gracefully out of the river. It had a breadth of 100 m. and a length of 600 m.

More corrideiras and eddies had to be gone over that day. We seemed to be spending our entire time trying to avoid—not always successfully—collisions with dangerous rocks. We came to another beautiful island, 200 m. long and 100 m. wide—Emma Island—screened at its southern end by high-domed volcanic rocks, and soon after to a rocky island on our right, separated by a narrow channel from a larger and thickly wooded island, 300 m. long and 100 m. wide—Georgia Island.

The rapids seemed to be getting worse and worse as we went down the stream. After passing these three islands we came to a most dangerous spot, the rapids there being strewn all over with nasty-looking rocks which did not seem to leave a clear passage anywhere in a straight line. After 500 m. of anxious travelling we encountered more rapids and troublesome eddies. We had by that time got accustomed to[118] the danger, and even felt travelling dull and stupid when we came to a few metres of placid water.

As we were going down a stretch of 3,000 m. to 350° b.m. we found the centre of the river blocked by great masses of rock; then, a little farther, rocks occupied the left of the river. We went through a narrow passage between those high rocks, finding ourselves carried away helplessly into a rapid of alarming swiftness, which subsequently shot us into a terrific whirlpool.

Alcides was steering us right into the centre of the terrifying rotating waters, when I jumped up and, seizing the steering gear out of his hands, was just able to avoid disaster. As it was, the canoe switched off at a tangent with a heavy list to port, leapt out of the water like a flying fish, and when she dropped again into the water was carried off at a great speed, with a heavy list on and filling fast. I do not know why she did not capsize altogether.

We then had rocks on the left side, rocks on the right side; a barrier of many rocks across the entire stream, with a thickly wooded island, 70 m. wide and 200 m. long—Lilian Island—on the left side. There were a great many scattered rocks at the northern end of the island, where a small rapid was found. Then we were confronted by 4,000 m. of river in a straight line. We had gone but 2,000 m. along that stretch when we came to a lovely rectangular island, with a spit of rock extending for 120 m. eastward, and separated by a narrow channel from the island itself. The island—Susan Island—was 100 m. broad and 250 m. long, with its fore-part of gravel as usual. It was in a basin 500 m. wide.

[119] The river turned to the W.S.W., and was there placid enough, although the current was swift. Where the river flowed once more in a more northerly direction we found rocks and two tiny wooded islands on the left side of the stream, one 20 m., the other 70 m. long. There a corrideira occurred soon after we had negotiated a dangerous rapid—dangerous because of the number of intricate rocks which forced the canoe to describe a snake-like dance like a double S, bumping and swerving with such force from the restless waters underneath, that it was all we could do to prevent her turning over.

In a basin 700 m. wide which was further crossed, we admired a picturesque rocky island of a beautiful emerald green colour in the centre of the stream. An immense barrier of rock was on the north-east side of this basin. Before we halted, absolutely worn out by the heavy work of the day, we descended another troublesome rapid—fortunately that time with no mishaps of any kind.

At five o'clock we made our camp in the only spot we could find that was suitable; but no sooner had we landed than we were fiercely attacked by millions of sauba or carregadores ants which gave us a lively time during the entire night. Those ants, which were there absolutely in millions, were from 1 in. to 1¼ in. in length, and possessed powerful clippers on the head with which they bit us, giving intense pain. When you had thousands of them climbing up your legs and over your body, and dropping upon you from the tree branches which were alive with them, and clinging to you with all their might once they had got you with[120] their clippers, you began to think what a fool you had been to leave your happy home in England.

As I shall have an opportunity of speaking at greater length of the saubas later in this volume, I shall leave them now, merely mentioning that during the entire night we were unable to sleep owing to those brutes. And that was not all: we had many of our clothes, shoes, and other articles entirely destroyed by them.

We called that place Camp Carregador. The nights had become by then quite stifling and damp, the minimum temperature on July 21st being 63° F.

No sooner had we started on our journey that day than we came to rapids. A lot of rocks stood everywhere in the stream. The river after that flowed in a snake-like fashion for 5,000 m. in a general direction N.N.E., and was there comparatively free from serious obstacles. We came to a triangular island 700 m. long—Ada Island—separated from a second island by a channel 50 m. wide. This second island—Hugo Island—formed an isosceles triangle of 800 m. each side. These two islands were evidently at one time joined together, forming a lozenge-shaped island, and had been eroded in the centre by the back-wash of the stream at the spot where it formed an angle.

Where the river turned from 315° b.m. to 340° b.m., it was much strewn with sharp cutting rocks. We were thrown with great violence on one of these and very nearly capsized. Great heaps of volcanic boulders were now seen on the right side of the channel, and one island 50 m. long—Nora Island—with a few shrubs on it.

A Dangerous Rapid.

Taking the Canoe and Part of the Baggage down a Narrow Passage among Rocks.

A great heap of rock was fixed in the centre of the[121] stream, forming a kind of spur, beyond which a regular barrier of rock spread from south-west to north-east right across the stream. We had difficulty in finding a suitable passage, but eventually got through close to the right bank in a small corrideira, easily recognizable by subsequent travellers, as by the side of it was a rocky hill of a conical shape 30 ft. high with a tuft of trees on its summit. On both banks of the stream rubber trees were plentiful. For 5,000 m. the river had been proceeding in a perfectly straight line to the N.N.W.

My work was extremely tiring, as not only was my time employed surveying the river carefully and writing up plentiful notes, but also I had to control the navigation as much as I could and be ready for any emergency, owing to the capricious nature of my men and their unbounded disobedience. Orders could not be given direct, as they were always disobeyed, so that to obtain what I wished I generally had to give the contrary order. For instance, if I wanted to avoid a rock I ordered Alcides to run the canoe on to the rock; if I wanted to shoot a rapid I ordered them to take the canoe down with ropes, and so on.

Innumerable rocks were now encountered all the time. In places regular great tables or platforms of polished rock were to be seen under the surface in the clear water. A wonderful group of gigantic rocks was then reached, with a most charming island peeping through behind.

We came to an island 450 m. long and 30 m. wide—Anna Island—where two more barriers of rock were found right across the stream. Beyond, a bank 150 m.[122] long of deliciously white sand was observed, where some 2 kil. of placid navigation was gone through; but no sooner had we covered that short distance than strong eddies were again met with at the point where the river expanded to a somewhat greater width.

After going almost due west for a short distance the river gradually swung round to due north, a most beautiful view opening before us as we got round the sweeping curve. For 5,000 m. the river now ran in a perfectly straight line, with its beautiful clear water flowing over a rocky bed. In the far distance loomed the first range of mountains we had seen since leaving the Serra Azul. I had got so tired of gazing at a flat horizon line that the sight of the range gave me unbounded pleasure. But I had not much time to gaze upon the scenery, for rocks of all sizes and shapes were strewn all along the channel.

Two small islets, each 20 m. long, were passed on the right bank. Then came more picturesque groups of rock on the right and on the left of us as we paddled gaily along, and refreshing accumulations of pure white sand. Farther on, an island 50 m. wide and 60 m. long, with a southerly crown of huge boulders—Corona Island—was to be seen close to the right bank.

Some thousand metres before we got to the end of the long stretch, yet another elongated island 50 m. long lay close to the left bank. The island was thickly wooded. From that spot a basin fully 1,000 m. broad spread out. The easterly portion was a mass of rock, exposed a few feet above the surface. These rocks extended right across the basin as far as an island 350 m. long—Josephine Island. The vegetation[123] was indescribably beautiful in that part. Immense quantities of rubber trees stood majestically, so far unknown and untouched in the luxuriant forest.

Eight distinct groups of rocks were found on the right-hand side of the river where it flowed for 4,000 m. in a N.N.W. direction. I took forty-two sights of the sun that day in order to determine the exact latitude and longitude. Lat. 10° 48′·9 S.; long. 58° 0′ W.

When we left again in the afternoon the river, there 350 m. broad, was enchantingly beautiful, absolutely clear of obstacles as far as we could see. There was a stretch of 4,000 m. of placid waters, and we imagined that we had come to the end of our trouble.

Monkeys played gaily among the trees, evidently taking the greatest interest in the canoe. They followed us for long distances, jumping from tree to tree, shrieking with excitement and gazing at us with keen interest. We in the canoe suffered perfect torture from the millions of bees, gnats, and mosquitoes, which settled on us in absolute swarms and stung us for all they were worth. The lips, eyelids, nose and ears seemed to be their favourite spots for drawing blood—perhaps because the remainder of the face and neck was already a mass of stings and the skin had got hardened and parched by the broiling sun. The temperature was warm—92° F. in the shade, and 103° in the sun.

At the end of the 4,000 m. another great mass of rocks was found extending from south to north right across the stream. Fortunately we found a channel sufficiently large for navigating our canoe exactly in the centre of the river. After turning to the W.N.W.[124] we found a charming little rocky islet with a solitary tree upon it, and 1 kil. farther a larger island 400 m. long and 300 m. wide in the shape of a triangle—Sylvia Island. This island was separated by a channel 70 m. wide from an immense island—Guanabara Island—6,400 m. long. The channel we followed, the river there flowing to the S.S.W., was 300 m. wide. Great masses of rock were visible on the left side. Where the river flowed in a more westerly direction rocks formed a barrier right across from south-east to north-west.

Then the river once more flowed in a S.S.W. direction through a perfectly beautiful channel. A lovely sand and gravel beach extended from north-east to south-west at the turn of the river where the great Guanabara Island ended.

Some 600 m. farther on a huge dome of rock like a spherical balloon was to be seen, with two smaller rocks by its side. A basin 400 m. wide was then found with an islet of sand 100 m. long on the left side, and a low islet of gravel partly wooded on the right side of the channel. These preceded another accumulation of sand and gravel 100 m. long with a few trees upon it, which was succeeded by a mass of rocks just before reaching a fair-sized island.

Another great spherical rock was seen before entering the channel between the island and the left bank. In the extensive bay great boulders of indescribable beauty were visible.

The Canoe being led down a Rapid.

Several capivaras were basking in the sun on the top of the boulders, and were fired at many times by my men as they stood up to gaze at us in astonishment[125] before they made up their minds to jump into the water and escape.

Close to those rocks an island—Teresa Island—400 m. long was next admired. Strong rapids had to be gone through in a great barrier of rocks at the end of this island. Then no sooner were we thanking our stars that we had negotiated that portion of our journey safely than we were among a lot of globular boulders, some 30 ft. high.

For 800 m. we had a placid time, the water of the stream being so beautifully green, so transparent, that we could see the bottom quite clearly. Our happiness did not last long. We had more rapids and a great rocky bank spreading from south-east to north-west right across the stream, and forming in one portion an island.

We went down another strong rapid between great and dangerously situated rocks and a large island. Then came another wonderful group of high domed rocks, one of the great domes displaying a sharp northern spur like the ram of a battleship. Next to it were three cylindrical rocks, just like towers, one of which leant over the dome.

Yet another rapid was shot through with no misadventure, and when we came to the end of a large island 4,500 m. long and 80 m. wide—Priscilla Island—preceded by a smaller islet of sand and gravel, we arrived at a direct stretch of 4,000 m. of river, flowing to the west. Another rocky islet with an accumulation of sand and a lot of scattered rocks by its side, then a high island, were passed on our right, and farther on we found another great group of globular rocks at[126] the point where Daphne Island, 350 m. in length, began.

I hardly had time to map out the numberless rocks and islands we met before we came upon others. There again we saw three more islands in succession—Mars Island, 500 m. long and 100 m. wide; Jupiter Island, 250 m. long; and a third and smaller one, separated from the second by a channel strewn with huge boulders.

To the N.N.W., at 340° b.m., we saw a hill 300 ft. high, some distance from the stream. Innumerable rocks again occurred in the centre of the channel, and then we came to an extensive triangular island—Barretos Island—the base of which was 300 m. Its left side was 2,000 m. long, its eastern or right side about 1,500 m. A hill range some 300 ft. high was looming before us to the north-east. The second island—Antonio Prado Island—had a total length of 2,000 m. with an average width of 200 m.

On this magnificent island we halted at five o'clock in the afternoon, and I took altitude observations with the hypsometrical apparatus: 1,062 ft. above the sea level.

We were again lucky in fishing that evening. We caught six trahiras, several pacus, and two young jahus—altogether some 120 lb. in weight. My men had wasted so much food, and so much had been spoiled by constant immersions—many of the tinned meats had been altogether spoiled by the tins having got rusty and gradually perforated—that I was beginning to feel rather anxious in case our journey should last longer than I expected. Unfortunately, we had lost most of our salt, and we had no way of preserving the fish,[127] which we had to leave on the banks, absolutely wasted. In order, however, to show how lazy my men were, it is enough to say that, rather than take the slight trouble of placing some pieces of the excellent fish on board the canoe instead of trusting entirely to the luck we might have in fishing the next evening, they had to go the entire day without food. For some reason or other we could not get a single fish to bite, and we did not find a single bird or monkey to shoot.

I was rather interested to observe, in looking over my notes, that nearly all the rocky barriers we had met stretching across the river extended from south-east to north-west. I believe that similar barriers stretched in the same direction in the other southern tributaries of the Amazon, the Xingu and the Madeira Rivers, but, curiously enough, this was not the case with the River Araguaya.

We had made our camp that particular night on a lovely beach of white sand, which I found perfectly delicious, but which my men hated, as there were no trees on which they could hang their hammocks. They did not like to go into the luxuriant forest of the beautiful island, as they were afraid to go too far away from me, and I did not wish to go too far away from the canoe, which we had beached on the gravel bank, in case the river should rise suddenly or something should happen to make her float away. As I have said, I never, during the entire journey, let that canoe go out of my sight for one single moment. The men, therefore, went into the forest to cut big poles, which they afterwards planted with much exertion, in the sand near my camp-bed.

[128] Some amusing scenes happened during the night, when the poles gradually gave way with the weight of the men in the hammocks, and, tumbling down altogether, gave them severe blows on their heads and bodies.

Crocodile about to attack one of the Dogs of the Expedition.

Photographed by author at a distance of three metres (Rio Arinos-Juruena).

The stars were simply magnificent in brilliancy as I lay on my camp-bed. One particularly, to 290° b.m. N.W.—the planet Venus—was extraordinarily brilliant, appearing six times as big as any other planet visible that night. It threw off radiations of wonderful luminosity, quite strong enough to illuminate with a whitish light a great circular surface of the sky around it.

In the morning, before we left, Alcides—who loved carving names and inscriptions on every tree and stone—duly incised the name of Antonio Prado, with which I baptized the island in honour of the greatest Brazilian living, upon a giant figueira tree on the southern edge of the extensive beach of sand and gravel.

[129]

CHAPTER IX

The night was heavy and damp. All our things were soaked in the morning with the dew which had fallen. We were enveloped in a thick mist when we woke up. It became a dense fog when the sun rose, and did not clear up until the sun was fairly high above the horizon. The minimum temperature during the night had been 62° F. (July 22nd).

We were unable to leave until eight o'clock, as the river was dangerous enough when we could see where we were going, and it would have been rather foolish to add one more risk to our travelling in the fog.

My men were extremely irritable and morose that morning, and even our dogs were most troublesome. We had had a great deal of trouble with the dogs; they were as disobedient and untrainable as the men. Nearly every morning we had to waste a considerable time in getting the animals back into the canoe. When we were ready to start they generally dashed away into the forest and the men had to go and fetch them[130] and bring them back. That particular morning one dog—the best we had—escaped, and my men searched for more than an hour, but were unable to find him. In trying to run after him they got their feet full of thorns, and they became so enraged that they decided to abandon the dog on the island. I called him for more than half an hour, trying to save his life, but the animal refused to come. So, much to my sorrow, we had to pull out without him, and undoubtedly the poor beast eventually must have died of starvation, as there was no food whatever to be obtained in the forest on the island.

The dogs were quite amusing to watch while in the canoe, their terror when we shot rapids being quite manifest. They were an additional source of danger to us, for once or twice while shooting rapids strewn with rocks they would jump out of the canoe on to the rocks as we were shaving past them, and we lost much time on several occasions in order to rescue them. In going through the forest the poor animals had suffered much from the attacks of ants and all kinds of insects, many parasites having got inside their ears and where the skin was softer under their legs, causing terrible sores.

They never got fond of anybody, no matter how well they were treated. In fact, unlike all other dogs of any other country, they never seemed even to recognize any of us. Alcides had become the owner of the abandoned dog in a peculiar way at the beginning of our journey, when travelling with my caravan of mules. The dog was going along with a man travelling in the opposite direction to ours. Alcides, who at the[131] time was eating some bread, whistled to the dog, and from that moment the animal left his master and came along with us.

Perhaps Brazilian dogs do not give affection because they never receive any. They were so timid that when you lifted your hand to caress them they would dash away yelling, with their tails between their legs, as if you had been about to strike them. I tried time after time to make friends with them—and I am generally quick at making friends with animals—but I gave up in despair the hope of gaining the slightest affection from those dogs.

When we came to the end of the island we found another great barrier of foliated rock extending from east to west, 500 m. across. The basin showed, moreover, three sets of giant rocks on the left side. In the north-easterly part where the river narrowed again there stood a range of hills 300 ft. high, extending from west to east, and parallel to the rocky barrier across the basin. A streamlet 3 m. wide coming from the south-west entered the Arinos from the left bank. The hill range which stood along the right bank of the river showed a rocky formation of a greyish colour right up to its summit, and was, in fact, a mere great rocky barrier with only a few trees growing in interstices which had been filled with earth and sand. The southern aspect of the range was an almost vertical wall.

The river was proceeding mostly in a westerly and north-westerly direction for long stretches of 3,500 m., 4,000 m., 2,000 m., until we came to an equilateral-triangular island, 300 m. each side—Erminia Island.[132] A small channel not more than 20 m. across separated this from an irregularly-shaped island, 600 m. long—Niobe Island. After this came a low island of sand and gravel 5 ft. high and 300 m. long, with merely a few trees upon it, whereas the other two islands were covered with dense and most beautiful vegetation. The main channel of the river was 400 m. wide.

Araras (macaws) of great size and of a beautiful vermilion colour flew overhead, shrieking wildly at the sight of us. We began to find a great many jacarés (Caiman fissipis) or crocodiles. I saw one sleeping placidly on an islet of gravel. I landed and photographed it, subsequently waking it with a start by throwing a stone at it. My men, who were following cautiously behind me, opened a fusillade and killed it.

It was really amusing to watch the astonishment of the few animals and birds we met in that deserted part of Brazil, as none of them had seen a human being. They evidently did not know what to make of us. They generally looked with curiosity and surprise, and my men could fire shot after shot before they would attempt to run, or, if they were birds, fly away.

There were in that region some fine specimens of the cigana (Opisthocomus cristatus) and of the jacú (Penelope cristata). The cigana was beautiful to look at, with brown and yellow stripes, not unlike a pheasant, and a tuft of bright yellow feathers on the head. All of a sudden we came upon great numbers of these birds, and they supplied us with good meals.

Terrifying Rapid shot by Author and his Men in their Canoe.

There were again plenty of rubber trees in the forest, plenty of fish in the river. The climate was not too hot—merely 87° F. in the shade, 105° in the[133] sun—the insects not too troublesome; so that it seemed to us a paradise on earth.

We had now before us a great expanse of 5,000 m. of straight river to 345° b.m., with two parallel ranges of hills extending from west to east. The second range was the higher of the two—some 600 ft., whereas the first was only 200 ft. high.

What I took to be a great river coming from 75° b.m. (N.E.), 250 m. wide, joined the Arinos from the right side; but I was puzzled whether this was not a mere arm of the Arinos. In the quick survey I was making, and with the many things which occupied my mind at every moment, the river being moreover so wide, it was impossible, single-handed, to survey everything carefully on every side. Therefore this may have been a mere arm of the Arinos which I mistook for a tributary. It was not possible for me to deviate from my course every moment to go and ascertain problematic details, but it will be quite easy for subsequent travellers to clear up this point now that attention has been drawn to it.

An island, 1,000 m. long—Olivia Island—was found at the point where the main arm of the river flowed in a direction of 345° b.m., and where to the north-west, north, and north-east, three hill ranges were before us—one 300 ft. high, extending from south-west to north-east on the left side of the river; another thickly wooded hill from west to east, also 300 ft. high; and yet another one, the highest of all, behind it from S.S.W. to N.N.E., on the right bank. The river was 350 m. wide, and its water almost stagnant.

Another barrier of rock held up the stream. We[134] came to an island 800 m. long, 300 m. wide—Sabrina Island—on the left side of the stream, which showed a beautiful spit of white sand at its southern end.

I halted on the bank where the island began in order to take observations for latitude and longitude, and as the day was a very clear one I took forty-eight consecutive sights of the sun with the sextant. Lat. 10° 35′·1 S.; long. 58° 12′ W. While I was busy observing the sun I thought I heard curious noises in the forest just behind me. The dogs all of a sudden jumped up, barking furiously, and I heard the sounds of what seemed an escaping person dashing away through the thick growth near the stream. My men were greatly excited, saying it was an Indian who had come quite close to me, and was about to shoot an arrow while I was busy with my sextant and chronometers. All through lunch they sat with their loaded rifles next to them, in case we might be attacked.

The river now flowed in a straight line for 5,000 m. in a north-westerly direction. Half-way along was a large triangular island—Pandora Island; then farther on the left another island, 2,000 m. long—Sibyl Island.

The river was of extraordinary beauty in that region. The tall range of hills to the north-west of us showed beautiful cobalt-blue tones against the whitish and grey sky; while the dark green foliage of the trees and the yellow blooms of the Oleo pardo trees visible here and there, the immaculate white sandy beach along the water line, together with the brilliantly red and yellow rocks which stood out of the crystalline emerald water, formed indeed a beautiful scene for the painter's brush.

[135] It did not do to be poetically inclined when travelling on the Arinos. I had hardly time to realize how beautiful that scene was when we found ourselves confronted by another big barrier of rocks, through which we went over a swift corrideira.

A basin was formed, 900 m. wide, with an extensive island of rock on the right side of it. Then we suddenly came to a terrible-looking rapid at an incline so steep that I foresaw trouble in store for us. There was no way of stopping anywhere, as the current was swiftly taking us down.

"We are lost!" shouted one man. "Jesus Maria Santissima!"

"Paddle away! paddle away, for Heaven's sake!" I shouted, as I knew that speed alone could save us from disaster.

Down went the canoe at an angle of 45° in the foaming and twisting waters of the rapid. Where the water curled right over itself the heavy canoe was lifted up in the air like a feather, and as I turned round to shout to Alcides to steer straight ahead I saw his expanded eyes looking in terror at the terrific whirlpool which was facing us at the bottom of the rapid.

"No! no!" cried Alcides.

"Straight—straight! For God's sake, straight!" shouted I; and as I saw the canoe swerve to the right I again shouted to Alcides to steer straight in order to avoid the dangerous part of the whirlpool.

Alcides would not steer straight, but steered us instead on the right for the very centre of the whirlpool. No sooner did the prow of the canoe enter the circle of the rotating water, which formed a deep con[136]cave hollow 70 or 80 m. in diameter, than, dipping her nose in the water, she was flung right up into the air, revolving on herself. Baggage and men all tumbled over, two men being thrown with terrific force clean out of the canoe. A lot of baggage disappeared into the whirlpool. The canoe, although filled with water, righted herself and spun round helplessly at an alarming speed. The impact had been so violent that the men, in tumbling over, had lost all the paddles except one.

We heard the cries of the two men in the water, and I saw them struggle in order to keep themselves afloat. I gave a sigh of relief that the two men—already a long distance from us—were, by a great stroke of luck, the only two who could swim. I urged them to have courage and we would come to their rescue, although for a moment I could not think how we should do it, as we had only one paddle left and the steering gear had got torn away from its socket, although Alcides with great courage had managed to save it. I ordered my men to paddle with their hands and with the large oar which was used for steering. We were tossed about in a terrific manner, the men and canoe going round and round the whirlpool in an absolutely helpless fashion.

Author's Men shooting a Crocodile.

What distressed me more than anything was when I saw the two men getting nearer and nearer the centre, although they made a desperate struggle to swim away from it. In our effort to get to them by using the steering oar, the canoe, for some reason or other, swung round upon herself two or three times, and I saw with gladness the men gradually getting nearer. It was a[137] moment of joy when I saw Antonio, who was a powerful swimmer, within only a few feet of the canoe. His face was ghastly, with an expression of terror upon it. He was quite exhausted, and was shouting pitifully for help. The man X was a few yards farther off.

The canoe suddenly swung round, going right against Antonio, who grasped the side of the boat and proceeded in such haste to climb on board that he came within an ace of capsizing her. A few moments later we were alongside of X, but he was so exhausted that he had not the strength to climb up. We seized him and with great difficulty lifted him inside the canoe.

We continued to go round and round the vortex in a helpless fashion, endeavouring with the steering oar to get out of that perilous position. As I gazed around I saw my camp bed and bedding, which were enclosed in a water-tight canvas bag, still floating close to the centre of the whirlpool. Alas! a moment later they were sucked down. Most of our cooking utensils which were loose in the canoe had been washed overboard. Two of our casseroles were floating gracefully in a circle round the whirlpool.

It is curious how people's mentality will work on such occasions. After we had been some minutes endeavouring to get away from the centre of the whirlpool, one of my men, who had recovered from the fright, saw the cooking pans, which were about to disappear. His first impulse was to shout that we must go and get them!

It was with some relief that we were able to extri[138]cate ourselves, and eventually reached the outer edge of the whirlpool, where the water changed direction, and the canoe was swung violently, entering a patch of comparatively placid water. Paddling with our hands we slowly reached the bank, and nearly an hour later—it having taken us all that time to go about 150 m.—we baled the water out of the canoe and proceeded to examine the amount of our loss.

Nearly all the cooking utensils, as I have said, had disappeared; two boxes of tinned provisions had gone overboard and were lost for ever; a bag of flour and a bag of rice had vanished in those terrible waters; a package containing a great part of my clothes had also gone for ever, as well as some of the clothing of my men. What was worse than all for me, my camp-bed and all my bedding were lost, which would compel me in the future to sleep either on the ground—which was practically impossible in that region owing to the number of ants and other insects—or else do as I did, sleep on four wooden packing-boxes, which I placed in a line. They made a most uneven and hard bed, as I had, of course, no mattress and no covering of any kind. A despatch-box, with some money, a lot of important official letters and other documents, were lost, and also my mercurial artificial horizon and one of my chronometers. A number of other things of less importance were also gone and quite beyond recovery.

We worked hard all that afternoon and the greater part of the night in shaping new paddles out of trees we had cut down with the axes, which were fortunately not lost. The new paddles were even more primitive and clumsy than those we had before.

[139] We dried what remained of our baggage in the sun during the afternoon. The beautiful sandy beach on which we had landed looked very gay with all the articles I had spread out from some of my trunks, including a dress-suit which I hung on a young palm, and other such articles, which looked rather incongruous in that particular region. All the white linen clothes I possessed had gone, and there only remained some good serge clothes which I had kept for my arrival in civilized places again. My water-tight boxes had been knocked about so much that they had got injured and let in a good deal of moisture.

One of my valuable cameras was badly damaged in the accident, and one of my sextants was soaked to such an extent that it took me the best part of two hours to clean it all up again. I saved the negatives which were in the damaged camera by developing them at once during the night while they were still wet.

My men were greatly excited over the accident, especially the two who had fallen into the water. In a way I was glad it had happened, as I was in hopes it might be a good lesson to them and they might be a little more careful in the future. Had Alcides obeyed my orders we should have gone through safely. I pointed that out to him, but it was no use; even then he maintained that in order to be safe you must steer right into the whirlpool and not out of it—which really made me begin to feel rather nervous, as I fully expected, as we went along, to find worse rapids than those we had negotiated so far, since we still had to get down from 1,000 ft. or so to the sea level.

We halted for the remainder of the day. I spent a[140] miserable night sleeping on the packing-boxes, now that my bed had gone for ever. I did not deserve that bit of ill-luck, for indeed my camp-bed was the only thing I possessed which gave me a little comfort. After working hard all day and the greater part of the night, a few hours spent lying down flat on the stretched canvas of the bed were most enjoyable; although never, throughout the entire journey, was I able to sleep soundly, as I always had to be on the alert, never knowing what might happen.

A Cataract in the River Arinos.

Author's Canoe among Great Volcanic Rocks.

The night of July 22nd was fairly cool, the minimum temperature being 58° F. When we proceeded on our journey in the morning we passed an island 1,500 m. long—Arabella Island. The river was now flowing due west. Again we came upon rocks in the centre and upon the right side of the river, with a strong corrideira and with dangerous submerged rocks close to the surface. There was an islet 150 m. long on the right side in a basin 500 m. broad. A hill 100 ft. high stood on the left side of the stream, while a hill range 300 ft. high was now visible to the W.N.W.

We had little time to admire the beautiful scenery, for we soon found ourselves upon another great barrier with a terrible-looking rapid. I asked my men if they preferred to shoot it, as the exertion of loading and unloading the canoe was certainly heavy.

"No, no, no, no!" they all cried in a chorus.

We therefore unloaded the canoe, and with considerable trouble and waste of time we led her down the rapid by means of ropes. Even led in that fashion with the greatest care, the canoe was entirely filled with water.

[141] Islets of rock of considerable beauty rose from the river on the right-hand side. As we got a little way farther, slightly more to the north-west, another hill range, perhaps a little higher than the one we had already observed, began to disclose itself to the north-west, on the right side of the river. As we advanced I further ascertained that the first range extended in a general direction from south-west to north-east. The river had actually eroded its way through this range. Strong rapids were again met with at that point, the channel being strewn with innumerable sharp-edged rocks, most unpleasant if you were to come in contact with them.

A small islet with a picturesque spur of rock on the north side was here seen; then a larger island, 300 m. long—Evelina Island—also on the left side. The river flowed for 3,000 m. in a N.N.W. direction, and at the end of that distance a rectangular island, 200 m. long and 80 m. wide—Eileen Island—embellished it. Like most of the islands in that particular portion of the river it had a beautiful spur of rock on its eastern side, preceded by a little islet also of rock. We passed to the left of this island. It was separated by a channel 80 m. wide from another narrow island, 200 m. to the west of it—Diana Island.

Just before getting to a third range extending from south-west to north-east, and, like the other two, about 300 ft. high, we came upon a long barrier of rock spreading diagonally for about 1,000 m. from south-west to north-east. A long narrow island (200 m. long)—Bertha Island—began from that point close to the right bank, and another had been separated by the[142] water from the bank itself. A tributary 2 m. wide was observed on the left side. We kept close to the left bank and passed on our right an island 300 m. long—Sophia Island.

So numerous were the islands following one another that I was beginning to have great difficulty in supplying sufficient names for them all.

More rapids were reached, and were of terrific force—especially in the centre of the river. It took me some little time to find a suitable passage, but at last I found a channel 25 m. wide through which I got the canoe among innumerable rocks. We went over a great filare—by which word the Italians cleverly define an extensive alignment in the stratum—of rock of extreme hardness which had evidently been fractured in some violent commotion of the earth, and had left sharp edges which cut just like knives close to the surface of the water. This rocky obstacle extended as usual from south-east to north-west.

A tiny streamlet entered the river on the left not far from the hill range on that same side. The trees in that particular region had a most peculiar appearance: their high, perfectly straight stems, quite free from branches or leaves up to their very summit, looked like so many columns, mostly of a whitish colour. Many, however, were encircled, others absolutely smothered with creepers. The scenery was really beautiful; it was like travelling through fairyland.

In the centre of the basin 400 m. wide to which we next came was an island, 80 m. in diameter—Gingillo Island—and to the south-west of it a small islet with an extensive beach and accumulation of rocks in a[143] northerly direction. On the southern side of the river a sand beach, interspersed with rocks, spread almost across, as far as the latter island.

I took 55 astronomical sights in order to get the exact latitude and longitude (lat. 10° 30′·7 S.; long. 58° 19′ W.), and to check the time of the second chronometer, which still remained in my possession. We had made poor progress that day as far as the distance went—only 17 kil. 100 m.

We had come to some nasty rapids, which at first looked quite impassable by water, some of the waves shooting up so high in the air as to make it out of the question for any canoe to go through.

There was another extensive filare of rock, so beautifully polished that it looked almost as if it had been varnished over. It was evidently an ancient flow of lava, with great holes in it here and there. The flow spread from south-west to north-east, was of a brilliant shining yellow, and most beautiful to look at.

I had to make my camp on the rocks near this rapid, where we unloaded the canoe in order to take her down by means of ropes by the eastern channel—very narrow and very unpleasant, but it was the only one possible. It was all we could do to hold the canoe as she tobogganed down the incline, and we had some nasty falls on the slippery rock trying to hold her.

We had a dangerous bit of work to do the moment we had descended the rapid, for we had then to navigate the canoe right across the basin, where whirlpools of some magnitude were formed, directly over a waterfall of some height and pouring down great volumes of water with a terrific roar on the north-east side of the[144] basin; then along the really terrifying rapid on the south-west side. It was necessary to do that, as I had observed that it was only on the opposite side of the river that we could possibly take the canoe down, and no other course was open to us than to go across that dangerous spot.

We had to be smart about it, or we certainly should have perished. My men behaved splendidly. We had reloaded the canoe. The quarter of an hour or so which it took us to cross that basin was somewhat exciting, as we struggled through the various whirlpools, the current all the time dragging us closer and closer to the waterfall, while my men were paddling with all their might and Alcides was steering right against the current in order to prevent the fatal leap.

I urged the men on, and they paddled and paddled away, their eyes fixed on the fall which was by that time only a few metres away from us. They were exhausted in the frantic effort, and their paddles seemed to have no effect in propelling the canoe. The men, who were always talkative, were now silent; only the man X exclaimed, as we were only eight or ten metres from the fall: "Good-bye, father and mother! I shall never see you again!" The other men gave a ghastly grin.

Preparing to descend a Rapid.

A Cataract in the Arinos River.

"Go on! Row! row!—For God's sake row!" I shouted to them, as I saw they had given themselves up for lost. "Row!" I shouted once more; and as if the strength had suddenly come back to them they made a frantic effort. The canoe went a little faster for a minute or two—just enough for us to clear the[145] waterfall and to drift alongside some rocks which stood in the centre of the stream. We were saved.

My men were so exhausted that we had to rest there for some time before we could proceed to cross the dreadful rapid down the other portion of the barrier.

I was glad we had had that experience, because it showed me that after all it was possible to make brave men of men who were absolutely pusillanimous before. When I mentioned that we still had to go over the other dangerous part, they said, much to my delight:

"We are Brazilians—we are afraid of nothing! We will come with you." And what is more, they did.

They smoked a few cigarettes. I had always supplied them with ample tobacco in order to keep them in a good temper. Then when I gave the order to start they jumped gaily into the canoe, shouting again:

"We are Brazilians! We are afraid of nothing!"

So we began negotiating the second portion of that nasty crossing. There is nothing I admire more than courage. My men went up in my estimation that day at least a hundred per cent.

The second part of our crossing was just as dangerous as the first part—perhaps more so. The men, however, behaved splendidly, and rowed with such vigour that we got through safely and quickly above the most difficult portion, and eventually landed upon a mass of rocks on the opposite side of the stream.

There we had a busy time, as we had once more to unload the canoe, cut a way through the forest in[146] order to convey the baggage overland to a spot about half a mile farther down stream; then we had to come back to take the canoe by means of ropes down the rapid itself.

It was necessary for one of us to be inside the canoe in order to steer her while being led down. Alcides, who was indeed an extraordinarily brave man, would not hand over his job to anybody else, and insisted on being allowed to steer the canoe. It was with great reluctance that I allowed him, as he could not swim. When we proceeded to let the canoe down by the small western channel, the foaming waters and high waves rolling back upon themselves with great force were most troublesome to negotiate. The canoe was repeatedly lifted right out of the water, and gave us holding the ropes such violent jerks that we were flung in all directions. When I got up again, still holding on to the rope, Alcides had disappeared. He had been pitched clean out of the canoe. Fortunately, a moment later I saw that he was clinging to the steering gear, which we had made extra fast in order that it might stand the great strain.

We managed to pull the canoe and Alcides close to the rocks. Eventually we all had to go into the water up to our necks and lead the canoe by hand with the greatest care in the swift current for the remaining distance. Once or twice we were nearly overpowered by the current, and we were glad when, nearly two hours later, our job was finished, and, absolutely exhausted, we made camp for the night on the rocks.

The men were so excited that during the entire night they sat up commenting on the experience of[147] the day. Their remarks were quite amusing, especially their imitations of the rush of the water, the bumping of the canoe, and Alcides' sudden disappearance and narrow escape from drowning.

The waterfall and rapids spread across the river at that spot for some 650 m. During the night of July 24th the thermometer showed a minimum temperature of 62° F.

I noticed a small streamlet 1 m. wide on the left bank, and to the W.S.W. a conical hill rising over a gently sloping undulating range 350 ft. above the river level—that is to say, about 1,400 ft. above the sea level.

A strong wind sprang up, which caught us sideways and produced such high waves breaking over the canoe, and so severe a motion, that my men became ill. We had to stop, until the wind abated, on a small charming island. As we were approaching the island Alcides sent us right over a rock which was sticking some 2 ft. above water. The bottom of the canoe was so scraped in the violent collision that a good deal of the stuffing with which we had filled the longitudinal crack was torn off, and she quickly filled with water. When we halted more garments had to be destroyed in order to fill up the aperture to the best of our ability.

When the storm was over we continued our journey, going over some rapids in quite a novel way. The men were quarrelling among themselves and had stopped paddling, the paddles being waved in the air in a threatening way as they spoke violently to one another. Alcides had also left the steering gear, and in his fury[148] against the other men had seized his rifle in order to give force to his words. We were approaching the rapid. I advised them to continue their quarrel after we had gone through, but they would not listen to me. The prow of the canoe, just as we were about to enter the rapid, was caught in a rock, and the canoe swung right round, so that we shot the rapid floating down stern first. We shipped a lot of water, the refreshing bath somewhat cooling the excitement of my men, who, realizing the danger when we entered the whirlpool, took to paddling again.

I discovered from their conversation during the night that my men were imbued with the idea that I had a guardian angel attending my person, and that no matter what happened while they were with me they would have no mishap.

The river gradually turned northwards again. I noticed on the right side a hill-range 350 ft. high, extending from south-west to north-east.

The wind came up again, tossing the canoe about considerably. My men once more became seasick owing to the rolling. The new paddles we had made from fresh wood after our accident in the rapids did not prove much of a success, the wood splitting badly. We had to keep the various pieces together by tying them with string. I could not help laughing when I looked at my men paddling. One paddle had a quadrangular blade; another formed an elongated oval; a third had originally been circular but was then reduced to the shape of a half-moon, the other half having been washed away.

Lake formed where the Arinos and Juruena Rivers meet.

Going through a Rapid.

For 4,000 m. the river had flowed due west, then it[149] turned to 310° b.m. Two large islands in succession—one 400 m. long and 350 m. wide—Pericles Island; the second of an equal width to the first, and 700 m. long—Aspasia Island—were seen.

A high wind from the north-east and east continued the entire day, and broke into occasional severe gusts that were most troublesome to us. Heavy rain-clouds hung over our heads. My men felt cold and shivery and quite miserable in the choppy waters, which made them extremely ill. Their faces were green and yellow, their eyes had a pitiful expression in them. They looked as if they were all being led to execution. The temperature of the atmosphere was only 75° F.

Shortly before sunset, after a beautiful stretch of river of 4,000 m. to 335° b.m. (N.N.W.), followed by one of 4,000 m. 5° farther to the north, we came to an immense basin—a regular lake—4,000 m. long, 1,500 m. wide, with two lovely islands in its northerly part. It was there that the great River Juruena, coming from the south-west, joined the Arinos. We had the greatest difficulty in crossing the big, deep lake, because of the high wind which was blowing at the time. The waves were high and caught us on one side; the rolling was so heavy that on many occasions we shipped a great deal of water and nearly capsized. When we got into the centre of the lake the wind increased in fury. My men were very ill and much scared—for we had a great expanse of water on all sides and we could not bale the water out of the canoe fast enough, so quickly was she filling. I urged on the men all the time and took an extra paddle myself to encourage them. We made slow progress, the men[150] suffering greatly. I had to wait for their convenience every few moments when they were badly indisposed.

We tossed about for the best part of two hours, until at last we reached the opposite side of the lake. In a hurry to land, Alcides threw the canoe over some rocks on which the water was breaking with fury. However, the water was shallow at that point. We jumped out, and eventually, trembling with cold, we beached the canoe on a most beautiful island, where we made our camp for the night.

[151]

CHAPTER X

The spot where the two great rivers met was most impressive, especially from the island on which we stood, directly opposite the entrance of the two streams. The immense lake was spread before us, and beyond were the two great rivers meeting at an angle. Great walls of verdant forest lined all the banks and islands before us. Curiously enough, both in the Arinos and in the Juruena two long narrow islands appeared parallel to the banks of each stream. The islands resembled each other in size. The Juruena had two islands near its mouth, one narrow and long, the other in the shape of a quadrangle. The Arinos also showed a long and narrow island at its mouth, and another ending in a point.

It was my intention to take soundings right across the mouth of the Arinos and also across the mouth of the Juruena, but unluckily, owing to the strong easterly wind which prevailed that day, it was quite impossible for me to attempt such a task at the mouth of the Arinos, and equally impossible was it to proceed back across the lake to the mouth of the Juruena[152] to measure the volume of water which came out of that river. Without any attempt at mathematical accuracy I should say that the two rivers carried an almost equal volume of water.

Where we landed there were two separate islands, one of which I named after my sister—the Elfrida Landor Island; the other one, next to it, I named Francesco Island. The Elfrida Landor Island—really most beautiful to look at—was 800 m. long; Francesco Island was 1,200 m. in length but not quite so broad.

There was a most picturesque channel 200 m. wide, with marvellous rocks forming a barrier across it, on the right side of the river, between Francesco Island and the right bank. The main part of the stream, however, flowed in a much larger channel between the left bank and Elfrida Landor Island.

The joint Arinos-Juruena River had now a total width of 500 m., and flowed in a direction of 15° bearings magnetic. I took accurate observations with the hypsometrical apparatus in order to determine the exact elevation of that important spot: water boiled at the junction of the Juruena and Arinos at 210°·4¾, while the temperature of the air was 70° F.; in other words the elevation of the place was 987 ft. above the sea level.

Author's Canoe going down a Cataract.

I also took observations there for latitude and longitude. Lat. 10° 21′·7 S.; long. 58° 35′ W. The Juruena entered the lake from bearings magnetic 250° (W.S.W.), the Arinos from bearings magnetic 100° (E.S.E.). The minimum temperature during the night on Elfrida Island was 57° F. My men suffered a great deal from the cold, as they had got badly[153] chilled with the wet and the high wind during the day. Most of them complained of severe rheumatic pains and violent toothache. They could not understand why I did not have any pains of any kind—and to tell the truth, neither could I, after all we had gone through of late.

When we left Elfrida Landor Island on July 25th we had a beautiful stretch of river 4,000 m. long in a straight line, but with a good many rocks strewn in the channel. The men paddled unwillingly, as they said they were aching all over; but the current was strong and we were going along fairly quickly. My men said that we must now have come to the end of all the rapids. I did not care to disillusion them, although I suspected that we still had hard days in store. We had not proceeded very far when a rumbling noise warned us that we were approaching danger. There was a rapid on the east side of the river, but it left a fairly easy passage on the west. A little farther, however, we came to a very bad rapid, and had to unload the canoe, which we were obliged to let down carefully with ropes. My men, who felt feverish and irritable, owing to our previous day's experience, were greatly upset at this new obstacle facing us.

The river was 500 m. wide at this part. The rocks on which we trod when we took the canoe down were so sharp that they cut our feet. It was not possible to wear shoes, as when we had them on we slipped on the rock and had no hold upon the ropes. My men, in their state of weakness, had not sufficient strength to hold the canoe, and the moment she entered the[154] swift current she escaped, dragging one man into the rapid. I jumped into the water after him, and just managed to grab him before he was swept away altogether in the terrific current. We were all drenched, and as the wind blew with great violence that day, and there was no sun to warm us up, we felt the cold very much.

The canoe was thrown mercilessly now against one rock, then against another; but, as luck would have it, after she had made several pirouettes, we, running all the time with our bleeding feet on the sharp rocks along the bank, were eventually able to recapture her at the end of the rapid. Then came the job of going back to fetch all the baggage and bring it down, baling the water out of the canoe, and starting off once more.

My men were tired; they said they could stand the work no more, and they wanted to remain there and die. It took much persuasion to make them come on. I succeeded principally by giving them a good example, carrying down most of the loads that day myself from the upper end of the rapid to the lower—a distance of several hundred metres. I was getting tired, too, of carrying the heavy loads, but I never let my men see it; that would have been fatal.

The river was divided into two channels by a group of islands which must at one time have been one great triangular one, subsequently worn by parallel and transverse channels into seven islands. The first, most southerly, was 300 m. broad, 150 m. long, and of a triangular shape. The three immediately behind this, and of irregular shapes, had an average length of some 700 m.; whereas the last group of[155] three, all of elongated shapes, had a length of 300 m. each. I was getting to the end of the list of names for all those islands, and I was at a loss to find seven names all of a sudden, so I called the group the Seven Sisters Islands. At the end of the group the river narrowed to 400 m. in width between a long island to the west and the right bank, and flowed due north for 12,000 m. in a direct line—indeed a most beautiful sight. Fifteen hundred metres down that distance a great barrier of columnar or cylindrical rocks stuck out of the water from W.S.W. to E.N.E. North of those rocks on the left side, upon the island, not less than 5,000 m. long—Lunghissima Island—was a beautiful yellow sand beach 200 m. long, which formed a separate islet with trees upon its northerly half. Numerous rocks obstructed the east side (right) of the river.

Farther on, another lovely sandy islet 100 m. long had formed behind a number of rocks, and was of a clean, beautiful yellowish white, with a few shrubs and trees growing upon it. All those sand beaches were extremely interesting to me. I invariably landed upon them. I had made a wonderful collection of all the minute plants and delightful miniature flowers which grew upon these beaches—an immense variety, indeed, but of such small dimensions and of such delicate tints that it required sometimes a great strain of eyesight to see them at all. Some were really most beautiful. I spent a good deal of time and patience in collecting, pressing, and classifying those dainty little sand-plants, and I was beginning to flatter myself that I had formed a complete collection.

At the spot where Lunghissima Island came to an[156] end a large triangular island was to be seen on the left of us. A great barrier of rocks stretched across the stream, a prominent cluster of picturesque boulders forming a powerful spur which cut the current at the southern part of the triangle of land.

Although the thermometer marked 93° in the sun my men complained of the intense cold, partly because they all had fever, partly also because the wind was extremely strong that day and caused waves of some size in the stream, which dashed against the canoe and splashed us all over. Again my men were seasick that day, and got furious with me as I could not help laughing at their plight.

With a slight deviation of 20° to the west came another stretch of 4,000 m. in a straight line. A two-humped range of hills now loomed before us to the north-west. We had gone along the side of another elongated island 8,000 metres in length—Yolanda Island. When we came to the end of this great island, two other islands parallel to each other were disclosed to the west of us, one 1,000 m. long—Carmela Island—the other 600 m.—Stella Island. The first had a pretty island 300 m. long—Hilda Island—next to it on the east side. We halted at the end of Yolanda Island and there took observations for latitude and longitude, thirty-one consecutive sights of the sun being taken. Lat. 10° 13′·3 S; long. 58° 35′ W.

The Immense Waves encountered by Author in emerging from the Channel in the Rapid of the Inferno.

(The canoe with its occupants shot up vertically in the air.)

When we resumed our journey four more islets were visible and a barrier of rock from north-west to south-east again stretching right across the stream. Just beyond lay Romola Island, 1,200 m. long and equally broad. At the end of the island we found a channel[157] 100 m. wide, separating it from two neighbours on the east; in fact, much to my dismay, we found ourselves in a regular maze of islands and rocks, and my time was fully employed keeping an account of and measuring them.

A crescent-shaped island—Urania Island—1,000 m. in length, with most wonderful vegetation upon it, was now on our left. That region was extraordinarily rich in rubber. The channel which we had followed was strewn all over with rocks. Another island, 400 m. long—Caterina Island—followed. The current in the Arinos-Juruena River had a speed of 80 m. a minute. The river in places where no islands lay had a width of 200 m. The water was most beautifully clear, of a lovely emerald green, with a wonderful white sand bottom clearly visible although the river had considerable depth in many places. Yet another island, 600 m. long—Una Island—came in sight to the right of us; then another between two companions, forming almost a circle round the central isle. The river now formed a basin not less than 800 m. wide with innumerable rocks at the entrance. We went on kilometre after kilometre, spending our time in avoiding unpleasant rocks, when again we came first to fairly strong rapids, then to an extremely dangerous rapid, which we shot, as we were carried away into it before we had time to realize where we were. We had the greatest difficulty in extricating ourselves from the many terrifying whirlpools at the end of the rapid, in a great basin 900 m. wide. We found a most beautiful halting place on a natural terrace of volcanic rock some 20 ft. above the river, with a dome of rock in the centre.

[158] I met signs of Indians close to the river. Evidently a tribe had once halted there, but apparently many years before our arrival. I discovered their fireplaces, several carved pieces of wood, and some fragments of rudimentary pottery in the neighbourhood of this picturesque spot. In exploring round the place I also found some almost entirely obliterated indications of several ancient trails which had been made by the Indians in the forest.

Looking toward bearings magnetic 340°, and also in the opposite direction to the south, most gorgeous river scenes were before us. This was by far the most beautiful spot I had come across on the river so far. I therefore named the huge island on which I stood George Rex Island. I gave Alcides orders to carve the name on a tree, but as he was an anarchist he refused to do it, excusing himself by saying that he had injured his hand.

At that camp we caught over 400 lb. of fish in less than half an hour—three jahus among the number, each weighing over 40 lb. Then we also captured two cachorra or dog fish, which possessed vicious-looking molars of great length, not unlike those of a big dog. Each of these fish weighed over 30 lb. Then we got eight trahiras, some 20 lb. each in weight. With the little salt which remained we preserved some of the fish, as we were now getting very short of food. However, we had excellent meals most of the time on the river, frying the fish with fat which we extracted from the fish itself.

During the night of July 26th we had a minimum temperature of 55° F., but as we had had plenty to[159] eat the previous evening—in fact, too much—we did not feel the cold quite so severely.

Ariranhas in large families were plentiful near that spot, and came close several times, grinding their teeth at us, especially when we were slaughtering the fish on the bank. We kept watch during the entire night, as on that occasion they were truly vicious. Our dogs, for a change, became quite sportive. One of them, named Negrino, got furious with the ariranhas, and, driven mad by their unmusical noises, actually jumped into the stream to go to their attack. In a moment he had quantities of ariranhas upon him, and was bitten savagely, one ear being nearly torn off. He endeavoured to beat a retreat, but by that time he was in mid-stream and struggling for dear life against his enemies. We put out in the canoe at once and went to his rescue, eventually getting him on board in an exhausted condition, and bleeding terribly all over.

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast of boiled and fried fish before leaving camp at 9 o'clock in the morning. We were sorry to leave the beautiful camp—the best we had had since we had been on the River Arinos. There were before us two great channels. The one flowing east was the larger of the two, fully 400 m. wide and 3,000 m. long in a straight line. As we were paddling along we passed on our left a triangular island the southern side of which was 2,000 m. long, the south-east side 500 m.—Angela Island.

Where the river deviated to 30° b.m. a perfectly straight stretch of 8,000 m. was before us—a most beautiful sight. Two parallel islands, only 50 m. wide, one 400 m. the other 300 m. long, were[160] on the right of us, in the part of the river where George Rex Island, which was still to the right of us, described a graceful semicircle. Fifteen hundred metres farther down George Rex Island came to an end with a beautiful spit of sand 200 m. long. Just beyond, still on our right, another island, 400 m. long—Rosalinda Island—was passed, also with a lovely spit of sand 200 m. in extent. The river at this place had a total width of 500 m. At a point 5,000 m. down the straight stretch due east we came to three parallel elongated islands, two of them 300 m. long, the third 1,000 m. in length, all three on the right of us as we floated down. A barrier of rocks extended right across the stream from north-west to south-east, at a spot where on our left side, at b.m. 330°, a hill range extended northwards. With a slight deviation of 10° eastward (40° b.m.) another beautiful stretch of 6,000 m. was before us. More islands, more clusters of picturesque rocks were passed. First came a group of two islands, the larger 350 m. long—Vanessa Island; then a beautiful clean sand-spit 150 m. long, almost in mid-stream, preceded a group of three parallel islands—Philomela Island, 400 m. long, Portia Island, 300 m. and Psyche Island, 4,500 m. Beyond these were two more islands, one triangular in shape in the centre of the stream—Rhea Island—some 250 m. long, with a strong corrideira at its north-easterly terminus.

A Giant Sucurí Snake with Entire Deer contained in its Digestive Organs.

A most gorgeous sand-bank of great length now lay on our left, while on the right we had two small islets, one 100 m. long, another, beyond it, 500 m. long. A tributary entered the Arinos-Juruena at that spot on the right side. Where the river turned again due[161] east for 3,000 m., another set of parallel islands with a chain of hills beyond them on the right bank was to be seen. The hill range extended from north-west to south-east. All these ranges, with a backbone of rock underneath, formed, as it were, the ribs which held up the central plateau of Brazil. We were now in a region of wonderful accumulations of sand; nearly all the islands showed a sand-spit of great length on the up-stream side. Great islands occurred once more: Paulina Island, 2,500 m. long, on our left; another, 200 m. long—Olivia Island—on our right; and a third—Clara Island—just beyond it. A long tail of rocks followed, and the channel was strewn with dangerous rocks where the river had cut its way through the range of hills.

What must have been formerly an immense island which had become cut up into three was now on the left of us as we followed the central channel in an easterly direction. The first of these was comparatively small; the next—Tristan Island—was 1,500 m. long; the third—Isolda Island—1,000 m. long. All were of extraordinary beauty. Rubber trees were to be seen, but not in such great numbers as we had found farther up the stream. Evidently the soil was somewhat too rocky and not sufficiently moist for their healthy growth.

From due east the river suddenly turned to due north, diverted by the great rib of rock which had formerly made part of the hill range we had now on our right. We had a good deal of trouble here, as difficult rapids were encountered, and sharp, cutting rocks, collision with which would have been fatal for[162] us. Our canoe, after the many bumps we had already experienced, gave alarming signs that she might split in two longitudinally at any moment. For 5,000 m. the river flowed in a northerly direction. Great domes of granite and immense boulders were scattered near the left bank, and rocks of all sizes and shapes emerged from the water all over the basin, which was 600 m. across. Another barrier of rock stretched from north-east to south-east and formed a high drop in the river. We had to unload the canoe once more upon some rocks in mid-stream, then let her gently down the step of foaming waters by ropes. We were then in a magnificent basin 1,000 m. wide, with a great cluster of impressive rocks on the right side, in front of two enchantingly beautiful islands—Melisande Island, 400 m. long, Pelleas Island, 700 m. long—on the left.

Whenever I was gazing enraptured at the heavenly scenery Alcides always managed to send the canoe on to some rock, which quickly brought me back, not to earth but to water. His principle in life was always to do the worst thing and then you knew that nothing worse could happen—a topsy-turvy philosophy for which we all had to suffer. Emerging from the basin, we had two channels before us, one to the N.N.E., the other N.N.W. Gigantic palm trees such as we had seen along the River Arinos were now to be seen all along the banks of the river. We saw in the water not far from us a large sucuriú snake (Eunictes murinus), fully 6 in. in diameter. It peeped its head out of the water to gaze curiously into our canoe, and caused some excitement among my men.

Another immense barrier of rocks with most trouble[163]some rapids extended from south-west to north-east right across the stream. That seemed a great place for snakes, especially in the narrow and tortuous channel which we followed, between a great island—Victor Emmanuel Island—and the left bank. We were going along fairly gaily when I saw a huge snake—another sucuriú—floating upon the water among the foliage and branches of a fallen tree. The section of the body which I could perceive measured fully 2½ ft. in diameter, and I must say that for one moment—we were only about 20 ft. away from it—I was somewhat surprised, as my quickly calculating mind constructed in my imagination a snake at least 100 ft. long. My men immediately took to their rifles, and were about to open a fusillade, but I stopped them, not caring to disturb the sleep of so gigantic a reptile. It was with some relief that, as the canoe floated quietly a little farther, I perceived the head of the snake resting gracefully in a sound slumber upon a branch of the tree out of the water. The head was of more normal proportions. We landed a little distance away as quietly as possible, my men trembling all over with excitement and fear in case the reptile should wake up. Then all together they opened a fusillade until a bullet actually struck the snake and it wriggled about. There was a stampede of all my men through the foliage and plants which grew along the stream. The snake was dead. When they had made quite sure that life was extinct my men returned and pulled the snake out of the water. Although the section we had seen floating was so big, the rest of the body was not more than 4 in. in diameter. The snake had eaten an[164] entire veado (deer), and that was the cause of the great swelling of the central part of its body. The shape of the devoured animal could be seen plainly inside it. The photograph of the reptile which I took is given in one of the illustrations of this book. The light was not good for photographic purposes, as it was late in the afternoon and the snake, which after all was only 18 ft. 5 in. long, lay under the shadow of the foliage, which made photography rather difficult. As I was trying to get a second photograph my men proceeded with their knives to open the snake and see what was inside. The terrific odour which ensued when they did so made us violently ill, causing desperate vomiting. I have seen it stated, in some books which have been published about South America, that snakes of incredible length are believed to exist on that continent. Undoubtedly the notion has been suggested by the fact that inexperienced travellers have seen immensely broad traces of snakes along the soft ground near rivers. Measuring the diameter of those trails they came to the conclusion that the snake was 80 to 100 ft. long, and without taking further trouble to ascertain they stated they had actually seen a snake of that length. Whereas, as a matter of fact, as in the case I have described, the immense diameter of the snake was merely in the section which enclosed some big animal which had been swallowed.

An Easy Rapid.

Going through a Narrow Channel.

[165]

CHAPTER XI

We camped some hundred metres away from the spot where we had killed the sucuriú. It was getting late. My men did not sleep a wink the whole night, as they thought perhaps the mate of the snake might come and pay us a visit. We had a lively time the entire night, as we had made our camp over the home of a family of ariranhas. They had their young in a small grotto in the bank, and we heard them all night squealing for their mothers, who were grinding their teeth and shrieking furiously a little way off from the bank, not daring to enter their homes while we were near. They were, I think, more frightened of the fire which my men had made than they were of us. There were twenty or thirty of them, and they made so much noise during the night that it was quite out of the question to rest. The vegetation was very thick, the damp considerable, and the air quite stifling, with a minimum temperature of 60° F. Occasionally, when the air moved at all, we could smell our friend the dissected sucuriú.

[166] We were glad to leave at eight o'clock the next morning; we seldom could make an earlier start, owing to the slowness of my men in getting their breakfast and mine ready, and reloading the canoe, as all the baggage was taken out every night. Where we had made camp, Victor Emmanuel Island came to an end, the length of the island being some 14 kil. We had great fun just before leaving, the ariranhas coming boldly to attack us as we were getting into the canoe. Our dogs, which had been squealing and growling the whole night at the unmusical shrieks of the ariranhas, now jumped into the water, and there was a fierce fight between them and the amphibious animals. My men, as usual, fired a great many shots. Eventually we recovered our dogs and started off once more on our journey.

The river flowed from that point at first mostly in a north-easterly direction and in a somewhat winding course; then gradually tended toward the north-west. In the western part of a large basin 1,200 m. broad were two islands and innumerable rocks. Then, farther on, one more long rocky barrier extended from north-west to south-east in the north-western part of the basin. Once more did we have to let the canoe down the terrific rapids by means of ropes.

Where the river turned to the north-west it was 500 m. wide and most beautiful. A great many islands were seen, and innumerable rocks barred the entrance of the channel at the end of the basin above described. Soon after, however, we entered another basin 1,000 m. wide, with more islands and rapids fairly easy to negotiate. Once more did the river turn due north[167] for 6,000 m., after we had gone over another swift and most troublesome rapid, where we had to unload our baggage and take the canoe down carefully with ropes. After that we entered a long channel strewn with rocks. We had not gone far when another strong rapid was encountered, over another great barrier of rock. No sooner had we negotiated that difficult passage than another great barrier of rock, also from south-west to north-east, had to be gone over through a troublesome rapid.

My men were getting tired of exploring, and were perplexed, because the more dangers we surmounted the greater seemed the dangers confronting us. They were beginning to lose the nerve they had temporarily acquired, and were now so scared at the vicious waters that they tried to keep the canoe all the time close to the banks or islands, the river being so deep that they thought this was the best way of saving their lives in case we had a bad accident. The current was extraordinarily swift, and to make things worse a strong north-easterly wind blew with great fury, driving us back and producing such high waves that our canoe was constantly filled with water. The result of keeping so close to the bank, and having our heads continually brushed by the foliage which overhung the stream, was that each time we came in contact with the branch of a tree thousands of ants would drop on to the canoe and upon us, and would bite us furiously. This was most trying—an additional torture to that we had to endure of being stung all over by other insects which followed the canoe in swarms.

We had not gone much farther along when within 1,000 m. we came to three nasty rapids in succession,[168] over barriers of great rocks intersected by interesting veins of quartz. From that point the river was fairly straight for 7 kil. We had that morning encountered five troublesome rapids, which had given us endless work. When we halted we were simply ravenous. We were fortunate enough to get plenty of fish for lunch, and while my men were enjoying a hearty feast I took the usual astronomical observations, eaten all over as I was by mosquitoes and piums, while bees innumerable had settled on my face and arms. The latitude was 9° 40′·4 S.; the longitude 58° 34′ W. The bees had a most peculiar pungent odour, which they seemed to leave on one's skin when they had walked on it. We kept our heads wrapped up in towels; but even then we suffered a great deal.

A Dangerous Vortex.

Preparing the Canoe to go down a Rapid.

When we started in the afternoon we continued to travel in a direction of 330° b.m., and came to a large basin, easily identifiable by subsequent travellers by three extensive domes of granite on the right side, two of them actually on the bank of the stream at the entrance of the basin. Where an elongated island, 3,000 m. long—Oriana Island—beside which we had travelled, ended on our left, we saw another island that continued half-way down the basin, here some 2,000 m. wide. The second island—Diana Island—was fully 8,000 m. in length. In the centre of this great basin was a triangular island—Pomona Island—4,000 m. long and with a base of 1,500 m. A tributary was visible on the right bank, just opposite a great dome of granite with an appendix of sand and gravel which stood in the middle of the channel. After we had travelled for 2,500 m., a basin some 1,400 m. wide opened again,[169] with a small island, 400 m. long, in the centre—M. Adams Island. This charming islet had a picturesque headland of rock on the south side, and a long spur, also of rock, to the north. We made our camp here. The river was really marvellously beautiful at this point, the vegetation all round being vigorous and healthy, with a great wealth of rubber trees, while the huge volcanic rocks strewn about added much to the picturesqueness of the scene.

It was warm during the night (minimum temperature 63° F.), and we were treated to a most tormenting concert of mosquitoes. They swarmed positively in millions around us. With my bed and bedding which I had lost in the rapids I had unfortunately also lost my mosquito net, and I now was suffering greatly from the stings of all the troublesome insects. My bones were aching all over from sleeping on the uneven packing-cases placed in a row which now formed my bed. It took too much time and trouble to unfasten the straps and buckles which kept the boxes tightly closed, and they did not add to the comfort when one lay spread on them.

When we left in the morning of July 28th, going along a beautiful stretch of close upon 25 kil. in great expanses from 4,000 to 6,000 m. long, we passed first of all an elongated quadrangular island 1,500 m. long; then farther on great masses of volcanic rock. At the end of that stretch the river divided into two channels separated by an equilateral-triangular island, the side of which was 2,000 m.—Minerva Island. Another island, also of great beauty, and with a considerable number of rubber trees upon it, was found a[170] little farther, and there a bar of sand spread beneath shallow water right across the stream.

We had gone 31,500 m. that morning. When we found a most beautiful beach of lovely sand we could not resist the temptation of halting on it to prepare our lunch. Our surprise was great when we set foot on the beach to hear shrill whistles beneath us. The beach was formed of whistling—or singing—sand. The reason the sand was musical was because some large insects had bored thousands of holes of great depth into its moistened mass, which allowed the holes to retain their form. When the sand was trodden the pressure drove the warmish air contained in those holes with great force through the contracted apertures and caused a sharp whistling and occasionally quite melodious notes.

I again took observations for latitude and longitude at this place, but I was beginning to find the work too heavy—not the observing in itself, but the computing of all the observations, at which I was not particularly quick. (Lat. 9° 24′ S.; Long. 58° 40′ W.) Also, the great care which I had to take of the chronometer under most difficult circumstances was a trial to me, considering the numberless things I had to look after. The only little comfort I had on that journey had been my camp bed, on which I could, if not sleep soundly, at least rest my weary bones for a few hours at night. That had now gone, and I was beginning to feel the strain of the hard work, constant mental exertion, and the total lack of rest.

We had passed a great number of islands in the morning: one 2,000 m. long—Melusine Island; another[171] 300 m.—Janus Island; a third 3,000 m.—Midas Island—by the side of which was another enormous island, some 6,000 m. in length—Miranda Island. Then little islets 200 and 250 m. long, and another big island, 2,000 m. from end to end—A. Masõ Island.

Most beautiful sandy beaches were now constantly seen, mostly, like the one on which we had landed, composed of singing sand. (Some of those beaches were 200 and 300 m. long.) The beach on which we had landed for lunch was at the southern end of a great island, 5,700 m. long, which I named Queen Mary Island.

We left again that afternoon, travelling fairly speedily, chiefly in W.N.W. and S.S.W. directions, varying from 290° b.m. to 230° b.m. When we came to the end of Queen Mary Island, after passing some really remarkable beaches on which we found a great many turtles' eggs, we came to a large basin, 1,800 m. across, with numberless rocks scattered on the north and south sides of it. The river there flowed due west; in fact, those rocks formed a kind of corona all around the great circle. A crescent-shaped island, 2,800 m. long—Giselle Island—was next passed. The channel through which we went was full of dangerous rocks, and had a width of 280 m.

Soon after another basin 1,600 m. broad was reached, with a formidable barrier of islets and rocks spreading from south to north. The river there flowed in a perfectly straight course for 10 kil. to 310° b.m. A most extraordinary-looking islet with a circular terrace of rock on the east side of it, which was passed in mid-stream, was surrounded by a giant crown of pyramidal[172] rocks of great height emerging in sharp points from the water. We had gone but 6,000 m. of that distance when we came to an island on the right side with a gorgeous spit, also of musical sand, 300 m. long. The island itself was only 700 m. long including the sand-spit—Kuvera Island. We were then in an immense basin with leaden waters as still as those of a pond.

We made our camp in a most picturesque spot, an immense beach forming innumerable indentations, really like small dunes of sand deposited by water. The accurate elevation of that place was, according to the observations taken with the hypsometrical apparatus, 967 feet, water boiling at that spot at 210° 3¾, and the temperature of the atmosphere being 72½° F. The indented beach, not unlike a giant double-comb, was at the beginning of a great island which I named James Dewar Island, in honour of the great discoverer of liquid air. The minimum temperature during the night of July 29th was 55° F.

Since we had come to the enormous sand accumulations along the stream the troublesome insects which worried us day and night seemed to have doubled or trebled in numbers, and we suffered positive torture from them, especially when we landed anywhere.

A Narrow Passage in the Arinos River.

Treble Vortex.

(The water revolved in three different directions in succession.)

We left fairly early in the morning, finding soon afterwards a group of sharply pointed rocks, some above the surface of the stream, some—most dangerous—just under the surface. Another basin, 1,000 m. broad, was crossed, which contained two islets and a number of rocks forming a barrier from south-west to north-east. Two kilometres farther along another immense barrier of rocks and numberless islets obstructed[173] the river from south-west to north-east, so that for a little time we could not see which way the stream flowed out of it at all. Sharply-pointed rocks, ugly and fearsome-looking, stood up everywhere. When eventually we did perceive a channel, down which we went, we found terrifying rapids followed by fearful eddies and a most alarming whirlpool.

I could not measure the exact width of the basin there, as there was a regular maze of islands and I could not well see from the canoe where the banks exactly were.

A great island, 2,000 m. long—Normand Island—presently divided the river into two great channels, the north-easterly one of which we followed, finding more fearsome rapids and strong eddies, which knocked the canoe and us about in a dangerous manner.

I was greatly concerned in going down all those rapids, as the canoe was now in a pitiable condition. We had no way of repairing her, and I was afraid that, with the strain of the terrific current, if we had banged too hard against a rock, she might have split in two. I was not so anxious for myself as I was for my men, who would certainly have been drowned, as four of them could not swim. Also, after all the trouble I had taken to make valuable botanical collections and a unique collection of photographs, I was most anxious to bring them all back safely. I was particularly anxious to bring back to Europe the wonderful fossils I had collected on the Plateau of Matto Grosso, which I had long ago packed in one of the cases that were fortunately among the things saved from the previous disasters. My men had invariably grumbled at having[174] to carry that particular heavy box, when we had to unload the canoe and take the baggage on our heads or shoulders at the many rapids we had encountered. They had never once missed an occasion to remonstrate and swear at the absurdity of having to sweat to carry "those blessed stones," or "the devil's own stones," as they called them.

We had gone but a few thousand metres when we once more came to another great barrier, with two islands, stretching, like most of the others, from south-west to north-east. The only point at which we could take the canoe down was in the rapid in the very centre of the stream—a nasty-looking place, I can assure you—followed by a whirlpool of such proportions as would have frightened most humans. I must say for my men that they showed a great deal of courage that day. Whether it was because they did not quite realize the danger, or whether it was because they had got accustomed to it by then, I do not know; but the fact remains that when I ordered them to go down that terrifying place they obeyed without saying a word.

We had to exercise the greatest care, having to jump out on small rocks which stuck up in the middle of the rapid in order to arrest the almost uncontrollable speed of the canoe. Had they missed their footing while jumping on those rocks and holding the ropes attached to the canoe, the men would certainly have lost their lives, as it was out of the question to save anybody in those diabolical waters. Therefore, when you considered the terrific speed at which the canoe was travelling, and that the men must have known that a mistake in judging the distance would have meant utter de[175]struction, you could not but admire them for their really amazing self-confidence. On many occasions, indeed, I had to do the same thing myself, but I must say I never liked it much; although I was in a better position than they were, as I am a good swimmer—not that a swimmer would have much chance in those waters.

A number of islets were seen below the rapids and whirlpool. From that point we discerned on the right bank an elongated hill, 100 ft. high. Slightly beyond, preceded by a great mass of rock, was another island 200 m. long, dividing the stream in two. Two other islands, one 700 m. long—Leda Island—the other one Medea Island, of greater length but much narrower, were disclosed behind it.

Then came another great barrier of rocks extending from south-west to north-east, and more rapids to be negotiated. A series of elongated islets and sand-banks occurred in the basin which followed, 1,300 m. wide. Beautiful sand-beaches had formed on either side of that lovely bay. The river then narrowed again to a width of 500 m., and we saw a long flat island of sand, 200 m. long and 50 m. wide, enclosed by rocks in the centre of the stream.

We continued our journey, after the usual halt for taking astronomical observations, and had before us a small hill 100 ft. high at bearings magnetic 300°.

We came to a series of most dangerous rapids with terrific whirlpools, especially after the first and second rapid. Another great barrier of rocks with huge boulders spread across the stream from south-west to north-east. An isolated hill was to be seen on the left bank where this barrier was found. A strange[176] coffin-shaped boulder of immense size was then reached on the right side of the stream, just after we had passed a delightful sand-spit 100 m. long enclosed within a stockade of pillar-like rocks.

From this point we had 4,000 m. of clear navigation to 280° b.m. It seemed heavenly to us to be in smooth waters again, and my men flattered themselves that we had now come to the end of the rapids altogether. But we soon arrived at innumerable rocks in a confused mass right across the stream, between which the river flowed with great force in a contracted neck. We passed between two islands, each 200 m. long, at the end of which was a rapid. An island 1,000 m. long was there formed—Bomfin Island. Dangerous rapids occurred half-way down its length on the right; then followed a mass of square columnar pillars of rock not unlike basalt. That was all very beautiful to look at, but we had endless trouble in extricating our canoe from among the numberless impedimenta which obstructed navigation.

At the August Falls.

Another most beautiful island, 520 m. long—Jessica Island—was passed just before getting to really formidable rapids, down which we had the greatest difficulty in letting the canoe, even by the judicious use of ropes. The navigable channel of the river—if navigable it could be called—swerved from north-west to due north. In a basin of immense size were a number of islands from 300 to 200 m. in length, and enormous boulders with cataracts of great height between. The roar made by the water falling over was so great that it resembled thunder. The difference of height between the top and the bottom of the rapid was not less than 10 ft.[177] The water in the channel we followed went over a great slope of lava above which numerous boulders had accumulated.

My men became perplexed when they saw the formidable rush of water, but before we had time to do anything we were swept away at such a speed that for one moment I really believed we were lost. My men laughed hysterically, and in that laugh I joined when we came out at the other end still alive. We had shaved several rocks so closely that great patches of the stopping in the side of the canoe had been torn off altogether, and we were filling fast with water.

Our merriment did not last long, for in a few moments we had drifted on to another and worse rapid, much more terrific than the one we had just gone over. We just managed to hold the canoe on the upper edge of the foaming stream, trying to get the ropes ready in order to let her down. We were in mid stream, not less than 200 m. away from the right bank. We unloaded a portion of the baggage on the rocks and proceeded to let the canoe down with ropes—a most dangerous job in that particular rapid, because at the end of the rush of water stood up many rocks, which drove the water back again and eventually switched it off, curling over itself at a very sharp angle on one side and on the other. A diabolic-looking whirlpool of great depth formed on the other side of those rocks.

I fully realized that the strength of us seven men was hardly sufficient to hold the canoe, particularly as all of us were immersed waist-deep and could scarcely keep our footing in that great rush of water. It was only with the greatest care that we could possibly[178] accomplish the feat, and of this I warned my men. In fact, the moment the canoe came down at an angle on the steep incline she gave such a mighty jerk that my men, with the exception of Alcides, let go the ropes. Some of them had the skin taken clean off their fingers. I saw the canoe give a great leap. To my horror, a moment after the canoe had passed me down the rapid—I was holding one of the ropes at the lower part of the rapid—I saw Alcides, who bravely had never let the rope go, being carried away in the current. I just managed to grab him as he was about to be drawn into the vortex, where most certainly he would have lost his life. I lost my footing too, and we were both thrown against a rock, which I grabbed with one hand while still holding on to Alcides. There we remained powerless for several minutes, swallowing a good deal of water, which went right over our heads with the resistance we made against the current, until Filippe the negro—with wonderful courage, since he was no swimmer—came to our rescue.

Alcides was undoubtedly a brave man, but he certainly had a beastly temper. No sooner had he recovered from the accident than I heard some of the other men tell him that he had had a narrow escape and would have died had I not gone to his rescue. Shouting aloud so that I could hear his remark, he said to the men: "Oh, the Englishman only came to my rescue because there was no danger for him, as he could swim, or else he would not have done it."

Author and his Men in Water up to their Necks for an Entire Night endeavouring to save their Canoe, which in shooting a Rapid had become stuck between Rocks.

There was no time to lose, and certainly no time for argument. The canoe had most unluckily got stuck at the bottom of the rapid between two rocks, her fore-[179]part being absolutely submerged. The vibration was such in the after-portion which stuck out of the water that I thought any moment she might break in two.

All my men behaved that day with marvellous courage—particularly Filippe, who, much delighted by the words of praise I gave him when he risked his life in coming to our rescue, now offered to risk his life once more in endeavouring to seize one of the ropes which had got loose and was dangling from the canoe in the foaming waters. We tied Filippe with a rope which we removed from one of the packing-cases we had previously landed, and let him down the rapid until he was thrown violently against the canoe. There the plucky fellow was able to get inside and recover the ropes, which he, after repeated attempts, flung on to us. We pulled and pulled for several hours, but the canoe was so jammed between the rocks, and the current was so strong, that we were not able to get her off.

Night had come on, and we were still waist-deep in the water and trembling with cold, trying to save the canoe. She would not move in any direction. It was with some concern that I had seen several articles which had been loose in the canoe being washed out into the water and disappearing in the whirlpool. Then came a worse accident still. While trying to unload two heavy cases of provisions—a ticklish job—the men lost their footing in the current and one after the other the packing-cases also disappeared in the whirlpool.

All these disasters following one another within a few hours were rather trying to us, the loss of the provisions particularly giving me a great shock, as I[180] realized now that we had practically nothing else left to eat except what we could find by shooting or fishing.

When the canoe had been made lighter we succeeded by constantly jerking her in moving her slightly, and eventually, at two o'clock in the morning—the accident having occurred at half-past four in the afternoon—we were able to release her and bring her to safety along the bank.

A great hole had been opened in the side of the canoe where she had struck the rock, and we had to beach her in order to keep her afloat till the morning. Then came the heavy task of taking all the baggage from the rocks in the centre of the stream along the great barrier of sharp cutting stones as far as the bank.

The Salto Augusto from Above.

We were prostrate with fatigue when we had accomplished all the work. I lay down on the ground to rest; my men fortunately had saved their hammocks, as they were the first things they always took care to save whenever there was a calamity. Not once during the whole journey did my men offer me one of their hammocks when they saw me sleeping with great discomfort on packing-cases or on the ground. Certainly I was too proud to ask them for any favour.

I had hardly gone to sleep when I thought I heard a curious noise by my side, as of something dragging along the ground. I immediately jumped up, and saw a huge snake some 20 ft. long inquisitively looking at me, only half a metre away. I do not know which of us two was more surprised. The snake with sinuous grace moved away from me with gradually accelerated speed, and, passing right under the hammocks of my men, disappeared in the forest behind.

[181] Taking all things into consideration, that was a night worth remembering. What was worst of all was the fact that, with the excitement and the fatigue, I had forgotten to wind the chronometer at the usual hour of seven o'clock in the evening, and when I woke up startled in the morning, remembering the fact, I found the chronometer had stopped altogether. That was the greatest blow of all, after all the trouble I had taken to keep the Greenwich mean time for my observations of longitude. The mishap was not irreparable, as I got the time fairly accurately by using the previous observations at local noon and working out the difference with Greenwich mean time.

So many had been the obstacles we had found that day that, before reaching the rapid where we had the disaster, we had made a progress of 39 kil. 500 m.—poor work indeed as compared to the wonderful distances we had been able to cover on the first days of our navigation of the Arinos River. Considering all, however, it was really marvellous that we could cover even that distance, short as it was.

[182]

CHAPTER XII

The thermometer that night, July 30th, showed a minimum of 63° F. We repaired the large hole (about 1 ft. in diameter) in the side of the canoe by stuffing it with a pair of my pyjamas, while one or two shirts which I still had left were torn to shreds in order to fill up the huge crack which went from one end of the canoe almost to the other, and which had become opened again in scraping rocks in the rapid.

We did not leave that camp until 11 o'clock a.m. An isolated hill was visible on the left bank. We had gone some 3,000 m. when we came to another fairly strong rapid. My men were quarrelling among themselves. Alcides, who was fond of gesticulating on such occasions, let the steering gear go in order to give more force to his words by waving his hands in the air, regardless of the danger which was in front of us, with the result that the canoe turned a pirouette upon herself and down the rapid we went backwards.

The river flowed from that place in an easterly[183] direction for some 3,000 m., where a great basin was formed, strewn with rocks and islets and having two large islands in its eastern part. The basin in its widest part had a width of 2,000 m. Then from that point the river went to 50° b.m. for a distance of 6,000 m. A strong north-easterly wind was blowing against us, keeping us back and making our work unduly hard. Great waves tossed us about and made my men seasick, while we got splashed incessantly, the moisture we absorbed being each time quickly evaporated by the fierce wind. We felt cold and shivery and not particularly happy after the experience of the previous night.

Benedicto, who had been entrusted during the journey with the baling out of the canoe, was beginning to find his job too much for him—a job which he had volunteered to do at first when the canoe was not leaking. He now said he wanted to paddle and not bale out the water any more. Although we used a big bucket for that purpose, Benedicto had all his work cut out for him in keeping the canoe only half full of water.

Several times I remonstrated with him that day, as while I was sitting behind him with the wind blowing hard, he flung most of the water on me instead of back into the stream.

I had observed for the last few days a little globular white cloudlet to the north, just above the horizon. Every day that cloudlet was to be seen in the very same position, where it remained motionless most of the day upon the otherwise beautifully clear blue sky. That was an indication to me that we must be nearing a[184] great fall of water or an immense rapid, which caused the evaporation of the water to produce it.

Many were the islands we passed that day, some as much as 800 m. in length. One island, particularly, was picturesque to a degree, with an impressive crown of rock on its westerly side. The river was there some 2,000 m. wide—perhaps even more, as I could not quite see how far the bank was to the left of us owing to some islands which stood in the way.

A barrier of islands describing a crescent then stood before us, the largest island of that group being 800 m. wide and several kilometres long—Belinda Island. I did not measure the exact length of this island, as we got into great trouble there in some strong rapids, and I had to leave my notebooks for a moment in order to assist poor Benedicto in baling out the water so that we could keep afloat.

When our course turned to 10° b.m. we came into full view of a high range to the north of us which spread from north-west to south-east. The river had cut its way right through it. We reached a great basin again, 2,000 m. broad like its predecessor, with four beautiful islands abreast, and a number of other islands varying from 100 to 500 m. in length behind them, in the centre, while rocks innumerable were scattered about. There was a rapid once more, with a nasty succession of strong whirlpools formed by the deviation of the swift waters encountering the many rocks.

The Upper Terrace of the August Waterfall.

Beyond the rapids we got a full view of the range before us, which extended from 90° b.m. to 320°. We had hardly recovered from negotiating those eddies when we were confronted by yet another strong rapid,[185] impossible to navigate, where we had to let the canoe down by means of ropes.

The river here was most picturesque, in great straight stretches from 3,000 to 9,000 m. in length. Some 4,000 m. farther down we came to a very bad rapid. My men were extremely tired of unloading and reloading the canoe all the time with the heavy baggage which still remained. They became most ill-tempered when this new rapid appeared before us, blaming me, as it were, for the rapid being there. I told them that if they did not care to unload all they had to do was to shoot the rapid. They quarrelled among themselves. When we got near it my men became terrified. Alcides, who was at the steering gear, mentioned the fact that we should all be drowned in a few moments. He became perplexed when we entered the rapid, which tossed the canoe about in a merciless manner. In one place, where the water, driven through with great force along a narrow channel, formed a central wave of great height, the canoe stood up almost vertically on her stern. Baggage and men all slid down in a heap. The next thing I saw, when the canoe righted herself, was that we were going down the rapid sideways and at a really vertiginous pace. We managed to clear by a mere hair's-breadth two great rocks which stood in the way. Had we struck a rock on that particular occasion we certainly should have all been killed. As luck would have it, before we knew what was happening we were shot into the whirlpool under the rapid, and there we turned round upon ourselves three or four times before my men had recovered from the amazement of finding themselves still alive,[186] and had begun to paddle again after I had told them to do so for the twentieth time.

Filippe the negro exclaimed: "As long as we come with you, sir, we shall never be killed, but you let us go very near death sometimes!" Then they discussed among themselves, saying that I must have some particular mascotte which I carried upon my person and which prevented disaster.

The range which was before us to the north-west developed itself into a flat-topped hill mass about 500 ft. above the level of the river.

Another rapid, fairly violent, was reached some distance beyond, my men this time offering at once, of their own accord, to unload the canoe and take her down carefully with ropes. I pretended not to care, as I wanted to give them a lesson, and said we had better shoot it, as we had done the previous one.

"No, no, no, no!" they all said in a chorus; "there is such a thing as tempting Providence!"

As we got farther down I could perceive that the range extended much farther than I had seen earlier in the day; in fact, from the W.N.W. it spread as far as E.S.E.

Below the last rapid was an island of great beauty—Babin Island—2,000 m. long. The river beyond that island formed two arms, one on each side of a triangular island located in the opening formed in the hill range by the river, where another strong rapid—in fact, a regular small waterfall—was to be found.

It was very difficult to keep count of all the islands which we constantly passed—many elongated, others triangular, others rectangular, others of all kinds of[187] irregular shapes. In my note-books I endeavoured to map out the entire course of the river as well as I could, and I think that, considering the amount of other work I had to do and the difficulties encountered all the time, the map I made to the scale of one centimetre to a kilometre is as accurate as it could possibly be made with the means at my command. In places where I was uncertain I have left blanks in the map, and have not gone in for the usual method of certain geographers of filling up the space with all kinds of shadings in order to make it look pretty.

We had gone that day 46 kil., the current having been very strong all the time, which made up for the loss of time in dealing with the many rapids.

I took altitude observations with the hypsometrical apparatus, water boiling at that spot at 210° 3½, the temperature of the air being 78° F. The minimum temperature during the night of July 30th was 63° F.

We began our journey the next morning by going down a bad rapid and across an awe-inspiring whirlpool. There again we had to lead the empty canoe down with ropes, and even so we had difficulty in getting her through safely.

We were in a region of immense volcanic domes composed of eroded rock, with many small perforations and large holes 2 or 3 ft. in diameter, highly polished inside as if they had been varnished. Those rocks were similar to those I had met in the higher part of the plateau of Matto Grosso. Some of the holes in the rock had been enlarged to a great extent by the water of the river revolving inside them.

[188] After we had passed the great whirlpool we found many curious mounds of sand 20 ft. high among great masses of lava and eruptive rock. Those mounds were formed by musical sand such as we had met before. We called it in this particular place "moaning sand," as instead of whistling as usual it produced a wailing sound like the cry of a hungry puppy.

On the right side of the stream we came to an important tributary 50 m. wide; 500 m. lower down another strong rapid was reached. I was greatly amused to see how my men now invariably pulled up the canoe when we perceived a rapid and unloaded her, carefully taking her down with ropes. One man, nevertheless, had to be in the canoe to steer her. Alcides always volunteered to take the job.

Interesting Geological Formation below the Salto Augusto.

Two hundred metres below this rapid the river turned a sharp corner. There we met one of the most dangerous rapids and whirlpool I have ever seen. It was quite awe-inspiring to look at those vicious waters, the water in the vortex being raised like a wall two or three feet higher than the greatest waves of the rapid by the force with which it revolved. The entire river—which, as we have seen, was in some places 2,000 m. wide—was now squeezed through a narrow cut in the hill range, two great arms of water joining directly above that spot. The water was naturally forced through that small opening at an incredible pace. The high vertical rocks at the side of the small channel which was there formed made it extremely difficult to take the canoe down by ropes, especially as the summit of those rocks was much cut up, and we, above, could not keep pace with the canoe as she floated swiftly[189] down the rapid. By fastening together a lot of ropes which we had removed from round the different packages we just managed to make them long enough to undertake the dangerous task.

The hill range, a section of which could be seen at that spot, clearly showed that it was made up of gigantic blocks piled on the top of one another up to a height of 100 ft. At high water the river level must reach—as was evident by the erosion and other signs upon those rocks—nearly to the summit of the range; in fact, when I climbed to the top I found plenty of débris among the rocks, undoubtedly left there by the stream. On the north side the range was made up entirely of gigantic slabs of lava some 15 ft. thick and lying at an angle of 60° with a dip northward. On the south side of the range I had found, instead, great boulders which had evidently travelled there and were much eroded. It can easily be understood that when the water rose it must be held up by the hill range, and form a big lake.

We wasted an entire day trying to find a way to take the canoe over the hills, as we did not dare risk sending her down by water. My men were positively disheartened and on the verge of revolt, as they contended that it was all my fault that I had taken them to a diabolical place like that. I plainly told them that if I gave them such high wages it was because I knew there was a great deal of risk, as I had explained to them at the beginning of the expedition, and I expected them to do some hard work in return.

"But," said the philosopher of the party, "what[190] is the use of money to us if after working hard for months and months we are going to be killed?"

I told them that that was not the moment to argue, but to act; if they followed my orders closely, perhaps we might all escape alive.

Alcides, who was certainly a hard worker, although not always in the right direction, had a nasty accident that day and cut his foot badly on the sharp rocks. He was practically incapacitated for work, as he could only stand on one leg, the other leg being contracted with the really ghastly injury.

This was ill-luck, as our strength combined was not sufficient for the work we had to do, and now the loss of one man—the best of my followers—was an extra trial at the most inopportune moment.

The canoe, too, was in a wretched condition after all the many accidents we had had, and we possessed no more tar, and could spare no more clothes, to stop up the leakages which were now plentiful all over her bottom.

The day of July 31st was thus absolutely lost. I was on the verge of abandoning the canoe there altogether and attempting to get down along the banks of the river on foot—which would have been almost suicidal, as we never could have reached a place of safety.

Night came. At sunset we had the usual concert of mosquitoes, all kinds of insects and frogs, in such innumerable quantities that the din made by them collectively was so loud as to resemble the sound of an iron foundry or a battle-ship in course of construction, the sounds produced by the millions of nocturnal singers[191] being quite metallic and reproducing exactly the sound of hammers driving rivets into the steel plates of a ship. Whether it was done purposely or accidentally I do not know, but those little water creatures of the Arinos seemed to keep excellent time, their vigour also being most enviable.

On August 1st we had a minimum temperature of 64° F. during the night.

I still saw that it was out of the question to endeavour to take the canoe over the immense boulders and over the hill range. One faint hope, involving very great danger, loomed in my mind. If we could only cross the river just above the fearsome channel we could perhaps on the other side take down the canoe by water. This plan required great smartness, as, had we miscalculated the speed of the river and the rate at which we could travel across that dangerous water, it would surely mean certain death.

I spoke to my men about it. They said they were ready to go. I explained to them that they must paddle their hardest and not give way for a second until we had got diagonally across the fairly still waters only a few yards above the awful channel. Should we by misfortune be dragged into that channel by the current we might as well say good-bye to the world.

When we started on that job we risked everything. My men behaved splendidly that day. They paddled and paddled for all they were worth, to get across the hundred metres or so, and took the best part of half an hour in the formidable current. For a moment, when the canoe was in the centre where the current was strongest and we were making no headway, I saw[192] a bad look-out for us. I urged them on with shouts of "Rema! rema!" (Row! row!) and at last, in a desperate effort, the canoe once more moved forward. It was a relief indeed when men and baggage were safely landed on the opposite side.

All were so exhausted that for a couple of hours it was out of the question to resume work. I occupied that time in taking observations for altitude and longitude, tortured to death as usual by the innumerable bees and piums. (Lat. 8° 54′·6 S.; long. 58° 51′ W.)

The temperature in the sun was 107° F. The red and black volcanic rocks radiated such heat that we were nearly stifled in the enclosed basin which was formed by the hill range.

In the afternoon we began with the second part of the dangerous task of endeavouring to take the canoe through the current in a north-easterly direction. The channel in that cut was 200 m. long and only 50 m. wide.

The rock was laminated in layers 6 ft. thick, which had been subsequently baked into a solid mass. The lower portion, of beautiful black and quite shiny, threw up by contrast the vivid red colour of the upper part.

The Salto Augusto (Upper Terrace).

We had an exciting time when we started the canoe with ropes down that rapid. We ran with bare feet upon the sharp broiling rocks. We could not possibly stand on them with our shoes on. We ran along for all we were worth, in order to prevent the canoe escaping. We climbed up and down great cuts from 10 to 30 ft. high in the rock, never letting go the ropes. Our[193] agility that day was remarkable. Even poor Alcides, whose foot I had wrapped up with a piece of my shirt, was coming along pluckily, regardless of the pain which he certainly suffered. Once or twice, when we remained slightly behind in that awful race, the canoe nearly pulled us into the water from our high point on the rocks some 30 to 50 ft. above.

Those 200 m. of channel seemed miles long to us. Eventually, the canoe was brought out safely at the other end. With bleeding feet and hands we returned once more to our point of departure in order to convey all our baggage upon our backs. After two or three journeys backwards and forwards we were able to proceed a short distance down the river, where we could find a suitable camping-place to rest our weary bones for the night.

On leaving the rapids the river took a direction of 310° b.m. There was a high hill to the east and another, equally high, to the west. The chain of hills seen from the north showed much erosion in the centre, where the rock was exposed underneath. On the south side the upper portion of the hill range consisted of a vertical rocky cliff in strata each 6 ft. thick.

Another cut, more unpleasant even than ours, had been made by the river in that same range to the north-east of that through which we had taken the canoe. An island of rock rose between those cuts.

A few hundred metres below the mouth of that ugly channel we found an extensive beach, on which we made our camp for the night. The minimum temperature during the night of August 2nd was 64° F.

When we landed the men were proceeding to cut[194] down the foliage on the edge of the forest, so as to be able to hang their hammocks, when they became greatly excited on discovering several nests of maribondos (hornets), graceful cones of a parchment-like material enclosing a number of superposed discs from one to three inches in diameter and about a quarter of an inch apart. Each disc had a perforation in order to let the dwellers in those little homes pass from one chamber to another from the highest of the cone down to the lowest in the apex.

When we left at 7.30 in the morning and had gone but 1,800 m., the river suddenly described a sharp angle and at that point went through a narrow neck. Afterwards it widened once more to an average breadth of 800 m., which it kept for a distance of 3 kil. in a straight line, the channel being there quite clear of rocks and the water beautifully smooth.

The river was indeed lovely in that part. I had a little more time there to look round at the scenery on either side of us. I noticed that rubber was still to be found, but in small quantities in that region. Rubber trees were only to be seen every now and then. Looking back to the south and south-west on the range of hills we had left behind, I could see that it extended far to the north-west. The highest part of it, however, seemed to be near the point where we had negotiated the dangerous rapid.

We had gone no more than 9,600 m., when we came to another bad rapid over a barrier of rock across the river from north-east to south-west. A tributary 10 m. wide at the mouth occurred on the right just before this rapid. Beautiful trees of great height, with yellow[195] ball-like blooms, enlivened the scenery as we went along. We had little time to appreciate the beauty of the vegetation—we were too busy with the river. No sooner had we got through one rapid than we came to another alarming one, with a sudden drop of over 6 ft. and enormous volumes of water pouring over it.

This rapid described an arc of a circle, forming an awe-inspiring whirlpool below the actual fall. We had some trouble in finding a place where we could get the canoe through. Eventually, with water up to our necks, we let her gradually down the high step in the middle of the river, we standing with great difficulty on submerged rocks. We had then to make several journeys backwards and forwards to convey the various loads to the canoe after we had brought her to a place of safety, our baggage having been left on rocks in mid-stream. This was extremely risky work, for the current was powerful and the water reached in some places up to our necks. I was anxious for the men who could not swim, as I was afraid any moment they might be washed away, and not only should I lose them but also the valuable instruments, photographic plates, etc., which they were conveying across.

Again that day I had seen since the early morning our friend the little white solitary cloudlet, standing out motionless against the otherwise speckless blue sky. Not only that, but on that particular day I could just perceive, directly under that cloudlet, a faint column of white mist connecting it vertically with the ground. I knew by that sign that we could not be far off a big waterfall; in fact, I could hear a distant rumble which[196] made me suspect that we were much nearer than we supposed.

The river was flowing to 70° b.m. Two other rapids—most violent—were reached within a short distance of each other; then, shortly beyond these obstacles, where the river described a graceful turn, we had before us a great surprise. We heard a loud roar like thunder; it had been getting louder and louder, and grew quite deafening when we turned round the corner. Behold! we had no more scenery upon the horizon before us on the river, but the sky came right down to the water. Great clouds of mist rose up in quick succession in graceful circles. There was an island in the centre of the stream; then to the left of the island the sky again came right down to the water. There a curious effect was to be seen, a high pointed cone of water shooting up skyward with terrific force, then rolling upon itself only to give way to another cone of water succeeding it.

Foliated Rock below the August Falls.

My men were terrified when they suddenly realized the danger which was only a few hundred metres in front of us. There was a mighty waterfall. When my men got excited it was generally troublesome, because they always disagreed and started quarrelling and insulting one another. Some of them wanted to land at once, for fear of being dragged down the fall. Alcides—who wanted to show his bravery on all occasions—said there was no danger at all and we could go in the canoe right as far as the edge of the fall. The others naturally got somewhat scared at so foolhardy a project. Personally I did not like to say a word in the matter, for fear they should think that I[197] was afraid. I saw with some concern that Alcides—whose mind, I believe, was not quite right owing to the hardships we had endured of late—was steering us right for the centre of the waterfall. I told him that it would be preferable to land on the edge of the waterfall rather than go over it, as it was a little too high for the canoe to tumble over. I calculated the height of the fall from 40 to 50 ft., and I was not far wrong, for when I took accurate measurements I found the actual height was 48 ft.

We were beginning to drift very speedily with the current, when Alcides, realizing the danger, steered us toward the right bank. The men paddled for their lives so as to land as quickly as possible, as we were now less than a hundred metres from the portentous jump. The current was terrific, and the canoe was floating sideways nearer and nearer the awful chasm. The coast line on the right, was almost vertical, and there was no place where we could hold on to anything and land. So down floated the canoe, my men horror-stricken. Once or twice they were able to seize a creeping vine hanging down the steep bank, endeavouring to stop the canoe's headlong career. But the creepers gave way and crashed down upon us, nearly turning over the canoe at the moment just before they snapped.

So down, down we went, until we were now only a few metres from the fatal drop, and I saw no way of arresting the canoe.

"Estamos perdidos!" (We are lost!) shouted the men.

"Not yet! not yet!" I exclaimed, as I perceived two rocks just sticking out of the water. "Make for[198] the rocks!" I shouted to Alcides, and just as we shaved past them I jumped quickly on one of the rocks, holding the canoe, while two of the men also jumped out quickly and held fast to the boat—just in time. We were only 10 or 15 m. from the place where the water curled over and rolled down the fall.

There was no time for arguing or scolding. Upon those rocks my men, who were fond of talking, started a brisk war of words, saying that they would never continue the journey if Alcides were allowed to steer again. Alcides, on the other hand, whose only aim in life was to fight everybody and everything, invited all the other men to a duel with their rifles. I told them they could have the duel after we had finished the journey and not before. We must take the ropes, climb up to the top of the bank, and, first of all, we must tow the canoe back to a place of safety.

After a great deal of shouting, angry words and oaths, absolutely deadened by the thundering roar of the waterfall, they took out the ropes and eventually towed the canoe back. As soon as that was done I went with my camera to gaze at the beautiful sight and photograph it from different points—a job which was not easy, as the waterfall was so encased between vertical rocky walls (foliated in horizontal strata, which varied in thickness from a quarter of an inch to one foot) that it was impossible to get far enough back to obtain a full view of it.

That fall, called the August Fall, was indeed a grand sight. As I have already said, it was divided into two separate falls, between which was an island with a great spur of rock forming a wall between the[199] two cascades. The water flowed over that wall in graceful steps. The fall on the right side of which I stood was in two immense horseshoe-shaped terraces. The continuation of those terraces on each side of the great flow of water formed tiers of red and black volcanic rock lying in horizontal strata so regular as to be not unlike a gigantic Etruscan amphitheatre. The upper tier of the fall on the right formed an arc not less than 300 m. in periphery. The lower crescent formed an arc 400 m. in length.

Upon this lower terrace the rebounding waters were thrown up with great force into the air—the spray forming numerous rainbows in the sun—only to drop down once more in most contorted, diabolical curves, boiling and roaring in their endeavour to force their way through that positive inferno.

As the water came down in great volumes over those two crescents it met once more in the centre in a mighty clash, being flung up at a tremendous height in the air. I do not know that I have ever seen such a fearsome sight, or that I have ever seen water rush with such force anywhere before. It seemed a pity that there was no one to harness that waterfall and use the enormous power it could generate.

On the left side of the river also the waterfall made an amphitheatre of rock somewhat smaller than the right fall. Down below, at the foot of this, it formed huge masses of white foam, above which profuse spray rose up like a heavy mist. Just beyond was disclosed a diabolical whirlpool, far beyond words to describe, which extended—as white as snow with the amount of foam it carried, twisting and retwisting in a thousand[200] circles on the surface—for over 500 m. from the lower step of the waterfall.

I measured the height of the fall with a string. The exact height of the upper terrace was 6 m. 90 cm.; the height of the lower terrace, 7 m. 73 cm.—or a total height of 14 m. 63 cm.

I also took the differential height with the several aneroids I possessed, and the elevation with the boiling-point thermometers above the fall and below, with a result of 48 ft. for the actual height of the fall.

The Wooden Railway constructed by Author in order to take the Canoe Overland for Two and a Half Kilometres at the August Falls.

Formation of Rock below the August Falls.

One fact was certain, and that was that the canoe could not possibly go down by water. There was only one way to get out of that difficulty; that was by taking the canoe overland until we could find a navigable spot in the river down below. To make things worse, there was a hill range on the right bank of the river, on which we were. I must find a way to make the canoe go over that hill range—that was all.

The canoe, I might remind the reader, was 42 ft. long and 3½ ft. wide, of heavy solid wood, her bottom being over a foot thick, her sides from 3 to 5 in. in thickness, her stern and prow, roughly carved out, of great thickness also. I calculated her weight at over 2,000 lb., which was well under her actual weight.

I spoke to my men, and told them that we must take the canoe over the hill range. They had been very morose since our arrival at that spot, as they expected me to give ourselves up for lost when we came to what they believed to be an insuperable obstacle. They mutinied at once and took to their rifles, saying that they would not follow a lunatic any farther, a man who asked them to take a canoe over a hill.

[201] "Do you not know," said one of them to me, with a fierce grin of contempt upon his face, "that canoes are made for the water and not to travel over mountains?"

"Do you not know," shouted Alcides, shaking his fist, "that it would take a hundred strong men to lift that canoe one inch above the water?—and we, including you, are only seven men, tired and worn.... You believe that because you are English you can do what you like. You will next ask the moon to come and row in our canoe so that we may get along! You have gone insane."

"Yes, he is mad!" they all said in a chorus. "We want the balance of our pay and we will leave you at once. Give us our money and we will go—we want to go."

I told them that they could have their money as soon as the canoe had gone over the hill and down the other side, and certainly not before. They could shoot me if they liked, but that would not help them very much, as I knew the way to get on and they did not. If they shot me they would perhaps die of starvation themselves soon. I agreed that it was a beautiful spot to die in, and perhaps they could hasten their departure by jumping into the fall, and thus end all the hardships, and, at least, arguments.

After those words, which I had spoken with gentleness, I turned, and—for the first time since they had been with me—in a stern tone of voice I ordered Filippe and Antonio to take their big knives and proceed to cut down ten or twelve of the straightest trees they could find. They refused. I quietly walked to[202] the rifle which I generally used for shooting game, and inserted in it a clip of five cartridges. I cocked the rifle, and, placing my watch before me on a stone, gave the men five minutes to decide whether they would cut the trees or be shot. I also said that if any of them moved their rifles they would have a bullet put through them.

Filippe and Antonio dropped their rifles on the ground, reluctantly took the knives and walked away, I pointing out to them the tall trees which I wanted cut. I then ordered Alcides to take one of the axes and cut thirty rollers, each about 5 ft. long. The men were silent and yellow-faced with rage.

The trees in that region were easily cut down. After a few minutes down came a tree with a crash, and shortly after another. I walked to the men and patted them on the back, assuring them again that if they obeyed my orders we should soon proceed on our journey and should certainly arrive safely at a point where they could return home and be happy.

Alcides thereupon turned round asking me whether I intended them to cut down the entire forest and then request them to pierce a tunnel through the hill range—or perhaps I might want the whole hill range flattened down for my convenience!

I paid no attention, but ordered him to cut sixty rollers instead of thirty. I had to keep a sharp watch on my men that day, and I had fully decided, if any disobedience took place, I would shoot them. I think they thoroughly realized that, because they carried out all my instructions to the letter.

When that job was done I explored the district[203] carefully, in order to discover which was the easiest point over which the canoe could be made to climb the hill range. Having found a way which I thought suitable, I myself took one of the large knives, and ordered the other men to come with me with all the implements we could use in order to clear a sufficiently wide road through which the canoe could pass. This work lasted many hours, and was certainly trying.

On August 3rd we worked the entire day, from sunrise until seven in the evening, cutting a way through the forest. Then, when we had done that, I constructed, with the longer trees we had cut down, a small railway from the water, where the canoe was. I used the rollers on these rails made of the smoothest trees I could find. When my men grasped the idea—of which they had never dreamed—they became very excited and in a good humour. They worked extremely hard. It was a portentous effort to get the canoe on to the first roller, but once we had got her on the first and second and third rollers, and were able to lift her stern out of the water with levers and pieces of wood we gradually placed under her, she began to move along on the rollers with comparative ease. We moved the rails in front as we went along, and all went well until we got to the foot of the hill.

There the trouble began: first of all because it was difficult to keep the rollers in position on the rails; then also because the moment we started to push the canoe up the hill she would slide back almost as far as, and sometimes farther than, we had pushed her up. By a judicious use of ropes which we made fast to trees on either side, and by a careful study of[204] the laws of leverage, we managed to push up the canoe a few inches at a time. We had some narrow escapes once or twice, when the ropes, under the excessive strain, snapped, and the canoe slid down again, dragging us with her. One tree, to which one of the ropes was fastened, broke, and in its fall just missed killing a man.

When once we had begun pushing the canoe up that hill we could not leave her for a moment, as she would at once proceed to slide back on the rollers.

Fourteen hours' incessant hard work saw us and the canoe on the top of the hill. From there we had before us a very steep descent of some 400 ft., the first 150 ft. almost vertical.

My men all looked at me in a most inquisitive way in order to find out how I should manage to hold the canoe when we let her down that steep incline.

I had fastened some pieces of wood vertically at her stern, which, by scraping on the ground, would hold her to a certain extent. Then, with all the ropes we possessed we made her fast to the trees as we went along, and let her slide gently, the weight of the canoe being such that deep grooves were actually cut into the trees as the ropes unwound themselves.

Photograph showing the Road cut by Author across the Forest in order to take the Heavy Canoe Overland.

We were only half-way down that incline when one tree broke. The canoe gave a leap on one side, knocking down Antonio and the man X, the jerk immediately after breaking another tree on the opposite side. Off went the canoe down the hill in her mad career, knocking some of us down, dragging the others, who were holding on to her. Two or three men were[205] badly thrown about, but fortunately no broken bones were recorded. The canoe by that time had, in great leaps, reached nearly the bottom of the hill, but had got so jammed between a rock and a big tree that it required several hours' hard work with our axes and knives in order to disentangle her.

The shock, however, had been too great for the rickety canoe. I became anxious, for I feared she might split in two at any time, and I had no way of repairing her properly. When we got to the water again I patched her up as best I could with improvised nails which I made from pieces of hard wood. With great yells of excitement from my men we launched her once more in the river.

My men boasted how clever they had been to take the heavy canoe over the hill. There was really nothing Brazilians could not do when they wished!

Those forty hours of steady hard work out of the forty-eight hours we had stopped at the falls had seen us over that obstacle, and we were now ready to proceed once more by water.

We had suffered a great deal during those terrible hours from the bees, mosquitoes, hornets, piums, ants, and all kinds of other insects which stung us all over. A glance at the photographs which illustrate this volume, of the canoe being taken across the forest, will show all my men—I, naturally, not appearing, as I was taking the photographs—with their heads wrapped up in towels, notwithstanding the great heat, in order to avoid the unbearable torture as much as possible.

The minimum temperature during the night of August 3rd had been 61° F.; during the night of[206] August 4th 72° F. During the day the temperature was 88° F. in the shade, but the air was quite stifling, as the sky was overcast with heavy clouds.

I took careful observations for latitude and longitude in order to fix exactly the position of the great falls. The latitude was 8° 51′·1 S.; the longitude 58° 50′ W.

The whirlpool and eddies which extended for 1,000 m. below the great fall were formidable. Never in my life have I seen waters so diabolical. They filled one absolutely with terror as one looked at them.

The river flowed there to bearings magnetic 120°; then to 140° b.m. for 3,000 m., where it was comparatively smooth. To the south-east of us was a hill range fully 600 ft. high. What appeared to me to be a small tributary seemed to enter the river on the left, but my men were so tired that I did not cross over to the other side in order to make certain. On looking behind us I could see that the hill range at the fall extended from north-west to south-east, while another smaller hill range, only 250 ft. above the level of the river, stretched from north to south on the left of the stream. The river was 300 m. wide.

We went no more than 9,200 m. that day.

[207]

CHAPTER XIII

We had halted on a lovely island—Adelaide Island—with a rocky and sandy extension. The night of August 5th had been stifling, with a minimum temperature of 72° F.

I found my work too much for me now. There was too much to observe on all sides. We were travelling quickly with the swift current. A hill range from east to west, 300 ft. high, ran along the left bank. Farther, where the river went to the north-east for 4,000 m., laminated rock like slate showed through the left bank, especially in a semicircular indentation which had been eroded by the water. There a strong whirlpool had formed. Another great stretch of river, 5,500 m., was now before us, with a small hill 80 ft. high on the right bank. The river next formed a circular basin with three islets and a barrier 500 m. across.

We were now in a region where, fortunately for us, castanheiro trees (vulgo. the "Para chestnut") were to be found. Fish was scarce in the river. Now that we had almost superhuman work to accomplish, our meals were extremely scanty owing to the loss[208] of our provisions, and we had not sufficient food to keep up our strength.

As we went on I saw to the north-east of us another hill-range 300 ft. high, extending from north-west to south-east, like most of the ranges found in that region. Where a prominent headland stood on the left side, with a hill 250 ft. high upon it, the river turned to 30° b.m. The hill was made up of foliated rock lying in strata that varied from one inch to one foot in thickness.

On the right side of the stream great cubic blocks of rock rested on the polished curves of a huge dome of granite. A quantity of débris stretched from south to north right across the basin, and caused a deviation in the stream.

Conveying the Canoe across the Forest on an Improvised Railway and Rollers.

A terrific rapid with a sheer drop of 3 ft. was situated here. A double whirlpool of great magnitude was formed at the bottom of the rapid, the water revolving with such force that the concavity was gradually depressed for some 3 ft. and had a great hole in each centre. We shot that rapid. As Alcides on that occasion followed my instructions, the canoe shot past between the two whirlpools, and although even then she nearly capsized, we were able to continue, my men shrieking with merriment at what they now believed to be their invulnerability. We dodged the unpleasant eddies while we floated with great speed in the strong current.

The river, which had contracted that day to 250 m., now expanded once more into a large basin 1,200 m. wide and 1,800 m. long, with most troublesome eddies as we went through it. The river described a great turn from N.N.E. to 180° b.m. or due south.

[209] To add to the pleasures of our existence, we came in for a heavy rain-storm that day, with deafening thunder and blinding lightning. Notwithstanding the great discomfort it caused us, it pleased me very much because of the wonderful effects of light it produced on the river.

Where the stream, in a course which had wriggled like a snake, turned once more due north to 360° b.m., it divided itself into two small channels. High waves were produced where the water, pushed by the wind, was forced against the rapid. There was a good drop in the level of the river at that rapid, and it was a nasty place indeed for us to go through. We got tossed about, splashed all over, but we came out of it all the same, amid the wildly excited yells of my men. They were beginning to think that they were the greatest navigators that had ever lived, and they never let an opportunity pass of reminding each other of that fact.

I halted in the middle of the day to take the usual observations for latitude and longitude (lat. 8° 47′·5 S.; long. 58° 39′ W.), but I was interrupted in my work by another heavy rain-storm, which came and drenched us once more. After that dense clouds as black as ink covered the entire sky for the whole afternoon. We were now in the rainy season. Terrific gusts preceded these rain-storms, and were most troublesome to us.

After negotiating the bad rapids, the river went through a basin of boulders of broken foliated rock. There were three small channels. Then beyond, the entire river was forced through a rocky channel from 35 to 40 m. wide, the water rushing through with[210] incredible force on a steep gradient until half-way down the channel, where it actually ran uphill for 50 m. or so, so great was the impetus it had received on its rapid descent to that point.

You can well imagine what a pleasant job it was for us to convey the canoe along with ropes over so delightful a spot. Owing to our insufficient food, our strength had greatly diminished. The ropes we had used on the many rapids were now half-rotted and tied up in innumerable knots. Moreover, the banks of sharp cutting rock were of great height, and our ropes were not long enough to be used separately, so that we decided to use only one long rope made up of all the ropes we possessed tied together. To make matters more difficult, the channel was not perfectly straight, but described two or three sharp corners, where the water was thrown with much vigour in one direction, then, being driven off immediately at a different angle, curled over itself, producing mountains of foaming water forty or fifty feet in height, and leaving great depressions near the inner corner.

We cut down some long poles, and I placed one man with a big pole on guard at each corner close to the water, in order to push the canoe away toward the middle of the stream in case she came too near those dangerous points.

That channel was some 600 m. long. When we were ready we let the canoe go, all spare hands holding fast to the rope, running and scrambling up and down and along the high rocky cliff, the canoe giving us violent jerks when the direction of the current was changed. With much alarm we saw her spring up in[211] the air like a flying-fish on one or two occasions. We ran along like mad, out of breath and sweating, trying to keep ahead of the canoe. The two men with poles also ran along after the danger points were passed, so as to shove her along when she came too near other dangerous rocks.

After a race of great excitement, we all, with bleeding feet and hands—the palms of our hands actually blistered by the rope which slid through our tightly closed fists—were eventually able to pull the canoe safely on shore below the rapid.

In that mad flight I found time to pull out the camera for one second and take a snapshot of the canoe in the middle of the rapid. The photograph is reproduced among the illustrations of this volume.

My men were so tired that it was impossible to go on. Moreover we had before us the second section of that formidable rapid, and we could not negotiate this without emptying the canoe, which was full of water, and readjusting the rope.

We spent the night of August 6th on those rocks, the minimum temperature being 63° F.

When we went on with our dangerous work the next morning we had the greatest difficulty in saving the canoe, as in entering the whirlpool she was swamped, and it was all we could do to pull her back towards the bank before she foundered altogether. The actual drop in that rapid was not less than 8 ft. vertically. We just managed to rest her on a submerged rock until we were able to bale some of the water out.

That canoe was really wonderful in a way. My men patted her on the prow as if she had been an[212] animal, and said she was a good canoe. Indeed she was, but in her old age she felt the strain of that exciting journey. Every time I looked at her I did not know how much longer she might last. Whatever may be said of them, my men must be given credit for their courage in going along in that canoe. I do not believe that there are six other men in Brazil—or perhaps in any other country—who would have ventured to go across even the most placid pond in a similar craft.

After the rapids came a great basin 1,000 m. long, 800 m. wide. There the river described an angle from 20° b.m. to 45° b.m., and we perceived two parallel ranges before us to the N.N.E., the farther one much higher than the one nearer. Some 5 kil. beyond was yet another rapid, but not so troublesome a one this time. The river there diverged from north-east to a direction due west. A hill range, from 150 to 250 ft. high, extended from W.S.W. to E.N.E. An isolated hill, 300 ft. high, could be seen to the E.N.E.

We suffered agony that day from regular clouds of borrachudos, terrible little sand mosquitoes which made life an absolute burden in that region. Our faces, arms, and legs were a mass of ink-black marks left by the stings of those vicious brutes. Particularly when our hands were occupied in holding the canoe going down rapids, or busy with dangerous jobs, did swarms of those little rascals attack us with indomitable fury.

Pushing the Canoe Uphill through the Forest.

(Notice men with heads wrapped owing to torturing insects.)

Another basin was met, 700 m. wide, quite shallow, and with rapids over a barrier of rock extending across it from south-west to north-east. That barrier was most interesting, because in many places great lava-[213]flows were visible; in other places masses of ferruginous rock could be observed, with most extraordinary patterns upon them—triangles, rectangles, trapeziums, and all kinds of other angular geometrical patterns, such as we had met before on the high plateau of Matto Grosso.

We stopped in the middle of the day on an island 1,200 m. long, from which we obtained a fine view of the hill range looming before us from W.S.W. to E.N.E. on the right bank.

I was having great trouble with my chronometer, which the many jerks, falls, and baths did not seem to improve. I checked it whenever I could by observations of local time and by other watches which I carried. But all my instruments were beginning to feel the effects of that journey very much. The wonder to me was that they had got so far in as good condition as they were, considering all we had gone through.

Our lunch was speedy, as we had nothing to eat. The moment I had finished my observations for latitude and longitude we started off once more, my men keeping their eyes all the time on the forest on the look-out for nut-trees, the river that day giving us no fish at all.

Within ten minutes we had shot two powerful rapids, and in one place went over a dangerous submerged wall of rock extending across the river from E.S.E. to W.N.W.

The men—very hungry—were extremely quarrelsome that day and insulting to one another. The canoe went broadside down a rapid we met, the men gesticu[214]lating instead of paddling along as they should have done. With a great bump we stuck with a heavy list to starboard on a rock in the middle of the rapid, and presently the canoe was filled with water. Had we not stuck fast on that rock we certainly should have capsized. The water was baled out in due course, the canoe was floated once more. Soon afterwards another strong rapid, with a pedraria extending right across the stream from S.S.W. to N.N.E., gave us endless trouble.

I warned Alcides to get us alongside some rocks in order that we might let the canoe down with ropes, as the rapid, with a sheer drop of over 6 ft., looked too dangerous for us to shoot it. But Alcides was furious with the other men, and in order to punish them steered the canoe into the most dangerous part of the rapid. A second later the canoe, at an angle of 45°, was swept away down the foaming current along the slant of the rapid, which extended there for about 15 m. The channel was a most intricate one, with rocks scattered all over it, so that it was absolutely impossible for the canoe, with her great length, to go through without having an accident.

As we shaved a big rock in the middle of the rapid, and I saw the canoe steering straight for another big rock in front, I knew disaster was imminent, and leapt out on the rock. So frequently was it necessary for me to do so, that I had become quite an expert at jumping, and had acquired almost the agility of a monkey. Alcides, too, seeing the danger, also tried to follow my example, but unfortunately missed his footing and was swept away by the current. I just[215] managed to seize him before he disappeared for good, and dragged him safely on to the rock.

In the meantime the canoe had swung with great vigour and struck the big rock sideways, smashing her side and filling at once with water. All the baggage was swamped; only a portion of the canoe aft remained above the water, many of our things being washed away altogether.

There she stuck, fortunately for us. With considerable danger we managed to undo the ropes which were fastened to her stern. After several hours of hard work—and of extreme peril for the men who could not swim, as we had to work all the time with the water up to our necks in a powerful current, which made it most difficult to keep our footing—we succeeded in pulling her off and taking her alongside the bank.

That disaster was rather a serious one for us, as it injured many of my instruments, particularly the aneroids; but I considered myself fortunate in managing to save all the photographs and notebooks as well as the instruments for taking astronomical observations, which were kept in airtight cases. I lost my favourite pair of shoes, which were by my side in the canoe when I jumped out.

As it so frequently happened that we had to jump into the water—in fact, we spent more time in the water than out—I had adopted as a costume my pyjamas, under which I always wore the belt with the heavy packages of money. The paper money—a very considerable sum—had with the many baths become a solid mass. I could not well spread the banknotes[216] out in the sun to dry, as I did not wish my men to know how much I possessed; so that for many, many weeks I had around my waist those heavy leather wallets soaked in water, my natural heat not being quite sufficient to dry them.

We had worked in the stream until nearly midnight. We had nothing to eat when we had finished our work, and the result was that the next morning my men were still tired.

Two of my cameras were by my side when the canoe was swamped, one containing eighteen plates, the other twelve, all of which had been exposed. The cameras, being heavy, remained at the bottom of the canoe and were saved, but the bath did not do them good. I did not want to lose the plates, so there was only one course to follow, and that was to develop them while they were still wet. While my men slept I sat up a good portion of the night developing all those plates—quite successfully too—and trying to clean and fix up the cameras again for use the next day. One of my other cameras had been destroyed previously by one of my men, who sat on it, and of course smashed it to pieces. Another camera, which was still in excellent condition, having been in an air-tight case, was rather too big to be used for the work in going down the rapids.

During the night of August 7th the minimum temperature was 62° F.

Conveying the Canoe, weighing 2,000 lb., over a Hill Range—The Descent.

I worked the entire morning with Alcides, trying to mend the poor canoe. The hole which had been made in her side was so big that Alcides could insert his head into it with great ease. It was not until two[217] o'clock in the afternoon that we started once more. Along the river, which flowed in that particular section to the south-west, was a hill range on the north-west. The range rose 300 ft. above the level of the river. We had gone only some 2,000 m. when we came to another bad rapid stretching across the river from south-east to north-west. We were in a hilly region, hills being visible all along the stream. Soon afterwards we came to another powerful fall over a vertical rocky wall extending from north-west to south-east. Such redoubtable waves were produced there by the force of the water shooting over and then rebounding upwards, that we had to use the greatest care in letting down the unloaded canoe. At one moment she was more than two-thirds out of the water, only her stern resting on the top of the fall, the rest projecting outward in the air for some moments until she dropped down again.

Since the day we had taken the canoe over the hill range at the August Falls, I had doubled my men's salaries—although their original salaries were already many times higher than they would receive from Brazilian employers. I fully recognized that the work was hard, and I wished to encourage them in every possible way.

Next, the river went through a narrow gorge, only 80 m. wide, where the current was mighty strong. High volcanic rocks stood on the right side of us. When we emerged from the narrow neck, which measured some 500 m. in length, we found powerful whirlpools. Farther on the river once more went through a bad narrow passage, 40 to 60 m. wide, with a succession[218] of rapids—extremely unpleasant—for a length of 600 m.

My men were in great form that day, and we shot one rapid after another in fine style, Alcides—for a change—being amenable to reason and following my instructions, which carried us through that dangerous section without mishap. The stream Uruguatos entered the Arinos just above the latter rapids.

That day was indeed a trying one for us. Another narrow channel, 50 m. wide, was reached, along the 250 m. length of which we proceeded with great caution. Then a big basin spread out before us, where the current and eddies were terrific. The bottom of the river was mostly rocky, with great holes and depressions which caused the water to rotate in all directions. In some places amidst the foaming waters could be seen great circles of leaden-looking water, as still as oil. It was in a similar place in the Niagara whirlpool that the famous swimmer, Captain Webb, disappeared for ever. We saw thousands of those places on the Arinos.

The line of the banks on both sides was extremely rocky. In front of us we had a hill with extensive campos on its northerly slope. Then we came to the next rapid. We had endless trouble in this rapid, followed by a second one, practically a continuation of the first.

For 1,000 m. the navigation was extremely dangerous. We unloaded and reloaded the canoe dozens of times that day, although the work of taking the baggage over on our heads was not so troublesome now, as we had very little baggage left. But if we had not much, it was still the heaviest cases which re[219]mained. All together they weighed between five and six hundred pounds. The river ran beside a range of hills on the left side.

When we halted, exhausted, late at night we had travelled that day the meagre distance of 9,900 m.

My men killed two large spider monkeys, which supplied them with a meal. I could not touch them, as the monkeys looked too human for words. It made me positively ill to see one of my men biting with great gusto at an arm and hand which had been roasted on the flames, and which looked exactly like a portion of a human corpse. The smell, too, of the roasted monkeys was similar to the odour of roasted human beings—which I knew well, as I had on several previous occasions been at rough cremations of people in Japan, in the Himahlya (or Himalayas), and in Africa.

[220]

CHAPTER XIV

We all slept soundly that night, I taking good care to fasten the canoe well, so that we should not find her gone next morning.

We had a minimum temperature of 63° F. on the night of August 8th.

In the morning my men killed another big monkey, with the most human face I have ever seen on a quadruman—just like a negro's countenance. It came very near us in its curiosity to see what we were doing, and, though shot at several times, remained there watching us, as it had never heard the report of a rifle before. When it fell down it put its hand on the wound across its chest and cried just like a child. I moved away while my men banged it on the head to finish it off.

Author's Canoe being made to travel across the Forest.

After a hearty breakfast on the part of my men—my own being limited to a small box of sardines, some twenty or thirty boxes still remaining in my supply of provisions—we resumed our journey down the troublesome rapid. We had to do that with ropes, Alcides, with his extraordinary way of thinking, actually going[221] to the trouble of shifting a big rock out of the water, which took him the best part of an hour, rather than let the canoe go round it—in absolutely placid waters in that particular spot. I let him do it rather than have a quarrel, as I firmly believed that in consequence of the great hardships his brain had slightly lost its balance.

After that, strong eddies were again experienced at first, but, for some 3,000 m. beyond, the water looked beautiful and as placid as possible. The river was now flowing mostly in a northerly direction or with slight deviations, chiefly to the east. We came to a most wonderful island with a spur of lava on its southern side, in the shape of a dome, and highly glazed. On each side of that island was a waterfall of some beauty. The eastern channel was only 20 m. wide, and the water fell over a wall of rock some 12 ft. high. Where this wall projected above the foaming water the shiny black carbonized rock showed a number of small grottoes in its horizontal strata, and a number of funnels like volcanic vents. The north-westerly and broader channel had three successive rapids, the central one some 10½ ft. high, with a terrific current rushing over it, and awe-inspiring whirlpools between the successive rapids.

We took the canoe down by the central channel, and when we got to the higher step, shoved her along until she overhung the fall—as we had done the previous day—and then let her drop down with a bump. It was a difficult job to hold her when once she had dropped down, as the waves below were very high and tossed her about in a merciless manner.

[222] My men had by this time become a little more amenable to reason, and in moments of suspense or danger always awaited my orders.

Once more did we eventually pack in the canoe what remained of the baggage; once more did we start—that time across a large basin 1,200 m. broad, with hills on the east side of us on the right bank. On the right of us, on leaving the basin, we had a beautiful island, 300 m. long—Ariadne Island—with a fine sand-spit at its southern end, and gorgeous vegetation upon it. Barring a few boxes of sardines, we had no more provisions of any kind, as all the food had been wasted, or lost in our various accidents.

When I look back upon that journey, I am amazed to think how Providence did help us all along. That day my men were clamouring for food, and were most unpleasant, putting the entire blame upon me and not upon their own lack of common-sense. They refused to go on. We pulled up along some rocks, baking hot from the sun, which simply roasted our naked feet when we trod upon them.

Some of the men took to their rifles and said they had had quite enough of exploring. The more we went down that river the worse things seemed to get. They would not go a metre farther. They claimed the balance of their salaries at once—I always paid them punctually every month—and said they would start on foot and try to get somewhere, if God would help them.

I agreed to pay them their salaries and let them go, taking a few minutes to distribute the money, as I wished to go to a secluded spot, not caring to undo the large packages of banknotes before them.

[223] I was walking along the rocks, saying to my men that I would be back in a few minutes, when a huge cachorra, or dog-fish, weighing some thirty pounds, leapt out of the water and fell on the rocks, wriggling and bounding convulsively. I called the men, who hastily arrived, and with the butts of their rifles killed the fish. While they were busy dissecting it, Alcides, who had not taken part in the quarrel, but had gone to the forest some little way off, hearing the noise, reappeared with a huge monkey he had killed.

I left the men to prepare an excellent and plentiful meal while I retired to a distant spot to count out their salaries. When I returned and handed them the money—after their appetites had been fully satisfied, and they had left next to nothing for me—they said I could keep the money, as they did not want it; they were sorry for what they had said, and would go on wherever I ordered them to go. They said that I certainly must have a guardian angel watching over me, and they were sure that as long as they were in my company they would never die of starvation.

"I have never seen anything like it!" exclaimed the man X, who was the humorist of the party. "We want food and cannot get it, and there el senhor strolls a few yards away from us and a huge fish jumps almost into his arms in order to be eaten."

I never cared to let them know of my own surprise at the extraordinary occurrence.

I was rather pleased that day, because my men, in an outburst of friendliness, said they knew that if ever we did die of starvation it would not be my fault, because had they been careful we would still have had[224] three or four months' supply of provisions left. They themselves said how foolish they had been; the provisions we carried had only lasted us thirty days. Nearly three weeks before I had warned Alcides to economize, and the result was that, instead of sorting out food twice a day to the men, he sorted it out four times a day and in double quantities.

Distant View showing Both Falls at the Salto Augusto.

Launching the Canoe after its Journey over a Hill Range.

That day we were really in great luck. We had the good fortune to find a bacopari tree simply laden with delicious yellow fruit, not unlike unripe cherries, and we absolutely feasted on them.

To show how unpractical my men were, it is sufficient to tell that, unlike any other human beings on the face of the globe when under a fruit-tree, they did not proceed to shake the cherries down by throwing sticks or by climbing up the tree. No, indeed; but they cut down the huge tree, which required about an hour and a half of very hard work. Anyhow, we got the cherries, and that was the principal thing.

We continued our journey over a small rapid with a low hill range spreading from west to east on the left bank. The river here was 300 m. wide. A hill range from 100 to 200 ft. high was also to be seen on the right bank, running parallel with that on the left. Five or six kilometres farther another high range of a gorgeous cobalt-blue colour and extending from south-west to north-east, stood in front of us. The river in that stretch was most beautiful, and was 900 m. wide. A charming little island 300 m. long was reflected in the water, which looked as still as oil in that particular part, although it actually ran swiftly.

[225] Although that scene was of great placidity, we believed there was more danger ahead of us, for we could hear in the distance the loud roar of another rapid or waterfall. Judging by the noise we knew it must be a big one. Soon afterwards we reached the rapid.

We had the greatest difficulty in approaching this, owing to the strong current we encountered in a small channel we followed near the right bank. The rapid was 400 m. wide and 400 m. long, with a drop of from 4 to 5 ft. Although we expected trouble at that spot, we shot the rapid with comparative ease, but we were badly knocked about, and shipped a considerable amount of water in the high waves thrown violently against the rocks. We camped that night near the rapid, having travelled in the day 26 kil. We made our camp in the forest, and we experienced stifling heat, the minimum temperature (August 9th) being 73° F., with heavy rain which came down upon us through the foliage in regular bucketfuls.

We had nothing to eat in the evening. In the morning our breakfast consisted of two sardines each. We went on in a half-hearted way, my men grumbling all the time, and looking out for birds or monkeys. Seven thousand five hundred metres from our camp we came to a waterfall, where we had endless trouble. The principal channel led to 50° b.m., but the river split up into innumerable channels among islands, islets and rocks that formed a regular maze. The river was in that particular spot 1,200 m. wide, and contained great masses of volcanic rock, much fissured, and having great holes in them. This mass of rock extended from north-east to south-west.[226] There were large cracks, where the mass had split, and had subsequently been eroded by the rush of water. The rock had cutting edges everywhere like those of razors. With endless difficulty we had managed to drag the canoe along nearly to the bottom of that dangerous place, when we were suddenly confronted by a drop of 12 ft. with a terrific rush of water over it. It was impossible for us to negotiate that point, for below was a whirlpool absolutely impassable. We had therefore the tiresome work of dragging back the canoe for some 350 m. up the rapid once more, in order that we might find a more suitable channel. To make things more lively for us, a violent thunderstorm broke out, soaking all our baggage but making little difference to us, as we were soaked already. We had spent that entire day in the water, struggling to take the canoe down the rapid and up once more. By eight o'clock at night we were still working, endeavouring to save the canoe.

We had had no lunch, and now had no dinner. My men felt perfectly miserable, and in their speech did not exactly bless the day they had started with me on that expedition. We had worked hard, and had only covered a distance of 7,500 m. in twelve hours. At sunset, while the storm was raging, we beheld a most wonderful effect of light to the west, very much like a gorgeous aurora borealis. The sky, of intense vermilion, was streaked with beautiful radiations of the brightest lemon-yellow, which showed out vividly against the heavy black clouds directly above our heads. The river reflected the red tints, so that we appeared to be working in a river of blood.

[227] As we had nothing to eat, I thought I would spend my time in taking the correct elevation of that place with the boiling-point thermometers. The man X, the humorist of the party, remarked that if I were killed and went to Heaven or some other place, the first thing I should do would be to take the exact elevation with what he called "the little boiling stove" (the hypsometrical apparatus).

We had a minimum temperature of 62° F. during the night of August 10th.

Next morning I sent my men to reconnoitre, in order to see if they could get some edible fruit. As they stayed away a long time I knew they had found something. In fact, they came back quite in a good humour, as they had found some jacoba or jacuba trees, with abundant fruit on them, most delicious to eat.

In the meantime I had gone exploring the rapids endeavouring to find a more suitable channel. Eventually, on the east side of the stream, I found a place where we could take the canoe down. There too was a fall of 9 ft., down which we let the canoe with considerable difficulty; then it had to pass over a number of smaller terraces and down winding channels, where we sweated for some hours before we got through our work. Innumerable channels separated by sand-mounds 20 to 30 ft. high had formed along that rapid and also through the vertical wall of cutting volcanic rock which formed a barrier across the stream. Below the fall were two long sand-banks, one with some burity palms upon it.

The river flowed 20° west of north for some 4,000 m. We had gone but 2,000 m. of that distance when we[228] came to another rocky barrier, spreading from south-west to north-east, on approaching which we heard the thundering roaring of another rapid. On the left bank we had a hill range all along. The noise of the rapid got louder and louder, and we were soon confronted by a terrifying rush of water at a spot where three arms of the river met with such force that the clashing waters shot up in the air, forming a wave some 40 or 50 ft. high with a foaming crest. The backwash from this great wave was so violent against the rocky banks of the river—very narrow there—that it was quite impossible for the canoe, even empty, to be let down by means of ropes.

My men were in absolute despair, for the farther we went the more insurmountable became the obstacles which confronted us. They said they had agreed to go on a journey of exploration, but surely I was taking them direct to Hades—if we had not got there already. I could not well contradict them, for certainly that particular spot was the nearest possible approach to it.

It does not do ever to lose courage. While my men, in the lowest state of depression, sat on the volcanic rocks, I went about exploring on the right bank until I found a place where the river had eroded a channel but had afterwards filled it with an immense accumulation of rocks. If we could only move those rocks away—several hundreds of them—I saw that it would be possible to push the canoe along the channel which would thus be formed. The work would require a great deal of hard labour.

A Most Dangerous Rapid navigated by Author and his Men.

You should have seen the faces of my men when I took them to the spot and asked them to remove all[229] the big boulders. In order to set them a good example, I myself started moving the rocks about, the smaller ones for preference. We worked and worked hour after hour, jamming our fingers and feet all the time as we pushed the rocks to one side and the other of the little channel, only 4 ft. wide, which we were making. The language of my men was pretty enough, but as long as they worked I had to put up with it. Alcides, who was really a great worker, and whose principal fault was that he would never save himself, worked with tremendous vigour that day. Somehow or other the men seemed to think the work hard.

When we had taken the canoe safely to the end of the rapid through the channel we had cleared, I went back to the top of the rapid to gaze once more on the wonderful sight where the two principal channels met. The water dashed against a rock in the centre with most impressive fury.

On returning to the bottom of the rapid where I had left the canoe, another most impressive sight was to be seen. In the vertiginous waters emerging from the channel high waves—most unpleasant-looking and in the greatest confusion—clashed against one another for a distance of over 500 m. below the rapid.

My men would not camp that night near the rapid, which they said was the devil's home, so during the night we went 2 kil. down the stream, where, simply worn out, we made our camp. We never could get any fish from the stream now. We had gone only 6,000 m. that day. I reckoned that, travelling at that rate, I should perhaps reach my goal, Manaos, in five or six years' time—and all the provisions I had[230] left for seven men, all counted, were now eight tins of sardines.

We had a minimum temperature of 64° F. on the night of August 11th.

We had halted just above another big and beautiful waterfall, 20 ft. high, and of immense width. The great rush of water curled over a gigantic dome of volcanic rock with many big holes and fissures. The waterfall was followed by a ghastly rapid 500 m. long. It was impossible to go over the fall, and the only way left us—a most dangerous one—was to let the canoe down a small channel 50 to 80 m. wide, cut among the vertical rocks on the right side of the waterfall. The water in the channel flowed in steeply sloping cascades. The channel twisted round abruptly in two or three places, and in one spot went through a rocky neck 35 m. wide, where the force of the current was so great that I was really perplexed as to how we could take the canoe down without getting her smashed to atoms.

Providence came to my help again. In looking round I discovered an ancient channel, now almost dry and strewn with innumerable rocks, by which it might be possible to take the canoe overland until we could find a smooth place in the water below the rapid. On further exploring that channel, as I was quick enough in noticing its possibilities, I found at the end of it what the Brazilians call a recanto—that is to say, a backwater which the river had there formed, and which would be a great help to us in floating the canoe once more.

This plan involved a great deal of hard work, as not[231] only had we to shift many large rocks out of their position, but we had to construct a railway with felled trees and rollers upon them. We could not get perfectly horizontal rails, so that the effort of moving the canoe along inch by inch with levers was trying, especially as we had had insufficient food for many days and our strength was fast failing.

To make matters worse, Alcides that day broke out in revolt. He had, like many ignorant people, the misfortune of believing that he knew everything better than anybody else. I had given him instructions to place the rails and rollers in a certain position, so that the canoe could be shifted over some unpleasant rocks. He, however, insisted on placing the rollers in the wrong place and on using the levers in the wrong spots, so that they not only did not act helpfully, but actually had the contrary effect on the canoe from that which we wanted to obtain. I remonstrated, and showed the men once more how to do it. They agreed with me, except Alcides, who became enraged to such an extent that his eyes bulged out of their orbits in his fury. He brandished one of the big levers in the air, and, shouting at the top of his voice, proceeded to give a long harangue stating that Araguary—his native town—produced greater men than England or any other country, and inciting the other men to open revolt against me.

This was a serious affair and most unexpected, as so far I had counted on Alcides to stand by me, no matter what happened. The other men were undecided. Although they were always ready to revolt, they had more confidence in the brain of an English[232]man than in that of an Araguary man. Alcides suggested that they should take possession of the canoe and everything, and that I should be left on the rocks. He shouted to the men to take the canoe along, and he himself pushed with all his might, the canoe not budging the tenth part of an inch.

I sat down on a rock. I merely said that the canoe would not move until I wished it to move. This statement I made because I saw that in their stupidity they had placed some pieces of wood under the canoe which acted as wedges instead of rollers; one piece in particular—a roller which had split in two—could not possibly move along the rough wooden rails. The men pushed and worked with all their might for over three hours, the canoe remaining still like a solid rock. At last they came to me and asked me to show them how to move it. I placed the rollers where they would be effective, removing the wedges which were impeding her journey, and with very little effort the canoe moved along.

With wild yells of excitement the men proclaimed this a miracle, always excepting Alcides, who, with a fierce expression on his face, stood now on one side, fondling his rifle. The other men chaffed him, and even insulted him, saying that he had made them struggle for nothing, as he did not know what he was about. When the rails and the rollers were placed right the canoe slid along the distance which remained to be covered, and eventually glided gracefully once more into the water.

Letting the Canoe jump a Rapid.

It was too bad that Alcides—one of the bravest of men—should possess such a mean mind and such an[233] ungrateful nature. Twice I had saved his life when he came within an ace of perishing in dangerous rapids, but never had he given thanks to me—never had he shown the slightest sign of recognition. Never, during the entire time he was in my employ, did he—or any of my other men—say "Good morning" to me when we rose, or "Good night" when we retired to sleep. Two or three nights before this last adventure, during a heavy rainstorm, I had deprived myself of my own tent in order to shelter him and the other men, while I myself got drenched.

"He only does it," said he, "because he needs to keep us alive to do the work, or else he would not do it."

I only received offensive words for any kindnesses I showered on him and the others.

It is seldom one could find a man with a more unpractical mind. He spent most of his energy working uselessly—and, mind you, very hard indeed—for nothing, but he could never be made to apply his strength in a sensible way. If I asked him to cut me a tooth-pick, he would proceed to cut down one of the largest trees in the neighbourhood and work for an hour or two until he had reduced a big section of it into the needed article. He wasted hours daily, and ruined all our axes and cutlery into the bargain, in scraping flat surfaces on rocks and on the hardest trees, on which he subsequently engraved his name and that of his lady-love whom he had left behind. He was really marvellous at calligraphy, and could certainly write the best hand of any man I have ever known.

He quarrelled all the time with all the other men,[234] and to enforce his words was constantly producing his automatic pistol fully loaded or else his rifle.

When I first employed him I had the misfortune to send him on some messages to two or three people, with the result that those former friends became my bitterest enemies, as he had insulted them. He was one of the men who cannot open their mouths without offending. Wasteful to an incredible degree, his only ambition was to show how much he could spend—especially when he was spending other people's money—a most trying thing for me when we were, months before, near any shop. When you mentioned anything to him he immediately said that it was impossible to do it, no matter how simple the matter was. He spent hours looking at himself in a small pocket mirror he carried on his person, and would grumble for long hours over the stings of mosquitoes and gnats which had dared to spoil his features. He used violent language against the impudent rocks which had injured his feet.

His brutality to men and beasts alike was most hurtful to me. He once abandoned his favourite dog on an island, simply because he had kicked it viciously the day before and the dog would not respond to his calls and enter the canoe. He now proposed to kill the other dogs, as he said they had finished their work as watch-dogs, since we never came across any Indians, and it was no use taking them along.

[235]

CHAPTER XV

Brazilians of a low class are unfortunately easily led by words. Alcides, who could not get over his bad temper, once more incited the men to revolt. While I was busy taking altitude observations with the hypsometrical apparatus I kept my eye on them, as I saw plainly that I was coming in for trouble.

Unfortunately for us another bad part of the rapid had to be negotiated, and the only way possible was to take the canoe overland once more. With Alcides at their head, all the men were now in open rebellion, and absolutely refused to work.

"Very good," I said to them. "If you do not like to take the canoe along we shall stay here. I like this spot very much, as it is most picturesque."

The men filled the magazines of their rifles with cartridges, and then came threateningly toward me, shoving the muzzles right in my face.

"You must give us food," said they. "We want to eat, and we want to be taken back to our country."

[236] I advised them to take a walk in the forest and see if they could shoot something there, for if they shot me, one fact was certain, and that was that they would never see their happy homes again.

Two of the men turned away in order to go after game, but the man X levelled his rifle at my head and demanded his money, as he wished to leave at once. The contract I had with him was different from that I had with the other men. I had agreed to pay him on reaching the nearest point of civilization, where I would let him loose again. I therefore said that I would most certainly pay him the very minute he had fulfilled his contract.

I paid no more attention to his threat, although I heard the click of the hammer of his rifle being cocked. I told him to get some wood to make a fire, as I wished to make myself a cup of chocolate.

In unpacking some of my instruments I had made a great discovery—a box of chocolate, which had strayed into a package by mistake.

X seemed undecided whether to shoot or not. I made no attempt to take the rifle out of his hand, as that would have been fatal. After a few moments he sat down on a rock a few yards away, his rifle resting on his knees and pointing in my direction, while I myself collected some small pieces of wood and proceeded to make the fire.

Artificial Canal made by Author and his Men in order to take their Canoe along where the river was Impassable.

Filippe the negro, who had his eye on the box of chocolate, came and helped to blow the flame. We got some water and boiled it in a large tin cup. While we were doing that I heard rifles being fired in the forest,[237] and presently Antonio returned with some fine jacu (Penelope cristata) he had shot.

The entire morning of August 12th was absolutely wasted, owing to the conduct of my men. Even after they had had a good meal, not a particle of which they offered me—not that I asked them for it—they were still in a riotous mood.

As was my habit when I had anything to eat, I always shared it in equal parts with them: when the chocolate was ready—notwithstanding their behaviour—I asked them for their cups, and each one received his share of that delicious beverage. As usual also, I sorted out that day the customary allowance of tobacco to each man, which I had been fortunate enough to save in our accidents.

When I offered the chocolate to Alcides, he handed his cup to Filippe to bring to me, and when it was handed back to him he flung it away saying he would prefer to die rather than drink the filthy English stuff.

Matters were a little critical. A great number of rollers were required and a number of wooden rails. Curiously enough, the man X, who had been the most violent that day, was the only one who came to thank me for the chocolate, and offered to work, the others all refusing to move.

He and I cut down three or four trees, when the other men—ashamed of themselves—took the axes and proceeded to work also. But instead of cutting down trees which were straight they cut down the knottiest trees they could find, and made rollers which were absolutely useless. It was their silly way of wasting the little energy they had left. The result was that[238] they had to do the work over again and cut other trees and other rollers.

Eventually we succeeded in pushing the canoe over the rocks until we were some 20 m. from the water again. With some effort we succeeded in shoving her along 18 m. out of those 20 m. There only remained the last 2 m.—unfortunately uphill, which made our effort a little greater. Here the men again stopped work and refused to give that last push to get the canoe over those rocks and then into the water. Once more they said they would shoot me and then proceed through the forest on foot.

Matters looked bad indeed. Those 2 m., with a sharp angle upward, made an insurmountable obstacle which I could not negotiate alone. With the corner of my eye I saw the rifles of my men levelled at me. There was only one way out of that difficulty—to give my men a little excitement.

"Very good!" I said to them. "If we have not the strength to move the canoe over those rocks, we certainly have the courage to shoot the rapid." I said I had never yet known a Brazilian who failed when it came to courage, and I was sure they would not fail, as I had already seen how brave they had been.

Flattery always answers.

"Come along, boys! We will take the canoe back into the rapid."

In a moment they had deposited their rifles on the rocks and they were all helping me to push the canoe back the way we had come.

The rapid in that particular part was devilish—not unlike the narrow channel we had gone through some[239] time before. The passage, with high rocks on either side, was tortuous, and threw the water with great force from one side to the other, producing high waves in the centre in such confusion that it was quite terrifying to look at them.

When my men looked at those awful waters, they suggested that perhaps we had better let the canoe down with ropes. I had quite made up my mind that we should lose the canoe for certain in that spot; and had we gone down in her ourselves we should undoubtedly have lost our lives as well.

When we started taking her down with ropes—our ropes were all rotted by that time, and had no strength whatever—the canoe was tossed about in a merciless manner. I recommended my men as they ran along to beware of the ropes catching on the cutting edges of the high rocks. No sooner had the canoe started down the swift current than one of the ropes at once caught on a rock and snapped. The men who held the other rope were unable to hold it, and let it go. I saw the canoe give three or four leaps in the centre of the channel and then disappear altogether. That was a sad moment for me. But as my eye roamed along the foaming waters, what was my surprise when I saw the canoe shoot out of the water in a vertical position at the end of the rapid and waterfall! That was the greatest piece of luck I had on that journey. By being flung out of the water with such force she naturally emptied herself of all the water she contained, and I next saw her floating, going round and round the whirlpool at the bottom of the rapid.

[240] The next problem was how to recover the canoe, as she happened to be on the opposite side of the stream. There for more than two hours we watched her going round and round, while we sat on the rocks, absolutely speechless. Eventually we saw her gradually come out of the whirlpool and drift slowly in the recanto or backwater on the opposite shore some 400 m. away, revolving slowly around herself.

My men were perplexed. They now said they would all leave me at once and proceed on foot. Under no circumstances whatever would they accompany me any more. They must have their pay and go.

So after a few minutes I paid the salaries of all the men, excepting the man X. To my surprise the men, instead of going, remained seated a little way off.

I had a plan in my head of swimming across the river below the whirlpool, where the water was placid although of great width, but I could not very well place myself in such an awkward position as to leave on the river bank the large sums of money which I carried on my person. I certainly could not swim across such a long distance, and in such a current, with the heavy bags of coin and banknotes round my waist. I feared—in fact, felt certain—that in the mood in which my men were that day, the moment I entered the water and was quite helpless they would fire at me and get away with everything I possessed. I knew that they would never dare to do it unless they could catch me in a helpless condition.

Rapid through which Author took his Canoe.

I called Antonio—who was an excellent swimmer—and said that I offered a reward of £10 to any men[241] who swam across and recovered the canoe. Antonio reflected deeply for some time, then consented to go if another man went with him. For nearly an hour he confabulated with Filippe the white man, who was also a splendid swimmer. It was with some relief that I saw the two eventually enter the water, after a paddle had been tied with long strings round each of their waists in order that they might be able to bring the canoe back.

At the point where they started the river was 200 m. wide. Although seemingly placid the current was strong. They drifted down some 300 m.—I with my telescope keeping a sharp watch on the canoe, which was still going round and round, and was now once more almost entirely filled with water. No sooner had the men, quite exhausted, reached the opposite bank than the canoe, which had been in that spot for some hours, for some reason or other started out and proceeded to float down stream in the very centre of the river. Filippe the negro and I at once started on a chase on our side of the water, in case she came near enough to seize her. I shouted and signalled to the men on the opposite bank to swim across once more to try and catch her in mid-stream.

As luck would have it, after a chase of several kilometres, over cutting rocks and great banks of sand in which we sank up to our knees—while the naked men with their paddles ran as fast as they could on the opposite bank—the canoe drifted close to the other bank once more, and the men were able to board her. It was a great relief to me when at last the canoe was brought over to our side and we towed her back so as[242] to get the baggage on board and proceed on our journey.

Each of the two men who had rescued the canoe at once received the reward I had offered, and Filippe the negro, who had shown willingness in recovering the boat, also received a handsome present.

The entire day of August 12th had been spent in going those few hundred metres of the rapid. Our camp that evening was but 400 m. from that of the day before.

The minimum temperature of August 12th had been 70° F., whereas during the night of August 13th it was 62° F.

That little adventure had pulled the men together somewhat. I spoke in great praise of the courage that Antonio and Filippe had shown in swimming across the stream.

The river was smooth for a little distance, when we proceeded once more with our navigation; but soon it became narrow—only 40 to 50 m. wide—with strong eddies in its deep channel between rocky sides. Some magnificent sand beaches 15 to 20 ft. high were observed, particularly on the right bank, not far from a tributary 3 m. wide which entered the main river on the left side. Lower down, the river described a sharp turn, and there we met another most dangerous rapid. It was entered by a passage 50 m. wide, after which a circular basin of rock—evidently an ancient crater—100 m. in diameter appeared; then the water flowed out with terrific force by a channel only 30 m. wide. The stream produced prodigious eddies in the circular basin. Waves of great height were dashed[243] to and fro from one side to the other of the narrow channel, between high rocks on either side. The water flowed first in a direction E.S.E. for 500 m., then turned off suddenly to due east for a distance of 400 m. That spot was most difficult for us to go through.

Soon after, the river turned due north and broadened to a width of 120 m. for some 4,000 m. A great basin was crossed, with submerged rocks, forming counter currents of great power and most unpleasant whirlpools. I observed with some concern a stupendous vortex 30 m. in diameter and with a deep central depression. The water revolved with such velocity and force that it formed a series of high-crested white waves running one after another at a terrifying speed around its periphery. The water was raised around the vortex certainly 10 or 12 ft. above the level of the river—owing to the opposition between the rotating water and the current. We gave that vortex as wide a berth as we could; it really frightened one to be near it, although there was no particular danger unless we got right into it.

A charming island was passed soon after, on which, as well as on the left bank, were innumerable rubber trees, but there were none on the right, where chapada was to be seen.

We had in front of us a hill range 300 ft. high. As we went farther we were in a channel between high rocks strewn about along both banks in fragments of great size; then we were once again in a circular basin with high vertical rocks—perhaps another extinct crater. We were here in a region of volcanic[244] formation. No sooner had we passed this basin than we came upon another bad rapid, 400 m. long, which divided itself into two channels, after going through a narrow passage not more than 30 m. wide, where we got tossed about in a most alarming manner, being once or twice nearly dashed to pieces against the rocky sides. We had had so much trouble with the rapids that day that by sunset we had only gone 19 kil. 600 m. Since we had come to that volcanic region we had found rocks with great holes in which stagnant water lay. Myriads of insects—regular clouds of them—worried us nearly to death.

Conveying the Canoe by Hand down a Rapid.

On August 14th we started early, the minimum temperature having been 70° F. during the night. After leaving the rapid we came to a great basin 1,000 m. across. A most beautiful sand beach 300 m. long was to be seen on the left side, below a vertical cliff of great beauty, 200 ft. high. Another great sand beach was to be seen on the right of the river, where it described a sharp turn to 30° b.m. Then the river dashed through a passage of rocks only 80 m. broad, and emerged once more into another great basin with many indentations in its rocky coast.

Some 6 kil. beyond, another basin was found, with more rocks strewn on and near its eastern bank, and a number of rocky islets. A high hill range with vertical cliffs stood on the west side and ended abruptly at the end of the basin. Low hills ran all along the river on the left side.

The river had an average width here of 250 m., and flowed mostly in directions between north-west and north-east.

[245] We went down all the time on troubled waters, with rocky banks and innumerable obstacles all the way. We went through another terrible and most intricate rapid—the Labyrinth—and passed through a channel only 40 m. wide between high rocky banks. Then, after that, for 9,500 m. we had fair and smooth navigation, with a range of flat-topped hills 300 ft. high, extending from W.S.W. to E.N.E., in front of us to the north-west. Here there was a regular maze of channels, all more or less bad. We did not follow the principal one, which was strewn with rocks, but a smaller one, at the end of which, unfortunately, we found a barrier of rocks which we could not surmount. We had all the trouble of dragging the canoe back up the rapid until we could turn her round into another channel.

We arrived at the waterfall of S. Simão, where we went through numerous channels, following the right bank as much as we could, until we arrived at a gigantic staircase of rock, down which the water divided itself into little channels. We took all the baggage over the rocks on the right bank—a very heavy task, as we had to climb up and down big boulders with sharp edges. We slipped many times with the loads we were carrying, and many, indeed, were the patches of skin we left behind in that particular place. We had a great deal of trouble in finding a place where we could take the canoe down. Eventually we had to go right across the stream over the waterfall and land on an island of rock in the centre of the river, where I had seen with my telescope that we might perhaps find a suitable passage for the canoe.

[246] Crossing the river diagonally just above the fall was risky work, and although we described a big arc up the stream, we only just managed to make the island before we were borne down by the current.

The horseshoe-shaped waterfall was about 300 m. across and some 30 ft. high. When the river is full it must be beautiful, for the east side, which was then absolutely dry, is covered entirely by water, which must form a wonderful series of cascades. When the river is in flood, the waterfall, extending from north-west to south-east, has a total width of 1,000 m. There were some picturesque bits of rugged foliated rock over that great staircase, and huge cracks through which the water gurgled and foamed—those fissures formed not by the erosion of water but by volcanic action, perhaps by an earthquake. The large fall to the north-west, over which the water flows in every season, had on one side of it a steep incline, down which we took the canoe until we came to a drop about 15 ft. high.

We halted for the night just above that high drop, spending a most miserable night, being simply devoured by insects. The minimum temperature during the night of August 15th was 72° F.

My men were in a beastly temper in the morning, when we had to proceed, as on previous occasions, to make an artificial channel by moving innumerable boulders of all sizes. It was a heavy task, for we hardly had any strength left, our meals having been most irregular of late.

A channel was not so easily made in that particular spot, as there were some boulders which we could not[247] possibly move, and the canoe must be made to go over them.

We had only been working for a few minutes, when again there was a riot among my men; again they took to their rifles and said they would leave me and the canoe there. Worse luck, the canoe got stuck hard on a rock, and the men could not move her. I cut down some rollers and some levers of the hardest woods I could find in the forest near there, and when once I had set to work a little more intelligently than they did, I had no difficulty in moving the canoe along. Eventually, with my men swearing at me the whole time, the canoe was safely at the foot of the waterfall.

We were in great luck that day, for we found plenty of wild fruit—very nutritious—and we killed one or two large birds. My men grumbled all the time, saying that they were dying of starvation, no meal being a meal at all in Brazil unless accompanied by a small mountain of feijão (black beans). I had a few boxes of sardines left, but I reserved those for extreme occasions which might yet come.

At the bottom of the fall was an immense basin, 1,200 m. wide and 3,000 m. long from north to south. The temperature was stifling that day—96° F. in the shade, and the sky overladen with clouds.

Fourteen kilometres by river below the S. Simão came another waterfall, that of All Saints.

Observations with the hypsometrical apparatus gave an elevation of 772 ft. above the level of the sea.

We halted above the rapid on a beautiful beach. A curious thing happened. Antonio in jumping into the water out of the canoe felt something sharp under[248] his foot. In looking down he saw a magnificent sword. On taking it out of the water we found that it was an old sword of the time of the Emperor Pedro II. A fight must have taken place there between a Brazilian expedition and the Mundurucu Indians, who at that time were to be found, I believe, in that region. Presumably the expedition had been attacked at that spot while trying to land. The sword was in excellent preservation.

Canoe being taken along an Artificial Canal made by Author and his Men.

[249]

CHAPTER XVI

We had a minimum temperature on the night of August 15th of 70° F.

We descended the All Saints rapid and fall, 150 m. in length, with no great difficulty, although with a certain amount of hard work.

A large basin was below it, in the eastern part of which was a charming island. Innumerable rubber trees (Siphonia elastica) were to be seen in that region. We found the south-east passage the best in descending that rapid; but, although comparatively easy, we had to use the greatest care, as my canoe was by now falling to pieces, and a hard knock against a rock would be fatal.

At the eastern end of the basin was a narrow channel between high rocks, where the current was extremely strong. A cluster of high vertical columnar rocks was seen. The three channels into which the river had been divided joined again in that basin, and were forced through a passage between high vertical rocky walls not more than 35 m. apart.

The water naturally was much troubled in being[250] forced from different sides through that narrow passage, and I knew that there must be danger. We pulled up the canoe along some rocks 50 or 60 m. from the entrance of the channel, and I instructed two men to land and go and explore, to see what was in the channel. The top rocks in that particular spot formed innumerable little points, quite sharp, and it was painful to walk on them with bare feet.

Antonio and white Filippe, who had been instructed to go and reconnoitre, went a short distance away, where they sat themselves down behind some rocks, comfortably smoking cigarettes. After twenty minutes or so they returned and said they had gone all along the channel, and there was absolutely smooth water and no danger whatever. I was not well satisfied with their answer, but they swore they had inspected the channel thoroughly, and there was no danger. So I ordered them to enter the boat once more, and we started off.

No sooner had we turned the corner round the high rocky cliffs and entered the narrow gorge than we were confronted by a huge central wave some 40 ft. high in the channel. It was formed by the clashing waters, coming from three different directions, meeting at that spot and trying to push through simultaneously. Before we knew where we were the canoe actually flew up in the air, in an almost vertical position, to the top of that enormous wave.

A Moment of Suspense.

Author and his men in their canoe going through a narrow channel between vertical walls of rock. The water forced through from three large arms of the river joining at that point formed a high and dangerous central wave.

Baggage, men, and dogs slid down in confusion, the canoe gliding back into the water and progressing as swift as an arrow down the channel. The next moment we were on the point of being dashed against[251] the high rocky cliff on our right. To my amazement, and just as I was expecting the impact, the canoe only gracefully shaved the rock, the backwash which took place along the rocks shifting us once more toward the middle of the stream.

Once again the great rush of water shot us up in the air, above the central wave, and this time the canoe bucked and rode down on the other side of that foaming mass of water.

My men were terrified. "Rema! rema! (Row! row!) for Heaven's sake!" I shouted to the perplexed men, as I tried to instil into them a little courage, when within me I really thought we were lost. As I shouted those words I saw to my horror two of the paddles washed away, and as I quickly measured with my eye the length of the channel I perceived that we still had some 200 m. more of that kind of navigation before we should shoot out of that dangerous place.

Up and down we went several times on that high central wave; several times did we again shave the rocks on either side of the narrow channel. We were quite helpless, my men in chorus yelling "We are lost! we are lost!"

Alcides bravely stuck to the helm for some time, but the force of the water was so great that he was knocked down into the canoe and had to let go. When we reached the point where the narrow passage came to an end, the waters looked so diabolical that when my men shouted "We are lost! we are lost!" I could not help saying "Yes, we are!"

I held on to the canoe desperately, as we were banged about for a few seconds in a way that nearly[252] stunned us, the waves striking me in the face with such force that it took me some moments to recover. When I did I found that we were already out of the channel and in the whirlpool, the canoe full of water but fortunately saved.

I lose most things in the world, but I never lose my patience nor my sense of humour. I could not help laughing when I looked at the expression on the faces of my dogs—an expression of terror and astonishment, as they looked first at the place from which we had emerged and then at me, which I am sure would have meant in words: "Good gracious! where in the world are you taking us?"

We had to halt as soon as convenient in order to cut some new paddles. It took my men some hours to recover from the effects of that experience.

As is generally the case after a violent emotion, a great deal of merriment was produced, my men for the rest of the day talking about the incident and reproducing in a realistic way the sounds of the rushing water and the impact of the waves against the canoe.

We found after that a great basin 3,000 m. long, 1,300 m. broad, from west to east, with a lovely sand beach 1,000 m. long on its eastern side.

Conveying the Canoe through the Forest.

(Notice the side of the canoe split and stuffed with pieces of cloth.)

At last—after all that time without meeting a soul—I came across a small tribe of Mundurucus—six of them all counted. They had their aldeja, or village, on the right side of the stream. Their chief rejoiced in the name of João. They were tiny little fellows, the tallest only 5 ft. in height. If you had met them anywhere else than in Central Brazil you would have mistaken them for Japanese, so exactly like them[253] were they in appearance. Their faces were of a very dark yellow, almost black, with perfectly straight hair, just like the Japanese or their near cousins, the Tagalos of the Philippine Islands.

The Mundurucus were mild and gentle, soft-spoken and shy. They had all adopted Brazilian clothes. The hut of the chief was extremely clean and neat inside, the few utensils that were visible being kept in a tidy manner.

João spoke a little Portuguese. From him I was able to buy a quantity of farinha, which came in useful to us, although I had to pay an exorbitant price for it—£4 sterling for each 50 litres or thereabouts—that is to say, about 5½ pecks in English measure. The price of farinha on the coast would be less than four shillings for that quantity.

What interested me most among the Mundurucus was their strange ornamentations. The angular pattern was a great favourite with them, especially angles side by side, and the cross—which I think had been suggested, however, by their contact with Catholic missionaries farther down the river.

The rudimentary figures which they carved—merely lines for the body, legs and arms, and a dot for the head—were extraordinary because they represented the body and limbs covered with hair, done simply by minor parallel lines. I asked the Mundurucus why they represented human beings with hair, whereas they themselves were hairless on the body and face. They said it was because in ancient times all the people were hairy like monkeys.

I was strongly impressed by the difference in type[254] between those Indians and the Bororos, and also by the great difference in their language. When later on I came in contact with the Apiacars, another tribe of Indians living on the Tapajoz River, and closely allied to the Mundurucus, I discovered that their language bore a certain resemblance, curiously enough, to that of the Maya Indians of Yucatan in Central America.

I had been so busy taking notes of all I had seen in the aldeja, that when we started once more down the river I did not at first miss my best dog, Negrino, of whom I had got very fond. We had gone some 4 or 5 kil. down the river when I discovered that my men had given it away to the Indians while I was occupied studying the geological formation of that part of the country. It was impossible to go back all those kilometres against the current to recover the poor dog. Although it gave me a great deal of pain I never for one moment let the men see it, as I knew that it was in order to hurt me that they had disposed of Negrino.

It is never right or useful to take revenge, for if you wait long enough you are always avenged by Providence. That afternoon my men saw some wild chestnuts on a tree, and they insisted on landing to pick them. They knocked down the tree, as usual, to get the chestnuts, although it was fully 3 ft. in diameter. They picked a great many of the wild chestnuts and proceeded to eat them—Alcides, much to my amazement, actually offering me one. I asked them if they knew what they were eating, as I quickly observed when the tree fell down that not a single chestnut had been touched by birds or monkeys.

I have always noticed in equatorial countries that[255] if you never touch fruit that monkeys do not eat you will seldom get poisoned. My men said that they had never seen the fruit before, but as it looked pretty they were going to eat it, and a lot of it. So they stopped some time cracking the nuts and eating them with great delight.

When we got back to the canoe we had only gone a short distance when Filippe the negro was seized with violent pains in his inside. His eyes had become sunken, his lips were quivering, and in a moment he was seized with cramps all over the body—so much so that he collapsed.

We had to halt on a small island of rock, where we took Filippe out and I had him laid flat on his chest, he being just like a corpse. I inserted a leather strap into his throat in order to cause immediate vomiting, then I unpacked some of the castor oil which still remained in my possession—we never seemed to lose the beastly stuff—and gave him a dose powerful enough to kill an ox.

The other men were laughing all the time, saying that they felt no pain at all; but their boast did not last long, for a few moments later, while I was watching poor Filippe, Antonio and the man X threw themselves down on the rocks, rolling over and contorting themselves, evidently in most excruciating pain.

The same treatment was applied to them in turn, and I watched with great concern three men out of the six spread out helpless, and in such a dreadful condition that I really doubted whether they would be alive in another hour. I considered myself fortunate that the other three had not been poisoned.

[256] Half an hour later—it was impossible to move on with the three men lying helpless on the rocks—Filippe the white man and Benedicto also collapsed. Again the same treatment once more.

Alcides looked at the other men with an air of contempt and said: "They are rotten fellows! They cannot eat anything without getting poisoned. I feel no pain at all; the fruit has done me no harm."

When I turned round to look at his face it had turned a lemon-yellow colour, which I did not quite like, but I did not mention the fact to him, and went about from one dejected man to another to try and bring them back to life again.

Filippe the negro opened his eyes for a moment. "I am dying!" he said. "Good-bye, sir! Please give all my money to my sweetheart in Araguary."

I noted her name and address in my book, for I really thought Filippe was about to expire.

The moans and groans all round me were most funereal, and the odour unbearable, the nuts having formed a chemical combination in their insides which made their breath most offensive. The heat in the sun was oppressive on those volcanic rocks. My bare feet were absolutely scorched as I walked on them.

Not many minutes later Alcides was rolling himself upon the rocks in intense pain. When I rushed to him to apply my favourite method he rebelled, refusing the treatment.

"Very good," I said to him; "will you live or will you die?"

Leading the Empty Canoe down a Dangerous Channel.

(Photographed a few seconds before the rope snapped and canoe escaped.)

"I prefer to die," said he, and proceeded to moan and groan, and also to dictate the name and address[257] of his sweetheart in Araguary for me to pay to her the money which belonged to him.

In a way I was sorry to see my men suffering so much. I was already thinking of how I could get out of that difficult dilemma. If they had all died it would have been out of the question for me to work the huge canoe alone going down such dangerous rapids.

Some four hours were spent in deepest reflection, a little distance off from my men. I had done my best, and I could do no more for them. I returned every little while to see how they were progressing, but for the first three hours they were in so pitiful a condition that I really thought they could not possibly recover.

When Alcides was almost unconscious I applied to him also the remedy I had used for the other men.

It was only after some five hours or so that Filippe the negro began to feel a little better. Gradually one after another the men, half-dazed, were able to get up, swaying about as if badly intoxicated. They said they saw all the things in front of them moving up and down. Evidently the poison had affected their vision and also their hearing, as they said they could only hear me faintly when I spoke to them.

Late in the evening I persuaded them to get once more into the canoe, as it was not possible to camp on those rocks. We floated down—fortunately for us the river was placid for some 15 kil., and we let the current do most of the work—I steering while all my men lay flat in the bottom of the canoe. We passed along two or three beautiful islands with quantities of rubber upon them.

My men felt very bad the entire night, but by the[258] next morning they were a little better, although in a most exhausted condition. We had a minimum temperature of 72° F. during the night of August 17th.

We had some luck that evening, for we came to the hut of a seringueiro, a negro, and his wife, who had cut down a portion of the forest near their hut and cultivated some mandioca. Their amazement at seeing us appear was curious to watch, especially when they looked at our canoe—held together with pieces of rope and stopped up with pieces of our garments.

Those poor people, stranded there without a possibility of getting away, were extremely kind. My men heard with delight that we should find no rapids of great importance from that point down stream, and that we might find a few other seringueiros on our way.

I was able to buy from the seringueiro a quantity of food, my men being overjoyed at the prospect of eating feijão again with their meals. Naturally the expense of taking food so far up the river was very great, and I was glad indeed to pay the exorbitant price which the seringueiro asked of £10 sterling for each 50 kilos of farinha; feijão at 6s. a pound; sugar at 5s. a pound—the prices which the seringueiros themselves had to pay for those commodities from the rare trading boats which once a year reached that farthermost point.

We started down stream once more, passing a tributary stream, 5 m. wide, on the left bank. We had only gone 9 kil. when to our great joy we met two trading-boats owned by a Brazilian Jew, who was on board in a critical condition from malarial fever. Although in a dying state, he had not lost[259] his racial commercial ability. It was most interesting to watch his expiring countenance while trying to strike the best bargain possible. He sold me sixty candles for 60s., eight biscuits for the equivalent of 7s. 6d., and a quantity of dried meat at 5s. a pound.

He looked askance at us, as he could not make out who we were, what we were doing up that river, where we could have come from. At last he signed to me that he had something to whisper in my ear. He asked me if I was a runaway cashier from a bank! I told him that if I had been a runaway cashier I would certainly not come and spend my money on the Arinos-Juruena River.

The sight of human beings again—if that term could be applied indiscriminately to all we had met so far—had greatly excited my men.

Some 13 kil. farther, the river being smooth but swift, we came to a basin 700 m. broad, where the river described a turn toward the north-east. We came upon a large clearing on the hill-side on the left bank. There we saw the remains of two or three huts which had been destroyed by fire. We perceived one or two people, and we landed. We found that it was the shed of an enterprising Peruvian trader who had established himself there in order to collect rubber. Only a few days before we arrived a great fire had taken place, which had destroyed nearly all he possessed; but—fortunately for us—they had saved a few things, and I was able to purchase a quantity of rice, biscuits, dried meat, beans, farinha, condensed milk, banho (liquid lard in tins), and a number of other[260] things, such as clothes, shirts, rope, nails, axes, etc., which we needed badly.

The Peruvian trader—of the Brothers Mori's firm—must have had a handsome store indeed at that place, a quantity of jewellery, rifles, pistols, etc., all badly injured by the fire, being seen strewn on the ground as we walked about.

The Peruvians are wonderful traders, most remarkable people for exploring unknown regions and carrying on commerce to the most distant points where human beings are found. That particular Peruvian firm had foreseen that that region will some day develop to a great extent, and they had therefore established their store at the most distant point where it was possible to navigate the river without extraordinary dangers.

The prices charged by the Peruvian, even when circumstances might have led him to put a high price on the goods he sold me, were far lower than those of the Jew in his dying moments.

The river was there 1,000 m. wide, and of amazing beauty, flowing to 30° b.m. N.N.E. for 5,000 m. in a direct line.

We had gone 30 kil. that day, and we had had so many things happen to us, we felt so rich and happy with our new purchases and with the prospect that our trials were nearly over, that when night came we had a grand meal, and slept soundly notwithstanding the swarms of mosquitoes which buzzed around us.

The S. Simão Waterfall.

During the night of August 18th the minimum temperature was 71° F. During the day the temperature[261] of the air was not much warmer—only 78° F. in the shade with a nice breeze, while 113° F. were registered in the sun.

We halted for one day in order to repair the canoe, as it was all we could do to keep her afloat, she was leaking so badly. Poor Benedicto, who had spent the last few weeks baling out the water, swore that the moment he could leave the expedition he certainly would, since he felt he should turn into a fish soon, as he had not been dry one second for the last two months.

The minimum temperature during the night of August 19th was 72° F.

When we proceeded down the river we came upon most beautiful sand beaches, one as much as 500 m. long. Quantities of most delicious tortoise eggs were to be found. Furthermore, we killed some giant tortoises. Altogether we felt that all of a sudden we had dropped from a regular inferno into a heaven on earth.

My men were paddling away with great vigour and were making rapid progress, the river flowing almost all the time northward, with deviations of a few degrees toward the east, in stretches from 2,000 to 6,000 m. in length. We crossed an immense basin 1,500 m. broad with most gorgeous sand beaches. Their formation in small dunes, occasionally with an edge like the teeth of a double comb, was most interesting. Once or twice we came to musical sands such as we had found before. Everywhere on those beaches I noticed the wonderful miniature sand plants, of which I made a complete collection.

[262] As we went down we came to one or two seringueiros' huts, and to a store belonging to our friend the dying Jew, who rejoiced in the name of Moses. As he had taken all the stuff with him in the trading boat in order to exchange it for rubber from the collectors, he had left nothing in the store except a cheap straw hat.

As my hat by that time had lost most of its brim, and the top of it had got loose and was moving up and down in the breeze, I thought I would not lose the opportunity of getting new headgear. So the purchase was made there and then, and thus fashionably attired I started once more down stream.

We passed on the way most impressive sand banks and beaches—500, 700, and one 1,500 m. long. The river in some spots was 1,000 m. wide. A great island 4,000 m. in length—Bertino Miranda Island—was then passed, with a beautiful spit of sand 15 ft. high at its southern end. Hillocks were visible first on the left bank, then on the right. Other elongated sand accumulations of great length were found beyond the big island, one a huge tail of sand extending towards the north for 1,000 m. Beyond those accumulations the river was not less than 1500 m. across, and there an immense beach of really extraordinary beauty ran on the right side for a length of 1½ kil.

On that beach we halted for lunch. In the afternoon we continued, between banks on either side of alluvial formation, principally silts and clay, light grey in colour or white. In fact, the soil in the section directly below the higher terrace of the great central plateau of Matto Grosso, was formed by extensive alluvial[263] accumulations which had made an immense terrace extending right across all Central Brazil from west to east, roughly speaking from the Madeira River to the Araguaya and beyond.

After we had gone some 5 kil. in a straight line from our camp to 10° b.m., we perceived a headland with a hill upon it 200 ft. high. We had been greatly troubled in the afternoon for the last two days by heavy showers of rain and gusts of a north-westerly wind. Once or twice we got entangled in channels among the many islands, and had to retrace our course, but we went on until late in the evening, my men believing firmly that we had now reached civilization again and that the journey would be over in a few days. I did not care to disillusion them.

Late at night we camped on a magnificent beach, 1,000 m. long, at the end of Araujo Island, 1,200 m. in length.

We had gone that day, August 19th, 46 kil. 500 m.

My men hung their hammocks on the edge of the forest. That camp was extremely damp and unhealthy. When we woke up the next morning all my followers were attacked by fever and were shivering with cold.

We left at 7.30 a.m. under a limpid sky of gorgeous cobalt blue. We passed two islands—one 700 m. long (Leda Island), the other 2,000 m. (Leander Island). When we had gone but 11,500 m. we arrived at one of the most beautiful bits of river scenery I have ever gazed upon—the spot where the immense S. Manoel River or Tres Barras or Paranatinga met the Arinos-Juruena. The latter river at that spot de[264]scribed a sharp turn from 20° b.m. to 320° b.m. We perceived a range of hills before us to the north. Close to the bank gradually appeared a large shed with a clearing near it on a high headland some 200 ft. above the level of the river where the stream turned. On the left bank, before we arrived at the meeting-place of those two giant streams, we found a tributary, the Bararati, 30 m. broad.

The S. Manoel River showed in its centre an elongated island stretching in an E.N.E. direction. Where the Arinos-Juruena met the S. Manoel it was 1,000 m. wide, the S. Manoel being 800 m. wide at the point of junction.

No sooner had we turned to 320° b.m. than we perceived on our left the collectoria of S. Manoel, with two or three neat buildings. Several astonished people rushed down to the water as they saw the canoe approaching. When I landed the Brazilian official in charge of that place and his assistants embraced me tenderly and took me inside their house. When I told them how we had come down the river, tears streamed down their cheeks, so horrified were they.

"Did you come in that log of wood?" said the collector, pointing to my canoe. I said I had. "Good gracious me!" he exclaimed. "I will not let you go another yard in that dangerous conveyance. I will confiscate it, as I need a trough for my pigs and it will just do for that purpose, and not for navigating a dangerous river like this. If you want to go on by river I will supply you with a good boat."